mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume .  mr. speaker , the most pressing crisis we face in health care today is the number of americans who lack basic health insurance .  the number of uninsured americans today stands at 45 million americans ; 27 million are fully employed .  and 63 percent of these working uninsured are either self-employed or work for a small business with fewer than 100 employees .  it is tragic that so many employers can not afford to purchase high-quality health insurance benefits for their workers .  the problem is not going away , and we have a responsibility to confront it .  with health care costs continuing to rise sharply across the country , more and more employers and their employees are sharing the burden of increased insurance premiums .  employer-based health insurance premiums jumped by 11 percent last year following a 15 percent increase in 2003 .  clearly , we need to focus on providing affordable health care to the uninsured as well as ensure employers who provide health benefits to their employees are not forced to drop their coverage because of rising premiums and high administrative costs .  the small business health fairness act responds to this problem and can help reduce the high cost of health insurance for small businesses and uninsured working families .  by creating association health plans which would be strictly regulated by the department of labor , small businesses could pool their resources and increase their bargaining power with benefit providers which will allow them to negotiate better rates and purchase quality health care at a lower cost .  president bush addressed this point directly last year during his speech at the united states chamber of commerce where he said , `` ahps would provide small businesses the same opportunity that big businesses get , and that is the economies of scale , the economies of purchase , the abilities to share risk in larger pools which drives down the costs of health care for small businesses. '' the president is right , and we should help level the playing field so small businesses can offer quality coverage to their workers .  americans overwhelmingly agree with president bush that association health plans are the right plan to help the uninsured .  a poll conducted last year showed that 93 percent of americans support association health plans as a way of providing access to affordable care for american workers who lack coverage .  over the last year , we have seen how large corporations are now starting to band together to provide health care to their part-time workers .  do small businesses and their workers not deserve the same opportunity ?  importantly , the bill gives ahps the freedom from costly state mandates because small businesses deserve to be treated in the same fashion as large corporations and unions who receive the same exemptions today .  clearly , these mandates are useless to families who have no health coverage in the first place .  if you do not have health care coverage , state mandates requiring health plans to offer specific benefits do you and your family no good at all .  this measure includes strong safeguards to protect american workers .  despite the bipartisan nature of this bill , i would like to correct some of the misinformation that i have heard .  the measure protects against cherry-picking because we make clear that ahps must comply with the 1996 health insurance portability and accountability act , which prohibits group health plans from excluding or charging a higher rate to high-risk individuals with a high claims experience .  under our bill , sick or high-risk groups or individuals can not be denied coverage .  in addition , ahps can not charge higher rates for employers with sicker individuals within the plan except to the extent already allowed by state law where the employer is located .  the bill also includes strict requirements under which only bona fide professional and trade associations can sponsor an association health plan , and , therefore , does not allow sham association plans set up by health insurance companies .  these organizations must be established for purposes other than providing health insurance for at least 3 years .  we in congress have a responsibility to deal with a problem of small businesses who can not afford to provide health insurance because of skyrocketing health care costs .  the u.s. economy is getting stronger by the day , and more and more employers are hiring workers each month .  earlier this month the unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level since september of 2001 and the labor department reported that 3.7 million new jobs have been created since march of 2003 .  that is 25 consecutive months of sustained job creation .  we want to make sure that these workers have the opportunity to receive quality health insurance through their employer , and this bill can help make that happen .  mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time .  