[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 55 (Thursday, April 14, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H2795-H2798]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CORRECTING THE ENROLLMENT OF H.R. 1473
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 218, I call
up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 35) directing the Clerk of
the House of Representatives to make a correction in the enrollment of
H.R. 1473, and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:
H. Con. Res. 35
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That, in the enrollment of the bill (H.R. 1473)
making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the
other departments and agencies of the Government for the
fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for other
purposes, the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall
make the following correction: At the end of title VIII of
division B, insert the following new section:
``Sec. 18__. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
none of the funds made available in this Act or any previous
Act may be used to carry out the provisions of Public Law
111-148, or any amendment made by such Public Law, or title I
or subtitle B of title II of Public Law 111-152, or any
amendment made by such title or subtitle.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 218, the
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Alexander) and the gentlewoman from
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) each will control 10 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana.
General Leave
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on H. Con. Res. 35.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Louisiana?
There was no objection.
{time} 1510
Mr. ALEXANDER. I yield myself 3 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 35, if adopted, will add
provisions to the continuing resolution, H.R. 1473, to prohibit any
funds in this act or any previous act from being used to implement the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Most importantly, the
resolution will guarantee that our colleagues in the Senate will take
an up-or-down vote on this important issue. I think we can agree that
this is a vote that the American people have called for and is a vote
that we owe the American public.
Mr. Speaker, today the House approved an historic spending agreement
that cuts nearly $40 billion in Federal spending. When signed into law,
Congress will have achieved the first step in addressing our Nation's
ballooning debt. Our economy still suffers from apathetic growth, and
millions of individuals remain unemployed. At a time like today, when
the Federal Government is running record deficits, coupled with
significant unsustainable liabilities like Medicare and Medicaid, we
simply cannot afford this $2.6 trillion new entitlement program. It
only seems fair that a vote on the billions of dollars in both
mandatory and discretionary money required to implement the health
reform law is part of the discussion.
I, along with my colleagues in the House, have long argued for the
repeal of this law. Several Members have also maintained that, for this
strategy to be successful, it must include efforts to defund the
enforcement and implementation of the law through the appropriations
process. With the inclusion of this language in the CR, we will move
one step closer to reaching that goal.
Under new leadership, the House has already begun to tackle the
health care law on various fronts. In January of this year, the Chamber
approved a full repeal of the health care law. Additionally, during the
historic open debate on a previous continuing resolution, H.R. 1, this
Chamber debated and approved various provisions that would prohibit or
slow the implementation of the health care law by restricting annual
appropriations from going toward implementation. In fact, just
yesterday, we passed a measure that would repeal just one section of
the health care law that included $17.5 billion in mandatory
``automatic'' appropriations.
This resolution will go further by eliminating all of the funding,
both mandatory and discretionary, which, it is clear, we presently
cannot afford. It will also allow time for us to offer up new solutions
to our Nation's health care challenges that will not have long-term
negative consequences on job creation and economic growth.
Putting all arguments on the merits of the health care law aside,
this resolution simply ensures that accountability is restored over how
hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being spent. The health care law
turned hundreds of billions of dollars in discretionary spending into
mandatory spending.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeLAURO. I yield myself 2 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, instead of working to create jobs, reduce the deficit
and do the business of the American people, this majority has been
consumed for months now with trying to repeal health care reform. Like
the attempted repeal we saw in the first week of this Congress, like
the Tea Party budget passed in February and like the many attempts we
have seen to decimate health care reform piece by piece since, this
concurrent resolution, once again, tries to take away the consumer
protection of the Affordable Care Act and tries to put insurance
companies back in charge. It is a further demonstration of the
majority's special interest priorities and of their hypocrisy on job
creation and deficit reduction.
Passing this resolution will destroy jobs in the health professions.
It will slow job growth by 250,000 to 400,000 jobs a year. It will
increase medical spending and add nearly $2,000 to the average family's
insurance premium. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget
Office, it will add $230 billion to the deficit within 10 years and $1
trillion more within 20 years. Let me repeat that. This amendment adds
billions and ultimately trillions of dollars to the deficit, starting
with $5.5 billion this year.
