mr. speaker , i appreciate this opportunity to speak on behalf of the rule and the underlying legislation .  mr. speaker , i would like to just mention a personal story .  i have a son-in-law who manages 150 stores .  they are part of a franchise and are spread across 40 different states .  if they have to purchase health care store by store , it is prohibitively expensive .  their costs are going up 10 to 20 percent a year .  one of the previous speakers said it may not add a whole lot of people , but what is happening is we are losing more and more people out of health care plans each year because small businesses simply can not afford it .  if they can band together , those 150 stores , and pool their resources and have 500 employees in a pool , they have a chance to keep their health care .  i think it is critical .  mr. speaker , 60 percent of all americans work for small businesses , and this is key to this legislation .  small businesses are particularly important to rural areas like nebraska .  the measure would do three things : one , increase small business ' bargaining power with health care providers ; number two , give them freedom from costly state-mandated benefit packages .  in many cases , the state regulations simply stifle the health care packages .  and , number three , lower their overhead cost by as much as 30 percent .  republicans and democrats alike have joined together in each of the last two congresses to pass this legislation .  i urge support of the underlying rule and the bill .  