If You Fix It, They Will Come

Floor Speech

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, despite all of the hysterical comments like we just heard on the floor here today, it is important for people to know that, in States in which Governors embrace the Affordable Care Act and set up a high-functioning Web site, the fact of the matter is that enrollment is exceeding expectations.

In Connecticut on Friday, which is where I am from, we released figures. Over 13,000 enrolled in the first 6 weeks, and the pace of enrollment is accelerating. In the last 2 weeks, they have enrolled more than they had enrolled in the prior month. On Saturday, I was at an enrollment fair--there were eight of them all across the State--and there was a full waiting room of people who were waiting their turns--like at a deli counter to get their numbers--to sit down to get help in terms of signing up with a plan. Twenty minutes is all it took to sign up for a plan.

I spoke to Merrylyn Weaver from New London, Connecticut, who said:

I am finally going to have health insurance after 3 years of being without it.

It took her 20 minutes to sign up for an Anthem Blue Cross Silver plan.

The fact of the matter is that the message is, if you fix it, they will come. That is what this Congress should be focused on is fixing it so that the people in the waiting room like I saw in Norwich, Connecticut, are going to get help all across the country. It is time to help people get insurance, not to scare them and destroy a plan that provides them hope.

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