Paul Broun

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. That doesn't control costs.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Oh, really? That is news. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Reclaiming my time, I agree with you. In fact, I introduced H.R. 3889, a comprehensive bill, a little over a hundred pages, that totally would change health care financing in America and it would give patients the power to make the decisions along with their doctor. I wrote the President. He said, If you have any ideas, my door is always open. But I've been knocking on that door over and over again, and it is slammed shut, locked, and I've been trying to open that door that he said was open and it's not been opened. I know other members on our side, Dr. Price from Georgia, another physician, orthopedic surgeon, has introduced the Republican Study Committee Bill, H.R. 3400. Dr. Price has offered to talk with the administration. The door is locked. Bolted. Closed shut. Republicans Go Away is the sign on the door. And we're not being included in this so- called summit, bipartisan summit, on Thursday. Why don't they want us there? Because we know about health care. They're not interested in what we, as physicians, know. They're not interested in our ideas. They're not interested in any Republican ideas. This is a ruse. It's a show. Nothing but a dog-and-pony show to try to boost the President's approval ratings or try to make him look as if he is reaching out a hand of bipartisanship trying to find solutions for the American people. Actually, it's a fist that he is showing us, and it's a closed fist. It's a closed, locked door, and it's nothing but a show or a charade to try to look to be something different than it is. Thank you, Dr. Boozman. We are also joined tonight with another colleague. Louisiana is blessed by having three physician members of the Republican delegation here. We heard from Dr. John Fleming just a moment ago. We have Dr. Charley Boustany from Lafayette, Louisiana. Lafayette is one of my favorite towns. I've got some great Cajun buddies that I duck-hunt with down there. In fact, I talked to one today about he's coming to Georgia and wants to go turkey hunting. Shelly Deshotels from Lafayette, Louisiana is a good friend and a turkey hunting buddy. And Shelly Deshotels told me today, ``Keep fighting.'' He doesn't want to see this health care bill passed anyway. We've got another physician, Dr. Bill Cassidy, who's joined us today. Louisiana is like Georgia. We have three physicians from Georgia in the Republican delegation, and we have three physicians from Louisiana in their delegation. I want to welcome and yield to Dr. Bill Cassidy for such time as he may consume.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Let me reclaim my time here. Let's say that again so we understand. The American people say, ``What? You're not including doctors who are taking care of patients? How are you going to form a health care system?'' Dr. Boozman, please say that again very clearly so the Speaker and anybody watching tonight can understand.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, Dr. Fleming. I appreciate it. Now want to yield some time to another great member of our Doctors Caucus, Dr. John Boozman from Arkansas. And Dr. Boozman, before you start, I want to say that just to kind of tag on to what Dr. Fleming just said about the Louisiana purchase. He's from Louisiana. But this new proposal that President Obama has put forward is going to extend the Louisiana Purchase to every State. Now, the governors are going to love that, and the State legislatures are going to love that, because what it's going to do is it's going to take some of the financial burden off them for health care costs that are skyrocketing because of the Federal Government. But what it's going to also do is it's going to put a heavy burden on all the taxpayers in this country. So the taxpayers are going to hate the Louisiana Purchase. And it's just a cost shifting, basically, from a State level to a Federal level, and again, it's a Federal takeover of the health care system, and to get the States, as well as private insurance, out of the health care system, so--Louisiana Purchase. So I appreciate Dr. Fleming bringing up the Louisiana Purchase. Dr. Boozman, I yield to you whatever time you may consume.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I want to point out something too so that we understand. We keep hearing from the President, we want to tax the rich. Most small businesses in this country file their income taxes individually because they're sub S corporations, which means that their income taxes are filed individually, as a person or as a couple. And over half of those people that make over $200,000, which is in the President's current proposal, are small businessmen and women, and it's taxes on their business. So, by taxing folks making over $200,000 or over $250,000, what it's going to do is it's going to take money out of small businesses so that they can't expand, so that they cannot give their employees the kind of salary that their employees deserve. And I've talked to a lot of small businessmen and -women in Georgia who are going to have to let people go. So this is going to cost a lot of jobs. In fact, millions of jobs all over this country are going to be lost because of this tax, so-called tax on the rich, because it's really a small business tax. It's a tax on small business that's going to cost millions of people their jobs in this country. They're going to be out of work, and so we're going to have more joblessness in this country if this monstrosity gets passed into law. I thank you. I yield back.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Will the gentleman yield a second?

