On the recordApril 13, 2011
I want to thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding. Madam Speaker, you know, I was thinking we are approaching Mother's Day, and I thought of my mother. When it came to budgeting and appropriating money, she did not always have a great deal to work with, but she was a great budget analyst. She was an absolute wizard at crunching numbers, and she was an expert on knowing what worked and what did not. As a matter of fact, she often told us that an ounce of prevention was worth much more than a pound of cure. And so she knew that when it came to health care, prevention measures are worth much more than their weight in gold. She knew that it would be pennywise and pound foolish to cut or reduce the meager resources which we expend towards health education, health awareness, health promotion, and health screening. {time} 1400 If we don't think public health activities work, look for some cigarette smoke or cigar smoke in these Chambers. Look at the difference in the cost of treating lung cancer and cirrhosis of the liver versus preventing these diseases from occurring. In Illinois, we have a very proactive public health program, and we don't want to see it reduced, diminished or eliminated. Yes, we do need to cut spending, and we are cutting spending, but let's not throw out the baby with the bath water. Let's not be penny wise and pound foolish. Let's vote down this rule, and let's vote down H.R. 1217.
