House Proceeding 07-23-09 on Jul 23rd, 2009 :: 2:13:20 to 2:19:44
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2:13:16 to 2:13:40( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: why did you work so hard to push this idea of forward? i yield to the gentleman. mr. conyers: well, improving our health care system is the most single fundamental domestic issue that we can deal with. the second most important is creating a full employment

2:13:20 to 2:19:44( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: John Jr.Conyers

2:13:41 to 2:14:05( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: society. and the both go together because if you've got your health and don't have any employment, i don't know if you're in worst shape than a person who has employment and doesn't have any availability for health care.

2:14:06 to 2:14:26( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: they're both fundamental rights that adherin a constitutional system of democracy and we've been working on this for so long. i remember when the first lady, then hillary clinton, called us

2:14:27 to 2:14:50( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: into the white house and asked us to hold backn our push for universal single payer health care when her husband became president because she and another were going to work on health care reform. and we did.

2:14:51 to 2:15:14( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: we met, i rember, and said, look, we should honor her request. there'd never been first lady in the white house designated by the president to work on an issue this momentous and so we pulled back. it did not succeed. it wasn't her fault.

2:15:15 to 2:15:37( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: she had no way of estimating how powerful the corporate medical sources in health care were and that were determined not to make this universal or make any changes at all.

2:15:38 to 2:16:01( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: and so this to me is one of the highest issues that all of us in the congress can repair to a i'm so proud that we now have a total of 85 members in the house now on h.r. 676. i'm proud that we have it in the

2:16:02 to 2:16:22( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: health care reform as an option for states so that we can overcome some of the restrictions that will be reeved through the kucinich amendment to allow states that want to begin this noble experiment.

2:16:23 to 2:16:44( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: that's how it started in canada. it was a province in canada that first passed it. and then another and yet another. and of course canadians are overwhelmingly, extremely proud of the system that they have. no, the not perfect.

2:16:45 to 2:17:06( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: but very few things in this life are. they're working on it. and we're not copying it. we're looking at health care systems from around the world, everywhere, all countries that have them and the problems in countries that don't have them.

2:17:07 to 2:17:27( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: and so this is an exciting global study. i was even in china not too long ago examining their systems which is sometimes they're very efficient and in other places they don't exist at all. but we're putting this study

2:17:28 to 2:17:48( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: together so that the plan that we create is an american plan. created by us. benefiting from all the improvements and problems of other countries that have universal health care systems.

2:17:49 to 2:18:11( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: and so even though my primary concern are the judiciary committee issues, some of which tie into h bankruptcies caused by health care are in our committee and, as a matter of fact, we're

2:18:12 to 2:18:32( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: having hearings on medical bankruptcies next week in the ju my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will no doubt attend these hearings. and so there's a relationship. there's a relationship in creating a full employment

2:18:33 to 2:18:55( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: program. i'll be talking to some of the caucus members tomorrow morning about unemployment and the importance that we sever the link between unemployment and

2:18:56 to 2:19:17( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: health care because what has happened in detroit is that as the plants are closed and people lay off and no longer have employment, guess what? they no longer have health care either. so the relationship of employment-based health care to

2:19:18 to 2:19:38( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: unemployment is profound and a person without employment needs health care guaranteed and assured, need health care, whether he's working or not. he needs it even perhaps more than when he is working.

2:19:39 to 2:19:46( Edit History Discussion )

John Jr.Conyers: and so as the unemployment continues, unfortunately, to rise, more and more people who