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Billy Dilworth, a legend in Georgia broadcasting, and an award winning journalist who is known by thousands in northeast Georgia for his newspaper articles as well as his television and radio shows. Just after graduating from the University of Georgia, his career got off to a great start. His first interview was with a rising star in the music world named Elvis. His second interview was with a well-known politician, Harry Truman. In fact, during his time as a journalist and radio personality, Billy would interview five presidents and several country music stars. But most importantly, he always made time for folks in the community. Over the past twenty years, Billy has hosted ``The Billy Dilworth Show'' on WNEG-TV. During the show, he and co-host Michelle Austin have entertained viewers with their great humor, music selections, and updates from political, civic, and religious leaders. One of their regular segments that I can certainly relate to was named ``Doctor's House Calls'' and allowed live call-in questions. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this Georgia legend. Though he is stepping away from the limelight, he can never be replaced. I, along with the rest of his viewers, will miss him. His talent and work will not be forgotten.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, Judge Carter. I really appreciate you yielding to me tonight and appreciate you doing these Special Orders as we look at the President's proposal. I went on the White House Web site this morning and looked at all of the parameters that were put forth, and I was looking for some legislative language. There's no bill. All they've put out is bullet points. So I went down through all those bullet points to try to figure out what's going on so that I could help inform my constituents in the Georgia's 10th Congressional District what the President was all about. Now, let me back up a minute and say when the President announced that he was going to have a summit with Republicans and Democrats, that it was going to be televised, actually I was very hopeful that maybe we were going to get some bipartisanship, maybe we were going to get something done for the American people in the right way. But the more I've learned about that, the more I'm very fearful that this is nothing but political showmanship. It's a ruse. The President, in secret--we don't have any clue of who is involved in putting together all these proposals that he's put forward. But in looking at those proposals, he says, if you have insurance, you can keep it. Well, in the House bill, we saw that if you have insurance, you can't keep it. And we have a lot of people over here on the Democratic side that are very much in favor of nobody being able to keep their private insurance. They want to go to a single-party payer system, the government-run system. And, in fact, the President himself has said that the public option, or even the government exchange, is the first step toward getting the government to run everybody's health care. So a bureaucrat in Washington, DC, is going to tell my medical colleagues-- I'm a medical doctor, as you know, Judge--is going to tell my medical colleagues how to treat their patients. Well, in reading the President's proposals, nothing has changed. There's going to be a government exchange, and the vise is going to be put on small businesses as well as individuals so that they can't afford to keep their private insurance. It's going to run people away from their private insurance and run them into the government exchange so the government can control your health care, and that's not right. It's going to be extremely expensive. It creates all these new taxes. We hear about all these tax cuts, but the tax cuts have not been fleshed out. We don't have any clue what they mean. And frankly, we do know that there are going to be tax increases on virtually everybody. So it's going to destroy the quality of health care. It's going to mean that doctors, when they see their patients, can't make medical decisions because some bureaucrat in Washington, DC, is going to make those decisions for the doctor.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I submit the Republican Party is the party of k-n-o-w, know, because we know how to lower the cost of health care. I introduced a bill--that's H.R. 3889--which is a comprehensive health care financing reform, and we put doctors and patients in charge of their health care dollars, health care expenses. We know how to give patients the ownership of their insurance so that they can solve the portability problems. We know how to insure the uninsurable as well as the uninsured in this country. We know how to stimulate the economy and to create jobs. But every effort that we've made to do all of these things has been blocked by the leadership of the Democratic Party. We are the party of k-n-o-w. We do know how to do those things. I have sent the President a letter. In fact, I have reached out to the President. He said if anybody has any ideas, please contact him. I have made many efforts to reach out to him to stimulate the economy, create jobs, to solve the health care financing crisis, to lower the cost of health care. Guess how many times I've been responded to. Zero. The White House is not interested in hearing from this doctor. And in fact, there is not a single medical doctor that's been invited to the White House on the 25th of February. I am the vice chairman of the Doctors Caucus, the GOP Doctors Caucus here in this House. And nobody from the Doctors Caucus, the chairman, none of us vice chairmen--me and another co-vice chairman--have not been invited. Dr. Michael Burgess, who is on the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Health Subcommittee, he has not been invited as far as I know. So not a single doctor has been invited to this meeting on Thursday, the 25th of February. They don't want to hear from us. They have one agenda, and that is to force down the throats of the American people a government-run health care system. And that is actually what, if you read all of the parameters of what the White House put out on their Web site today, that is exactly where it's going to lead. And the President himself said that is what he wants to do. It's up to the American people to stop it, to contact their Congressmen, contact their Senators, and say ``no'' to this government takeover of health care. We will not fall for this trick, this ruse, this political theater that is going to come about on Thursday, not fall for that trick and understand that this is not a reaching out. And just like you said, Judge Carter, I think you're going to hear a lot of things: We reached out to the Republicans, but they're obstructionists. They have no ideas, no ideas whatsoever. They're the Party of No. Well, we are the party of k-n-o-w. We can solve these problems. And let me say one other thing before I yield back. I have challenged Democrats individually, as well as I wrote an op-ed with two of our colleagues, John Shadegg and Charley Dent, challenging Democrats to introduce a bill that would do four things: Number one is to have across-State-line purchasing for individuals and for businesses; number two, to establish association pools so that anybody could join any kind of association in this country and have these huge pools to offer one or more insurance products; number three, to establish State