Keith Ellison

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. Certainly.

Mr. ELLISON. While the gentlelady yields back, let me thank her as well. The fact is that by bringing this important story about the Bakewell family--well known throughout the country, particularly in Los Angeles, but really all over--it shows that health care reform is something that everybody needs. It is not something that some people have to worry about and some people don't; it's something that all Americans have to focus on because none of us are immune. If you don't have health care, then you are among those 59 million Americans who are just going to bed every night hoping and praying that you don't get sick; and if you do, you know you're going to be in for a very difficult time. And you may be among those 250 million Americans who have either employer-based health care or have health care through either Medicare or Medicaid or VA or something like that, a government-run program. In that case, you know that your employer-based health care has seen premiums double in the last 10 years and are likely to double in the next 10 years. So no matter whether you're among the uninsured who need change or the insured who need change, we all need change. And so it's critically important that we bang the gong and keep it up and don't back down on this important issue. If I may--and I invite the gentlelady to ask me to yield at any time, but I just want to make a quick point before we do. We have been joined by the gentlelady from Maryland, Donna Edwards, who is a clear voice on this issue, who has been creative, who has been consistent. And we just want to let the gentlelady from Maryland make some remarks as we begin this hour so that we can sort of get into our colloquy.

Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, my name is Keith Ellison, and I'm a Congressman from the great State of Minnesota, and I'm honored to claim this Special Order, this 1 hour, for the Progressive Caucus to talk about the values of Progressive ideals, the values associated with a progressive America in which people are included and which we believe in generosity, where we believe in valuing people, where we believe in civil rights, care for the Earth and creation, where we care about living in a world in which middle class people, working people, the hardworking people of America and the world can have a prosperous life and where people can do well. The Progressive Caucus, designed and approved and coming together to signal to the American people that in Congress there is a body of Members of the Congress who are willing to stand up for the values that have made America great, values such as workers' rights, such as the weekend, such as the 5-day week, such as work and safety laws, such as worker's compensation, such as Social Security. These are all progressive steps forward, such as civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, such as the respect for all religious groups and religious tolerance in our country. Recently, Mr. Speaker, our focus has been on health care because health care is such an essential component of what it means to be a middle class American trying to put food on the table for your family. Health care, if we can correct health care, the disparities in health care, the cost increases in health care, if we can correct health care 60 years in the making, we can improve the quality of life for all Americans and thereby enact a piece of legislation that is on the order of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the passage of the Medicare bill, which helped millions of seniors all around our country live a life of quality, and ended seniors who lived a life of poverty and of insecurity. This bill, which is right within our grasp at this time, we are so happy to be able to step forward. And I just want to let you know, Mr. Speaker, that it's an honor to be joined by such a courageous Congressperson as Congresswoman Diane Watson from the great State of California, who for years and years has been sticking up for progressive values, never backing down, always there for the American middle class and working class people. So we are going to talk a little health care tonight. I am going to yield to the gentlelady to make a few introductory remarks, and then maybe she and I can have a little colloquy as we move on in the evening. I yield to the gentlelady from California, Diane Watson.

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, as the proud Representative who represents the district of the Minnesota Twins, I made an arrangement with my good friend Joe Serrano about the outcome of the Minnesota Twins-Yankees series, and on October 11th, the New York Yankees defeated my beloved Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series. Before I begin, I made the agreement with Representative Serrano with full expectation that the Twins would prevail. But that didn't happen. So keeping my word, I just want to come to, quote-unquote, sing the praises of the Yankees. And, let me tell you, it is not going to be easy. Ten times the Yankees and the Twins met this year, and ten times the Yankees were victorious. They were undoubtedly the better ball club this year, and I am sure that in the coming weeks, Joe Girardi will fulfill the promise he made when he picked his uniform number to bring the 27th championship to the Bronx. Good luck to the Yankees. Congratulations. Your victory is further testimony to why you are the most storied baseball franchise in Major League Baseball.

