House Proceeding 10-22-09 on Oct 22nd, 2009 :: 2:14:05 to 2:17:54
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2:14:01 to 2:14:21( Edit History Discussion )

Keith Ellison: medical system. call on my colleagues in the united states congress to pass health care reform and send it to president obama's desk. thank you and i yield to the gentleman from minnesota. mr. ellison: i thank the gentleman for yielding. the gentleman is doing a great job highlighting what americans are going through. americans of all descriptions. americans in the suburbs,

2:14:05 to 2:17:54( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Keith Ellison

2:14:22 to 2:14:42( Edit History Discussion )

Keith Ellison: americans in the city, americans in the rural areas, americans in the east, the west, the midwest, the south, all over america. people need health care reform. they need it if they have health care through their jobs. they need it if they don't have at all. we need health care reform and need it now. the american people have sent a

2:14:43 to 2:15:04( Edit History Discussion )

Keith Ellison: resounding message, it's up to now and not play politics. as the gentleman pointed out, even if you're a registered republican or registered democrat, registered for, the fact is, when you have an injury or illness in your family, and you have to consider what to do

2:15:05 to 2:15:25( Edit History Discussion )

Keith Ellison: given the cost you'll face or all the other implications, you don't really think about politics, you think about getting some care you can afford so the congress has to be responsible and do the right thing. let me say this, staff, the gentleman from colorado has been talking about

2:15:26 to 2:15:46( Edit History Discussion )

Keith Ellison: real-life paint a global picture. 42% of americans have changed the the last five years. 38% of americans worry they'll lose their health care coverage in the next five years. that's a lot of people, almost 40%. worried they're going to lose their health care coverage. that's a big deal.

2:15:47 to 2:16:07( Edit History Discussion )

Keith Ellison: . from 2003 to 2007, about 36% of americans experienced a gap in their insuranc people. fully a third of americans in that four-year period had gaps in their insurance or had to rely on government to keep things afloat for their families. this is a big deal.

2:16:08 to 2:16:28( Edit History Discussion )

Keith Ellison: a few more stats i'd like to share before i yield back to the gentleman from colorado. according to the urban institute, as many as one in five uninsured americans is uninsured because of a change in or loss of jobs. as when you lose your job, you lose your health care insurance unless you can keep up with cobra, then of course that's on you to pay for.

2:16:29 to 2:16:50( Edit History Discussion )

Keith Ellison: if you don't have a might not be able to cover that cobra. the fact is people are suffering in the individual homes, in apartments, and farms that they live on across america and they are struggling in large numbers when we aggregate them and look at them statistically. they are dealing with a lot of tough things out there. it's time for congress to act.

2:16:51 to 2:17:13( Edit History Discussion )

Keith Ellison: let me say 2008, the average cost of an ind about 4,704. that's 2008. and a family plan for a family was $12,608. $12,000 that's an enormous amount of money in the cost -- course of a year.

2:17:14 to 2:17:37( Edit History Discussion )

Keith Ellison: these numbers will double in the nexts eating up a greater percentage of the family budget. chewing into expenditures the family has to make for vital things just to be able to make it and just to be able to do well. the reality is the time for change is now. no more delay, no more scare tactics.

2:17:40 to 2:17:55( Edit History Discussion )

Keith Ellison: no more stories about health, no more stories about death panels, no more stories about it's only about covering the uninsured because everybody else has insurance, no. we need real reform for everybody, north, west, east, south. we nd it now.