mr. speaker , i am pleased to be here today to support the rule to govern h.r. 525 , the small business health fairness act of 2005 .  as costs continue to escalate annually at unprecedented rates , our employers are being forced to drop health care coverage , or not be able to afford it at all .  our small businesses share a large part of that burden because they are forced to shop for health insurance in the costly small group market .  large employers bring bargaining clout to the table when they work with insurance companies .  small businesses have fewer employees and thus have little or no bargaining power .  not only that , but large employers and unions are exempt from burdensome state mandates .  these mandates dictate what health plans must cover and which vary from state to state .  small employers do not have that luxury .  we know that more than 60 percent of the over-40 million uninsured americans either work for a small business or are dependent upon someone who does .  the clear course of action here is to help our small businesses afford health coverage by giving them the same opportunity .  association health plans , or ahps , do just that .  small businesses would be able to group together in bona fide trade associations .  ahps would then be able to use economies of scale to their advantage and provide more affordable health care for working families while avoiding the administrative cost of state mandates .  ahps are expected to save small business owners and their employees as much as 30 percent on their health insurance .  this bipartisan bill makes sense .  the time to act is now .  i urge a `` yes '' vote on this rule .  