high-risk pools to cover the uninsurable; and number four, to have tax fairness to give 100 percent tax deductibility for all health care expenses. I've had Democrat after Democrat say, Paul, I'd like to do that. I'd like to introduce it. I told them we'd give them the legislative language. All they had to do is write their name in the blank, and the three of us Republicans would work it on our side. I think we'd get 100 percent of the Republicans to vote for that bill, and we'd get most of the Democrats. But Democrat after Democrat after Democrat has told me individually, privately, I can't do it because my leadership will punish me if I were to introduce that bill and work it on my side. We need to step back, clear the deck. Let's go ahead and start off and work off in an incremental bipartisan way to find a commonsense market-based solution so that people's insurance is lower than it is today and that they and their doctors are in control of their health care decisions. And that is what we're trying to do on the Republican side.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, Mrs. Lummis is exactly right. And that's the point I'm trying to make is that if you like your insurance you can't keep it. It's going to be too expensive. And this plan that the President has put forward is going to push everybody out of their private insurance on to a government insurance exchange; thus, the government is going to eventually take over the whole health care system. But what I was fixing to say is that a patient can't make the decisions themselves either. So this is totally geared, it's a slippery slide into a government-run health insurance program so that the Federal Government is going to tell doctors and hospitals how to treat their patients, and tell patients, small businesses, individuals, about whatever kind of insurance. And if you don't take the government's insurance exchange, well, it actually mandates that you have insurance, which is totally unconstitutional. Actually, the whole bill is unconstitutional that we saw in the House. The whole bill that we saw from the Senate is unconstitutional. I don't find anywhere in this document, the Constitution of the United States, anywhere that the Federal Government has the authority to take over the health care system in America. So that's what the President's proposal will do. That's what the House bill does. That's what the Senate bill does. And the President said we're going to have this bipartisan meeting, and I was very hopeful, as I said previously. But our leadership, I've talked to them individually. They went to the President in a private meeting. The President said, You start with my plan. He's told our leadership, Republicans are going to have to accept some things that you don't like. He said that he would not take the ramrod over in the Senate of budget reconciliation off the table. And this is what they're talking about today. Just today the President's spokesman has said, We're going to run it through no matter how we can get it, over all of the public's wishes. Seventy percent of the American public, in the latest poll I saw, said that either we start over or do nothing, 70 percent. But why is this being forced down the throats of the American people? It's because this administration, the leadership in the House and the Senate, want to take over health care, and that's the only reason that they're doing this. And they think, I believe that they think that if they do it now, that maybe the economy will get better and they won't be punished so much at the ballot box in November. But this is going to be disastrous. It's going to destroy the quality of health care. It's going to take the choice away from patients, away from doctors. It's going to mean that everybody's health care cost is going to go up. And Mrs. Lummis, the reason CBO has not scored it is because they said today they cannot score it because of all these gigantic tax increases and other things that the President proposed. So this summit on the 25th is nothing but political showmanship. It's trying, in my opinion, to make it look to the American people like we're working in a bipartisan way, but we're absolutely not doing so. And it's a ruse. It's absolutely a ruse. And the American people deserve better, should demand better, should demand something totally different. And it's up to the American people to tell their Congressmen and their Senators, We're not going to have a government takeover of health care forced down our throats. We say no. And if you don't say no to this government takeover, we're going to say no to you in November. So I hope the American public will do that. And I yield back to the judge.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. You bet. Sure.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. They say that talk is cheap, but for hardworking Americans, the President's talk is very expensive. President Obama has spent the past year making speech after speech about the need for Washington to restore fiscal discipline. But what he says isn't what he does. During the campaign, Obama promised he would go through the budget line by line to reduce spending. But it seems as though a few lines is all that he has cut. The President began his campaign last spring when he rushed to the microphone to announce his order to his cabinet to reduce spending by $100 million. Then he went to the podium to tout more fiscal restraint by announcing a spending freeze. But we quickly learned that it affects less than 20 percent of the budget. Recent press reports reveal he cut $1 million in funding for an Olympic scholarship program, and another $2 million subsidy for cotton and peanuts. If the President is serious about fiscal discipline, he is going to have to remove more than a couple of peanuts from his Federal budget. These meager cuts are just another example of the administration's arrogance, ignorance, and incompetence. The President has proposed a $3.8 trillion budget for 2011, boosting the deficit to a record high of $1.6 trillion, a record he broke last year when he introduced a budget with a $1.4 trillion deficit. Let me put that into perspective. The average deficit when Republicans were in power was $104 billion. The average deficit now that Democrats are in control is $1.1 trillion. What that means is each man, woman, and child owes $46,000 apiece. As hardworking Americans are struggling to balance their checkbooks, they are frustrated that Congress can't do the same. They aren't just frustrated, they are angry. I share the concerns of the American people. That is why I have introduced H.J. Resolution 