Paul Broun

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, this whole cap-and-tax philosophy is a hoax. It's a hoax. It's a hoax on the American people, and it's a hoax because it's giving a promise that cannot be fulfilled. We are promised by the Democrats that this is going to create green jobs. Going back to what the gentleman from Spain said as Mr. Akin and you, Mr. King, were talking about, he said it cost jobs. Going back to the figure that you put out, Mr. King, they had an unemployment rate of 17.5 percent because of their cap-and-tax, cap-and-trade policy that they put in place. The experts have looked at our economy, at our job market, and we're being promised green jobs. But the experts say that for every single green job that's produced, we're going to lose 2.2 other jobs, a net loss of 1.2 jobs for every job created in this false promise, this empty promise of creating jobs. Now to buy off some certain groups, particularly the retirees and the poor people, they're going to give--who knows what, refundable tax credits--the President and Mr. Waxman and others are promising to give more money to the poor people to take care of this higher tax, higher food cost, higher cost for all goods and services. Where's that going to come from? It's going to steal from my grandchildren. It's stealing from their future. Don't be fooled by this hoax, by all the smoke and mirrors, by all this promise because it's not going to do anything but cost jobs. It's going to create a higher cost of living for everybody, and it's going to put us in a deeper recession, maybe even a depression if we continue down this road. Republicans have offered amendment after amendment in the committee, but they've been defeated by the Democrats. Amendments to even just stop this from going into place if the gas taxes or gas costs go too high or if electric prices go too high or if other prices go too high for the American people. But the Democrats have voted uniformly not to accept those amendments over and over again. Congresswoman Lummis from Wyoming talked very eloquently about some of the ideas that Republicans are producing. The American people are told that the Republican Party is the Party of No. Well, I agree with that. We are the Party of No, but the know is K-N-O-W. We know how to solve this economic downturn. We know how to solve some of the financing problems in health care. We know how to create an all-of-the- above solution to the energy problem to make America energy independent. But the Speaker of the House has been an obstructionist. She has been an obstructionist and not allowed any idea that we have proposed for all these things to stimulate the economy, to solve the problem we had with the housing market and to solve the banking problem. We have not been allowed. All of our ideas have been blocked by the leadership of this House and the leadership of the Senate.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. It has skyrocketed. They're really not fulfilling the obligation that they have under the charter of developing the Department of Energy, so they've been an abject failure at what they were charged to do.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I thank you, Dr. Roe, for yielding me some time. I want to make sure that the American people know what we're talking about. We on the Republican side are offering alternatives for the health care financing problems we have in America, and they are huge. People cannot afford to buy insurance. There are a number of people who are struggling just to have halfway decent health care insurance coverage, and that is a huge problem that we need to fix, and we need to do it as quickly as we can. I agree with Dr. Gingrey, my colleague from Georgia, that we can fix that system. We need to, and we need to do it as quickly as we possibly can. Yet what's being proposed from the other side of the aisle, from the Democrat side, is to set up a Washington-based health care system where health care decisions are going to be made by some bureaucrat here in Washington, D.C. That bureaucrat will tell your doctor how he can deliver your care--what care he can give you and when he can give it to you. What that's going to do is take away your choice. You may not have a choice of your doctor. You may not have a choice of what hospital you go to. You may not have a choice of whether you can even get some kind of procedure or a test or not. What it's going to do is it's going to delay your being able to get those tests and those procedures even if the Federal bureaucrat says that you may have them. We can't go down that road. It's going to destroy the quality of health care. It's going to destroy the health provisions that you're getting today as an American. I don't want that, and I'm sure you don't want that. I'm sure Dr. Roe doesn't want that. I'm sure no physician, at least on our side of the aisle, wants that kind of a health care system to deliver your health to you by some Washington bureaucrat. We've got to stop that, and it's up to the American people to do so. We're offering alternatives, many alternatives. I know one of our colleagues I talked to today is introducing a bill tomorrow that is going to be a health care reform bill. Our health care working group is developing a plan. I'm developing one in my office also that's independent of everything else, but we need to develop a solution that is patient-centered, not Washington-centered. We need to develop a plan that gives the American people the choice--the choice of their doctor, the choice of their hospital, the choice of whether they get a procedure or not. It should not be made by some Washington bureaucracy or bureaucrat or Federal bureaucrat anywhere, whether it is in Atlanta--in my own State--or in Knoxville or anyplace else. We've got to develop a health care system that is patient-centered to give patients the choices that they deserve and they desperately need. We, as Republicans, are going to give you that opportunity. The opportunity is not going to be available from the other side of the aisle. They're developing a socialized medicine program, a Washington- based health care system to give your health to you by some Washington bureaucrat, not by a doctor. And the American people need to know that very clearly, Dr. Roe, because they have a choice. Is it a choice between a Washington-based