mr. speaker , i yield myself 5 minutes . 
mr. speaker , this morning we fortunately witnessed the successful take-off of the latest space shuttle mission into space , and i , and i know all my colleagues , our thoughts and prayers go with that crew and their families . 
we wish them a successful mission and a safe return here to earth at the conclusion of that mission . 
but , mr. speaker , `` houston , we have got a problem '' right here on earth today , and that problem we all can agree to is the rising cost of health care , the impact that it is having on businesses large and small , family farmers , individual employees . 
it is a crisis that has been building through a number of years , and there is nothing more heart-wrenching or gut-wrenching than to speak to young parents who have a young child in desperate need of emergency medical attention , having to take that child to the hospital knowing that they do not have adequate health care coverage to provide for their sick child . 
today , one of the major factors for individual and personal bankruptcies is health care-related costs . 
there is also nothing more disheartening than speaking to the multitude of small business owners throughout this country who would love nothing better than to be able to extend affordable health care coverage to their employees ; but they can not because it is too expensive . 
i think we can all agree to the fact that this is something that we have to have focused attention to alleviate the high costs of health care and the growing ranks of the uninsured , which is roughly 45 million to 48 million today . 
when we think about who comprises these 45 million to 48 million uninsured , the vast majority of them are working americans , working in small businesses who can not afford to provide coverage . 
again , it is something we all recognize , because we hear about it daily when we are back home traveling in our congressional districts . 
so , yes , action is needed ; but there is a right way and a wrong way in taking action . 
a wrong way would be doing more harm than good in passing legislation and , for the previous hour , we have had a discussion in regard to the deficiencies and the shortfalls of the underlying associated health plans bill . 
that is why over 1 , 400 organizations around the country have come out in opposition to it . 
but today , the gentleman from new jersey ( mr. andrews ) xz4000080 and i are offering the right way , an alternative way , another approach to dealing with the health care crisis that our small businesses are facing , one that we believe would extend health care coverage to millions of americans , while keeping a lid on the rising premium costs . 
what it does , in essence , mr. speaker , is it builds upon the successful framework that the federal employees health benefits program has offered to countless federal employees throughout the country . 
it is a purchasing pool concept that they can enter into , with the competition of the marketplace and different insurance plans competing for that business that has proven to be extremely cost effective in not only extending coverage to millions of federal employees , but also by guaranteeing the state protections and consumer protections that have been passed by state legislatures throughout the country . 
mr. speaker , it is one of the more amazing aspects of this debate that the party that claims to be for states ' rights and tries to take political advantage of saying , listen , states , we stand for you and what you decide to do on a policy level , is so quick to jettison states ' rights when it becomes politically inconvenient for their political allies , and that is exactly what is going on here today with the proposed associated health plans , which will preempt and trump the public policy decisions that have been made throughout this country by state legislatures . 
now , our plan also would offer a minimum guarantee of coverage , one that the federal employee health plan currently does . 
it does not preempt the consumer protections and the state laws that have been passed . 
and the reason those state laws have been passed throughout the years is because the free marketplace and the insurance companies competing for the business were not offering this type of coverage , and that is why the state legislatures , in working with the governors , had to pass legislation requiring certain minimal safeguards of health care coverage . 
so if a state legislature has felt in the past that it is necessary to require prenatal care , for instance , or to prohibit drive-through deliveries , or to require screening for diabetes , autism , cancer , they have chosen to do so ; and it has made sense for those states that have . 
but , instead , this one-size-fits-all approach comes in and tries to preempt what the states have been doing for many , many years . 
but what is also different with our substitute is it actually offers premium support payments to make it more affordable to small businesses to offer health care coverage to their employees , something that the underlying ahp plan is silent on . 
again , an analysis of our bill would show that it would actually increase the coverage of the uninsured , help premium prices come down by building on this purchasing-pool concept , but also maintaining important and safe consumer protections . 
there is a reason why the national governors association and the states attorneys general have opposed the underlying bill . 
it is for all of these reasons , and we would respectfully submit the right approach is the substitute that we are offering today . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