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. I want to thank the gentlelady from the great State of Ohio for doing such a wonderful job talking about health care, our seniors, talking about all these critically important issues facing our Nation right now. As the gentlelady is very well aware, we are at the very edge, at the very moment where we can have real health care reform for all, or maybe not. The reality is that we are optimistic. We are closer than we have been in 60 years, closer than we were in 1994, closer than we were when Roosevelt first said all Americans should have health care and have health and wellness, closer than we were when Truman said we need universal health care coverage. We are close. We have five bills reported out, three bills through the House, two bills through the Senate. And right now, Americans all around the country are saying, will the Congress finally do it? Do you know that upwards of 77 percent of Americans want real health care reform? They want health care reform with a public option. They want real change, and it's time that they get it. But I wanted to mention to my friend from Ohio, the great Congresswoman Fudge, we all need health care reform. The fact is that when health care reform arrives, it will benefit communities of color more than it will other communities. It will benefit everybody. Everybody who will never be turned down for a preexisting condition will benefit. Everybody who has seen their premiums double over the last 10 years and will probably see them double in the next 10 years will benefit. But when you look at the startling disparities people of color are facing every day, I think that they will benefit more. Just to let everybody know, the fact is that, yes, it's true, life expectancy for the average American has gone up. But for average African Americans, it still lags behind about 5 to 6 years. For African American men, it's not even 70 years old yet. African American men, on average, can expect to live to be about 69. Their counterparts can expect to live to be about 75. Now, imagine a child being born at the age when their grandpa is 69 years old. That means that if that child is African American and their grandfather is, they may never know grandpa. But if we really address health care disparities, maybe we can get African American men up to 75 years old. That means that they will get a chance to bounce on his knee, get to know him, get to talk to him, get to learn something from him, maybe learn how to go fishing. It's a quality of life issue, more years. Addressing that cervical cancer earlier means grandma will be around longer. Most of us, if you grew up like I did, know that mom and dad had to be tough on you because they had to raise you right. But there is one person who you knew thought you were absolutely terrific no matter what you did, and that's grandma, right?

Mr. ELLISON. I thank the gentlelady for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I mean, the point is that part of this bill says, if it's enacted into law, that, you know what? You will not have to pay a copayment for preventative services. We want you to engage in preventative medicine. Get your sugar checked. Get your blood pressure checked. Come on in here and let's make sure that you get a prostate or a mammogram. The fact is these are the things that are going to keep you around here longer and will save the system money in the long run. These things are so important. And I just want to give folks an example. In the year 2004, just a few years ago, African Americans had the highest age-adjusted causes of death rates for all races and ethnicities. In addition, African Americans have the highest age-adjusted death rate for heart disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV and AIDS. All of these things would be addressed if we can pass this bill and keep those things in the bill that address health disparities. That's why we need people to step forward and do the right thing and support this bill. You know, the American people have called for change, but I just want to let folks know that the change that we're calling for will help all Americans. And while it might not help some executive insurance companies, it will everybody else. And when everybody else gets helped, this rising tide will lift people at the bottom higher, and it will help extend their lives and improve the quality of their life. At this point, I am going to have to turn it back over to the gentlelady. She has been doing such an excellent job, but I just want to say thank you for doing what you can do to raise the consciousness of the American people because the American people want change, they want optimism, they want people who will fight for change. They don't want folks who are going to give us the same old thing, because we can't survive with the status quo; but with change, we can.

Mr. ELLISON. Well, I accept the gentlelady's yielding because it's important that when we talk about health care--you know, Mr. Speaker, we talk about statistics. And we drop stats, and we're talking about statistics and numbers and all of this stuff that we talk about. But we can never forget we are talking about human beings' lives. We're talking about human beings having more time with each other. We're talking about, as we said, your grandmother being there; and yet because of health disparities, inequality in the area of health, she is not being there. And how enriched a human being is by having that generational exchange. These are just little examples of what we're talking about. And that's why Democrats are pushing forward on health care. That's why the Black Caucus is pushing forward on health care. That's why we need all Americans who care about a better quality of life to be pushing forward on health care. We can't survive with the status quo. Literally, we cannot survive with the status quo. I yield to the gentlelady.

Mr. ELLISON. I will yield to the gentlelady.

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. If the gentleman would yield, can I just point out that I have a chart here that I think does shed some light on the situation. Because a lot of the dialogue we've been having, quite frankly, is focused on the uninsured. But let's take a moment to talk about the insured, the folks who actually have insurance, the people who have anxiety about what could happen to them if they lose it, if they get sick. Because you know, if you get sick, that's when they don't want you on their insurance anymore, right? Cumulative change in single and family health insurance premiums, that's what you pay, what comes out of your check every 2 weeks or every month--and the Federal poverty level. We've been seeing that the level of poverty has been rising, but look at this dramatic increase in the family premium. This family premium has jumped up 130 percent from 1996. This is real money coming out of the paychecks of real families all the time. People say we don't need reform and say that we're trying to scare people with fake death panels and fake school sex clinics and all this kind of stuff. The fact is that this is what the average family is living through, and this is impacting people who pay premiums, which means they have employer-based health insurance. What are people to do about this dramatic situation as they're facing trying to make ends meet in their family budget? I yield to either one of the gentlemen.