health care system, or is it a choice of a patient-centered health care system where those decisions are made in the doctor-patient relationship? And that is what we're offering. And I'm just encouraging the American citizens all over this country to write their Congressmen, write their Senators and demand a patient- centered health care system. Demand that our alternatives are heard. Nancy Pelosi has blocked--she has been an obstructionist for every single alternative that we've offered whether it's for energy, whether it's for environmental issues, whether it's spending, whether it's straightening out this economic situation, as well as the health care solution. She has been an obstructionist. She's blocked every attempt we've made to deliver to the American people alternatives that make sense from an economic perspective as well as a market-based perspective. So we need to give our plans the light of day. And the American people are going to have to demand that, Dr. Roe. It's the only way it's going to happen. And I encourage people to contact their Members of Congress and demand that we slow this steamroll of socialism, as I'm calling it, this rolling over--the financial services industry is rolling over the car manufacturing; it's rolling over now the health delivery system. And we, as Americans, need to demand that all alternatives are heard, that we have the time to put something in place that makes sense to give patients the choice that they need. So I congratulate you for doing this. It's absolutely critical for the future of health care. If we continue down this road that the Democrats have taken, it's going to destroy the quality of health that we deliver as physicians to our patients, that you did as a practitioner for so many years and I have, also, for so many years. So I thank you so much.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my resolution, House Resolution 386, which honors my alma mater, the University of Georgia, and especially the women's gymnastic team, who have, once again, won the NCAA national championship. I would like to thank the chairman, the ranking member, and the staff of the House Committee on Education and Labor for working with me and my staff to bring this resolution to the floor. A new level of excellence has now been set by the University of Georgia's gymnastics program. For 5 consecutive years, this team has earned a championship crown, giving the University of Georgia the most successful women's gymnastics program in collegiate history and making Suzanne Yoculan the sport's most successful coach. This historic team, led by four dedicated seniors, rallied for a dramatic come-from-behind win to allow Coach Yoculan to retire on top. In fact, during 18 of Ms. Yoculan's 26 years as head coach, she has taken her squad to a Southeastern Conference title, an NCAA championship title, or both. The University of Georgia's women's gymnastics team certainly deserves our congratulations for their hard work in winning a championship, but they should also be recognized for their outstanding academic achievements. They posted a collective 3.36 GPA. Boy, that is something for an athlete to be able to have that kind of GPA. But to have the coach of a team that gives us that collective GPA, that is unheard of almost. I congratulate the Gym Dogs for another championship, and I urge my colleagues to join me in praising their achievements, both in and out of the classroom, by voting for this resolution.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, this week, the Energy and Commerce Committee will take up a bill that will put a huge tax on every single family in America--rich, poor and in between. It's going to hurt the people who can afford this tax the least--the poor, the retirees who are on a limited income. It has been estimated that this tax is going to increase the tax burden on every single family by over $3,000. Most families in this country can't afford to pay an extra $3,000 in taxes. Not only that, it is going to raise the cost of every single good and service in America. Food is going to go up. Medicine is going to go up. Health care insurance is going to go up. Everything in this country will go up because it's an attack on the energy producers and on the energy consumers in America. We have got to stop it. The American people need to understand what this is all about. It's not about cleaning up the environment. It's about creating more revenue for the Federal Government to grow a bigger Federal Government, a bigger socialistic government. We are taxing too much. We are spending too much. We are borrowing too much. What this will do is it will steal our grandchildren's future. It is immoral. The people who are promoting this should be ashamed of themselves. We've got to stop it, and the American people need to stand up and say ``no'' to this tax-and-trade. I call it tax-and-cap. A lot of people on our side call it cap-and-tax. It's about taxing. It's about more revenue for the Federal Government. It's about just taking money from people who cannot afford to give money to the Federal Government. It's about promoting an agenda that FDR followed during the Great Depression that extended deep into the recession and depression during that time. That is exactly what I believe is going to happen to our economy if we go down this road. We have a steamroller of socialism being driven by Nancy Pelosi and by Harry Reid, and it's being fueled by the administration and Barack Obama. The American people need to put a stop sign and speed bumps in the path of this steamroller. We see the federalization and the nationalization of the financial services industry. We see car dealerships being closed by this administration. That's unconstitutional. It has never been done in the history of this Nation, and we need to stop it. We see this administration and the Congress wanting to socialize health care, making a Washington-based health care system that is going to take away patients' choices. It's going to increase the cost of all health care. It's going to destroy the quality of health care in America. We've got to stop it, and it's up to the American people to do so by contacting their Members of Congress and saying ``no.'' We have to develop a grassfire of grass-roots support all over this country to say ``no'' to this steamroller of socialism. Former