Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor South Florida philanthropist, business leader and prominent attorney, Cliff Schulman. Mr. Schulman has 37 years of wide-ranging legal experience in the environmental and land use field from both the government and private sectors. He is well known for his involvement in the community and commitment to charitable causes. He is Chairman of the Board of the Aventura Marketing Council and serves on the Boards of the ``I Have a Dream'' Foundation and the Anchors Away Foundation, a program that provides specially designed sailboats for use by mentally and physically challenged children in the Miami-Dade public school system. He is also a member of the United Way of Miami-Dade Alexis de Tocqueville Society and a founder of Mt. Sinai Medical Center. In 2004, Mr. Schulman received the Anti-Defamation League's ``Torch of Freedom'' award and was recently named ``Impact Legal Leader'' by South Florida Business Leader Magazine, a distinction for individuals who have contributed significantly to their industry, as well as active participants in civic or philanthropic groups in the community. This month, the South Florida Shomrim Society Jewish Fraternal Order of Law Enforcement Officers is honoring him as ``Person of the Year''. This distinction is presented to Mr. Schulman for supporting the welfare of the local community and improving the public image of all persons engaged in public safety. He is listed in Legal 500 US, Best Lawyers in America and Florida Trend Magazine's ``Legal Elite.'' Additionally, Mr. Schulman serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Miami Law School's Masters Program. I am proud to have Mr. Schulman as a constituent and honor his distinguished career and leadership in the South Florida community.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, today I honor the life and work of Donald K. White, Jr. who passed away earlier this month after a truly courageous fight with cancer. Don White was the Assistant Superintendent for the AOC's Capitol Superintendent's Office since 2000, and began his career with the Architect of the Capitol in June 1990. His service to our great country started with the U.S. Marine Corps. Don White always took great pride in his work, and was committed to providing outstanding service to Congress and the visiting public. Under his direction, the American people have enjoyed several major events at the Capitol, including the past three Presidential Inaugurations. He was truly the personification of the excellent work and values that we strive to embody in our own service to the government. Madam Speaker, Donald White, Jr. is survived by his children, Donald III and Ashley, and his grandson Matthew Alexander White. I know that I speak for all of my colleagues when I say that he will be remembered, and missed, for his lifelong work and service to our government and our nation.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, it will be interesting to go to that Web site and find what is the so-called Republican beginning of a proposal, because 139 days ago the Republican leadership promised to introduce their own health reform bill and yet we are still waiting. Since the mysterious Republican plan hasn't been introduced, the American people can't really see what's in it. It's all being written behind closed doors. What little we do know of what they are planning should bring a smile to the faces of insurance company CEOs. Their leader, Mr. Boehner, admitted the other day that their collection of bills does not end discrimination based on preexisting conditions. Nowhere in their collection of bills do they help more Americans afford health care. Nowhere in their collection of bills do they end discrimination from insurance companies' practice of dropping coverage if you get sick. Four months ago, Democrats made public our health care reform proposal by posting it online for anyone to see. Since then, there have been multiple committee hearings during which the Republicans had ample opportunity to debate the bill and offer amendments. Republicans won't even let the public see their bill. What are they hiding? Will they include Representative Broun's proposal to privatize Medicare? How about dismantling the entire Medicare system? Americans deserve to know.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Right.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. If the gentleman would yield, the point you are making can't be stressed enough. There are countless individuals in this country, countless people. We are talking about people. The 46 million, when you talk about the 46 million that are not insured, it is very easy to glaze over and think about them as an amorphous blob rather than 46 million human beings. One of those human beings, like your example, the person who went through gallbladder cancer, was a woman who came into my office a few weeks ago, and she said this to me. She said, I am happy, Debbie, that you survived, that you got through your breast cancer. You were very fortunate when you were diagnosed. The only thing you had to think about was fighting your cancer. A day after she was diagnosed for the third time, she lost her job, and then she lost as a result her insurance. So at the same time as getting a third diagnosis of breast cancer, she also had to battle for coverage and has not been able to get the access to care that she should have been able to get. That happens to breast cancer survivors and people who are victims of disease every single day in this country because their insurance is tied to their job. If they don't have a job, very often they don't have insurance and they can't get insurance. That is just, in this country, in the wealthiest country in the world, in the country that people always throw around the comment, we have the best health care in the world, no, we don't. We are 29th in infant mortality, and 37th in life expectancy. The statistics that Americans are dealing with in terms of their likely survival and their health is just abominable, because we have a sick-care system, like the gentleman from Ohio said, not a preventative-based system, not a well system. I yield to my friend.