Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I support the Kennedy-Kassebaum bill, the bill from conference that is before us. This bill is not a panacea of health care reform, but it is a good bill, on balance, that expands access to health coverage for working Americans. When this bill is signed into law, it will ensure that if you have insurance, you can keep it. This is an important change from today's system. It will provide a new measure of health security for working Americans. The conference report before us ensures that working Americans with preexisting conditions cannot be denied health insurance as long as they maintain coverage. In addition, it would prevent insurance companies from using genetic information to deny health coverage. It is absurd that today's genetic testing advances are being used by insurance companies to deny coverage. This bill will end that practice. Mr. Speaker, let me just give one example of how a typical working family can benefit from the legislation before us. The bill will provide someone the freedom to leave IBM to start their own computer company, even if a member of that person's family is suffering from diabetes.”