75, which is a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, aimed at reining in the chronic deficits in spending. We absolutely must stop the outrageous spending by Congress. Our children and grandchildren's future depend upon our doing so. My amendment would make sure that government does not spend more than it takes in. My amendment would also make sure that any extra revenue would be returned to the taxpayers at the end of the year. After decades of deficit spending it is time to make balancing our budgets the rule, not the exception. For too long Congress has acted as if it has a credit card with no limit and a bill that our children and grandchildren will be forced to pay. Individuals cannot spend more money than they earn, and neither should Washington. The fact is if the family budget cannot afford to go into debt, neither should the Federal budget. The only way we are ever going to get our economy back on track is by leaving dollars in the hands of individuals, and particularly leaving dollars in the hands of small businesses so that they can buy inventory and can hire permanent employees. Small business is the economic engine that pulls along the train of prosperity in America. We need to stimulate small business, not bigger government. Congress must now make tough decisions, slow down the rapid growth of government, and get back to the fiscally responsible government that the American people expect and demand. I am committed to doing just that. I urge my colleagues to join in this effort, and I urge the American people to demand a balanced budget from this Congress.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, you are right. They are absolutely entrenched in the philosophy that they know best: The government needs to control everything. Well, there is a word for that. It's called socialism, central planning. That is exactly what many people on the other side hold very dear to is they think we are too ignorant to control our own lives, to make our own decisions, so they have to control our health care. They have to control what light bulbs we screw into the lamps in our home. They have to control what kind of toilet we can have in our bathrooms and what kind of showerhead, what kind of cars we can drive. That is socialism, that is central planning, and that is the road we are going down. We are on a road towards people losing their freedom, where they cannot make decisions for themselves. This health care bill, proposal-- it's actually not a bill; it's a proposal that the President put forth this morning. I went on the Web site and looked at all the things. There is no bill. The proposal is nothing but the first step in taking over the whole health care system and making it government control so that government bureaucrats control that part of it. We have got to stop it, and it is up to the American people. Mr. King, you are exactly right. Mr. Speaker, Mr. King is exactly right that there are folks that don't pull out the Constitution. They talk about the Constitution, but they have no clue what limited government is supposed to be under the Constitution. They fight for bigger government, bigger government control, socialism, central planning so that it takes everything away from individuals. And the American people are going to have to stop it by standing up and saying no to ObamaCare, no to an energy tax, the tax-and-trade, or cap-and- trade as they call it, no to forced unionization, no to the illegal aliens in this country--they need to go home; they're criminals. They need to say no to all those things. The American people need to say no to those. We are accused of being the party of ``no,'' but we are the party of ``k-n-o-w,'' because we know how to solve these problems over here on the Republican side if we can just have our voices heard. The American people need to demand that also; that is absolutely critical.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. It is the tyranny of the majority. And it's tyranny that destroys freedom and liberty in this country. And I say liberty and freedom. Let me define liberty for you, Mr. Speaker, because I see them differently. Liberty is freedom bridled by morality. A wild dog is free. True freedom for everybody is anarchy. But we have liberty in this country. Liberty is where my freedom ends, where yours begins, where you and I can come together in a society and we can work for a common good. That is what our Founding Fathers very firmly believed. That is what I believe. We need to work together for our common good. We are supposed to be, under the Constitution, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, not a government over the people. That is what many in this House, many in the Senate, and many Presidents, even Republicans and Democrats have----

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. King. In Psalm 11, God asks a question. He says, ``If the foundations be destroyed, what are the righteous to do?'' Well, the Constitution of the United States was obviously the foundation of this country. But if you think about it, if it is a living and breathing document, then that means it can be applied by anyone in any manner. What does that have a potential of leading to is nothing but tyranny. Tyranny. And that philosophy is a tyrannous philosophy.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. King. I appreciate you yielding. You have a document there that I know you are going to explain it, but I want to say before I have to leave that my name is on that document. It is the Declaration of Health Care Independence. In fact, I recently signed a copy of the Declaration of Independence. I was honored to do so, as I was honored to sign the Declaration of Health Care Independence. But what I want to say is the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States cannot be separated. And in fact, the Declaration of Independence in itself, the original declaration penned by Thomas Jefferson, set out the philosophies of government. The Constitution took those philosophies and embodied it into a foundational principle that this government should be run upon. We have left that idea. We hear people talking all the time about a Constitution that is flexible and that is changeable and that it is a flowing document. Well, it can be amended. The Founding Fathers set in place the process for amending the Constitution. There have been just a few, over 20 amendments to the Constitution. It shows the beauty of the Constitution of the United States. I carry a copy in my pocket all the time. I believe in this document as our Founding Fathers meant it, one of