U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen at one time said, when he feels the heat, he sees the light. The American people need to put the heat on Members of Congress in the House and the Senate and say ``no'' to a Washington-based health care system. Say ``yes'' to a patient-based health care system that the Republicans and, in fact, in our office are generating. We need to change the health care financing system, but it needs to be patient-based, not Washington-based. It needs to be based on choice by patients where decisions are made within the doctor- patient relationship, not made by some bureaucrat in Washington, DC. So we have got to put a stop to this. We are stealing our children's future. We are going to destroy what this country was built upon. This country was built upon a free market system, and we are taking over the free market system here in Washington and are making it all socialized, all Washington-based. So it's up to the American people to say ``no.'' I encourage you to contact your Congressman, your Senator and say ``no'' to this cap-and-trade bill. Say ``no'' to socialized medicine and what is being promoted by the Democratic majority. Say ``no'' to this socialization of all of our market system. We've got a picture of exactly where we're going. All we've got to do is look in Venezuela. We are going down the same track that Venezuela is going down. We see the end results, too. We've got a clear picture of that. All we have to do is look at East Berlin during the time that the wall was there under Communist rule. All we have to do is look at Cuba today, and we see where this country is headed if we don't put a stop to it. It's up to the American people. So please, folks out there, say ``no'' to this steamroller of socialism and ``yes'' to a free market solution to all of these problems so that we can build a stronger economy. We have to leave dollars in the hands of small businesses to create jobs and to buy inventory. That's what, as Republicans, we are proposing. So, please, American people. Say ``no'' to this steamroller of socialism.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for yielding. And you bring out a great point. Mr. Speaker, cap-and-trade is not about the environment. And, in fact, the President recently said that if this is not passed into law, then he will not have the revenue to foster or pay for the Big Government that he is trying to force down the throats of the American people. This is not about the environment. Mr. King, you brought that out very clearly. This is about greater revenue. It is a about a tax, cap-and- tax. I call it ``tax-and-cap'' because tax is what this is all about. And your chart right there brings out a very strong point. Even the President says that electricity rates will skyrocket. Every single energy source in this country will skyrocket. That means that everything is going to go up in price, food, medicine, health care, all goods and services are going to go up. Why? Because the leadership in this House, the leadership in the U.S. Senate, the administration, wants to continue down a road towards total government control of everything that people do. There is a word for that. It is called ``socialism.'' And that is exactly what they are doing. They are driving a steamroller of socialism that is being forced down the throats of the American people. And it is going to strangle our economy. It is going to hurt the people that our Democratic colleagues say that they represent the most. Electricity costs and heating costs are going to affect the retirees, people on limited income and the poor people more than anybody else. My good friend from Iowa made some excellent points. And I just want to reiterate what you said. It is going to cost the American people a tremendous amount of money. The American Association of Manufacturers has estimated that every single family in this country is going to pay $3,128 more in taxes. Everybody is going to have that tax burden placed on them plus the increased cost of all goods and services. And it has to stop. The American people can do something about it. They can tell their Members of Congress, We don't want this tax-and-cap bill to pass. And it is absolutely critical for the people all over this country to call their Congressman, call their Senators and say ``no'' to this crazy cap-and-trade policy that is being forced down their throats. And it has just got to stop because it is going to kill our economy. It is going to hurt everybody in this country. And I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, Dr. Gingrey, for yielding. As you were discussing the past flu epidemics and the 1976 swine flu that happened back then, I was practicing medicine in rural southwest Georgia. At the time, of course, the recommendations were for everybody in this country to get a swine flu vaccine. As a practitioner, I was concerned about that, and I was asked by many of my own patients should they get this flu vaccine. And, frankly, I was not recommending it because, as I looked at the data that were available at that time, I just really questioned the wisdom of exposing people to the vaccine. So I was not recommending it to my own patients. I did not get the vaccine myself. And actually, in my practice, which was a very busy general practice in rural southwest Georgia, I did not have one single patient come down with swine flu, not the first one. But I had several patients get Guillain-Barre syndrome from the vaccine. One was a good friend of mine who was a newspaper publisher in the community, and he struggled and his family struggled with his paralysis. But people died. A lot of folks don't consider that these vaccines aren't innocuous. There are side effects and can be tragic side effects and can lead to death. More people died from the vaccine than died from the swine flu back then. Just Monday I was chairing a facility at the vet school at the University of Georgia, in Athens, Georgia, and went into a biocontainment lab, a level 3 biocontainment lab. There's a researcher there who's doing probably the cutting-edge technology research on this infection that we have out in the public today. He came from the CDC before he came to the University of Georgia, and he deals with these viruses. They have some pretty potent viruses in their laboratory there. And he told me that a week ago