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Thank you.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. But they don't.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Thank you so much. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to be able to be here with my colleagues, both of whom are members of the 30-Something Working Group. Mr. Murphy, one of the things that has really stricken me when it comes to thinking about some of the devastating statistics that are out there in terms of describing what our uninsured population looks like are our older Americans. Not senior citizens; they are obviously covered by Medicare. But there was a 36 percent increase in the number of older Americans without health insurance between 2000 and 2009. We are literally at 7.1 million uninsured people as of just 2007, which means you know now there are more than that who are between 50 and 64 years old. It is really startling to me that there are that many. That is a gap in coverage. I know my own mom, who has a preexisting condition, if she didn't have a job, would be in that same category. She is 63 years old. She is not Medicare eligible yet. The job that she has provides health insurance, but she is a cancer survivor. As a cancer survivor, she is absolutely uninsurable. I have tried to get her insurance. She needs to be winding down her working years; but, unfortunately, there is no insurance company on the individual market or anywhere else that will insure her if she is trying to buy insurance privately. That is what health care reform will solve, for someone like my mom, for the more than 7 million people who are older in this country, who are either working Americans or who need to be winding down their working years, it will provide them with insurance that they don't have to worry about losing, that they don't have to worry about it being taken away because they have a preexisting condition, that will be tied to them and not their job. Those are essential reforms. And it just continues to boggle my mind that our friends on the other side of the aisle who promised 133 days ago that they would have a health care proposal, a health care plan, an alternative to ours, the one that they are out there trashing every day, and yet they still don't have one. They point to this bill and that bill that is maybe pieces of reform. I don't know. When I look at my children's puzzles that they have, the only time I think of it as whole is when all the pieces are together. You can't call a plan 40 different pieces of the puzzle and say, Oh, there's our plan. We've thrown out some suggestions. That's our version of reform. That is not reform. That is just a whole bunch of broken pieces laying all over the floor. That is not leadership. Not only have they not exercised leadership, they have simply been an obstacle. The American people see through it. It is transparent. That is why every week that goes by, we pick up more and more support for health care reform. That is why 57 percent of the American people, when asked, support a public option, support a competitive option to provide more choice and more competition with the private market. I will stop for now by just giving you my frustration from personal experience, because I have to tell you, over the last few months I have had an opportunity to talk about my own personal health care experience. In doing that, I felt very fortunate after going through breast cancer last year, that I had insurance. I had coverage through my job here as a Member of Congress. But I am 43 years old, and if I left employment with the Federal Government, I would be uninsurable because I had cancer. And this is what breast cancer survivors go through for the rest of their lives after a diagnosis, no matter how unlikely it is that we would have a recurrence. For me, as a breast cancer survivor, I took steps to make it less likely even than the average woman to have a recurrence. So I am at like 96 or 98 percent likely to never have to deal with breast cancer again; but I would be uninsurable. That is wrong. Health care should be a right, not a privilege. It is just unconscionable. They are lacking in conscience, our opponents, and that is all you can call them right now is opponents. The opponents of reform have no conscience. They clearly don't care about making sure that people like me, people like my mom, people like the constituents that I represent who don't have insurance but deserve to have it, that they can get it.