very few Members of Congress that believe in the original intent and vote that way here on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Mr. Speaker, the American people are suffering. They are suffering, and frankly they are scared, they are angry. They are scared and angry because they see their freedom being taken away from them. And this health care bill that we have been discussing for the last several weeks is something that is bringing that to the head. Because what I see is an American sleeping giant is arising, a sleeping giant that has had some nightmares, nightmares about Obamacare, nightmares about an energy tax that is going to destroy our economy and kill millions of jobs in this country, a nightmare of overgovernance from the Federal, state, as well as local level. They are angry, they are scared, and they are sleeping giants waking up. And I'm excited about that because, frankly, Mr. Speaker, I think the best days of America are still ahead, but they're not going to be ahead for our children and grandchildren if we continue down this road where government is going to control our health care, what cars we drive, what we eat, how we live our lives. And the American people understand that very firmly; they understand that government is trying to rule them instead of them taking care of their own family's situation. Most people in America just want to go to work, come home, live a great life for their families and take care of all their family business without all the government intrusion. That is what you are fighting for, Mr. King. That is what I'm fighting for here. That is what the declaration of health care independence is all about. We must return back to the foundational principles. In Hosea 4:6, God says, ``My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.'' And I am encouraging people to get a copy of the Constitution of the United States. We give out hundreds, maybe thousands, of copies out of our offices in Georgia as well as our congressional office here in Washington. But I encourage people to get a copy of the Constitution. Read it; it's readable. It wasn't written by a bunch of lawyers. And that is all there is to it. In fact, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and every single amendment that has ever been passed, in this little booklet. ``My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.'' America is going to be destroyed for a lack of knowledge if we don't become knowledgeable about limited government and start demanding something else. Mr. King, you have been very vigilant in coming to the floor over and over again fighting for what you and I believe in, and that is fair and limited government, personal responsibility and accountability. I applaud the efforts that you have made, and I feel very honored to serve with you. I feel very honored to come to Special Orders and speak with you, and I thank you. I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being engaged in the fight. I'm a marine. You're not a marine, but you're a fighter, and I appreciate that. I thank you and yield back.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Garrett. I appreciate your yielding this evening. In Hosea 4:6, God tells us, ``My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.'' Unfortunately, people all over this country have a tremendous lack of knowledge about how much liberty and freedom we've lost in this country. Now, I differentiate between freedom and liberty. I talk more about liberty than freedom. A wild dog is free. Let me define for the American people what ``liberty'' is. ``Liberty'' is freedom bridled by morality. We have things going on here in this Congress, and we've had things going on in Congress after Congress under both Democratic as well as Republican leadership. We've had things going on with the executive branch under both Republican and Democrat Presidents, and we even have things going on in the Federal court system, all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where rulings are handed down where the American people are losing their liberty. I am a strict original intent constitutionalist. In fact, I carry a copy of the Constitution in my pocket at all times, and it's in every one of my suits. On my desk, there is a tremendous document. It's called ``The Federalist Papers in Modern Language,'' which is a transliteration of ``The Federalist Papers,'' which are very difficult to read because they're in old-style English. This is in modern-type English. It's not an interpretation. It's just a transliteration. It goes from one form of English into another. So I highly encourage the American people to get these documents. I give copies of the Constitution to anyone who walks into my office here in Washington, D.C., and I give my constituents copies of the Constitution out of our district offices. Every Congressman can do the same. The American people need to become knowledgeable about how much liberty we've lost. One of the greatest attacks upon liberty is what's going on here in Congress today where the leadership in this House, where the leadership in the Senate, and where the leadership down Pennsylvania Avenue, in the White House, want to take away your liberty to see your doctor and for that doctor and you to make the decisions that you need to have made so that you have the best quality health care. Now, Ms. Foxx was talking about the 10th Amendment. I'll go back and read it just to help educate the people because you may have not listened to Ms. Foxx, but listen up, please, Madam Speaker, to what the 10th Amendment says. It says, ``The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution--'' in other words, those powers specifically given to Congress, the President and the courts ``--nor prohibited by it to the States.'' Those are such things as minting money and having armies and things like that. ``The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.'' So we in Congress can only technically constitutionally pass laws that are specifically given to us by the powers of this document. Article I, section 8 actually lists the things that Congress can pass laws about. Madam Speaker, this is just a little booklet which contains the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and every single amendment. It's just this little bitty booklet, not the thousands of pages that PelosiCare and ReidCare and ObamaCare entail. Madam Speaker, it starts right here, and it goes to right here. It's 1\3/4\ pages in this little booklet. It's just 18 things. It says, ``The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States.'' Now, Madison was