2000 Ron Paul 60:1
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support
of the rule. It is an imperfect rule, but this bill needs to be brought
to the floor.
2000 Ron Paul 60:2
H.R. 1304 is the only
bill that I have seen in the last 3 years, probably in the last 30
years, that would move us in a proper direction for health care in this
country. For 30 years now we have moved in the direction, not toward
socialized medicine, we do not have socialized medicine, we have a
mess. We have a monster we created called medical management. But we
have moved toward corporate medicine.
2000 Ron Paul 60:3
Who are the greatest opponents of
H.R. 1304? The HMOs and the insurance companies.
2000 Ron Paul 60:4
All we are asking for
here is a little bit of return of freedom to the physician, that is,
for the right of the physician to freedom of contract, to associate. We
are giving no special powers, no special privileges. Trying to balance
just to a small degree the artificial power given to the corporations
who now run medicine, who mismanage medicine, who destroyed the
doctor-patient relationship.
2000 Ron Paul 60:5
Mr. Speaker, this has
given me a small bit of hope. I am thankful the leadership was willing
to bring this bill to the floor tonight. We should go through, get the
rule passed, and vote on this. This is the only thing that has offered
any hope to preserve and to restore the doctor-patient relationship.
2000 Ron Paul 60:6
We need this desperately. We do not need to support the special corporate interests
who get the money. The patient does not get the care. The doctors are
unhappy. The hospitals are unhappy. And who lobbies against this?
Corporate interests. This is total destruction of the doctor-patient
relationship.
2000 Ron Paul 60:7
All we want to ask
for is the freedom to associate and the freedom to contract. If they do
not want to become a union, doctors do not have to. They had the power
to become unions in the 19th century, but under ethical conditions they
did not. Nobody tells doctors that they have to, if we remove this
obstacle.
This chapter appeared in Ron Pauls Congressional website at http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2000/cr062900.htm