Maxwell Frost: “let me start with the rule today. In a continuing effort to block Democrats from imposing fiscal responsibility on the…”

“let me start with the rule today. In a continuing effort to block Democrats from imposing fiscal responsibility on the House, Republican leaders have prevented us from paying for this bill. That fiscal irresponsibility is why Republicans are about to raid the Medicare and Social Security trust funds, as an internal Republican memo made clear recently, and it is why just 6 months after Republicans inherited the biggest budget surplus in history, the Federal Government is borrowing money again. Now for the bill itself: For the past 5 years, Mr. Speaker, Democrats and some courageous Republicans have worked hard to pass a real bipartisan Patients' Bill of Rights, one that takes health care decisions out of the hands of insurance companies and puts them back into the hands of doctors and patients. Mr. Speaker, the Ganske-Dingell bill does that. It protects patients' rights without reducing health care coverage. During those same past 5 years, Mr. Speaker, Republican leaders have fought the bipartisan Patients' Bill of Rights every step of the way. For the past 6 months, the Bush administration has joined them in fighting tooth and nail to protect insurance companies and HMOs. It should be so no surprise that the Republican plan, proposed by President Bush and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert), that is, the Norwood amendment we will debate later today, protects HMOs and insurance companies at the expense of patients.”