Paul Broun

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, God tells us in Hosea 4:6, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Please repeat that.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, our previous speaker went through a long list of Republican districts insinuating that Republicans wanted these people to die, it seemed to me. I'm a medical doctor. I've practiced medicine for almost four decades. I literally have given away hundreds of thousands of dollars of my own services with no compensation whatsoever to people who don't have health insurance. I'm joined tonight by my good friend and colleague, in fact, one of my mentors, Dr. Phil Gingrey, who is an OB/ GYN from Marietta, Georgia, and he and all the other physicians in this body on our side are very, very concerned about the future of our patients and about where we are going as a Nation. You see, Mr. Speaker, Republicans have offered 53 bills, fixing to be 54 bills with the Republican Conference's bill, that will literally lower the cost of health care, make it more affordable for all Americans. Our bill will not put people out of work like the Pelosi health insurance bill that we are going to be voting on very shortly. In fact, it's been estimated by the experts, in fact, Barack Obama's own economic adviser, that 5.5 million people are going to lose their jobs because of the Pelosi health care bill. Mr. Speaker, 5.5 million Americans are going to lose their job that they have today because the Democrats want to force down the throats of the American people a health insurance bill that's not about health care, Mr. Speaker. It's about power. It's about control. It's about taking over one-sixth of our economy. There are many solutions that Democrats and Republicans alike could embrace. In fact, I've challenged many times one on one and I've challenged publicly and I challenge today Democrats to take a bill that I will give them--they can put their name on it, take credit for it-- that will do four things: One is across-State purchasing for individuals and businesses to be able to buy insurance wherever they can find it cheaper in whatever State. The second issue is to have association pools where individuals can come together in an association, and that association can offer anybody that is affiliated with it a health care insurance package or multiple insurance packages that they would have their choice of purchasing. The third thing is to have some stimulation of the States to develop some high-risk pools. In fact, there are several States that have already done this, and they've been very successful in covering patients with preexisting conditions and high-risk medical conditions. And the fourth thing is to have a 100 percent deductibility for all health care expenses for everybody in this country. Right now businesses get to deduct their health insurance that they provide, the costs anyway. They deduct the costs of the health insurance that they provide to their employees. The employees can get that health insurance as a tax-free benefit, and whatever they pay into it is not taxed. But a small business man or woman, an individual has to pay taxes on their money. They have to buy it with after-tax dollars. That makes it so expensive for individuals and small businesses to be able to buy insurance. But if a Democrat will pick up that bill and convince Ms. Pelosi to allow us to have a debate on this floor, I will just about guarantee that 177, and I think that's what we have now on our side, 177 Republicans will cosponsor and vote for that bill and the majority of Democrats will vote for that bill and we will pass it into law. It will make health care affordable for everybody. It won't raise taxes. It will not increase the deficit. It will not do anything to harm our economy. And we could pass that bill. We could pass that bill this week. I challenge Democrats to take the bill. I will give them the language. I'll give them the bill. All they have to do is write their name into it. I will be the first Republican cosponsor. They'll drop it in the hopper, and we will have health care insurance financing reform that will make sense on an economic basis. It will put market-based principles into the health care financing system. You see, Mr. Speaker, we hear people talk, particularly on the Democratic side, about health care as if it's one big monolithic theme, that if people don't have health insurance, they don't have health care. That's hogwash. It's just balderdash. It's hogwash from the first order. It's not true. I've treated those people. I'm also on the foundation board for St. Mary's Hospital in Athens, Georgia. St. Mary's Hospital is a Catholic East Hospital, and in that hospital the doctors, the nurses, physical therapy people, all the allied health personnel, the hospital itself, treat people without insurance. You go to any emergency room in this country, Mr. Speaker, and it's filled with people that do not have insurance. In fact, every single individual in this country can walk into any emergency room in this country with an emergency condition and can be seen and treated. Everyone. Every single person in this country has access to health care today. Not everybody owns insurance, that's true. Why? Insurance has become very, very expensive. I don't think there is a single person, Mr. Speaker, in this body that doesn't want to do something to help people to be able to afford insurance. But we're going to destroy our economy. We're going to destroy our economy because we are going to spend a trillion, $1\1/2\ trillion, $2 trillion, $3 trillion on this government takeover of the health care industry in America. It's going to destroy our economy. It's going to increase the debt, Mr. Speaker, markedly increase the debt. When President Obama came and spoke in the Speaker's podium to a joint session of Congress, Senate and House Members were here. I was sitting right back there that night. Mr. Speaker, the only person who spoke the truth that night was Joe Wilson. Joe Wilson spoke the truth that night. Mr. Speaker, the Pelosi health care bill is going to be disastrous. When I graduated from medical school, I took the Hippocratic Oath. It said, ``do no harm.'' Mr. Speaker, the Pelosi health insurance bill is going to do a lot of harm. In fact, people on Medicare right now today are going to be