very specific, and Mr. Garrett was talking about that. If you read the Federalist papers, the general welfare, which one of the clauses that has been perverted by Democrats and Republicans, courts, Presidents, and Congress alike, means the general welfare. Not direct welfare, but the general welfare of the Nation. So we have the ability to collect taxes and pay the debts. To borrow money on the credit of the United States. To regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States and with the Indian tribes. Now, Mr. Garrett was just talking a few minutes ago about this commerce clause being utilized to make folks do something because the leadership here thinks that we have to mandate every person in this country to buy health care insurance whether you want to or not. That has never been done, and it is totally unconstitutional, as Mr. Garrett was saying. Actually, this commerce clause is one of the three that have been perverted, also. The original intent of that is that we don't lockbox trade within State borders. And we have done that on health insurance, which is unconstitutional in itself. Republicans over and over again have suggested, and in fact in my comprehensive health care reform bill that I introduced, H.R. 3889, it would allow people in Georgia to buy health insurance in Alabama, which is cheaper, for the same Blue Cross-Blue Shield policy. Why shouldn't we be able to do that? This commerce clause under the original intent should allow us to do so. Republicans have proposed that. Democrats have fought against that. Going on. To establish a uniformed rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States. So we should have naturalization and bankruptcy laws. To coin money, to regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and to fix the standard of weights and measures. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States. In fact, this is one of the few constitutional criminal justice things that the Federal Government is supposed to be doing. Most of the criminal justice laws that the Federal Government has on its books are unconstitutional because we don't have the authority to do them. To establish post offices and post roads. Post roads during the Founders' time were the highway system. So we do have constitutional authority for Federal roads. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. That means patent laws. So we have constitutional authority for patents. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court. Folks, there is only one Federal court that is established in this document, and that is the U.S. Supreme Court. Every single Federal court, every single Federal judge serves at the pleasure of the Congress. We need to start putting checks on these dudes, and ladies, around this country who have actually broken their oath of office when they swear to uphold the Constitution. In fact, every one of us, when we are sworn in, every Congress swears to uphold the Constitution against enemies, both foreign and domestic. Madam Speaker, we have a lot of enemies that are domestic, enemies of the Constitution. This House is overrun by many domestic enemies of the Constitution, and the Senate is full of a bunch of them also. The courts are full of a bunch of them likewise. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations. That is another one of the few criminal defense laws of the Federal Government. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on lands and water. To raise and support armies. To provide and maintain a navy. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces. That is for the Army and the Navy, and the Marine Corps. I am a Marine, by the way--Semper Fi. To provide and call forth the militia. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases over the District of Columbia. So when the District of Columbia decides that they want to have homosexual marriage recognized in the District of Columbia, we in Congress are supposed to tell them no. In fact, I have got a House Resolution that says that. To make all laws that should be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers. That is it, folks. That is it. The 18 things that we have the authority here in Congress to pass laws about. There is absolutely nothing in this document that gives Congress the authority to take over the health care system in this country. None. And when we see PelosiCare on this floor or when we see ReidCare, ObamaCare on this floor, there is absolutely zero constitutional authority. Now, God says in his Word, with the multitude of counselors there is safety. And I make a challenge to the Democrats. One Democrat in this House. If one Democrat in this House or one Democrat in the U.S. Senate were to show me in this document where Congress has the authority to pass a bill that takes over the health care system in America and sets forth socialized medicine, as they are trying to do under ObamaCare, I will vote for it. If one person in this House or the Senate shows me where in this document that we have the constitutional authority to do that, I will vote for it. I make a pledge to my Lord God, my Lord Jesus Christ up above, to the people of the United States, I pledge to vote for it if one, just one House member or Senate member will show me in this document where we have the authority to do so. I am not worried about that pledge, because there is none. Pelosicare, Reidcare, Obamacare, secret--well, they are all secret bills. They are all in secret, with no transparency we have been promised by the Speaker as well as by the President. There is nothing in this document to give the Federal Government the authority. Mr. Garrett was talking about that one mandate on individuals which in itself is unconstitutional. There are so many things in this thing-- in fact, in the Senate bill, Mr. Garrett, Madam Speaker, they say we, the next Congress, can't pass laws regarding that bill to overturn it, to amend it, or to withdraw it, appeal it. That in itself is unconstitutional. We in this Congress can't make a law that subjugates the next Congress to what we pass. That is unconstitutional. It doesn't pass the smell test, either. The American people, Madam Speaker, are being destroyed for a tremendous lack of knowledge of this document and how much liberty we are losing. Madam Speaker, it is up to the American people to rise up and say no to Obamacare. To say no to whatever bill. I understand that the Majority Leader, Mr. Hoyer, today said that, ``The Senate bill is better than nothing.'' So I am expecting with that comment that they are going to try to force down the throats of this House