Political Quotes

“I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in permitting me to speak on this rule, and for his unequivocal call for being realistic about some of the outrageous things that we've heard on the floor. I just heard my friend from Texas talk about demonizing the Canadian system and calling it socialized medicine. It's really kind of ironic. First of all, Canada has basically Medicare for all. It is a government-funded insurance program, but Canadians pick who they want to be their doctor, just like Americans who are on Medicare pick their doctor. And I would say, frankly, that most Americans would be happy with the overall outcome of the Canadian health care system. They pay less, they get sick less often. When they do get sick, they get well faster, and they live longer than Americans. The sad truth is that our nonsystem of health care, which is very good for veterans, it's pretty good for senior citizens, but for other Americans, particularly the uninsured now approaching 50 million, it's a problem. And increasingly, if we don't do something, the increasing premiums that we're seeing for private insurance, higher copays, higher deductibles, and coverage that is getting skinnier and skinnier puts us on a path that is disastrous for American families. I hope that we'll be able to come forward, move past some of the outrageous rhetoric and the falsehoods, to look at the facts. Americans have, if they can afford it, some of the best health care in the world. The SPEAKER pro tempore.…”