Political Quotes

“It is now my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to another important member of our committee, the gentleman from Seattle, Washington (Mr. McDermott). (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I never cease to be amazed. I think I've seen the silliest thing in the world and then I come out here and they've done it again. Sometime in the next 23 days, the Supreme Court is going to make a ruling on whether the Affordable Care Act is constitutional. If they throw it out, as the Republican Party at prayer is hoping, this tax will have never existed. It will be gone because it's never been implemented. It's not affecting anybody. This is a PR stunt for the election. The Republicans are helping the device industry back out of a deal they made during health care reform. In May 2009, the president of AdvaMed, which is the professional organization of the device manufacturers, signed a letter to President Obama stating: ``We are ready to work with you'' to do health reform. The industry later agreed to the excise tax, knowing the cost would be offset by the new demands for devices created by the 30 million new people who would be insured. That was the deal they made. You can't make a deal with a Republican and think it's going to last. It surely won't. And all the other sectors of the health care industry made similar deals. Unlike the Bush-era Congress, the Democrats insisted their legislation be paid for.…”