the Senate bill. I pray and hope to God, Lord Jesus Christ, please help us to not pass that bill. It is in the name of Jesus that I pray that. But I just hope and pray that we don't pass any bill that is being presented here. I have challenged Democrats, many of them individually, to introduce a bill. I will give them the legislative language. And it is totally constitutional, Mr. Garrett, Mr. Speaker--it has gone from Madam Speaker to Mr. Speaker. Welcome. We are glad to have you tonight--to do four things. One is have cross-state purchasing of insurance for individuals and businesses, which is constitutional under the commerce clause. And we should be doing that under the commerce clause. To have associations so that associations could be developed. I am a Rotarian. We could have a Rotary International pool. I am a graduate of the University of Georgia, Medical College of Georgia. We could have a University of Georgia system pool. We could have any kind of pool. We could have a construction pool. We could have a college graduate pool. We could have all these pools that anybody in the country could join and have multiple options to buy many different kinds of policies, and it would put a whole lot of market forces into the system to lower the cost. The third thing is to stimulate the States to set up high-risk pools for those who can't buy insurance because of preexisting conditions. And, fourth, to have 100 percent tax deductibility for every single person in this country for all health care expenses. There are a lot of people that are left out, and you can't deduct your health care expenses. Four simple things, all constitutional. I've had many Democrats, Mr. Speaker, tell me they would love to introduce this bill. I will be the first cosponsor, and we could pass that, I believe, in this House. That would put some market forces in the system and would literally lower the cost of health care. Mr. Speaker, I am a medical doctor. In my medical practice as a family practitioner I have seen how government intrusion in the health care system has markedly run up the cost of health care. A couple of quick examples. I don't want to hog the time, Mr. Garrett, but let me just give this story right quick like. I was in a solo practice down in rural southwest Georgia, and I had a small automated lab with quality controls to make sure that the results were correct for my patients. Most doctors, if not almost all doctors, want to have good lab results. Many doctors across the country had these small automated labs with quality control. Congress passed a bill called CLIA, the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act. It was signed into law. It shut down my lab and every single doctor's lab in this country. Prior to CLIA, if a patient came in with a sore throat, running a fever, I would do a CBC, a complete blood count, to see if they had a bacterial infection and thus needed antibiotics, or a viral infection that is not helped by antibiotics. They don't need to spend their money or even be exposed to antibiotics. I charged $12 for that test. It took 5 minutes to do it. CLIA shut my lab down. I had to send patients across the way to the hospital. It took 2 to 3 hours, cost $75 for one test. Mr. Speaker, what do you think that did to the cost of health care across this country? What do you think that did to the cost of insurance across the country? It ran it up for everybody. Congress a few years ago passed HIPAA. That has cost the health care industry billions, with a B, billions of dollars, and has not paid for the first aspirin to treat the headaches that it has created. It was totally unneeded. It is government regulation in the health care system, Mr. Speaker, that has run the cost up so that it is just outrageous. The Federal Government has no business regulating what I do with my patients. It has no constitutional authority to do so. We have to go back to the drawing boards and work on a constitutional basis and present in a step-by-step approach and a constitutional approach ways of getting the Federal Government out of regulating the health care system. Let the marketplace regulate it. Because I know without a question that the marketplace, unencumbered by taxes and regulations, is the best control of quality, quantity, and cost of all goods and services, including my services as a medical doctor. But, again, I challenge one Democrat in this House or in the Senate to show me where it is constitutional for us to pass PelosiCare, ReidCare, ObamaCare, and I will vote for bill. They can't do it because it is unconstitutional. Thank you, Mr. Garrett.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. If the gentleman would yield for 30 seconds. And I thank you for doing so, because we have some other speakers, and I have taken a long time. I apologize to the other speakers for taking so long. But you are right. What does it mean to the American citizen about this bill? Not only that it is unconstitutional, which it is. But if you have private insurance, the cost is going to go up. We have been told by our President: If you like your health insurance, you can keep it. But it is going to be more expensive if this is passed than it is today, and it is going to go up a lot faster, higher. Your doctor and you can't make decisions. Some government bureaucrat in Washington is going to be making those decisions for you. Medicare people are going to have the Medicare money cut, the pot that is available for Medicare to be cut markedly so there is going to be more rationing of care. There already is some, but it is going to be worse. I as a doctor am already regulated and told who I can put in the hospital and how long they can stay there. That is going to get a whole lot worse. So it is going to affect the quality of care. The American people need to understand: The cost of your health insurance is going up. The quality of care that your doctor can give you is going down. Markedly going down. And you are going to be mandated to be--basically, it is a process of transferring everybody into a single-payer health care system. Socialized medicine. That is what our President said. That is their objective. And so it is going to be disastrous for everybody.