CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—

Extensions of Remarks

E25

January 6, 2011

‘fortunately,’ he told me, are coveredthrough the state (ACCESS program). Heseemed calm as he explained this predica-ment. ‘My wife just got diagnosed with Lymedisease, though—a tick-bite right here in ourback yard.’ Eyes perked up among the otherssitting about the grocery. He told me, ‘We’repaying cash for the lab bill.’ It had originallybeen $307 but they were able to get it dis-counted to $187. ‘The doctor’s bill was $80—and that’s just for the diagnosis,’ he added.‘For the actual treatment, we’re dependin’on free samples.’’’ Mike—Harrisonville, 7/21/2009‘‘Martin has been out-of-work since lastyear. ‘Obviously I have no insurance,’ hesaid. He has insulin-dependent diabetes andgets some healthcare through the Pennsyl-vania ACCESS card. He explained that, ‘If Igo back to work, however, I’ll lose my med-ical care.’ That’s a disincentive to work, Isaid. ‘Sure is ... I need to stay under twen-ty hours a week to get medical care. If Iwork more, there’s no job, no way I couldpay for the healthcare and medicines. I can’tjust drop the insulin.’’’ Martin—Harrisonville, 7/21/2009‘‘‘I would call myself a fiscal conserv-ative,’ Jim told me as we sat together dis-cussing healthcare in his living room. ‘I be-lieve that health savings accounts, HSAs,and patient involvement in the decisions willbe important to bring costs under control.’He added that in his experience, once healthbenefits are provided, it’s ‘very difficult tobacktrack.’ He’s worked in government for32 years and is currently retired. ‘Personally,I think the government plan, if made avail-able to all, would work well. I think thatwould be easy to implement. It allowschoice, there’s already a mechanism to col-lect premiums and there could be some in-come tiering.’’’ Jim—Bedford, 7/21/2009‘‘‘I think that it’s possible to have a verybasic plan as a public good.’ Jo told me she’sseen examples of that and she ‘believes it’s agood use of taxpayer money.’ But she also re-alizes how it could get out-of-hand. ‘It all de-pends on how and what ‘‘basic’’ is defined as,’she said. ‘Sometimes that’s too abstract.’’’Jo.—Bedford, 7/21/2009

RULES OF THE HOUSE

SPEECH OF

HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

OF OREGON

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I amdeeply disappointed in the Rules package as-sembled by my Republican colleagues. In theircampaigns, they promised to improve trans-parency and to reduce the deficit. TheseRules break those promises.Under these Rules, the new Republican ma- jority will enact a draconian budget without asingle hearing, without any input from theBudget Committee, without any outreach toCongressional Democrats, and without a directvote by the House of Representatives. Merelyby entering a statement into the record, theBudget Chairman can subject all spending be-yond whatever levels he deems appropriate toa point of order. This level of concentrated au-thority runs contrary to the premise of trans-parency that Republicans campaigned on,and, given its disregard for scrutiny, runs therisk of greatly damaging our economy and thewelfare of millions.The rules themselves make a mockery ofprudent budgeting. While the Republican rhet-oric has been laudable in some instances,their ‘‘Cut-as-you-go’’ rule is riddled with loop-holes. For instance, it allows tax cuts for cor-porations to be deficit financed, while pro-grams like child tax credits must find offsets.In fact, these rules forbid eliminating even thenarrowest special interest tax loophole to findrevenue for effective government programs.The most casual glance at the origin of thiscountry’s debts illustrates the fallacy of theirapproach. Without finding a dime to offset thecost to our Nation, these rules make it pos-sible to both make permanent the 2001 and2003 Bush tax cuts for the highest-income tax-payers and to repeal the Affordable Care Act,which not only saves nearly $150 billion duringthe next 10 years, but reduces healthcarecosts by nearly a trillion dollars during the fol-lowing decades.In no way do these rules result in the typeof prudent budgeting that my Republican col-leagues campaigned on, nor does it resembleanything like what any hardworking Americanfamily must do. At a time when the Republicanmajority is pledging greater openness, theRules are also anti-democratic by depriving600,000 taxpaying D.C. residents of their abil-ity to have their voice heard in the Committeeof the Whole.The Rules package also undermines oppor-tunities to continue investing in America.By eliminating the point of order guardingHighway Trust Fund balances this Republicanmajority threatens investments in communitieslarge and small across the country. Histori-cally, this point of order ensured that Con-gress delivered on the transportation invest-ments promised in the transportation author-ization, and that States and communities couldcount on the long-term commitments made inthat legislation. By removing this point oforder, and allowing Highway Trust Fund bal-ances to accrue and mask the actual deficit,the Republicans are engaging in budget gim-mickry that undermines our economy and thesafety of our communities.Organizations from the Chamber of Com-merce to the American Association of HighwayTransportation Officials have expressed theirstrong concern about destabilizing transpor-tation funding, and have urged the RepublicanConference to make changes. I join with theseorganizations in expressing my concern anddisappointment.At a time when the need to invest in ourcommunities is higher than ever, these ruleswill make it possible for the Republican Con-gress to decrease our investment in infrastruc-ture, undermining efforts to rebuild and renewcommunities across the country. In addition tothe new rule regarding the Highway TrustFund, these Republican rules also limit theability of the House to raise revenue for theHighway Trust Fund. At a time when ourneeds are greater than ever, and individualsand organizations across the country are call-ing on Congress to upgrade our Nation’sroads, bridges, and transit systems, limitingour options—as these Rules do—is short-sighted and foolhardy.