Mr. ELLISON. Oh, yes.

Mr. ELLISON. This is from 1996 to 2006.

Mr. ELLISON. If the gentleman would yield, if you look back at this chart, ``National Health Expenditures Per Capita.'' That means that we take all the health care expenditures and divide them by the number of people. So the average amount of health care expenditure for the average person--look at these numbers. This is what actually happened, and this is what is projected to happen. If we look at 1990, going back to 1990, what we saw was about $2,814 per capita, per health care expenditure per person. This is 1990, the year I graduated from law school. If you go to this one, 2009, it's $8,160. Look at how this has more than doubled since 1990. As a matter of fact, this has nearly tripled. The fact is these expenditures are galloping higher. If you look at the projected rate, we're up here. By the year 2018, it will be $13,000 per person. This is ridiculous. Now, there is another chart I want to show you, and this chart is a chart that looks at different countries. So you look at this blue here. The blue is the United States; and then we have the red, France; the green, Canada; the purple, Germany; and then this aqua color, the United Kingdom. Back in the year 2000, we were up here at $4,570, way above everybody else. If you look at Germany, they were second, but everybody else was in the low 2,000s or higher 1,000s. This is the industrialized world. Now, if you flash forward to here, in 2006 we're up around $6,714. We're still way above everybody else, but look at how we are compared to ourselves over time. The American family can't sustain this. Why do we cost so much more than everybody else? It's time for a change. It's absolutely time for a change. I yield back to the gentleman from Washington State.

Mr. ELLISON. Reclaiming my time, I'll cite another example of that. We hear a lot of people saying the solution to the problem is that we should just let people buy and sell insurance across State lines, and they offer this as something that's supposed to fix everything. But what they don't tell you is that 34 markets around the country have markets where one to five insurance companies are offering products and that's about all there is. Like in Alabama, as the President mentioned, one company dominates 90 percent of the market. So basically they want to say, well, if you can go from Ohio to Minnesota, then the fact is that they think that's going to solve the problem. But if you have a monopolized market here and a monopolized market there, you still don't have a whole lot of choice. You still don't have a whole lot of people willing to offer you very much. And how come these markets are so monopolized? Because it's extremely difficult to break into a market and build up a provider network, a doctor network in order to be able to compete that way. So they're saying you can compete with this monopoly and that monopoly and it's not going to solve anybody's problem, it might be a small part of some solution somewhere. But the real solution is single payer, which is why I'm on the bill, but a good medium solution is a strong public option, and we have got to have people fighting for it.

Mr. ELLISON. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. ELLISON. Reclaiming my time, I want to thank the gentleman for making the point so very clear that there are winners and losers in the health care roulette that we have going on in our country, and it would be nice to hear from some of those people who seem to be coming up roses all the time to explain exactly what's going on.

Mr. ELLISON. Well, Mr. Chairman, if I could cut in. I just want to read very quickly before I hand it over to the gentlelady from Texas, Sheila Jackson-Lee, that I have somebody from Minneapolis who wants to tell me that their family--it says actually this, ``We are in foreclosure, housing foreclosure, health insurance is $600 a month for a family of five. We applied for a loan modification and were denied.'' You know, this is a big deal. This family is dealing with this situation. ``Even with a loan modification, we still would not be able to afford our mortgage because of the cost of our health care insurance.'' This is what a young lady trying to put food on the table is dealing with in my district right now. And I just think that her voice deserves to be heard as well. So with that, let me yield to the gentlelady from Texas and note that we have about 12 minutes left of our time, and it has been a wonderful hour. And the gentlelady from Texas, let me welcome you to the floor, and I yield to you for your remarks. And by the way, thank you for bringing people together next week to let the people be heard. I yield to the gentlelady.

Mr. ELLISON. If the gentlelady will yield, I have one more I want to show to you. Another gentleman named Patrick who says, We have a 19-month-old daughter with congenital heart problems. We're self-employed. She was denied coverage. We pay $14,000 a year.

