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Madam Speaker, beyond the walls of this Capitol there are millions of Americans who can't afford health insurance, and they live in fear of getting sick. Millions more are discriminated against by insurance companies because they have pre-existing medical conditions. In my own life, as a child and as an adult, I have lived without health insurance. A dear, dear niece of mine has a pre-existing condition that makes her uninsurable. Passing health insurance reform is not a political game - it is personal.

Rising health care costs and inadequate coverage burden many Americans. The current system lets insurance companies penalize a woman, just for being a woman.

It is unfair and it is wrong, plain and simple, that a woman can be charged a higher premium than a man or be denied coverage for a "pre-existing condition" such as pregnancy, having a c-section, or being a domestic violence victim.

An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year, and 85% of domestic violence victims are women.

Let me give you one example.