[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 7, 2001)] [House] [Pages H203-H204] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] BETTERING RURAL HEALTH CARE IN AMERICA (Mr. McINTYRE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. McINTYRE. Mr. Speaker, as cochairman of the Rural Health Care Coalition, I want to thank my good friend and the former cochairman, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle), for all of his hard work on behalf of rural health care. His leadership will be missed, but I am sure my colleagues will join me in representing the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran) as cochairman of our Rural Health Care Coalition. Just 2 days ago, I had the opportunity to visit Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville, North Carolina, along with Senator John Edwards from North Carolina, to talk about the impact that the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 has had on the quality of care. While I am pleased that those of us in Congress have taken significant steps over the last 2 years to stop cuts in Medicare, we have much more to do to ensure that all citizens, no matter where they live in America, have access to quality health care. The voice of rural America needs to be heard and to be heard loudly in these halls of Congress. I encourage all of my colleagues here in the Congress to join our efforts to make sure that, as we talk about and work to improve health care, that we are improving it [[Page H204]] for all Americans everywhere, so that no one is left behind. ____________________