Mr. ELLISON. If the gentlelady and the gentleman will yield. We are down to about 1 minute. So let me just say--because you will have the last word--this is the Progressive Caucus coming to you week after week for a progressive version of America where we're all included, we're all a part, health care for all, peace now, environmental sustainability, and civil rights for everybody, health care performed, patients before profits. I yield to the gentlelady and the gentleman for their last words.

Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, we are here again for another evening with the progressive message, the message that comes to the House floor Thursday night to talk about a vision of America not based on fear, not based on things that are not true, but a vision of an America where we stand up and we include everybody within this vision. No matter what color, what culture, or what faith you belong to, America is a place for you. We bring people from all parts of the world who bring and make up this great American vision that we're talking about, a progressive vision where middle-class and working-class people can actually have policies that help them, a progressive vision which says we can have health care for all. We can have true health care reform which allows Americans to partake of the great wealth of this country for the benefit of their health. A progressive vision says that America can live at peace. We don't have to be in war after war. We can have a policy of peace which develops our relationship with the rest of the world based on diplomacy, development and things of mutual benefit. Today this is the progressive message, and we are glad to be here with the progressive message sponsored by the Progressive Caucus. Tonight, what is the topic? Guess what, surprise, health care. Today we have two great advocates and leaders, and I am so honored to be on the House floor today with two good friends and leaders, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and also the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) of the Ways and Means Committee who is also a physician, both with us today. I want to invite both of them to offer some remarks as we get started on the Progressive message today, focusing on health care reform, patients before profits. Congressman, Doctor, what are your thoughts?

Mr. ELLISON. Are there death panels? I yield back.

Mr. ELLISON. Are there school sex clinics?

Mr. ELLISON. It is part of what has been going on. You saw August. You try to have a civil conversation, and them some people would show up and try to disrupt the meeting. Why would they want to disrupt the meeting when all we are trying to do is have a civil dialogue about the future of our country and the future of health care. Why are we hearing about death panels? To scare seniors. Why are we hearing about sex clinics? To scare parents. Why all this stuff? Let's get Chairman Conyers in the conversation. He looks like he is digging out some facts. I just want to pose the question to you gentlemen: Why, why, why are we hearing about all of this fanciful, made-up stuff that is on the Web and anybody can look up the bill and say, that ain't so? Why are we hearing all this stuff?

Mr. ELLISON. Scare tactics. I yield to Chairman Conyers. Welcome to the Progressive hour, the Progressive message, patients before profits tonight.

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Joint Community Police Project (JCPP), an initiative of the Hopkins, Richfield, Brooklyn Park, and Brooklyn Center Police Forces in Hennepin County, Minnesota, for being selected by the International Association of Chief's of Police (IACP) as the winner of the 2009 Civil Rights Award. The IACP is made up of over 20,000 law enforcement members at command level in 89+ countries. This is the first time the JCPP has received programming recognition from the International Association of Chief's of Police. These four aforementioned cities live the value of civil rights through the actions of the Joint Community Policing Project--which strives to enhance communication and understanding between police and multicultural residents to improve public safety and livability in the community. I invite all the members of Congress to join me in recognizing the excellent work of these four fine Minnesota police forces of Hopkins, Richfield, Brooklyn Center, and Brooklyn Park for reaching out to new Americans within our cities and providing the services, hospitality, and valued information to make them welcome, active participants in our community. In 2009, I proposed and Congress approved a $100,000 appropriation to continue the work of the Joint Community Police Partnership. One example of their work can be seen in Hopkins, where some of the appropriated funds enabled JCPP to hire a Somali college student to work as Public Service Officer for the Hopkins Police Department. Already they are witnessing a powerful positive reaction by the young immigrant children when the youth see this young man in a Hopkins Police Department uniform at the schools and in their apartment complexes. In addition, funds from this appropriation are being used to bring in successful Somali women from the community to speak to the school club, to mentor them in making positive choices, help build their self esteem, and counsel them to avoid involvement in gangs. In closing, Madam Speaker, I would like to extend my personal congratulations to the Joint Community Police Partnership for being a model of excellence both in our country and abroad.

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. I want to thank the gentleman for being as eloquent as he has been. We turn on the TV screen and the gentleman has been on national news talking about these critical issues from the standpoint of the numbers, the logic, but also from the standpoint of the person who really, really needs the change. Congressman, you have done a great service. I have told you on the floor one-on-one how proud I am of the work that you have done. I think that you are going to keep doing it. You can count on me to support the Weiner amendment, which is a single-payer payment.