[Page H1660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE POLICE

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, if the health care bill passes, the 
IRS will ``verify'' that American citizens have ``acceptable'' health 
care insurance every month. I say ``American citizens'' because the 
bill bars imposing health care taxes and penalties on illegals who will 
receive health care under this bill.
  The IRS will charge fines up to $2,250, or 2 percent of your annual 
income--whichever is higher--for failure to buy that government-
approved health insurance.
  The IRS will need over 16,000 new health care police to snoop around 
in your bank account. That's more people than live in my home of 
Humble, Texas. The IRS health care police will have the power to 
confiscate tax refund checks. They can levy bank accounts, garnish 
wages, and could put you in jail for failure to pay the piper, for 
failure to buy those health care insurance premiums.
  The health care bill costs too much, it taxes too much, and it 
invades people's privacy. Now we're going to have the health care 
police courtesy of the good old IRS.
  And that's just the way it is.

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