John Fleming

Mr. FLEMING

Mr. FLEMING. Yes.

Mr. FLEMING. Let me finish up because there are only a couple more points left. It also reins in out-of-control costs. This goes back to malpractice reform. This has malpractice reform. The government-run plan has not a word about malpractice reform. And finally, this is budget-neutral. That plan over on this side of the aisle is $1 trillion to $1.6 trillion, depending on which year span you are talking about, of course, with the CBO telling us that the costs curve up, not curve down, over time, despite what our President has told us. This one starts out with no cost, no net cost. There are savings built into it.

Mr. FLEMING. And really, just to get down to the basics, if the patients, if the public, the consumer doesn't have skin in the game, there's no money to be saved in this. If it's all on the providers and all on the government, you will never see costs controlled. Let me add one other thing before I yield. We were talking a moment ago about the fact that illegal immigrants will be covered under this plan, 10 million or more.

Mr. FLEMING. I'm sorry. The Democratic plan provides coverage for illegal immigrants. The Republican plan does not. The Republican plan presumes that we will deal with immigration problems through an immigration reform process. But getting to my final point here is, the other thing that the government-run plan, the Democrat plan, provides for is taxpayer-funded abortions. Not only taxpayer-funded abortions, but an actual mandate, the requirement for convenience. There will have to be convenience centers throughout the country so that young women will not only have access but will have easy access, all at the taxpayers' expense. None of that, of course, is provided for in the Republican plan.

Mr. FLEMING

Mr. FLEMING. Mr. Speaker, recently the President said in a speech: ``Folks are skeptical and that is entirely legitimate because they haven't seen a lot of laws coming out of Washington that help.'' That is an understatement. Americans have found themselves at the mercy of the mass social agenda of this administration and the liberal leadership in Congress. First it was the $750 billion stimulus bill that neither created nor saved any jobs; then came cap-and-tax. Both of these bills were passed only minutes after being fully released, but not read, and were the first two installments of this liberal/socialist agenda. But this health care bill, H.R. 3200, is the mother of all bad bills and seeks to recast America as a new socialist state. If it passes in its current form, we can expect tax increases for all American families, waiting lines with DMV-style medicine, an explosion of taxpayer-funded abortions and a lack of good health care for the elderly. Americans are urging Democrats to finally reach across the aisle and work with Republicans for a change.

Mr. FLEMING

Mr. FLEMING. Mr. Speaker, a couple of weeks ago I launched House Resolution 615 that simply says that if you vote for a government-run system, you should be willing to sign up for it. So far I've had a number of Republicans sign up, but not one Democrat. Since launching H. Res. 615 that calls for Members of Congress to sign up for government health care if they vote for it, it has received tremendous grassroots response. We now have over 100,000 Americans who have signed up in support, and the signatures represent all 50 States with supporters of the bill adamant about its demand for accountability of congressional lawmakers to the people. This message has resonated across America for one simple reason, and the people of this country are sick and tired of being the victims of bad laws while their elected Representatives are exempt from the same laws. It is obvious that nobody in Washington wants for themselves a bureaucrat standing between them and their doctor, nor an expensive, inefficient health care delivery system, and certainly not to be abandoned when thought to be too sick, too old or too expensive to care for. So why should Americans? I ask that Americans continue to hold us accountable by signing up to support House Resolution 615 by going to my Web site at fleming.house.gov.

Mr. FLEMING

Mr. FLEMING. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of H.R. 3288, the ``Department of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010.'' I have requested funding for the following projects in Fiscal Year 2010: I-49 North (I-220 in Shreveport to AR Line), Account: Federal Highway Administration/ Interstate Maintenance Discretionary, Recipient: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. FY10 funds are for right-of-way, utilities, and construction for I-49 N, from I-220 in Shreveport to the Arkansas line. The I-49 North project forms the southern segment of Congressionally designated High Priority Corridor I running from Shreveport, LA to Kansas City, MO. As defined by ISTEA and TEA-21 ``this corridor is intended to complement the existing Interstate system, integrate regions of the country, improve safety and efficiency of travel and commerce, and promote economic development.'' I-49 North represents Louisiana's part in completing this critical corridor connecting Canada and Mid-America to the deep water ports in New Orleans. I-69 (Texas state line to Arkansas via Shreveport, LA), Account: Federal Highway Administration/Interstate Maintenance Discretionary, Recipient: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. FY10 funds are for design and environmental work for sections SIU14B, SIU15, and SIU16A from the Arkansas state line to the Texas state line via Shreveport, LA. The I-69 corridor accounts for over 63 percent of the nation's truck borne trade with Canada and Mexico and has the nation's busiest border crossings on both the Canadian and Mexican borders. Seventeen of the nation's top 25 seaports, 13 inland waterway ports and 15 of the nation's top 25 air cargo airports are directly served by I-69. The corridor traverses over 150 counties and hundreds of municipalities, directly serving over 25 million people. Completion will increase transportation efficiency by reducing fuel consumption, travel time and costs, while facilitating trade, providing intermodal connectivity, relieving congestion and promoting economic development. Consistent with the Republican Leadership's policy on earmarks, I hereby certify that to the best of my knowledge, this request: (1) is not directed to an entity or program that will be named after a sitting Member of Congress, (2) is not intended to be used by an entity to secure funds for other entities unless the use of funding is consistent with the specified purpose of the earmark, and (3) meets or exceeds all statutory requirements for matching funds where applicable. I also hereby certify that neither I nor my spouse has any financial interest in this project.