denied lifesaving treatments, lifesaving procedures. Medicare already today rations care. It tells me and my colleagues when we can put patients in the hospital, how long they can stay there, what services they'll pay for. Mr. Speaker, we're going to have more rationing of care under the Pelosi health insurance bill. Why? The Pelosi health insurance bill is going to destroy Medicare Advantage, which there are millions of Medicare recipients on Medicare Advantage today. It's going to destroy Medicare Advantage, and it's going to move those people into the regular Medicare system. We're going to put more people on Medicare. Plus we're cutting the dollars spent on Medicare by $500 billion. Five hundred billion, a half a trillion dollars is going to be cut out of Medicare. You're going to put more people on and cut the financing of Medicare. What does that mean? They're going to have to ration care. And, in fact, the bill itself says that the health care czar--it's called a commissioner in the bill--can establish waiting lists and rationing of care. The bill itself says that. And it's going to absolutely be done. Plus right now today, also, Mr. Speaker, you have doctors all over the country that cannot afford to see Medicare patients anymore. They want to, they're trying to, but they can't afford to, because Medicare today pays doctors and pays hospitals less than it costs them to give the service. I repeat that. Medicare pays doctors and hospitals less today than it costs to deliver the service. Now if we cut $500 billion out of Medicare and we put more people on Medicare, what's going to be the result? Not only is it going to be rationing of care and long waiting lines, Mr. Speaker, rural hospitals all over this country are going to go out of business. The long-term result is going to be, we'll have just a few big regional hospitals that are going to be extremely expensive for everybody; and small rural hospitals, small rural communities, even mid size rural communities, are going to be without hospitals, without doctors, without health care in their community. That's what the Pelosi bill is going to do. This is not about health care with the Pelosi insurance bill. It's about power and control, and it's going to destroy America.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Yes, I will be glad to yield. I welcome my good friend from Michigan, Mr. Pete Hoekstra, who has been a great spokesman about these issues.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. That's the Republican bill.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Reclaiming my time, I want to bring up a point just to re-approach something that you brought up that I think the American people need to understand, Mr. Speaker. In that humongous bill that the gentleman from Michigan has his hands on right there, the Pelosi health insurance bill, in that bill it says that by 2013, no one can sell private insurance to individuals or businesses. Remember when we heard from the President that if you have health insurance and you like it, you can keep it? That's a bald-faced lie, because the bill itself says that after 2013, no one--no one--can sell private insurance to individuals and small businesses.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. That's right.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I will reclaim my time. Our previous speaker was just saying that he wanted universal health care. The President himself has said he wants universal health care. Many of the Democrats have said they want universal health care. What does that mean? That means that the government runs all the health care, the socialized medicine, one single insurance company in America, and that's the Federal Government. I now want to yield to my dear friend, Dr. Phil Gingrey, an OB-GYN, graduate of the Medical College of Georgia. We were there at the same time, my medical school alma mater and his, too. Unfortunately, he went to the North Avenue Trade School, Georgia Tech, where I went to the University of Georgia. Dr. Gingrey has been a leader on this issue here, and I will yield to the gentleman.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Reclaiming my time, the Republican alternative that the Democrats say we don't have, but we do, CBO has already scored our alternative. Actually we've got 54 alternatives, but this is one. This is one that the conference, Mr. Boehner and the whole Republican Conference, is introducing; and CBO has literally scored the Republican alternative that the Democrats deny we have, and it's that small bill right there on the desk in front of the gentleman from Michigan.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Say that again, please.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I thank my friend, Dr. Gingrey from Georgia, for bringing that up. If you wouldn't mind, let's talk about some of the specifics, along with Mr. Hoekstra. But I want to yield to my good friend, Steve King from Iowa, who has been very diligent in trying to bring information. In Hosea 4:6 we read, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. The American people really don't have the knowledge about this health care bill that Nancy Pelosi has presented that's going to really destroy our economy. It's going to destroy jobs. It's going to destroy a lot of things. Mr. King from Iowa has been very vigilant in trying to inform the American people and I thank you, sir, for your effort. I will be glad to yield to you, sir.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Let me reclaim my time because you have hit something that we need to flesh out here a little bit. Comparative effectiveness research, now Dr. Gingrey and I know, as medical doctors, we look at comparative effectiveness for different treatment modalities. For instance, for prostate surgery, does surgery work better than chemotherapy or radiation therapy, or does the combination of one or both or all three work best? That is the kind of comparative effectiveness we do in medicine. But what this comparative effectiveness research is going to do, it is going to look at how to spend these limited dollars that the Federal Government is going to take away from small business and individuals through increased taxes on the middle class, increased taxes on small business that is going to rob people of their jobs, they are going to take the effectiveness of spending those dollars on a young person versus an old person. And the old person is going to get the short end of that stick. That is the reason why seniors all over this country are fearful. And they should be, rightfully so, because they are going to be denied treatments. They are going to have rationing of care. I see Mr. Hoekstra is chomping at the bit. He wants to jump in here. I yield to Mr. Hoekstra.