THE WALK FOR HEALTHCARE:HEALTHCARE STORIES FROMMARYLAND AND WASHINGTON,DC, COLLECTED BY OGANGUREL, M.D.

HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

OF OHIO

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I submit thefollowing stories, collected by Dr. Ogan Gurel.

‘‘Tamara told me, ‘She was lucky havinghealth insurance.’ Knowing generally thatlack of insurance was a problem, she didn’thave any particular personal stories toshare. But when I asked about health reform,she said, simply enough, that, ‘More shouldbe done.’’’ Tamara—Hagerstown, 7/22/2009‘‘Patrick has been on and off insurance allhis life. ‘More off than on,’ he further clari-fied for me. ‘My credit rating is trashed be-cause of medical stuff.’ And in the 80s he hada skull injury. ‘I actually had insurance butnot everything was covered so I just couldn’tpay.’ He seemed relaxed for someone forwhom the system seemed not to work—forced into debt, even with insurance, andnow suffering the consequence of ruinedcredit. But perhaps one gets used to suchpredicament.’’ Patrick—Hagerstown, 7/22/2009‘‘Tiffany doesn’t have a job, nor does shehave health insurance. As a single mom, herdaughter gets assistance through the state.For herself, she did have to go to the emer-gency room one time last year but as shedidn’t fill out the form for medical assist-ance in time (there was a three-month timelimit), she ended up owing $4,000. Now she’sbeing taken to court by the hospital, Wash-ington County. ‘I get phone calls every dayfrom the bill collectors,’ she tells me. ‘AndI’m scared to go back to the doctor for any-thing including my frozen shoulder.’ Withsome trepidation, she told me she knewsomebody who was threatened with jail fornot responding to court summons for a med-ical bill. ‘It’s not a good situation to be in,’she told me. Despite her unhappy troubles,Tiffany insisted on smiling when I took herpicture.’’ Tiffany—Hagerstown, 7/23/2009‘‘I met Terry at the Oriole Club, a local barwhere I stopped in during a ferocious thun-derstorm to take a water break. Terry be-lieves in preventative medicine, eating right,exercising—being positive. She doesn’t haveinsurance and with two kids, she’s busy pro-viding them with a home and feeding themright. Last year she got very sick but nobodywould take her. Because she has no primarycare doctor, it costs $250 just to get in thedoor. The others seated along the bar gaveknowing looks. She told me she prayed a lot,especially when her temperature hit 104. ‘ButI survived,’ she said with a smile. ‘But, if youdon’t have insurance,’ she told me, ‘you’retreated different.’’’ Terry—Middletown, 7/23/2009‘‘Sonny told me the story of a girl in town.Many of the others seated at the bar recog-nized her plight. ‘She’s worked for ten years,without insurance,’ Sonny told me. And shegot sick with a gallbladder problem and,‘probably because she couldn’t work on ac-count of her illness,’ she was laid off. Sheneeds a gallbladder removal but the doctorkeeps putting her off. ‘Nobody wants to treather,’ he added. ‘And she went to see the spe-cialist but he wanted $300 up front.’ Karen,sitting alongside, squirmed in disapproval.‘Everyone’s giving her the run-around ...And there seems to be no way out of her situ-ation.’’’ Sonny—Middletown, 7/23/2009‘‘Chris works at the Days Inn in Frederick.He’s an insulin-dependent diabetic (that’s his