On the recordJanuary 19, 2011
To those middle class Americans listening to the debate today, let me speak to you. This is your life. This is your health. You deserve the right to make your own decisions about your health care rather than being forced into some government-run plan that is centered around what Washington needs and not what you need. Thanks to the last Congress, this is your new health care plan. We had our staff spend 4 months, weekends and evenings, going through all 2,801 pages of that bill, and we just said, tell us how it works. And this is the answer. We couldn't even fit the whole bill on one page. This is one-third of all the new bureaucracies. At the bottom line, 159 new Federal Government agencies, commissions and bureaucracies in between you and your doctor. Now, is this the health care reform you were hoping for? If ObamaCare is so great for families, why are health care costs going up and going to go up even higher? If it's so great for small businesses, why are they here today in Washington pleading for us to stop it? And if it's so great for seniors, why have so many been forced out of their Medicare Advantage plan? They can't even see a local doctor anymore because so many local doctors can't see them. They can't afford to cover Medicare senior patients. Health care is too important to get wrong, and ObamaCare got it wrong. American families, our seniors and our businesses deserve better; and the right place to start is to start over.
