W. Akin

Mr. AKIN

Mr. AKIN. And, gentleman, just reclaiming my time, what you've just said to us is, again, when we take a look at why do you want to keep this thing secret, why would you want to censor it, why would you want to tell us we couldn't send a flow chart out, part of the reason is because when the American public sees things like that there are going to be people who get worried about it. They're going to vote ``no,'' particularly every single one of us that some day is going to get sick and we're going to want a doctor to help us, and I'm not sure that we really want to have somebody going in between in the government, some part of this organization, second guessing the doctor the way the insurance companies do too much in our own day. So if you really like your doctor/patient relationship, then this thing is bad news. That's why they're wanting to censor it. Do you believe that's right, gentleman?

Mr. AKIN. Well, but he maybe has a couple of ideas about your charts, gentleman. I yield.

Mr. AKIN. We've been joined, as you note this evening, by my good friend, Congressman Bishop, and I'd like to recognize him and let you jump in here in just a minute.

Mr. AKIN. Where something was censored.

Mr. AKIN. Reclaiming my time, the idea is to have kind of a fair standard so people can communicate with their constituents. We think of it as the First Amendment, just speaking to your constituents.

Mr. AKIN. The Franking Commission is a group of Republicans and Democrats that meet together, and when you're going to send a piece of mail to your district or do something using government money to do the printing and mailing, it's an agreement that what's going to be there is going to be at least reasonably accurate. It's not a political piece and you're not slamming, but you're trying to simply communicate some information.

Mr. AKIN. Reclaiming my time, you've used a couple of terms that I think some people might not be as familiar with. You talked about a thing called the Franking Commission.

Mr. AKIN. I need to reclaim my time again. You're going awfully fast for us. The first thing you said was if you don't like government bureaucracy and you don't want a government bureaucrat between you and your doctor, then you probably don't like this flowchart. You want something a little simpler where it's you and your doctor making the health care decisions. You also said if you're worried about fiscal responsibility, you're not going to like this bill, too. That's another group, because you're worried about the government spending. This thing here, even when they try to use every gimmick in the book, it's over a trillion dollars more spending. So if you're worried about that, you don't like it. I would like to recognize my friend from California. You've been dealing with this chart, and if you could share it, because you've gotten into the details. What are we trying to hide here?

Mr. AKIN. I would like to yield to my friend, who is actually the top guy in the Intelligence Committee. We need to pay attention to him, my good friend Congressman Hoekstra.

Mr. AKIN. Reclaiming my time, you're getting at the very heart of what I want to talk about today, and that is there's a reason to censor something, because you don't want somebody to know something. There is somebody who is not going to like this bill, and you just told us one of the groups.

Mr. AKIN. Reclaiming my time, what you're saying goes to a little bit more even than the health care debate. We are talking about the right to free speech. What you just said, as a Member of the U.S. Congress from the State of Louisiana, if you'd like to communicate to your constituents a flowchart of the bill that the Democrats proposed, they will not allow you to do that, and if you were to send that to them, they would make you pay for the thing personally. Is that what you're saying?

Mr. AKIN. I hate to interrupt, but I've got this chart up here and you've got that chart up there, and the two charts aren't the same. Even though I don't like reading complicated charts, it's obvious to me there's a red box on your chart that isn't on my chart. This is my understanding of the Democrat proposal for health care, to take over 20 percent of the economy. And this is very much of a simplified chart of what is being proposed. When the government takes something over, they have got an awful lot of different things to connect. And yet your chart has got this big red box on it. I would like you to explain where that thing came from.

Mr. AKIN. That actually looks like a structure that will----

Mr. AKIN. Reclaiming my time, in summary, then, we've just been taking a look at the last 6 months--and it has been a scary 6 months-- but we've seen a pattern. We've seen a pattern of rushing to spend a tremendous amount of money, or rushing to tax the taxpayers a whole lot, without letting people be aware of what's in the bills. And we've had a pattern of a lot of fiscal mistakes. We have a pattern of an unprecedented level of spending and taxation. But there is also the pattern of doing it in the dark of night, and that's what I wanted to get to on this health care thing. What I would like to do is let's talk a little bit about whom do you want to keep in the dark on this? Who would naturally be opposed to a government takeover of health care? That's where I would like to go, because I think a lot of people are interested. Well, hey, if I were a congressman or how would I want my congressman to vote or what's my position on this? Well, there are a lot of groups of people that are be going to be affected very seriously by this government takeover of health care, and I think that's what we need to talk about. I yield to my good friend from Michigan.

Mr. AKIN. I do yield to my friend from Louisiana.