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Well, you're absolutely right. As we came out of the ``August of fear'' and were progressing through the fall, every day that goes by, with every passing day--add the bogus report that was released by AHIP, the Association of Health Insurance Plans of America, that tried to scare seniors and scare people into believing that their costs were going to go up and that government was trying to take over their health care. As Mr. Sarbanes alluded to, forgive us if we don't trust the health insurance industry to do the right thing on their own; they've had many, many years to do that. For at least some of this debate they have been helpful--or at least not obstacles, which is progress. And we will hitch our star to any progress that we can make when it comes to expanding access to health care and making sure we can cover everybody. But at the end of the day, the fearmongering isn't working anymore. I mean, opponents of reform were singularly focused on scaring seniors, on scaring people into believing that the health coverage that they had now was going away, that they weren't going to be able to get access to quality health care, that somehow we were going to begin rationing. And you know what? The American people see through that. They can see the transparent attempt to derail reform because their real priority is politics. Their real priority is that they are unhappy that they are not in power, they have been disrobed, revealed to be essentially the frauds that they are because they say now that they want reform, but they had 12 years, 12 years that they ran this place--they were in charge for 12 years and they did nothing. They controlled everything and they did nothing about health care reform. So that is why the American people are not responding to their distortions and their exaggerations and their fearmongering. The American people have had it, and they want health care reform. I yield to the gentleman from Connecticut.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, it has been 133 days since the Republicans promised to present their health insurance reform legislation, and we still have no alternative plan from them. The fastest growth group of uninsured Americans is older Americans age 50 to 64. Saying ``no'' to health insurance reform hurts millions of Americans who lack health insurance. There was a 36 percent increase in the number of older Americans without insurance from 2000 to 2009. It used to be if you worked most of your life here in America you could retire to someplace warm and sunny like my home State of Florida. There were 7.1 million uninsured people age 50 to 64 in 2007. How can we allow more than 7 million Americans over 50--many who have worked their entire life--to go without health insurance? They certainly can't afford to retire when they're worried about how to pay for their medical bills. Republicans point to a bunch of different solutions offered by their Members, including dismantling or privatizing Medicare. So which plan do they stand behind? Americans deserve to know.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, you know, I will tell you what is scary. What is scary is the woman who came into my office a few weeks ago who shared her story with me to tell me about her breast cancer experience that she had just been through for the third time. She told me how I as a breast cancer survivor was fortunate because when I was diagnosed all I had to worry about was fighting the cancer. When she was diagnosed, she also one day later lost her job and, with it, her health insurance. So not only did she have to battle breast cancer, but she also was faced with battling how she was going to get her health care taken care of so she could get well from breast cancer and continue to be the survivor that she has been for many, many years. Americans are tired of the party of ``no.'' Americans are tired of obstacle after obstacle standing at that podium insisting on making up things that just aren't true. There are bills out there that are available and accessible to anyone to look at. This has been an open and transparent process. But the bottom line is there are 46 million people that don't have health insurance. We need to provide stability and security to those that do and bring the costs down. I challenge our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to work with us on true health care reform, instead of being the party of ``no.''

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, on October 20, 2009, I missed the following rollcall votes due to a longstanding commitment away from Washington: 1. Rollcall vote No. 790, H.R. 3763, To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide for an exclusion from Red Flag Guidelines for certain businesses; 2. Rollcall vote No. 791, H.R. 3319, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 440 South Gulling Street in Portola, California, as the ``Army Specialist Jeremiah Paul McCleery Post Office Building''; 3. Rollcall vote No. 792, H. Res. 558, Supporting the increased understanding of, and interest in, computer science and computing careers among the public and in schools, and to ensure an ample and diverse future technology workforce through the designation of National Computer Science Education Week. If present, I would have voted ``aye'' on all matters.