he was telling the CDC and the people in the Federal Government, anybody who would listen, NIH, et cetera, that this virus did not have the characteristics of being what we call in medicine a very virulent virus. In other words, it was not one that was going to create a lot of infections and severe infections in this country. I asked him, why do we see in Mexico people dying at a greater rate than we do here? And he said, well, we really don't have the data of how many people are infected down there. But from what he could ascertain, and he was part of the group who was studying the virus in Mexico, and he said that down there the people who are getting the virus, this current infection, and who were having severe difficulties and were dying principally were people that had other what we in medicine call comorbid conditions. In other words, they had respiratory problems. They had other illnesses that created a problem where they would develop secondary infections and die.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Very quickly, I want to bring out that the economic health of the government is very important for fiscal health, too. I think a lot of people who may be dying in Mexico is because of their poor economic health, and we are going down a road now with this tax-and-cap policy that is being fostered by the Democratic majority to tax energy, which is going to create a tremendous downturn in our economy. It is going to put people out of work. And we have got to stop that, too, because it is going to affect the physical health of those people who aren't able to buy their insurance, who aren't able to go to the drug store and buy their Tamiflu or their antibiotics. So economic health is going to be critical for physical health, and we have got to stop this cap-and-tax policy that Nancy Pelosi and company are trying to force down the throats of the American people.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. While we are talking about defense, let me point out something else, too, that was a cost decision evidently by this administration. The North Korean Government fired off a rocket. It wasn't quite successful, but they are working on intercontinental ballistic capability, and they are developing nuclear weapon technology in North Korea. We know that without a question. The day after the North Koreans fired off their rocket, our President announced that he was going to cut the antimissile defense spending. And we need that spending. We need an antimissile defense system in this country more than we ever have. President Reagan suggested that we develop an umbrella over this country, an umbrella that would make nuclear weapons totally obsolete. But this administration wants to cut that antimissile spending which we desperately need and is, in fact, one of the most important constitutional functions of the Federal Government. We need the F-22 Raptor. We need the antimissile defense system. I don't think we need to spend $1.5 billion on a flu vaccine when already the research shows that it is not going to be very virulent. Before I yield back, I would like to make a very strong point here. We are stealing our grandchildren's future by borrowing and spending. We are borrowing too much, we are spending too much, we are taxing too much, and it has to stop. And we need to spend on things that are critical, that are constitutional, that have to do with our national defense, that have to do with our national security. And we need to drive things by science and not by hysteria. This hysteria over the flu is driving the media and is driving the administration, driving the leadership here. We have got to stop that.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I would like the gentleman to clarify something for me. You made a statement, and I am not sure if I understood it. It is my impression that actually it is the administration who decided to cancel the Raptor, the F-22. It wasn't the Air Force. Is that correct? What was the situation?

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Dr. Gingrey is exactly right. And I want to know what this $1.5 billion or $2 billion that the President has proposed to spend on this flu outbreak is going to be spent on? Is it going to be a useful expenditure? Is it going to be needed? We saw in 1976 under President Ford when they spent all that money that actually caused more harm than good. More people died and had disease from the vaccine. Now, we have better technology; in fact, the gentleman at the University of Georgia has just some outstanding technology today where they can help develop vaccines very quickly. But still, it takes a while to produce enough vaccines to be able to help if they are needed. And what we see in this particular flu outbreak is that I don't think they are needed. I don't think we need to be appropriating $1.5 billion or $2 billion for the H1N1 flu. We need to give those funds to our military personnel to keep them from dying in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. That's correct.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. The gentleman is exactly right. The severity of the illness makes a big difference. Dr. Gingrey, you had been talking about the doctor taking the time to do a history and physical, which is extremely important. I want to point out here, just to go off on a tangent for just a moment, as we see what the majority here in this House is trying to propose, this push towards socialized medicine, doctors aren't going to have time to take a proper history and physical because they are going to be pushed to ration care. And so that socialized medicine that's being pushed by the leadership in the House and the Senate is not the way to go, and it's going to hurt people more than help people. And it's going to be disastrous economically. But getting back to the flu, if somebody is concerned, they need to look at the possibility of this person having the flu. My daughter called me up just the other day when this was so hot in the news, and she was concerned she might have the flu. Well, she is a stay-at-home mom. She hasn't been out to be exposed to anybody where she would get the flu. So people need to have a little common sense about this as they think about this. Just because it's in the news doesn't mean that they are going to get it. Just because WHO is saying that there is a pandemic, that just means that people in multiple areas have the flu, and it doesn't mean that people are going to be dying in wholesale lots.