Mr. AKIN. I'd like to take a look, though. You were just talking about there being different ways to control costs. One of them is, when the government does it, they ration health care or they make various decisions to keep costs down. Here is the result of a comparison. These are 5-year survival rates for all different kinds of cancers. This is the European Union average. They all have socialized medicine. I guess they do call it ``socialized medicine.'' Here is the U.S. system, which at least is, largely, more of a free enterprise system. It's the beige. Now, if you'll take a look at these different kinds of cancers, one of the things that you'll notice is that the survival rates are a whole lot better in the U.S. than they are with these socialized systems, and I don't think that that's a coincidence. It's just a fact that free enterprise works a lot better than socialism does. The particular cancer I had here was called ``prostate cancer.'' Let me see if I can see where it is. Here is ``prostate'' down here. You've got the survival rate in the United States at 90-something percent. Back over in Europe, it's only at 78 percent. I'll tell you, if I were to have prostate cancer, which I had, I'd want to be treated in America. That's what I'd want.

Mr. AKIN. It seems like the basic principle should be to respect your other colleagues and, at the same time, to also tell the truth. It sounded like what you said would be my idea of what the truth is, but then I may not pass the political correctness test. Let's take a look at this.

Mr. AKIN. Reclaiming my time, gentlemen, that's what I'd like to do because I have a chart here. I would also like to recognize my good friend from Texas, Congressman Gohmert, who is noted, actually, for being, in spite of his humble demeanor, really an expert when it comes to knowing how to phrase things in a tactful and direct kind of way.

Mr. AKIN. What we're really talking about--and this isn't politically correct. I guess I've never learned that very well. We're talking about government-rationed health care, aren't we?

Mr. AKIN. Go through that again.

Mr. AKIN

Mr. AKIN. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 649, H.R. 1121, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Town of Blowing Rock Land Exchange Act of 2009, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.'' On rollcall No. 648, H.R. 1376, the Waco Mammoth National Monument Establishment Act of 2009, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.'' On rollcall No. 647, H. Res. 593--Recognizing and celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the entry of Hawaii into the Union as the 50th State, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. AKIN

Mr. AKIN. Mr. Speaker, the Democrats are proposing that they're going to take over 20 percent of our economy. They're proposing they're going to spend at least $1 trillion, probably $2 trillion, in doing that, and they're going to put bureaucrats in charge of health care decisions. Now, this is not really a new idea. This has been tried a lot by other countries. It's called socialized medicine. So the question before us is very straightforward. It is this: If you get sick, where do you want to be treated? Do you want to travel to Europe? Do you want to travel to Canada or do you want to stay in the good, old USA? I had that experience 9 years ago here. I had newly been elected as a Congressman. I got the first physical I'd had in 10 years because I'd had lousy health care. They told me, Yeah, you're doing great, Congressman Akin, except for one thing: You have cancer. When you hear the word ``cancer,'' it causes you to stop and think. Because of the American health care system, I'm standing here today, but I'll tell you the statistics of what would happen if you were in the United Kingdom. There is a 50 percent chance you'd be dead with the type of cancer I had. That's the question: Who is going to provide the health care?

Mr. AKIN

Mr. AKIN. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of H.R. 3288, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010. Requesting Member: Congressman Todd Akin Bill Number: H.R. 3288 Account: FHWA TCSP Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Missouri Dept of Transportation, District 3 Address of Requesting Entity: PO Box 1067, 1171 S. Route 61, Hannibal, MO 63401 Description of Request: New Interchange, US 61 at S. Lincoln Drive, Lincoln County, MO. This request will fund the preliminary engineering for a new interchange at the intersection of US 61 and this business loop (South Lincoln Drive). US 61 in Missouri is the continuation of I- 64 north of I-70 and is on the National Highway System. Vigorous regional growth has resulted in an accident rate along this corridor-- particularly at intersections--that is twice the state average. This location presently is the most critical area of need in Lincoln County along US 61. This new interchange at the south end of the business district in Troy, MO will eliminate a busy at-grade intersection, improve safety, and help alleviate traffic congestion. Requesting Member: Congressman Todd Akin Bill Number: H.R. 3288 Account: FHWA TCSP Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Missouri Dept of Transportation, District 3 Address of Requesting Entity: PO Box 1067, 1171 S. Route 61, Hannibal, MO 63401 Description of Request: Bridge Replacement, MO Rt 79 at Sandy Creek, Lincoln County, MO. MO Route 79 is a heavily traveled 2-lane highway that runs 85 miles northwest along the Mississippi River from I-70 in St. Charles County to Hannibal, MO. This highway provides access to Lock & Dam 25 near Winfield, Lock & Dam 24 near Clarksville, and other communities along the river. This bridge replacement just north of the City of Foley is important to the residents of Foley, to the region, and two major Corps of Engineers projects: The Navigation and Environmental Sustainability Program (NESP), the Environmental Mitigation Program (EMP), as well as for normal Operations & Maintenance (O&M) activities for L&D 24 and 25.

Mr. AKIN

Mr. AKIN. I would like to go to Dr. Fleming. Do you have another group?

Mr. AKIN. That's part of the innovation that's practical for people, isn't it?