Opening Statement of Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W. Va.), Markup of the America's Healthy Future Act

Sen. Rockefeller: Mr. Chairman.

I want to open my remarks by recognizing the importance of moving forward. We have an enormous opportunity here today to make real progress toward comprehensive health care reform ¿ and we must never forget what this will mean for millions of American families.

I know that my colleagues have heard me talk about my experiences as a VISTA volunteer many times before. But with so much at stake, I always come back to my experiences more than 45 years ago in the small coal mining town of Emmons, West Virginia. I witnessed the tragic failings of our broken system firsthand and since those days I have seen the situation grow worse ¿ not better.

The injustice and unimaginable challenges for countless hard-working Americans just has to stop. Period.

I know we have all been home recently, and heard the horrific heart-breaking stories of families struggling with a broken system. Of course, those are just the tip of the iceberg -- for every story there are thousands more we don't hear, just as devastating.

Stories like Samuel's -- a nine year old boy from West Virginia whose parents are doing everything they can to save his life. Samuel has leukemia.

He has hit his million dollar cap on his insurance plan. My office helped get his parents in touch with the right people to try and find more resources, but those are running out too. Samuel's parents are desperate and fear for the worst.

Some have even gone so far as to suggest they get a divorce so they can put Samuel on Medicaid. Surely we can all agree we can do much better than this.

Mr. Chairman, in all the years I have worked on health care, I have never seen such a promising opportunity to make sure all Americans have access to quality affordable care like the situation we face today.

Families nationwide have said enough is enough and we must heed their call.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for your tremendous efforts. This process is such an important step toward serious reform.

I want to commend you more specifically on eliminating pre-existing condition exclusions, annual and lifetime limits for health care, and including the other reforms to the individual and small group market that protect consumers and better inform them about their coverage options.