Group of moderate republicans to bridge the gap with the Freedom Caucus to pass the legislation with a vote of to do 17 two with 13 in the house. It is five hours so have your snacks handy. Here it is. In july. [applause] thanks for coming think to the mayor and to the council and there is a lot of First Responders here tonight that are committed to everyone safety. [applause] i would ask before we get started with the what i hope will be a good dialogue and here to hear from you and you to hear from me please stand together and pledge of allegiance to the flag that is right back here. E unit i pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america. And to the republic for which it stands. One nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all. David is 26, a youth pastor and a High School Soccer coach, and he is about to make us grandparents in a month and a half. First son. Firsttime grandparent. And our daughter isabella is 20 and lives in baltimore. And i love my children. Im very proud of them. Theyve had also a deep impact on my life. I was a lifelong business man. Im not in politics but i started my Business Career investigating insurance claims the new york city Housing Projects, making 13,000 a year with a wife and young baby. So, i lived a life of growing through business. I was in business for 30 years and loved it, had a chance later to become the leader of a company, small company. We grew it from about 100 people to many thousands of people. And that has influenced me dramatically because i have seen what happens when people have a decent job, when people feel enthused about their work, feel theyre treat with dignity at work. And ive discovered whether i was in the Housing Project her to young man or the ceo of a company, i discovered most people, all people, want the same thing. People want security, they want opportunity, they want to be treated fairly. I understand i know well talk about health care tonight. People want the same things. I know that. We may have differences how we thought it taught to be delivered but i how it ought to be delivered but people want the same thing. My philosophy Public Service did not start in congress. Started working in any church, my local town on the environmental commission. And then on the open Space Commission and then as a mayor. My Public Service started in a Family Foundation that my wife and i have run now for 13 years. And we have done things that we think matter to us to other people. Supporting wounded warriors. We have now given away over 2500 wheelchairs because our daughter was in a chair her whole life and we have worked on Disaster Relief a lot. Thats what led me into Public Service. I want to got back to my daughter just for a moment. [shouting] i will say, shame on you right now. Actually. Dont tell me what im using. Im going to tell you because this affects my perspective. Im going to tell you this because it affects my perspective on this issue of health care. Im note going to tale you all about her life because you dont care, but i will say this its not all ive said. Not all i say. If you want me to listen to you, im asking you to listen to me. Asking you to listen to me. When my [shouting] [inaudible] well, let me let me finish and i want you to well talk about that, too. [applause] we dont want to hear about you. We know all about you. Okay. We all know about the democratic elevator. Enough. When youre done ill continue. This is not a canned response. I want you to stop for a moment. Because if you think that this doesnt have an impact on how somebody sees things, when my daughter was born we made my wife and i made a choice to have a child when we knew she would be born handicapped. She wasnt supposed to live. And she did live. She wasnt supposed to walk, and she didnt walk. She was in a chair. She didnt talk much but she said a few words. And this child in 11 years has shaped my life more than anybody. So, if i talk about my daughter too much, well, then so be it. This is the one human being that has impacted my life more than anybody. Write a book. Maybe i will write a book. When i used to come home when i used to come home or you able to afford her health care . I had pay for her wheelchair. Thats a really good question. When my daughter was born, we had in 11 years over a Million Dollars of insurance bills. Healthcare bills. Had insurance. But you know what . We didnt have much money in those days. We did not have [inaudible] well come back to that. Well come back to that. Thats why were here tonight. Well come back to that. Im not in a hurry. If you want me to respect you, doesnt it go both ways . [inaudible] when i see the problems in our Healthcare System, if you think that going in and out of hospitals for years, sleeping in hospital chairs because we didnt have bedness those days in a hospital room dish spent days and nights sleeping in a chair and then going my office in manhattan. That was the life i lived. And when my daughter went into a coma, when our daughter went into a coma when she was 11, not long after her 11th birthday, my wife and i had to make the decision no parent wants to make. We had to take ore daughter off life support. That was my life. That was our life. I was there when she was born, and the doctor came out and said we need to do surgery on her brain and i asked to ask the doctor, is boy or girl . That was money life. The moments i lived. When we unplugged live support she used to lie on my chest as a little baby and id rock her to sleep at night some when we unplugged life support i mutt my head on her chest and i listened to her last heartbeat. So if youve thick dont care about health care, its because [shouting] would you like to talk about that bill . Yes. Would you like to . [shouting] okay. You can have your opinion. You can have your views. But im going to say one more thing before we start this dialogue. Some of you tonight have very strong opinions about what you think. There are lot of people in this room and im going to did you you can think what you like about me, but im going to ask you for each others sake to have