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I will yield to Mr. King because he and Michele Bachmann have been right at the beginning of the discussion about the house call on Congress. I am excited about that. As a medical doctor, I made house calls full time. I went to see my patients at their home, at work, wherever they needed to me to come. I did that from 2002 until 2007 I was elected to Congress, so for 5 years I was doing house calls full time trying to take care of the needs of my patients. We are asking people to make a house call on this House. It is absolutely critical. I yield to Mr. King.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I will reclaim my time here. I have been trying to gear up people all over the country, trying to light grass fires with grass root support against the Pelosi health care bill. In fact, I carry a copy of the Constitution in my pocket.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. This is not only the full text of the Constitution, but it is every single amendment that has ever been made to the Constitution, plus it has the entire text of the Declaration of Independence in this little book.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, I point out, too, with this document, the beginning of this document starts with three very powerful words, ``We the People.'' It is time for America to take this country back, to take their freedom back, to fight for liberty. And that's what this House call on Congress is all about is for the people to come here and take America back, to make sure that they have good quality health care continuing, and lower the cost of insurance so that people can afford insurance. We have been joined tonight by another good friend of ours, a freshman Member that came in with me. He was elected in a special election when I was in the last Congress, so he is serving his second term now as I am, Mr. Steve Scalise from New Orleans, Louisiana. But he has been actively trying to inform the people about how awful this is. I thank you for joining us, and I yield to you, Mr. Scalise.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I will reclaim my time, and then I will yield to you, Mr. King, in just a moment. Frankly, if you look at that document, the small one that you just dropped down, the Constitution of the United States, you won't find any constitutional authority in that document--none--where the Federal Government has the authority, where we in Congress have the authority to take over the health care system of America. There is absolutely zero constitutional authority for that big bill, none. But I also want to remind the people in America that this is not about health care. That bill is really not about health care either. It's about power and control, and it's about health insurance. It is creating a big government insurance company that is going to be subsidized by taxpayers. The bill itself is going to pay for abortions--taxpayers are going to be paying for abortions. The bill itself is going to give taxpayer-funded free health insurance to illegal aliens in this country. We have tried, as Republicans, to change those in that humongous, outrageous bill. The Democrats have over and over again blocked every attempt we've put forward to try to make at least a little modicum of sense to that bill, and they blocked it over and over again. It's about power. It's about control. It's about establishing a government insurance program that's going to take people's choices away. It's going to take their liberty away. It's going to take jobs away. It's going to take money away. I yield to Mr. King.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. In fact, I will reclaim my time. Mr. Speaker, a lot of people in this country may be saying, I can't do it. Congressman King from Iowa suggests that, but I can't come to Washington tomorrow. They may ask what could they do. What I've told people, Mr. Speaker--to many people, I've told them, What you can do is you can contact your Congressmen at home. You can contact their district offices. You can go to the U.S. Senators' State offices. You can visit them. I suggest that people at home go at noon tomorrow to their Congressmen's offices and say ``no'' to the Pelosi health insurance bill, ``no'' to the government takeover of health insurance. Maybe you're working and can't do that, Mr. Speaker. What I suggest to folks is that they get on the telephone and call their Congressmen's offices here in Washington. Call the Congressmen's offices in their districts. Email them. Fax them. Contact them somehow. I've reminded people over and over again that former U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen said, when he feels the heat, he sees the light. When he feels the heat, he sees the light. Now, what is he saying there? What he's saying is that, when he's going in one direction and he gets all of these phone calls, letters, faxes, emails--there weren't emails when Everett Dirksen was around, but when he gets these contacts from his constituents--because Members of Congress want to be reelected usually, and those contacts say, Buster, you're heading in the wrong direction. Suddenly, they start seeing the light and saying, Maybe I ought to listen to the people who've elected me, and maybe I ought to go in a different direction. So it's important for the American people, Mr. Speaker, to contact their Members of Congress and to tell their Congressmen that they do not want a government takeover of their health insurance, that they don't want the destruction of the health care system in America. It's absolutely critical, Mr. Speaker, for the American people to get actively engaged in taking America back and in making sure that we don't destroy their health care insurance and the health care system. Mr. Hoekstra is sitting there, just jumping around, wanting to speak, so I'll yield to Mr. Hoekstra.