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. You are exactly right, Dr. Gingrey. Putting people on antibiotics or just taking Tamiflu because you are scared is not a good utilization of your money. And certainly the health system is overburdened by the misuse or overuse of antibiotics and all kinds of drugs. But you brought up a good point too that I wanted to focus on just a second. And the thing is, if a child starts or a person, adult, starts running a fever, if they don't have any other health problems, if they don't have chronic lung disease, if they don't have severe asthma or chronic bronchitis, if they don't have diabetes where they are more liable to develop infection, secondary infections, if somebody is basically healthy, then waiting for 24 hours is not going to hurt those healthy people, in all likelihood. It's worthwhile monitoring that patient, just seeing what they do, treating the fever with some Tylenol or Advil, one of those types of medicine.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. No, I would say that they don't need a culture unless they're at high risk. In other words, if they had been in Mexico, particularly Mexico City, which is apparently where the nidus of this infection began--we don't really know for sure, but if people have been in Mexico City, if it's within the incubation period, which is about a week, and start running a fever, then maybe it is a good idea for them to have the culture done or the flu test done to see if this is indeed the swine flu. But the thing is, the treatment that they are going to get, even if they have the H1N1 flu is not any different than if they have any other of the viruses. The big question is, do they need antibiotics or not? Do they need the antiviral, the Tamiflu-Relenza types of medications, or are they better off with penicillin or some of these other high- powered drugs that are on the market today? And a CBC, a complete blood count, will help the doctor to understand whether they have a viral infection or bacterial infection. If their white blood count is high, if they have what we say is a left shift, in other words if they have types of white blood cells that indicate a bacterial infection, then they do need antibiotics. They do need a bacterial culture just to see if any of the antibiotics that the doctor prescribes are going to eradicate that particular bacteria. But as I mentioned earlier, most fevers, most colds, most pneumonias, most bronchitis, most ear infections are not caused by bacterial infections. So utilizing antibiotics in those cases is a huge waste of money, it exposes the patients to developing allergies to those antibiotics. Plus, it also sets up a situation where people can develop a superinfection. So they need to be evaluated, but let the doctor direct how that care is going on. Hopefully, that answers your question.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Certainly I would be happy to discuss how I approach patients. In fact, I've had patients come in and say, Dr. Broun, I don't want to get the flu. I want some Tamiflu or I want Relenza. And, frankly, taking it prophylactically may help, but the thing that we are doing is we are spending a lot of money to take that, and once they take the preventative, if just a few weeks later they get exposed, then they could still get the flu. It doesn't have a lasting effect. So what we do know is that taking these antivirals like Tamiflu and Relenza, if you take those very early on in the course when people first start getting a fever, when they first start aching all over, when they first start getting the runny nose and the cough and the sore throat, if they'll go to their doctor then and be evaluated to see if they indeed do have the flu and then get on the medicines, that's the best way, most cost-effective way of treating this. Now, a lot of patients will come in the office and say, I've got the flu, I want antibiotics, or they'll call on the phone and say, Dr. Broun, I'm running a fever, I need an antibiotic. Well, most fevers aren't susceptible to antibiotics because most fevers are due to viral illnesses. Even allergies can cause fevers. Fever in itself doesn't indicate that a patient needs an antibiotic.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, you are exactly right. And we have had over 400 cases that have been reported here. In fact, there have been several cases in our own State of Georgia that have been diagnosed serologically, which means through the testing that they do, indeed, have the type-A H1N1 flu, but in most cases it's very mild. And the people that are dying, this 23-month-old infant, as well as the lady in Texas, both by reports, we don't know for sure, by reports, those people had other conditions that led them to have the possibility of secondary infections. The way I remind my colleague--I don't have to remind my colleague, because he knows very well that the way people die from flu is through pneumonia, through respiratory difficulties and, and they will develop severe respiratory stress syndrome or some other types of respiratory problems or will develop pneumonia and die from the pneumonia. Frequently, it's a bacterial pneumonia with these co-morbid, as we say in medicine, conditions that give them the greater possibility of developing those types of things. But going to your doctor, or even consulting your doctor or even the doctors and nurse by phone is, I think, an appropriate reaction in not being afraid as the American public are. As I mentioned, my friend at the University of Georgia has been telling the people within government, the government entities, the CDC and all, that this particular flu is not of epidemic proportions. It's not one that is going to be very virulent and, thus, is not going to create a lot of severe problems besides these two deaths, which are tragic. We have had very little problems in America with the flu. And my friend also said with it being more widespread in Mexico, he doesn't really have the data but he thinks that probably in Mexico, where we have seen people die, a whole lot more than here, that it's probably the same proportion of deaths that we see with every flu epidemic. So people shouldn't be