Crenshaw Floor Speech on Impact of Health Care Reform on Jobs

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Ander Crenshaw made the following statement on the impact of health care reform on jobs on the floor of the House on July 21, 2009.

“Mr. Speaker, it's pretty clear that we've lost a lot of jobs in this country, and I think it's pretty clear that we are going to lose a whole lot more jobs if we pass this health care plan.

“I thought Members might want to just hear a firsthand personal example. I've got a longtime friend that lives in Florida. He has a small business. By the way, he voted for Obama this year. He said, I'm going to vote for Barack Obama, even though I'm a Republican, because we need some change in this country.

“I saw him this weekend. He said, hey, have you seen that Obama health care plan? I said, yeah, as a matter of fact, I have. A lot of people have seen it. He said, man, that's not the change that I was voting for. He said, that's going to kill my business. He said, I'm going to see my taxes go up. He said, we're already laying off people, but if they put that penalty on us that I read about, then I'm going to have to lay some more people off. He said, this is killing me.

“And I'll tell you, that's happening all over the country, not just in Orlando, Florida, but all around the country. So we need some reform, but we need the right kind of reform, and this is not it.”

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