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, Dr. Gingrey, thanks for yielding back. And you are exactly right, the American people were promised many things by this Speaker: transparency, openness, the new era of a clean government with a prosecution of corruption. Nothing could be further from the truth. This Speaker has not fulfilled those promises to the American people. The American people need to stand up and understand that they are really in control. The Constitution of the United States, which I believe in as it was originally intended, starts off with three very powerful words. In fact, I have a copy in my pocket. I carry a copy all the time. It starts off with three powerful words, ``We the people.'' This is the government that is supposed to be for the people, by the people, as President Lincoln said. The people have the power. They have the power to demand openness. They have the power to demand transparency and stop this secrecy and stop the veil that's going on up here. In fact, I challenge any Democrat in this House or in the Senate to show me anywhere in this document that we have the authority, constitutionally, to take over the health care system. It's not here. I challenge any Democrat to show me in the Constitution where we have the authority to pass this health care bill that they're taking. They won't find it. It's not there. The American people can demand from their elected representatives within the House or the Senate something different than we have today. Former U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen once said when he feels the heat, he sees the light. What he means by that is when the people who elect him, or reelect him, contact him and say, You're headed in the wrong direction. You need to head in a different direction, when enough people contact him, that's putting heat upon the elected representative. The elected representative, if he wants to be reelected, will start paying attention to enough of those phone calls, emails, faxes, and visits and will start seeing the light. We need to shine the light of day. The American people can control the light in their hand right now today by getting on the telephone, getting on their computer, by calling their Representatives, by calling their Senators, their district offices or their offices up here, and saying no to this government takeover of health care, saying no to this obscure, secretive process that Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Barack Obama are undertaking, and saying yes to the openness and transparency we have been promised by Ms. Pelosi as well as Mr. Obama.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. They really have.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, this is not about health care. It's about the government. It's about government control. It's about government telling people how to live, government making decisions for us. It's taking away our liberty. And we see right now New York City is trying to control the amount of salt in everybody's food. This health care plan can tell us what kind of car to drive, whether we can own guns or not to protect ourselves and our home, whether we can teach our children the way that we, as parents, believe that our children ought to be taught. This is the largest takeover of liberty and freedom this country has ever seen. The American people need to stand up and say no to this obscure, opaque, secret process that this leadership of this House and the Senate across the other side of the Capitol and the administration, the Obama administration, and the leadership are doing, because it is totally, totally against everything that this country stands for.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, Dr. Gingrey, for yielding. I have a 19-year-old son. His name is Paul Collins Broun III. We affectionately call him ``Bear.'' Collins and his friends have a peculiar type of language. They talk about something being ``bad.'' Well, to me, if it's bad, it's bad, but when they say something's bad, they really mean that it's good. Well, we've developed a similar kind of language here in the leadership of this House, in the leadership of the Senate, as well as the leadership down Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House. When they say something is transparent, they mean opaque. When they say that there is a new era of openness, that means secrecy. That is exactly what we're seeing. It's unfair to the American public. It's unfair to their representatives, both Democrat and Republican alike. We have a newspeak here in Washington. It's a newspeak where transparency actually means opaque and obscure, where the American people are being kept in the dark, where major policies are being proposed that are going to radically change how health care--as well as every aspect of life in America--is going to be done, and it's not fair. The American people need to stand up and say no. They need to say no to this newspeak. They need to say, Mr. President, Nancy Pelosi, Madam Speaker, Harry Reid, Mr. Majority Leader, we want openness. We want transparency. We want a new era of open government so that the American people can understand what's going on up here in Washington. It's absolutely critical that the American people stand up and speak to the leadership and demand something different, that the American people demand that nothing is passed, particularly on health care, that is going to radically change the economic future of our country, that is going to radically change the way people live because anything and everything can be brought under the aegis of health care. I think probably we are going to see way beyond the things that are going on today where government is trying to control what we eat, how we live, what kind of car we drive.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Certainly.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for yielding. As you and our colleague from Tennessee, Dr. Roe, were talking about the Senate bill and as you went on, it just occurred to me that I spoke just earlier about the Newspeak in the leadership in Washington--in the House and the Senate as well as in the Presidency--and about how ``transparency'' now means being obscure and opaque and how ``openness'' means being in secret. As to the deals that are being struck, from everything we understand in my language, when people are threatened with harm if they don't go in a certain direction, that's called ``extortion.'' If somebody is offered a perk or money or something for going in a particular direction, that's called a ``bribe'' if one accepts it. Mr. Speaker, we're having a lot of extortion and a lot of bribery going on in this process. I will repeat that. There is a lot of extortion and bribery going on in this process, and the American people deserve better. The American people deserve more. They need to stand up and reject this process of secrecy, of obscurity, of opaqueness, of broken promises, and of everything that we see going on in this House.