mr. speaker , for the purpose of debate only , i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from california ( ms. matsui ) xz4006631 , pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
during consideration of this resolution , all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only . 
this resolution provides for a structured rule and provides for 1 hour of debate equally divided between the chairman and ranking minority member of committee on education and the workforce , waives all points of order against consideration of the bill , and makes in order an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by the minority . 
this is a good and a fair rule . 
it allows the house to focus the debate and the vote upon two different approaches aimed at helping america 's small businesses to offer health coverage to its employees , and to debate and examine the proper role of the federal government in the health care arena . 
amendments not made in order were offered and discussed by the committee , so it is appropriate , i think , not to duplicate that committee action here on the floor . 
h.r. 525 is the small business health fairness act of 2005 , sponsored by the distinguished gentleman from texas ( mr. sam johnson ) , and is virtually identical to legislation passed in the 108th congress , then h.r. 660 , which passed this house by a 90-vote margin of 252 to 162 . 
so i commend the subcommittee chairman , the gentleman from texas ( mr. sam johnson ) ; the chairman of the full committee , the gentleman from ohio ( mr. boehner ) xz4000360 , for once again moving this bill through the committee process . 
mr. speaker , h.r. 525 is a modest bill . 
it does not seek to address every aspect of health care in america . 
it does not seek to mandate federal control into every aspect of medical treatments . 
to the chagrin of some of my friends on both sides of the aisle , it does not move our country in the direction of government control and taxpayer-funded universal health care . 
what it does do , and this is really the bottom line , is make health insurance more affordable to small business and thereby increase the total number of americans and families that are insured . 
h.r. 525 , if enacted , will result in more americans and more american families being covered by private health insurance , and that is a worthy goal that we should all be working to achieve . 
mr. speaker , i would like to point out that large corporations and unions already enjoy , many through erisa , the same insurance-risk pooling features and already enjoy the cost efficiencies built into this health coverage package for their workers and their members . 
this bill , therefore , is about achieving a measure of fairness towards small business , an effort for the mom and pop businesses and industries to be treated the same way as giant corporations and union organizations . 
the small guy will have nothing the large guy does not already have , with specific regulations placed in the bill to ensure against unfair pooling practices . 
it has bipartisan support from a wide range of groups , from the u.s. chamber of commerce , the national federation of american business , the american farming bureau , associated builders and contractors , the latino coalition , the national black chamber of commerce , the national association of women business owners and the national restaurant association , as well as many others . 
in the course of this debate , mr. speaker , there will be many who will be giving facts and figures . 
i do not wish to go into those right now . 
but i wish to make sure that this is part of a larger picture . 
as politicians , we oftentimes talk about the nation or issues being at a crossroads . 
we do that a lot because it is a very dramatic phrase , and it makes us seem more important because we are in the middle of it . 
but i do believe in the issue of health care and insurance we are as a nation in the crossroads . 
we can take one direction which would be to have greater government control , especially on the federal level which ultimately would lead to a single-payer federal program where decisions , right or wrong , would be made here . 
indeed , i think the substitute that will be ordered is illustrative not in topic but in spirit of this , where there is greater government control , greater regulations being put in there so that one wonders if the issue is really health insurance or if the issue is control . 
the other approach that we are in the crossroads of and could take would be an approach to try and add market forces into the system to try and move some type of reforms along the way . 
this bill is not a panacea for all of our health care issues ; but it is a step for certain groups who are currently excluded , often by well-intended decisions of the government . 
i clearly understand both sides of these particular issues . 
i was a state legislator who did both while i was down there . 
there were requirements in health care which i thought were good at the time , which i also knew were costly at the time ; and i also realize in hindsight , in helping one group of very vulnerable people , we actually hurt a different group of very vulnerable people . 
for example , in my state , family health care is covered for everyone until the age of 25 . 
when i joined this august body , all of the sudden the limitation was now at age 22 , not 25 ; and i immediately realized i had three sons who had no health insurance whatsoever . 
i still have two sons who are out there in that risky group with no health insurance whatsoever . 
i clearly realized from personal experience that all the mandates of coverage of health care systems are useless to those who can not get or can not afford insurance in the first place . 
my oldest son finally got a job with a large corporation . 
i was very relieved that now he has insurance until a couple of weeks ago when he came and talked to me about joining a friend in an entrepreneurial enterprise , in which case they would start their own business . 
i should have been excited about his attitude ; but the first question out of my mouth was , well , what about your insurance ? 
we make decisions here that have far-reaching effects in creating a society of limitations instead of visions as they should be . 
with all sorts of good intentions , government also has helped create people whose options are shut to them when all they want really is hope and the freedom to choose some kind of options . 
sometimes it is a matter of control of those options , which is frightening for any government level to try and give up . 
this bill does not try to create mandatory efforts . 
it tries to create options . 
it tries to create options from which people can choose . 
people who are not now covered have a chance to be covered in some way with insurance . 
regardless of how one votes on this issue in the past or in the future , this is a fair rule . 
with that , i urge my colleagues to support this rule . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