some respect for each other. Have some respect. If somebody is going to [shouting] if somebody block. [shouting] tell her to shut up. Folks, please. Listen, please. I will not put time limits on your questions tonight. I will not. But if youre going to good on too long because you have something burning inside of you and you just have to a said. Your neighbors will know if youre talking to long. Whatever you think of me i have i am asking you to have some respect for your neighbors tonight. And dont go on and on and on. I will also ask that if you dont live in the third district, you ask a question tonight. This is for people that live in this Congressional District. Other others are here. Im im going to ask you [shouting] im going to [shouting] im going to ask you to state where youre from to ask your question, and im going to ask you to let me answer it honestly without booing to the point that other people cant hear because maybe, just maybe, not everyone in the room shares your opinion tonight. Ill ask you to show respect for one another. Is that fair . Yes. Whatever you think of me to do that for each other. Ill answer honestly, ill answer honestly. I hear you, sir, this is my town hall, took not just yours. Im just trying to lay out some ground rules. Ive taken a few minutes and i told you, youll get all the time you want tonight. So now well good to questions. Ill start right here. I think there are mics wait until you get a mic, please. Good evening, congressman. Yes. C andre daniels, mayor of west hampton township. [applause] prior to wearing this suit i wore the uniform of states airman serving in the gulf war. [applause] incidences in my service, sir, i would have to on four and a half years of what i consider page dialysis, not knowing where tomorrow i suffer from end stage renal disease. The military just told me that they dont know how it happened, but it happened, and it happened on our watch while you serve this great nation of ours. My question simply is this. As a four and a half years of dialysis i would be lucky enough to get a kidney transplant 15 years ago. [applause] and intervening days of maybe at least a week, no one quite knew who was going to pay for the 3,000 to 4,000 of medicines i would need to sustain life, mainly from the imu imu know suppressant dregs. Most americans in the council trihave this question, and it goes to those basic freedoms of education, safety, security, and health care reigning supreme. If have to be somewhat fortunate dish say somewhat because the va system is not always an absolute. However, i do have something and i thank god for that. But there are many other americans who have similar vacations like similar situations like me, and a kidney tran plant is not a cure. Just another means of treatment. Today tomorrow if my kidney were to fail while other americans are struggling with health care, their kidney was to fail, the urgent and most compelling question of the day is, what would happen with them . I wear a suit. I happen to be a representative of dish like to thank noble Public Servant and have a constituency. My question is those unlike me, what will happen to them from a preexisting condition perspective and thats what everybody wants to an answer to. [applause] mayor, first, thank you for your service to the country and you have asked a question i getted a all the time and the answer is depends on a lot of different issues depending on you get your insurance from. My commitment has been and continues to be i hop youll see this as we talk about this particular issue that nobody, nobody with a preexisting condition will either be declined coverage or be priced out of being able to buy insurance. Let me finish. [shouting] folks, you can well, yes, have read it, and if you give me a few moments let me ask you this. Have you read it or responding to advertising . Yes. Okay. So let me answer the mayors question. That is my commitment. Right now, there are a lot of different ways people get insurance. Many of you get it throughorren and if you work for a company with more than 50 people, thats a nonissue. Many of you 2010 it from medicare. Nonissue. Medicaid. Nonissue. Va care [shouting] tricare well, well come back to medicaid. Well come back to medicaid. But were talking about preexisting conditions, and in all of those plan is just described, this bill does not touch that issue at all. At all. Number two it simply doesnt. It doesnt. If you are in if you let me answer the question i promise well get to all of the issues. Let me try answer the question. If you are in any of those Insurance Program i just described, preexisting conditions is not touched by the bill. If you are in the individual market, which is seven percent of the u. S. Population, if youre in the individual market, then theres this question of will you have coverage for preexisting conditions. Heres my concern, after 30 years in insurance, i am watching an Insurance Market that is collapsing, and heres why its collapsing. Hold it. You have here [shouting] [shouting] [chanting] single pair single pair single pair single payer single payer you have not heard you heather heard much of my answer assault because the answer is a little bit more than that. Represent us. Not met me answer the question. Let me answer the question. If youre in the individual market, you have Coverage Today and heres what is happening in that market. Premiums and deductibles have increased all over the country to the degree that many people many people are dropping out. Folks [inaudible question] if you want to talk to each other, thats fine. Ill just to to email. Ow want you to tell us the truth. How about the truth. Tell the truth. Please let him finish. You are showing disrespect to your neighbors who want to hear my answer. Its not right. It is not right. Shut the hell up and let the man talk. Folks, please. We gave him a chance. He goes to congress [inaudible] [shouting] [shouting] you have no idea how he lives. Folks, this debate is raging all over the country, and if we cant talk to each other civilly, about this issues, you can disagree with me