afraid. He also tells me that there is a possibility that next fall we are going to see this same H1N1 flu virus come back to America and come back as a potential infection, viral infection, on a bigger scale; but people should just do the commonsense things to help them from having the flu, which means they should wash their hands. If somebody is running a fever, they should talk to the doctor and not send the child to school who is running a fever. They need to make sure that they keep their fingers out of their nose and keep their hands out of their mouth and things like this. It may be just common sense. I have had some of the liberals who don't particularly like me in my district complain about my making those recommendations, but people don't think about those things. And it's important to do those commonsense things to prevent yourself from getting the flu. So we need to just do those commonsense epidemiological measures of trying to prevent ourselves from getting the flu and not be afraid.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I appreciate the gentleman's bringing that up. You're exactly right. Any death is tragic and we in medicine try to prevent all deaths. When I graduated from the medical college in Georgia just like you did, I think you were a year ahead of me there in Augusta or maybe two, but I took the Hippocratic oath. They don't do that in medical school because the Hippocratic oath says, ``I shall do no harm,'' and it says ``I shall not perform an abortion,'' and Roe v. Wade has changed that; so medical schools are not taking the Hippocratic oath anymore because there are doctors that are doing harm. They're killing babies through abortion. I am very pro-life, and I know that life begins at fertilization, and I want to protect all life. And it's tragic whenever a life is taken, whether it's an unborn child or whether it's a 23-month-old child that that died like this one from this H1N1 type A flu or whether it's an elderly person. But what happens, and particularly has happened in this case, is I think the gentleman is exactly right that the media has overblown this. There is a lot of misunderstanding when the World Health Organization, the WHO, says there is a pandemic. What does that mean? Most people in America think, well, people are going to be dying in wholesale lots all over this country as they did in the early part of the last century. Well, the World Health Organization, when they talk about a pandemic, they just mean there's flu in multiple areas, and it doesn't mean that people are going to be dying. In fact, the flu in America has been very mild. Most people, as it was in 1976, who have contracted the flu go about their business. And that is a danger in that people, if they start running a fever, they need to stay home, whether it's with this flu episode or any flu episode. They need to take care of themselves. If they run a fever more than a day or two, as a primary care physician, I would tell them they need to see their physician. Now, they don't need to take antibiotics.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I thank my dear friend John Shimkus for leading this hour, and I congratulate him on his leadership on this extremely important issue on energy. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are once again trying to pass off baloney for prime rib. In the last 100-plus days, we have seen nonstimulating stimulus packages, and we are probably going to see some more, secretive bills in an ``open and transparent'' Congress, and trillion dollar commitments to fiscal responsibility. Clearly, liberals have a monopoly on the misnomer. Unfortunately, the disguises are out again today with this tax-and-cap plan. We must not be fooled by the rhetoric. This is a $646 billion tax that will impact every American family, small business, and family farm. Family energy costs will rise by more than $3,100 a year for every family. This is an outrageous tax on every family that drives a car, buys American products, or flips on their light switch when they come home. So unless your name is Fred Flintstone or you live in a cave, you will be impacted by this tax. Senior citizens, the poor, and the unemployed will be hit the hardest by this tax as experts agree that they spend a greater portion of their income on energy consumption. This is a time when we should be promoting policies that stimulate our economy and not tear it down. Various studies suggest that anywhere from 1.8 million to 7 million jobs will be lost by this tax-and-cap policy. Make no mistake that the Democrats' airtight cap will suffocate America's small businesses, crippling America's respiratory system, the free economy. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle will claim that this tax-and-cap will help clean up the environment; however, this doesn't seem that it is even about the environment or global warming anymore. This has turned into a revenue generator for Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid's radical agenda, their steamroller of socialism that is being shoved down the throats of the American people, and that agenda includes socialized medicine. The tax-and-trade will be one of the largest sources of revenue for their new radical socialistic agenda. Mr. Speaker, the cat is out of the bag, and the American people see through the disguises, rhetoric and misnomers. Taxing families during an economic recession is not the only way to clean up the environment. Fortunately for the American people, Republicans have offered an alternative to this unaffordable new energy tax that no one can afford. We believe that you can clean up the environment and keep jobs at the same time. Our solutions include American energy produced by American workers to create American jobs. Our all-of-the-above energy plan brings us closer to energy independence, encourages greater efficiency and conservation, promotes the use of alternative fuels, and lowers gas prices. And don't think Democrats aren't doing any back-scratching when it comes to their new energy tax. The Washington Times reported yesterday that a loophole has been tucked into this legislation written by the congressional liberals that would exempt at least one major energy company from at least one of the many onerous provisions of the Democrats' national energy tax plan, ultimately leaving hardworking families and small businesses to pick up the tab. I encourage all the non-Fred and Wilma Flintstones in America out there to stand up and demand straightforward answers from your lawmakers about this new energy tax that is being promoted by Nancy Pelosi and company, and encourage your lawmakers instead to support an all-of-the-above energy plan that removes our dependence upon foreign oil, lowers energy costs, and will create more jobs. I thank the gentleman for yielding. We have got to stop this tax-and- cap plan that is being promoted by the leadership of this House and Senate. It is going to kill the American economy, it is going to cost jobs, and I congratulate my dear friend from Illinois for bringing all this out and being a leader in promoting responsible energy policy for America that the American public can count upon. And I congratulate you.