The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“WE NEED TO GO FURTHER WITH HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H9832-H9833 on Aug. 1, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
WE NEED TO GO FURTHER WITH HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-Lee] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to come to the floor this evening to clarify and conclude a debate that we had earlier today on the floor of the House. First of all, let me acknowledge that I am grateful in a bipartisan manner that this House and the Senate has passed the Kennedy-Kassebaum legislation.
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There are many aspects of the legislation that we could cite as being positive, and some that we need to have further refinement. But there was a dialog on the floor of the House today that I engaged in with my friend, the gentleman from Iowa, as to my concern of the heavy burdens falling upon our physicians throughout this Nation.
There is no doubt that I am gratified to have been able to support and cosponsor the legislation that was just passed, that allows Americans to have portability with their health insurance, and not to be penalized for preexisting disease. We need to go further. We need to ensure that all Americans have access to good health care.
At the same time, I am familiar and interact with many aspects of the medical profession: those physicians who practice in rural America and urban America. In fact, I have served on an indigent health task force for the State of Texas, where we were fighting against the closing of rural hospitals throughout that State. One of the problems, of course, was the inability of many of the physicians to be able to practice in those communities because of limited access to insurance that would cover those constituents, and, as well, limited access to viable hospitals.
It is those physicians who practice in inner city America and rural America who have private practices who I am concerned will be heavily burdened with the fraudulent provisions that are so severe in this legislation. We want to get rid of the fraud and abuse and certainly the bad practitioners, but overall, America's physicians take the Hippocratic oath, and all they want to do is to serve their patients.
If you have an office situation that is small and not necessarily computer-processed, and you have an inadvertent staff person who repeats the billing to Medicare or some other service, then you are charged with knowingly and intentionally and recklessly providing this documentation, and are subject to the fraud provisions.
I really think that we have an opportunity, as this bill is signed, to revisit this question and to study this question, to ensure that those physicians who serve our most needy of Americans in rural and urban centers around the Nation are allowed to do their practice, the practice of medicine, and that we do not hinder them and tie their hands so they are not able to serve those constituents, and that they are not subjected to some of the harshest fraudulent provisions that are in this particular legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I would encourage my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans alike, that we consider whether or not, as we watch this legislation progress, that it is not too severe to inhibit those who might serve those most needy constituents.
antiterrorism legislation and the status of american militias
Mr. Speaker, let me point out two other matters that we have had the opportunity to discuss this week. One, there has been a conference committee, bipartisan, in which the President has instructed the leaders of Congress to respond to the concerns of the American public and to pass antiterrorism legislation, which would include wiretapping, increased services or increased resources to our law enforcement, and, as well, would provide for taggant, what we would call the kind of tracking devices, to determine who might have been behind any kind of explosive incident or tradegy.
It seems as if, however, we have not been able to come to a meeting of the minds, and that Members of this House, Republicans, have refused to listen to the President and to the American public asking for greater national security. I hope we can find an opportunity to come together on this issue, and not allow partisan politics to divide us on this question of terrorism.
I hope also this House will have hearings on terrorism, domestic and international. I would also like my colleagues to join me in the support of House Concurrent Resolution 206, which I will offer, that will suggest to this Congress that we join together to determine the state of militia in this Nation, to determine whether there are those who are organized in a violent manner to overthrow this Nation. If they are in the form of militia, then we should find them, identify them, and prosecute them to the fullest of the law, and certainly the Department of Justice should be involved in this prosecution. We must not tolerate terrorism, domestically or internationally.
I would encourage my colleagues in the House to get on with the business of an antiterrorism bill, and to join me in this militia legislation that will bring individuals to justice who would overthrow this Government.
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