Yesterday, at President Obama's invitation, I and other Members of Congress had the opportunity to visit the White House for a discussion about health care.  We took part in 'breakout' sessions to address specific concerns regarding our health care system.  Among the many issues we discussed, we all agreed that skyrocketing health care costs are increasingly squeezing the budgets of families across America.  Now, more than ever, we must find a way to fix our health care system.  I am committed to ensuring that every American has access to affordable, high-quality health care and I am ready to work with President Obama to make this a reality.

With the ongoing difficult economic climate, Americans cannot afford to have a government-run health care system paid for by massive tax hikes that would cripple our economy.  Instead, we must preserve what works about our system now while focusing on fixing the broken parts.  People must remain free to choose their own doctors and we need to guarantee that government bureaucrats are left out of medical decisions, both large and small, so that they can be made by patients and their doctors.  It was a great privilege to take part in this event and I'm hopeful that this meeting will be a step forward to truly resolving the serious health care issues we're facing today.