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. If the gentleman will yield a moment, government regulation, government control--Medicare policy is driving the health care system. It is so expensive today because of government intervention in the health care decisionmaking process. Let me give you an example of how government regulation markedly increases the cost. When I was in an office down in southwest Georgia, I had a small, automated lab. If a patient comes in to see me with a red sore throat with white patches, running a fever, coughing, runny nose, I would do a CBC to see if they had a bacterial infection and thus needed antibiotics, or had a viral infection because it looks the same. Don't need the expensive antibiotics, don't need the exposure of the antibiotics. I charge $12 for the test. It took 5 minutes to do it in my office. A totally automated lab with quality control because I wanted to make sure that the quality of the test was correct. Congress passed a bill, signed into law, called the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act, CLIA; shut down my lab--every doctor's lab across the country. The same test, I had to send the patient over to the hospital. It took 2 to 3 hours--which I could do in 5 minutes--cost $75. Now, you think about how that increased the cost across the whole health care system. It markedly exploded the cost of all insurance to everybody, government as well as the private sector. We have got to get the regulatory burden off the health care system. We have got to put market-based solutions in the system. And we can solve these problems, but that is exactly what we need to do.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for yielding. He just brought up a good point about--Dr. Gingrey did also--about the reimbursement rates. I'm a general practitioner, and I've done a full-time house call medical practice prior to being elected to Congress 2 years ago. I would go see my patients at their home, at their work, and I did that full time. Prior to that, though, I was in an office. And the reimbursement rate for all primary care physicians in this country is dismal. And that is the reason that, what Dr. Gingrey was saying, that even the physicians who have quit taking Medicare, a lot of those are primary care docs, family practitioners and internists, pediatricians--and there are some pediatricians that do see Medicare patients that are disabled. And so the physicians have had to quit practicing on patients that are on Medicare or Medicaid. I want to make a point tonight--and I think you all are making great points--but we have two very different opinions of how to tackle this issue. On one hand, we have the Democratic Party's philosophy, which I have been describing as a ``steamroller of socialism'' that is being shoved down the throats of the American public. And it is going to strangle the American economy; it is going to actually slay the American people economically. And one of those issues that the steamroller of socialism is rolling over is health care. What Nancy Pelosi and company here in the House and Harry Reid over in the Senate are proposing are policies that are going to destroy the quality of health care. On one hand, they want Federal bureaucrats making health care decisions. On the other hand, Republicans have plans--several, actually--that will allow the doctor/patient relationship to be how health care decisions are made. On the Democratic Party's plan, government bureaucrats are going to be setting the fees. On the other hand, the Republicans' plans will allow the marketplace to set those fees. The Democratic Party's plan, on their hand, we see basically a monopoly controlled by the Federal Government. On the other hand, the Republican plan allows market decisions, marketplace factors to control the quality, quantity, and cost of all health care decisions, as it should be. I believe very firmly in the marketplace, and I think the marketplace can make the quality of care be high. The cost of care--whether it is insurance, or doctors offices, or pharmaceuticals, or durable medical equipment, or infusion services, all these things--the marketplace is the best way to control the quality, cost, as well as the quantity of all the goods and services even in health care. And so the American public have really two alternatives; one is the steamroller of socialism that is being fostered by the majority here in this House, the majority in the U.S. Senate, and the administration. They want to totally socialize health care. When they talk about health care reform and comprehensive health care reform, those are code words for them for socialized medicine. When we talk about comprehensive health care, we are talking about changing the whole system to allow the doctor/patient relationship to be how health care decisions are made, to allow patients to own their insurance instead of the government owning their insurance. And we have plan after plan; but unfortunately, the Democratic majority are obstructing us being able to even present those plans here on the floor of the House. The American people are going to have to demand of the Democrats, demand of their Members of Congress, Republican and Democratic alike, that we want an alternative, a private system alternative, an alternative that will allow me, as a patient, to make health care decisions so that I don't have some government bureaucrat rationing the care that me or my mom or my daddy or grandma gets, or my children. And those are the opportunities that the American public have; do we want a socialized health care system that is being mandated by the Federal Government, by the Democratic majority, or do we want to have comprehensive health care that makes sense, that is delivered in the private system where the doctor/patient relationship is how health care decisions are made, where patients own their own insurance, where patients make their decisions, not some government bureaucrat? We have got to demand better than this plan that the Democratic majority is trying to force down the throat of the American people. And it is up to the American people to demand from the Democrats, say no, we don't want this socialized medicine. We want the Republican plan to be voted on in the U.S. House. We demand it. And that is the way we are going to see responsible, market-based health care decisions brought about. Mr. Scalise, I yield back.