Political Quotes

“In addition, we are creating a system of preventive health care. We are creating a system in which people, when they initially get sick, can go to a doctor instead of being forced to go to emergency rooms where they get temporary treatment, and then they're back at home or on the streets again. We will make the country healthier. And national health care is an ambition that is very much related to national security. So I'm pleased that all of these things can occur with the consideration of House Resolution 676. In the last 10 years, the cost of health care to businesses has increased 140 percent. We need an efficient universal health care system that protects American businesses from skyrocketing health care costs so that, as a Nation, we can remain competitive in the global marketplace. The rising cost of health care in this country has played a significant role in the current economic climate, specifically with regard to the outsourcing of labor to foreign countries. Between 2000 and 2007, United States health premiums have risen 98 percent, while wages have only increased by 23 percent. The average family health insurance plan now costs more than the earnings of a full-time minimum wage worker. Our fractured non-system of health care is crippling our economy. But don't take my word for it, just ask the United Automobile Workers and the AFL-CIO, or even the automobile makers themselves.”