Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, last month, Republicans voted to end Medicare. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, their plan would raise seniors' health care costs by more than $6,000 per year, doubling their out-of-pocket costs. Now, this week, Republicans want to cut training for new primary care doctors. This is another part of their attempt to repeal health care reform piece by piece. Madam Speaker, there is bipartisan agreement that we need more primary care physicians. Yet Republicans are bringing up a bill that will make sure that even fewer primary care doctors are trained to meet the growing demand. This is a terrible idea but not surprising. I oppose this bill because we need to be training more primary care doctors, not fewer; but at a minimum, we must ensure that the Nation's neediest areas have access to the doctors they need. This final amendment will ensure that training programs in the areas most in need of primary care doctors are to be prioritized for funding. This is common sense. My district, like so many others represented in this body, has some very rural communities. In many areas, families have to drive for dozens of miles to reach the nearest doctor. People who live in remote communities, like Brittons Neck and Salters, travel great distances in search of primary care, and many don't have public or private transportation. This is not just an abstract debate about compassion. For many people, it is literally a matter of life and death.…”