"There are countless employers who want to offer health insurance to their employees, but can not afford to because costs have skyrocketed by roughly 13 percent a year.

"Congress has passed too many mandates. Congress has passed too many costs to the little guy. Congress has been bullied by too many lawyers. And Congress has stood in the way of too many good ideas.

"Enough is enough. We must enable small businesses to band together to use the marketplace to buy health insurance as a group, via Association Health Plans. Association Health Plans are a prescription for helping the uninsured.

"As chairman, I've heard countless people stress the importance of helping the uninsured; AHPs are the best way to do that.

"Congress must address the uninsured problem and move forward with increasing the insured through Association Health Plans. It's the least Congress can do to ensure that the American people will receive better health care at a more reasonable price."

Chairman of the Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee, writing for The Hill