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I rise today to honor the centennial anniversary of an outstanding institution in my district: Tallulah Falls School. Located in Northeast Georgia near the Chattooga River, this school continues to thrive after one hundred years of instilling impeccable values and a superb work ethic in its students. Though the school was formally dedicated on June 30, 1909, its first director, Mary Ann Lipscomb, began teaching the poor Georgia mountain children to read on her front porch in 1905. Quickly noticing the poor living conditions and a dire need for basic education, Mrs. Lipscomb petitioned the Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs to establish a school at Tallulah Falls. Right away Tallulah Falls School was appreciated by the surrounding community. Not long after its creation, this school was recognized across the nation as a success by both the Dean of American Journalism and Good Housekeeping. In 1944, the original Willet Building was destroyed by fire. But within seven months, over $55,000 had been raised for reconstruction--an amazing amount considering that the Great Depression was just coming to an end and World War II was raging. In the late 1980's, the school once again gained national exposure when nine of its students, led by Martha Cantrell, met with President George H.W. Bush to receive their award for naming the space shuttle Endeavour. Today, this great school is still producing successful citizens while expanding to include both boarding students and day students. As many in Congress seek new and untested policies on education, I urge my colleagues to instead look to what has worked for a hundred years; the tried and true principles of Tallulah Falls School. We can learn so much from this school as we learn from its past and applaud its growth into the future. Madam Speaker, I applaud the great effort by the teachers and students of Tallulah Falls School and congratulate them on celebrating 100 years of academic excellence.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for yielding. This budget that we are considering steals our grandchildren's future. We are spending too much, we are taxing too much, we are borrowing too much, and it has to stop. My dear friend, Mr. Boyd from Florida, said we have to be fiscally responsible as a Nation, and I could not agree more. But this budget is being forced down the throats of the American people. It's a steamroll of socialism being shoved down the throats of the American people, and it's going to strangle the American economy. It's going to slay the American people, choke them to death economically, and we have got to stop it. The majority is using this reconciliation in a dictatorial manner to try to force their philosophy of big government, of socialistic government, of total control of everything. I am a medical doctor, and the health care issues that we hear, the speaker just prior to me, was talking about offering health insurance to 11 million children. I want to see everybody in this country have health care provided to them. In fact, they can today, but the health care policies that are being fostered by the Democratic majority are going to destroy the health care system. The cost is going to be enormous. The quality of care is going to go down. We are going to have tremendous rationing of health care all over this country. It's going to take the decisionmaking process out of the hands of doctors and patients, and it's going to put it in the hands of Federal bureaucrats who have no medical training, and it's morally wrong. We have got to stop this. I rise today in objection to this Democratic process and to this Democratic budget, a budget proposed by the administration that is going to destroy our economy. We have got to stop this steamrolling. We have got to put up speed bumps and stop signs. This steamroll is going to roll over doctors and patients, and it's going to smash them, and it's going to destroy the health care industry. It's going to force through the cap-and-tax policies of this administration. And this Democratic majority is proposing it is going to send jobs overseas. It's going to markedly increase the costs of all goods and services in America, food, drugs. Every single good and service in America is going to go up because of the policy that's being forced down the throats of the American people. The American people need to rise up and say ``no'' to this budget, to this process. It's totally wrong. We are stealing our grandchildren's and our children's future. We have got to stop this. We need to be fiscally responsible. The Bush administration was not--but this markedly forces things down the throats of the American people, and we must stop it.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Chair, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) just indicated his intention to vote for the Democratic budget. I wonder if the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) knows that this Democratic budget raises taxes by $1.2 trillion; it makes each American's share of the national debt $70,000 dollars; or that it opens the door to a national energy tax that will cost every single family in America at least $3,128 a year. Madam Chair, knowing that, does the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) still intend to vote for this Democratic budget? I would yield to the gentleman from Virginia to please answer my questions.