Karen Thurman: “I would say to my colleague who talks about gridlock, that is wrong. This House, that Senate, passed a bill, Senate to…”

“I would say to my colleague who talks about gridlock, that is wrong. This House, that Senate, passed a bill, Senate to conference, and would not by the majority put on conference committee members who voted for the bill that the House voted for. So if my colleague wants to talk about gridlock, the gridlock has been because the other side would not allow people to have the will of the House, and they do it over and over and over again. But let me make a point. When I come to this floor to vote today, my mind is not going to be on the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood) or the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) or the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Berry) or any of them. My mind is going to be on one person. This is an editorial that was written by the editor of our newspaper. Roz is your typical over-achieving college kid. She is a hard worker and extremely intelligent. As she graduated from college, she and her whole life are in front of her. But several years ago Roz found a small lump in her breast. Being a smart kid, she contacted her HMO and was referred to a physician. When she went in for an exam she was told the small lump was a torn ligament or muscle and it would just go away. The HMO physician decided that no further expensive tests were needed. But the lump did not go away. In fact, it grew larger.”