Tim Ryan: “It is interesting, I was listening to my colleagues from New York and California, I can't get over what all of the fuss…”

“It is interesting, I was listening to my colleagues from New York and California, I can't get over what all of the fuss is about against this bill. This is something that Bob Dole and Senator Chafee had worked out in the eighties. This is middle-of-the road stuff. Many of us wanted other things in here. I am not afraid to admit that. There is no public option in here. This is not single-payer. This is right down the middle. This is bread and butter, all American, apple pie and Chevrolet. This is baseball. Look at it, tax cuts for small businesses. Many people in our districts make $50,000 a year. Under this proposal, a family of four making $50,000 a year in Niles, Ohio, will get $5,800 worth of a tax credit. That is a middle class tax cut. This is what is in the bill. We are regulating and putting in new rules for the insurance companies. We are not taking over, but this is pretty simple. And the gentleman from New York mentioned it: this is about prevention. There is no one who can argue with the fact, Mr. Speaker, that we have 30 million-plus people in the United States of America who have no preventive care at all, dumped into our emergency rooms, much sicker than they need to be.”