all you want. Just give me a few moments to answer the question. Preexisting conditions, if you are in the individual market, that market is going through right now an adverse selectiony Healthy People are dropping out and sicker people are staying in. Want to save that market but if you do nothing, if we do nothing, insurers will continue to drop out. It cannot survive. Now, ill come back to single payer. Thatth that is an alternative that some people want. Im just telling you right now, that the individual market, people who dont get their insurance from their job or medicare or medicaid or va or tricare, military tricare, those people will not be able to find insurance policies if we dont do something. And that is what hat prompted me to act and what i have proposed in my amendment is that in that market, if states want to have some flexibility, to try to bring rates down and get more people insured, that is where these waiver exist. The only place they exist, and they only exist for people that have not had continuous coverage in the individual market, who have a condition like yours, mayor. And it is a lot of people. And for those people, for those people already bet me just fin those people, this part of the seven percent in the individual market who have a preexisting condition, who have not had continuous coverage, because if you stay insured by law no insurer can ever rate you different than anybody else because of that condition. That is the thats in the bill. That doesnt change in this bill. It does not change. Its only if you have had a gap in coverage, and for that group of people, i said to the states in the amendment, you cannot do anything different for preexisting conditions unless you create a risk pool for that very group of people to protect them. Further, further, we set aside 138 billion for that specific group of people. For that specific group of people. [shouting] im going on to another question. Right here. Wait for the mic. Hi. Im kimberly stewart, im actually from willingboro. One of the few arents able to make it in here. [applause] i have a question in regard to russia. We seem to be having a pattern of most people we seem to have a pattern that most people who are investigating it seem to be getting fired. Do you support an independent Group Investigation into russias ties into the 2016 election . [applause] so, director comey got fired less than a day ago. Yesterday. And my view, my view, right now, is the fbi has still got some work to do in their investigation and both the senate me and House Intelligence Committee are still investigating. Obstruction. This isnt the first fbi director that was fire. Bill clinton fired his, too. But my view [shouting] would you like to hear the answer to young womans question . Be quiet. Folks, im not going to talk over you. You have to decide if you want me to answer your questions. Im not going to fight with you tonight. Im not going to talk over you im going to answer your questions and you have to decide whether youre going to respect one another or just going to have your moment of noise. So when the room is quiet, ill answer a question. Yes or no . Were here to listen. The answer is no, not yet. Not yet. [booing] [booing] yes. Question. Im maureen from mow youreton. Was the ware town meeting and you had the same answer morrowton. I was in the parking lot outside trying straining to hear. And i believe you had the same answer then. You wanted to wait and see what the congressional committees would do. Since then we have seen nunes have to recruise him and that committee fall into disarray. We have seen the Senate Committee with not one fulltime staffer on it and theyre not getting our answers to their requests from trump contacts. This week, we listened to a subcommittee hearing in which most of the republicans could not bring themselves to ask even one question about russia. And now we have comey fired. If that isnt enough to convince you that the legislature cannot do thing on its own, what specifically do you need to see before you [applause] [cheers and applause] youre right. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee did recuse himself. But that investigation is now continuing in a bipartisan manner. It is. The senate the senate chair and the Ranking Member have both publicly declared theyre working closely together on their investigation. Publicly. So you asked what i want to see. I want to see the results of their investigation. I want to see i dont think it will take four years. I dont think so. [inaudible question] [applause] well, you asked and i answered. So is there another question . Yes. First i just like to thank any vas in the veterans in the room for their service to our country because if you i can stand here today and n in a free country. Just want to say, congressman, im from new jersey, im here because i am a concerned citizen. I am concerned i have a president that praises vladimir putin. And other dictators robbed the world. Im concerned i have a president that attack his free press and all them the enemy of the people. [applause] i am concerned because i have a president that attacks the independent judiciary when they have a ruling that doesnt good his way. I am concerned that it have a president that says the rules of our government are archaic. I am also concerned i have a president who does not know american history. [cheers and applause] if he did he wouldnt have fired the man investigating him. I am also concerned there is something mentally wrong with donald trump. [cheers and applause] i can see it. Can anyone else see it . Yes why dont you see it, congressman . Donald trump is not a republican, congressman. Donald trump is an authoritarian. Donald trump is the greatest threat in our democracy in our lifetime. [applause] my question to you, how long are you and your fellow republicans going defend this american nightmare . You, mitch mcconnell, open your eyes. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] you spoke, let me respond. Let me respond. The whole world is watching. Do you have a canned answer for that . I want a c