Congressman Franks Joins Health Care Press Conference with Parents of Children with Disabilities
Franks: "Health care rationing will hurt the defenseless and vulnerable more than anyone else in society."
September 16, 2009 - Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) spoke at a press conference hosted yesterday by Congressman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) and members of the "Healthcare for Gunner" coalition, including about a dozen parents of children with disabilities, to draw attention to the cause of the more than 54 million disabled citizens whose welfare would be dramatically endangered under a nationalized, government-run health care system. The following are his remarks as prepared:
"It is an honor for me to stand here today with these wonderful parents, heroes who represent the suffering and personal sacrifice of millions of Americans who care for disabled.
"Many years ago, Hubert Humphrey said, 'The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.' A key test of our society will be whether or not this government succumbs to the temptation to expand its power and control at the expense of the innocent, or whether it remembers that the greatness of America rests in how we care for the 'least of these,' those who are the most easily and often forgotten in the midst of this heated debate over health care policy.
"The people standing beside me today have many amazing stories about their own experiences with disabled family members, and they have by far the most compelling stories to share, which you will hear in just a moment. But I would like to relate just one story that has a personal connection to me.
"The story involves an old man and his firstborn son who was born with deformities of the mouth-- a completely missing palate, among other complications. Because of technological challenges at that time, and the family being situated in a rural little town, the doctors at the hospital said that the parents couldn't breastfeed the child because of his deformities, and therefore couldn't feed him; and that the best thing was to do away with him in a merciful manner.
"But the man refused to accept such an answer. He said, 'No, this is my first child, we're just going to take him home and do the best we can. We will make a machine to feed him if we have to.'
"Well, the machine turned out to be an eyedropper and a pill cup, and the little baby did in fact grow up to be big and healthy and strong. And of course I'm thankful to that old man, because he was my dad and I was the child.
"I went on to have 11 surgeries by the time I was 9 years old. And because of that, I have firsthand knowledge of a health care system that, despite its flaws, is still the best health care system in the world, and it is part of what has allowed me to live and come to the United States Congress and to stand with you here today.
"And I truly believe, with all my heart, that a government-run health care system will endanger that quality of care for those in the dawn of life, including the unborn, those in the shadows of life, and the millions of those with disabilities represented by these precious parents standing here with me today.
"The fact is that a government health care system will diminish the number of doctors who go into the field, it will increase the demand for services to a level our system cannot sustain, and it will lower the quality of care by placing a government bureaucrat between patients and their doctors, all at tremendous cost to taxpayers.
"In every country in the world where government-run health care has been adopted, the result has been a rationing of health care services. This is indisputable. And the fact is, the government boards and panels who make the critical life and death decisions about how to allocate these critical health care services invariably decide if those with a 'lesser quality of life' should be the first to be denied the crucial, life-saving care they need when it becomes scarce.
"And that brings us to why we are each standing here today; to recognize that fundamental American ideal that we are each created by God and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights; and that every life is equally precious, and should be protected equally by this government. Placing the most vulnerable in our society, the unborn and those with disabilities, under a system of government-rationed care is the worst thing we could possibly do if we are serious about improving the areas of our current system that need to be improved so that each and every American has access to the quality, affordable health care that they need.
"I hope you'll join with me in listening to some of these testimonies from people who have personally experienced the implications of what I have just stated, who realize what rationed health care would mean to their own families, and why we must do everything in our power to oppose this government takeover of health care. Thank you."