Mr. FLEMING

Mr. FLEMING. Madam Speaker, earlier this week four Members of the President's Cabinet, including Secretary Sebelius, came to my home State of Louisiana to build grassroots support for ObamaCare in the rural areas, but they found themselves defending the administration's broader effort to take over the Nation's health care system. To say they were greeted by skepticism would be an understatement. The anger over the direction this country is moving was best expressed by a gentleman who told the group, Please carry a message to Mr. Obama, that it will be a cold day in hell before he socializes my country. The administration and a small group of very liberal Democrats are intent on pushing through a government takeover of health care, even though more than half this country does not want it. Democrats in this House are moving forward with a health care plan that will hurt the sacred relationship between Americans and their doctor, deny access to needed treatments, and place power in the hands of Washington bureaucrats. Why are you in such a rush? Are you afraid Americans will learn the truth this time and stop it?

Mr. FLEMING

Mr. FLEMING. About 10 million.

Mr. FLEMING. Well, it's tasked with the job of deciding who deserves what or what is really too expensive for whom and what sort of diseases. And if you look at the other countries that do this already, the United Kingdom, Canada and others, the elderly are the first ones that are counted out under this program.

Mr. FLEMING. Yes. And if I could also add, one other problem is this Comparative Effectiveness Committee that's being created----

Mr. FLEMING. I would say for two reasons they will not like this. First of all, you heard me just say that part of this plan is to gut Medicare to a great extent, which the elderly depend on. Medicare's already going bankrupt in less than 10 years and is heavily subsidized by private insurance. And so what we're looking at is taking away the subsidy.

Mr. FLEMING. If the gentleman would yield.

Mr. FLEMING. Absolutely.

Mr. FLEMING. Exactly. And then, again, one of those behind-the- scenes, in-the-backroom deals, a deal was cut over the sustained growth rate, the SGR, that would be cast aside if the AMA would sign on to it. And so without consulting physicians, the board of trustees of the AMA cut the deal with the President in the wee hours of night, and then sent them a letter in support. Thus far, 18 State chapters of the AMA and a growing number have come out saying that they do not support this. And I would really I think say with confidence a majority of the physicians across this country do not support government taking over.

Mr. FLEMING. You heard tonight the Democrats talk about how the AMA has come out in support of this. Well, that's true and it's not true. What really happened was last month, the rank-and-file physicians across the country met with the AMA, and they voted not to support it and then after----

Mr. FLEMING. Well, of course, physicians.

Mr. FLEMING. Yes, that's correct.

Mr. FLEMING. Yes.

Mr. FLEMING. Absolutely. And if I could give you an example in my own practice, the typical Medicare or Medicaid patient reimbursement is under my cost. So I have to see a certain number, hopefully twice as many private insurance, just to break even. And typically in a medical practice, particularly in a rural area--and this is why you see doctors closing up--as their patient mix of Medicare and Medicaid grows--and again, that's single-payer, government, you know, so-called public plan that exists today. As that percentage grows, their chance of going out of business grows as well.

Mr. FLEMING. If the gentleman will yield for a moment. It's very interesting that the Democrats claim that we need a government-run system to compete with the private system to drive costs down, but if you dig into that, what you find out is just the opposite is happening today. Medicaid, and in the case of TennCare, was putting tremendous pressure on the private insurers and making their costs go up. So the first thing we could ever do, if this were possible, to slow the rise in costs in private insurance, and that would be to remove the burden of Medicare and Medicaid on them.

Mr. FLEMING. That is correct.

Mr. FLEMING. Yes.

Mr. FLEMING. Absolutely. And incidentally, where they found the savings was to deeply gut Medicare, which is already underfunded.

Mr. FLEMING. A very small number compared to the literally billions of dollars each year where Medicaid and Medicare fraud occurs.