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I'll reclaim my time. In fact, those unelected bureaucrats are going to stand right between every patient in this country and their doctors. In fact, it's unelected bureaucrats appointed by the President who are going to be part of this health care czar panel, as I call it. The commissioner will be appointed and will go through confirmation by the Senate, but the panel will not. They're going to make decisions about every single health care insurance policy in this country. So, Mr. Speaker, the American people need to understand very clearly: if they have insurance today that they like, they can forget it because it's going to be thrown out. The health care czar is going to establish every single health insurance policy in America. The President, himself, has said his desire, his ultimate goal, is to completely take over the whole of the health care system and to put it into one single health insurance program, administered by government bureaucrats who are going to make decisions for every single American person. The doctor won't be making the medical decisions. The patient won't be making the medical decisions. The families won't be making the medical decisions. It's going to be a government bureaucrat who's going to be making those. The American people need to understand that, Mr. Speaker. Are they going to sit back and idly let this happen? Right now, it's slated to happen Saturday night. Saturday night we're supposed to vote on that monstrosity, on what I'm calling a dead, rotten, stinking fish that Nancy Pelosi is trying to force down the throats of the American people. The American people need to say ``no,'' Mr. Speaker. I yield to Mr. King.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. King, I thank you for this effort to get this house call on the U.S. House of Representatives. It is absolutely critical that the American people, Mr. Speaker, understand what is happening here this week and particularly is scheduled to happen Saturday night. It is going to kill 5.5 million jobs if we pass the Pelosi health insurance bill, it is going to kill our economy, and it is going to kill our children and grandchildren's future, because we are stealing with this outrageous spending that the Democrats have been doing under the leadership of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. We are stealing our grandchildren's future. Their standard of living is going to be less than ours today if we continue down this road. We have to take America back, Mr. Speaker, and it is up to we people, the American citizens, the good citizens, freedom-loving citizens, who want to work, take care of their families' needs, and want the Federal Government out of their hair. That is what we are trying to do as Republicans. But the Democrats are trying to socialize this country. Mr. Hoekstra, some people may have joined us since you first started speaking. There are two stacks of paper right there before you, and I want you to please tell the Speaker so that he can pass on to the American people what those two stacks of paper represent.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. That is not a stack.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. The Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Reclaiming my time, let's make it clear. That is the Republican alternative that the Democrats keep saying we don't have.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. It is a loss of jobs, it is a loss of everything that has made America great. I want to thank my friends, Steve King from Iowa, Pete Hoekstra from Michigan and Dr. Phil Gingrey from Georgia. This has been I hope an instructive evening for the listeners and for the Speaker, because we cannot let this bill pass. It is going to destroy freedom. It is a steamroller of socialism being driven by Nancy Pelosi. The American people need to put a stop sign in front of that steamroller of socialism.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, Dr. Gingrey. The pay-fors are through higher taxes, particularly on small business, as well as individuals who are considered rich. We are supposed to be treated equal under the law, but a lot of our colleagues on the other side don't think that is factual any more, that we need to be treated unequally under the law, which is totally unconstitutional and is against the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, basically. But what it does is this is going to destroy jobs because of the mandates upon small business. There are a lot of taxes and a lot of fees, and there are even fees and taxes on individuals who don't take their employer-offered health insurance. So it is going to force everybody in this country basically to take whatever insurance is dictated by the health care czar panel here in Washington. So taxes, the only way they get to any semblance of controlling the amount of money that this bill calls for, which is way over $1 trillion--and, in fact, I think that is going to be very low. When we saw Medicare presented, the Congressional Budget Office miscalculated. Their calculation was almost one-tenth of what the true cost was over the decade following passage of Medicare, and I think that is what we are going to see with the Pelosi health insurance bill, too. But there are tremendous taxes on everybody in this country. And it is going to be a tax on the middle class, because they have got to tax durable medical equipment. That is going to go up. They are going to tax the Cadillac insurance plans. So that means people who have good insurance, privately provided today, that is going to go up. There are going to be taxes on small businesses. Right now, the bill says if an individual makes over $500,000 or a couple over $1 million a year, that is adjusted gross income, that they are going to have a big tax on them. Well, a lot of those people are actually small business men and women, and that is their adjusted gross. They are filing their personal income tax return as a Sub S corporation or as a limited liability partnership, like a lot of physicians, accountants, and lawyers have. Small businesses, they are going to be taxed, taxed, taxed, and that is the reason that the experts say 5.5 million jobs are going to be destroyed. People are going to lose their job because of this Nancy Pelosi health insurance plan.