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act. The Ryan White Act is lifesaving legislation that funds a vast array of innovative and effective services that form the healthcare safety net for uninsured and underinsured Americans living with HIV/AIDS. Ryan White programs are ``payer of last resort,'' which subsidize treatment when no other resources are available. The program provides medical care, drugs, and support services for 500,000 people a year. It's been a huge success in reducing sickness and death from HIV disease and helping people live longer, more healthy, and productive lives. The Ryan White programs also provide funding and technical assistance to local and state primary medical care providers, support services, healthcare provider and training programs. Congress must extend this critical law to ensure that vital services are not withheld from people who so desperately need them. We must pass this legislation, so that Ryan's legacy lives on with his message of love, compassion, and hope.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, it's been 125 days, 126 days since Representative Roy Blunt, the point man for the rumored Republican alternative health reform plan, said: I guarantee you we will provide you with a bill. Republican leaders from Governor Bobby Jindal to former Senate majority leaders Bill Frist and Bob Dole have indicated that Republicans need to work with Democrats to offer health care solutions. But rather than coming up with a plan to lower health care costs and stop insurance companies from discriminating against you if you get sick, Republicans are choosing to be the party of ``no'' and the status quo. No is not a solution. Saying no costs the average family $1,800 in increased health costs each year. Health insurance reform is about putting the American people and doctors back in charge, not the insurance companies, to guarantee stability, lower costs, higher equality and more choices of plans. Our friends on the other side of the aisle can't run away from the fact that they have no plan, as much as they might like to. The time to act on health insurance reform is now.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act. The Ryan White Act is lifesaving legislation that funds a vast array of innovative and effective services that form the health care safety net for uninsured and underinsured Americans living with HIV/AIDS. Ryan White programs are a ``payer of last resort'' which subsidize treatment when no other resources are available. The program provides medical care, drugs, and support services for 500,000 people a year. It has been a huge success in reducing sickness and death from HIV disease and helping people live longer, more healthy and productive lives. The Ryan White programs also provide funding and technical assistance to local and State primary medical care providers, support services, health care providers, and training programs. Congress must extend this critical law to ensure that vital services are not withheld from people who so desperately need them. We must pass this legislation so that Ryan's legacy lives on with his message of love, compassion, and hope.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, on October 14, 2009, I missed the following Rollcall Votes due to a longstanding commitment away from Washington: 1. Rollcall vote No. 775, H. Res. 768, Expressing support for the designation of the Month of October as ``National Work and Family Month''. 2. Rollcall vote No. 776, H.R. 1327, the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act. 3. Rollcall Vote 777, H. Res. 816, Mourning the loss of life caused by the earthquakes and tsunamis that occurred on September 29, 2009. 4. Rollcall Vote 778, H.R. 3371, Airline Safety and Pilot Training Improvement Act of 2009. 5. Rollcall Vote 779, H. Res. 786, Commemorating the canonization of Father Damien de Veuster, SS.CC. to sainthood. If present, I would have voted ``yea'' on all matters.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, I was absent on Wednesday, October 14, 2009, due to a previously scheduled event. Had I been present I would have voted ``yes'' during the recorded votes for the following five bills: 1. H. Res. 768--Expressing support for the designation of the month of October as ``National Work and Family Month''; 2. H.R. 1327--Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2009; 3. H. Res. 816--Mourning the loss of life caused by the earthquakes and tsunamis that occurred on September 29, 2009, in American Samoa and Samoa; 4. H. Res. 786--Commemorating the canonization of Father Damien de Veuster, SS.CC., to sainthood; and 5. H.R. 3371--Airline Safety and Pilot Training Improvement Act of 2009.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. The Girl Scouts Commemorative Coin Act would recognize all of the significant contributions of the Girl Scouts movement and commend their century of service to this country. I strongly join my colleagues in urging our colleagues to vote in favor of this worthy legislation.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I'm glad to provide you with the furtherance of your education on the Girl Scouts whose leaders, by the way, are not den mothers. Those are the Cub Scouts. Troop leaders are the actual title for Girl Scouts, and den mothers are Cub Scouts. Anyway, I realize that that has cut into much of my 2 minutes, so if the gentleman would further yield.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Thank you very much. