On the recordMarch 17, 2017
The camera of history is rolling, and here on the House floor it is recorded. So I want to make sure that we are clear. When I think about going back into the nineties, it was Bill and Hillary Clinton that put forward a healthcare plan. My colleagues on the other side had the goal of stopping it. And they did. We had nothing. For 6 of the 8 years that I was here--from 2000 until 2006--they controlled both the House, the Senate and the Presidency, and they did nothing in reference to health care. It took 2008 and Barack Obama to come up with the Affordable Care Act, which gave 20 million Americans health care that didn't have it. It made sure that those that had a preexisting condition could continue to make sure that there was no discrimination against women and girls, so as to make sure they had equal health care. It also made sure that you removed the caps so that Americans would not be caught, as they were beforehand, going bankrupt, disturbing families and separating families who did not know how to make it until tomorrow. It was the Affordable Care Act. Yet, here, history will record that our colleagues are prepared to vote on Thursday to take those 20 million Americans that did not have access to health care away from health care and back to the bad, old days. We can't go there. ____________________
