Speech

Everyone has their own personal story or that of a friend or family member that underscores the cruelty of not already having greater health insurance coverage at an affordable cost. With this historic reform, that I rose to speak in favor of, every insured American gets valuable consumer protections, and every uninsured American can become insured. 32 million American citizens gain protection from health care bankruptcy. This bill restrains soaring insurance premiums, reduces federal deficits, and strengthens Medicare for our seniors.

Today, the House of Representatives considered legislation intended to create jobs. In these difficult economic times, we should encourage the growth of American jobs, and it is also important that we get the most for every tax expenditure. But, as I noted in a House floor speech today, this provision does too little to create jobs and costs too much.

Today, I introduced a resolution strongly condemning the terror attack on IRS employees, recognizing Vernon Hunter, who was killed in the attack, and saluting the service of those first responders and employees who kept this event from becoming an even larger tragedy.

On the floor of the House of Representatives, I expressed my strong support for the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, as envisioned by former U.T. Law Professor Elizabeth Warren. Today, we have the opportunity to create a new squad of financial cops who will work to protect those living on Main Street from the greed we've seen from Wall Street. Congress finally has the chance to stand up not for the banks they said were ‘too big to fail,' but for America's working families, who are far too important to fail, and that is exactly what I urged my colleagues to do.

On the floor of the House of Representatives, I voiced my strong belief that before Congress ask working families to pay more in taxes, we must question why Congress has done so little to crack down on special interests getting special treatment, and to prevent billions of dollars in corporate tax avoidance. Furthermore, I called on my colleagues to further scrutinize all tax expenditures, even the most popular, at least as closely as Congress looks at direct spending measures before it writes the check.

Today on the House Floor, I spoke in strong support of the Medicare Physician Repayment Reform Act-a bill that is about more than the reasonable desire of physicians for reimbursement rates that cover their actual costs and fairly compensate their work; it is about access to quality health care and strengthening seniors' ability to choose the doctor best for them. Today is one time that the ‘just say no' party ought to say ‘yes' to this good policy, which is supported by the Texas Medical Association and medical associations across the country.

With families struggling in this difficult economy, it's more important than ever that we work hard to expand educational opportunities for Central Texas students. I spoke in support of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act-the single largest investment in college aid in American history, at no cost to taxpayers. This bill corrects both the budget deficit and the "opportunity deficit" - when students cannot reach their God-given potential because of financial barriers.