On the recordJanuary 18, 2011
There is nothing that one can do when you're debating this bill than to be civil and to respect the American people, who, many of them, are in the jaws of terrible disease, rehabilitation, or maybe some have already lost their lives. And the repeal of this health bill, just a couple of pages, would sentence people possibly to dying. H.R. 2 talks about jobs when we're talking about lives. So I think it is important that we follow what the repeal of this patient protection and health care bill does--end consumer protection, patient protection. And I think it is important for us to be able to hold this Constitution and prove that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional. Well, I could say that there are 1.1 million jobs already created, that the deficit will blow up $143 billion, a trillion over 20 years. But I really want to refer to the 14th Amendment that allows and guarantees you equal protection under the law. If this bill is repealed, Ed Burke, a hemophiliac, will probably have serious health issues because he would have lifetime caps. Or Mr. Land, who was on my health care teleconference--where 18,000 people in Harris County were contacted--maybe he, who is from a family of schizophrenics and people who have children that have schizophrenia, maybe he would not be guaranteed the equal protection under the law. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
