On the recordFebruary 2, 2012
I thank my colleague and friend from Michigan for yielding to me, and thank you so much for having this evening's Special Order regarding health care. I think it is so important, Mr. Speaker, that the American people hear from health care professionals. There is such distrust of politicians in Washington, so for the American people to have the opportunity to hear from those who have invested their lives in health care and who really do care deeply about our health care system, I think it's so very important that we have this hour and this time together. Mr. Speaker, I ran for Congress because I was so concerned with regard to the health care law. I thought that it was substantively flawed. I thought that it was procedurally flawed. It was passed in secrecy at all hours of the night, and I thought that constitutionally it was flawed in that our government doesn't have the right to mandate our buying anything, let alone health care. So I ran on that. Now that time has unfolded--and we've been here a year now--what has come to light is how very flawed this health care law is. I speak to so many parts of it that are flawed, but I just want to focus on a couple of specific areas. I am the daughter of a 90-year-old woman. My mother is alive and well and lives in a small town in Auburn. I know how much she cares about her Medicare coverage, and I know how important that is to her and for her. Then last April, when the Republicans put out a budget proposal, Mr.…
