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.
“HEALTH CARE” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H12561-H12562 on Nov. 6, 2009.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HEALTH CARE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, let me introduce you and my colleagues to someone. I would like to focus for just a moment on this first poster.
This is the Health Choices Czar. You may not know him today, but if Democrats have their way and they pass their government takeover health care, we will all know him soon enough.
In the fictional Hazzard County, Georgia, he was known as Boss Hogg from 1979 until 1985. Portrayed by the late actor Sorrell Booke, he was an infamous government corrupt official on ``The Dukes of Hazzard,'' who every week tried to exert his will on the people he was supposed to be serving. On the show, if it wasn't for honest citizens like Bo and Luke Duke and Crazy Cooter, he might have been able to run Hazzard County into the ground.
Mr. Speaker, Boss Hogg is a fictional character. The Health Choices Czar created under the Democrats' health care bill, unfortunately, is not. This boss, created by President Obama and Nancy Pelosi, is very real. This boss will have the power to tell you what health products you can and cannot buy. This boss will be able to decide whether you need to pay him a tax. This boss will decide whether your health coverage is legal or not. In its roughly 2,000 page manifesto, this boss will soon control every decision you and your doctor want to make.
Mr. Speaker, throughout the health care debate, I have heard a number of complaints from the majority that we are focused too much on the number of pages in their government takeover bill. In addition to the sheer number of pages of H.R. 3962, I think it's equally important to point out other numbers associated with the bill that are even more troubling.
$1.2 trillion--the total cost of the bill for the American taxpayer.
$2.5 million--the cost of each of the 400,000 words in this bill for the American taxpayer.
$730 million--this is the amount of new taxes created in this bill for small business, individuals who cannot afford health care coverage and employers who cannot afford to provide coverage that meets the Boss Hogg's standard.
10.2 percent--the Nation's current unemployment level reported just yesterday by the Department of Labor.
190,000--the number of jobs lost in the month of October reported yesterday by the Department of Labor.
5.5 million--the estimated number of jobs that could be lost as a result of taxes on businesses that cannot afford to provide health care coverage. This is according to a model developed by one of the President's chief economic advisers, Christina Romer.
114 million--that's the number of people who could lose their current health care coverage--coverage, of course, that they like--under the proposed government-run health plan in H.R. 3962.
3,425--Mr. Speaker, the number of times the word ``shall'' appears in H.R. 3962 that results in new duties for bureaucrats and mandates on individuals' businesses and states.
118--the number of new bureaucracies created by H.R. 3962.
Mr. Speaker, when the Democratic majority says Republicans focus too much on the number of pages of H.R. 3962, they really avoid a deliberative debate, because this bill is bad legislation. In fact, the editorial on Monday's Wall Street Journal called H.R. 3962, ``The Worst Bill Ever.'' That editorial said, ``Epic new spending and taxes, pricier insurance, rationed care, dishonest accounting: The Pelosi health bill has it all,'' and I am quoting the Wall Street Journal.
According to this editorial, Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats in Congress are more like Boss Hogg looking to exert their will on the American people than they are responsible Members of Congress. It states, ``Democrats have dumped any presence of genuine bipartisanship and moved into the realm of pure power politics.''
Clearly, the Wall Street Journal understands the ramifications that this legislation has for the American people. Quite frankly, I agree with that paper's characterization of H.R. 3962 that, ``In a rational political world, this 1,990-page runaway train would have been derailed months ago.''
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, in the case of this legislation, it seems to me like we live in Boss Hogg's Hazzard County, instead of a rationally based society. I urge my colleagues to look beyond the rhetoric that Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats use to promote ``The Worst Bill Ever'' and look at the numbers associated with this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, Boss Hogg went off the air in 1985. Unfortunately, this legislation is real and poses a real threat to the foundation of our health care system. Tomorrow, or whenever we vote on H.R. 3962, I hope all of my colleagues have the sense to defeat this irrational legislation.
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