Patsy T. Mink: “I thank the Speaker for giving us this opportunity this morning to call attention of not only this House but the people…”

“I thank the Speaker for giving us this opportunity this morning to call attention of not only this House but the people of America to the tremendous things that are occurring with reference to the shaping and formulating of policy in the national health reform bill. The national health reform bill is pending before many committees of the House and the Senate, but it is moving forward very rapidly in the House Committee on Education and Labor, and particularly the Subcommittee on labor Management chaired by the gentleman from Montana [Mr. Williams]. In the chair's mark are some significant advantages for health care. The advantages that we have made over and above what the President proposed in his bill are that we are going to cover mammograms without any deductibles or copayments for women below the age of 40 every 2 years and for women above 50 years of age every year. There will be annual clinical breast exams also. We will cover pap smears annually. There will be free family planning visits. And, more importantly, we will designate ob-gyn physicians as primary care providers. This is an enormous stem forward. We have to remember when we are talking about health care reform that we are going to affect the lives and the quality of life for millions of Americans, and we want to pay special attention to the need of women in America.”