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 621, the Girl Scouts USA Commemorative Coin Act. It is an honor to work with the sponsor of this important legislation, my friend and colleague from Georgia, Representative Jack Kingston. As you may know, and as he has so wonderfully detailed, 97 years ago the first Girl Scout National Council meeting was held right here in Washington, D.C., and founder Juliette Gordon Low was elected president. Ms. Low envisioned providing a safe place, an environment of acceptance where girls could be inspired and challenged to build the necessary skills to become leaders. This vision still holds strong today, and the Girl Scouts provide the premier opportunity for girls and women to develop the talents and confidence necessary for a lifetime of leadership. Being involved in this pursuit means something different to everyone. To me, it means leading by example every day. I'm honored to serve in the United States Congress, Madam Speaker, and I'm proud to tell you that not only was I a Girl Scout, but I am currently a troop leader for my 10-year-old daughter, Rebecca, her troop, and have been for 4 years; and now this year, for the first time, for my 6-year-old daughter Shelby's Brownie troop. But I never stopped being a Girl Scout myself, because I'm currently a member, as I know you are, of Troop Capitol Hill, the honorary Congressional Girl Scout Troop for all women Members of Congress. In each of these roles, I personally see how Girl Scouts enriches the lives of millions of girls and their families through innovative programming that embraces the rich diversity of communities across our country. Girl Scouts are working day and night to make the world a better place. Through projects in their schools, local neighborhoods, and the international community, they touch lives in many ways. The Girl Scouts Commemorative Coin Act would recognize all the significant contributions of the Girl Scouts movement.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, before I begin my remarks in support of H.R. 621, I do want to suggest to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster) that Samoas would probably give Thin Mints a run for their money, just speaking from personal experience. I'm out there helping my daughters drag that wagon behind me.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I'd be happy to yield.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Reclaiming my time, the gentleman would be interested and thrilled to learn that both Samoas and Thin Mints are now in ice cream that are special edition Edy's brand ice creams that are sold during the time in January when the Girl Scouts are out there selling their cookies for a good cause.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I thank the gentleman in support of the resolution. I rise today, Mr. Speaker, in support of H.R. 1327, the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2009, which aims to put a stop to Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. It cannot be overstated. A nuclear armed Iran is an urgent and deadly threat to peace and stability in the Middle East and at home. The anti-Western rhetoric of Iranian President Ahmadinejad has only intensified in recent years. His regime supports terrorism in all its forms, a travesty worsened by the fact that Iran continues to pursue nuclear weapons against the will of the international community. If Iran continues its plans for nuclear buildup, we can expect that nuclear proliferation will increase throughout the region and around the globe. That is why it is critical for Congress to pass the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act. This legislation would authorize State and local governments to divest from companies investing in Iran's petroleum and natural gas sector. With Tehran importing nearly 40 percent of its gas and diesel needs, this legislation would have a dramatic effect on Iran's economy and is an important step forward in convincing Iran to suspend its nuclear program. It strikes a careful balance between the administration's diplomatic outreach and the need for us to make sure that we can tighten the noose around Iran's neck in the event that those diplomatic efforts are not successful.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Thank you so much, Congresswoman Kilroy. It is so wonderful to serve in the House of Representatives with you, and as someone who has recently shared her personal health care battle and highlighted the need for health care reform as a reflection of your own personal story, I really just admire your courage. And it's been an incredible privilege to work with you. Thank you so much. It's now my privilege to introduce not only my friend but my next- door neighbor in Washington, D.C., a woman who has been a passionate advocate, a fighter--really you look in the dictionary and look up the word ``fighter'' and ``passion'' and Shelley Berkley is right there. She served prior to her election to Congress in the Nevada State Assembly. And I would like some credit for pronouncing ``Nevada'' correctly. So I want to pat myself on the back for that. Ms. Berkley served on the Nevada State Community College Board of Regents as well. She is the mom of two wonderful sons, both of whom I've met and who have done her proud. And it's my privilege to yield time to her tonight for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.