It was supposed to be a shout-out to the Yankees, a couple of representatives from each side of the aisle congratulating the newly crowned World Series champions.

Utah's 3rd District Republican Jason Chaffetz was chosen by his party to deliver kind words to the Bronx bombers but couldn't resist side-stepping into other issues.

He first claimed the $787 billion stimulus package from the federal government has failed to rescue the economy. He then set his sights on the forthcoming health care reform bill -- HR 3962 -- proposed by Democrats and decried as a new tax on medical equipment that would help pay for it. Utah is home to multiple medical equipment manufacturers.

At one point on Friday, his Democratic counterpart, Edolphus Towns of New York, tried to bring him back around to the matter at hand.

"I just want to make sure what my friend from Utah understands what we're talking about here this morning," Towns said. "I think he's confused. I think he thinks this is 3962. But this is a resolution congratulating the 2009 Major League Baseball World Series Champions."

Both sides were allowed 20 minutes, which Chaffetz feels was excessive to spend on baseball.

"What's hot on our minds is health care," Chaffetz said in a separate interview. "You've got to take the opportunity to make the case on what's on most American's minds."

If you're interested in taking a look at HR 3962 in its current form -- all 1,990 pages of it -- Chaffetz has copies in public libraries in Provo, West Jordan, Riverton and West Valley.