This is not what we promised the American people. They want us to cut
the deficit, to get rid of special interest waste, like oil company
subsidies and breaks for corporate lobbyists. Instead, the majority
wants to let insurance companies discriminate against people with
preexisting conditions, even children with preexisting conditions once
again. They want to see women denied coverage because they survived
breast cancer or were victims of domestic violence or had c-sections.
They want to see 4 million small businesses lose $40 billion in tax
credits and seniors' health care and drug costs continue to rise at
staggering rates.
We are here to serve the needs of the American people, not the whims
of the health insurance companies. This resolution will cost money and
cost lives, and I urge my colleagues to vote against it.
Mr. DICKS. Will the gentlelady yield?
Ms. DeLAURO. I yield to the gentleman from Washington.
Mr. DICKS. I want to associate myself with the gentlelady's remarks,
and I rise in strong opposition to this concurrent resolution.
Ms. DeLAURO. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Montana (Mr. Rehberg).
Mr. REHBERG. I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for his leadership
on this issue to repeal the funding of ObamaCare, and I rise in support
of the resolution.
It is impossible in the short time I have to describe the many
reasons that justify defunding, repealing and replacing ObamaCare.
Today, I want to mention one--the adverse impacts for those on
Medicare.
In Montana, this is a huge issue because our population is quite a
bit older than in other States. Folks have paid into Medicare all their
lives, and they rightfully expect the benefits to be there for them,
but Medicare is going broke and will be bankrupt in 11 years.
Supporters of the new health care law say they've strengthened
Medicare, and point to the closing of the doughnut hole on prescription
drugs.
Let's examine that a little more carefully.
[[Page H2796]]
The cost to the government to fix the doughnut hole is about $27
billion between now and 2019, but ObamaCare cuts Medicare benefits and
reimbursements by more than $500 billion. These cuts aren't being used
to save Medicare. They're being used to pay for the cost of the new
entitlements in ObamaCare. For seniors in Montana and in the rest of
America, this is not a good trade.
But that's not all.
Most people aren't even aware that ObamaCare includes a $210 billion
tax increase on Medicare. Again, that money isn't going to be used to
save Medicare. This tax will go to pay for the cost of new
entitlements. ObamaCare cuts Medicare benefits, increases Medicare
taxes, and doesn't do anything to protect Medicare; and the new
Medicare cuts and taxes, along with hundreds of billions of dollars in
new taxes, penalties and fees, won't take effect until after the 2012
election.
That's not a coincidence.
This is a classic bait and switch. We get all the small benefits up
front and get hit with a pile of burdens after the 2012 election--just
one of the many reasons to defund ObamaCare now. That's the first step
toward replacing it with real reform in order to rein in health care
costs and to improve access.
Ms. DeLAURO. I am delighted to hear the gentleman from Montana say he
opposes cuts to Medicare. That means, I am going to assume, that he
will vote against the Ryan budget as well.
With that, I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from New York (Mrs.
Lowey).
Mrs. LOWEY. I rise in strong opposition to the resolution. The House
should be debating legislation to create jobs, not procedural tricks to
repeal health reform and increase our deficit.
Under this resolution, pregnant women and cancer survivors could lose
coverage when they most need it. Young adults would lose coverage on
their parents' plans. Seniors would pay higher drug costs. Businesses
and families would not receive tax credits for affordable coverage; and
accountability for large insurers to spend at least 85 percent of
premiums on health benefits would end.
Vote against this resolution in order to preserve vital consumer
protections in health reform, reduce costs, and decrease the deficit.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Iowa (Mr. King).
Mr. KING of Iowa. I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for his work
and for yielding me time.
I want to also thank the gentleman from Montana, who has drilled into
this deeply, and it is a big reason why we are able to be here today. I
appreciate his representation of seniors in Montana as I may well have
the privilege of representing the most senior congressional district in
all of America.
