Speeches & Testimony

Mr. Speaker, 

Most of our fellow Americans just want us to assure them that the necessities of life are available and affordable: food, shelter, education, safety. Are they available and affordable?

Most of our fellow Americans would add to that available and affordable to all Americans, because the promise, opportunities and responsibilities of citizenship are shared, and are best shared by all of us. Nowhere is this more evident than in health care.

The question before us all now is how to ensure that quality  healthcare is available and affordable for all Americans.

We can, should, and must continue the great debate over how best to do so, for healthcare remains unavailable to tens of millions of Americans, unaffordable even when available, and widely inconsistent on quality.

What we can't, shouldn't, and must not do is take a giant step backward to strip tens of millions of Americans of any semblance of available, affordable, quality healthcare. That is exactly what we would do if the Affordable Care Act were repealed by this Congress or our courts.

To those few who don't agree with our basic promise to start with, please get out of the way. To those who do, but don't agree that this is the best way forward, let's hear your concrete proposal.