Mike Honda: “Today I rise in support of health care reform. The other side of the aisle would have us believe that we need to wait…”

“Today I rise in support of health care reform. The other side of the aisle would have us believe that we need to wait longer to make health reform a reality. They don't want to make the sweeping changes that the American people KNOW we need to make. I cannot, we cannot, stand by and let this historic opportunity pass us by; the people of my district deserve more and better from this Congress. I say yes to tax credits and other assistance to 86,000 families and 14,900 small businesses in my district. I say yes to coverage for 22,500 uninsured residents. I say yes to protecting 800 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs. I say yes to reform. All the other side is saying is no--to reining in health costs, controlling insurance companies who have proven over and over that they are willing to put profit over people's lives, to ending the confusing morass of paperwork and lack of transparency that drives doctors, patients, and hospitals to distraction and negatively impacts the quality of patient care. The opponents of this reform had their time--health reform was defeated in 1994 and they had a decade to change the system. People are still dying because they can't afford care. Doctors are still dealing with ever more complicated paperwork rather than healing people. Our public hospitals are reeling, and the number of uninsured continues to grow.”