I've watched what has happened not just with Medicare but with
ObamaCare entirely, and when I hear the comments about the whims of the
health insurance industry, that may well have been what helped write
this bill in the first place--large health insurance companies. Yet we
had 1,300 of them when we started this process over a year ago, and we
have fewer today.
{time} 1520
We had 100,000 possible health insurance policy varieties. We have
fewer today. We are looking at $2.6 trillion in outlays over ObamaCare
for the first full decade of its implementation, and we have seen two
Federal courts rule ObamaCare unconstitutional.
We have uncovered what I think were intentionally hard-to-find
numbers that were hidden in the automatic appropriations of ObamaCare
to the tune of $105.5 billion to be laid out. We are sitting right now
on top of $23.6 billion that is being used intensively to implement
ObamaCare, all the while we expect, and the President surely must
expect, the Supreme Court will rule it unconstitutional.
ObamaCare has been rejected by the American people. It sent 87
freshmen Republicans here to Congress to repeal it. Every Republican in
not only the House of Representatives but in the United States Senate
has voted to repeal ObamaCare in H.R. 2 and voted to cut off everything
that could be ruled in order on the floor in H.R. 1 that would be used
to implement or enforce ObamaCare.
This is the language that cuts off the automatic spending to
ObamaCare. It puts a freeze on it so the courts can decide, so the will
of the people can be reflected not just in the House of
Representatives, but eventually in the United States Senate. And also,
let's bring a President that will sign this repeal, this
unconstitutional taking of American liberty that is known as ObamaCare.
Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California
(Mrs. Capps).
Mrs. CAPPS. I thank my colleague.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this misguided
resolution. It is another attempt by the Republicans to take away
important consumer protections, return to a health care system that is
clearly broken. I strongly oppose this amendment because it is harmful
to the American people and to our economy.
The majority of Americans, and certainly those in my district, are
opposed to this defunding stunt. Seniors do not want to go back to a
life of worry about how they will make it through the doughnut hole.
Parents don't want to go back to worrying that their child will be
uninsured this summer because she graduates. And small businesses do
not want to cancel their employees health care coverage because they
would lose the tax credits to pay for it.
The Affordable Care Act is law, and attempts by my Republican
colleagues to repeal it have failed. Instead of debating the past, we
need to focus on the future. Let's work on creating jobs and
strengthening our economy. Vote ``no'' on this foolish resolution.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, can you tell me how much time is left?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Connecticut has 6\1/2\
minutes remaining, and the gentleman from Louisiana has 2\1/2\ minutes
remaining.
Ms. DeLAURO. I would ask the gentleman from Louisiana if he has
additional speakers.
Mr. ALEXANDER. No.
Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr.
Waxman).
Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, this resolution would defund the
implementation of the Affordable Care Act. This is just another way the
Republicans are trying to repeal that law. The very first week of this
Congress, they voted to repeal the health care law. They said they want
to repeal it and replace it. We still have not seen what they propose.
They are not proposing reforms to help the middle class. In effect what
they would do is increase the number of uninsured in this country by 50
million people. This is a particularly reprehensible way to end health
reform--to stop paying for its implementation.
Americans are already benefiting from the law. Seniors are getting
discounts on their prescription drugs. Adult children will be able to
stay on their parents' insurance until 26. They would reverse the
prohibition against preexisting condition denials for children, and
they would stop allowing consumers access to preventive care with no
cost-sharing.
They pulled the rug out from under current State efforts to develop
vibrant, competitive exchange marketplaces, which is the centerpiece
for competition in insurance plans to give the consumers choice. But
what is most distressing is the dangers it poses to Medicare, Medicaid,
and the Children's Health Insurance Program, or health care safety net.
According to a letter from Secretary Sebelius: ``The Affordable Care
Act modifies and improves almost every Medicare payment system. If this
resolution were enacted, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
would not be able to use any funds to administer payments based on any
rate calculated on the basis of provisions of the Affordable Care
Act,'' which is to say virtually all rates.
Medicare and Medicaid could grind to a halt. The Secretary goes on to
say: ``This resolution would adversely affect health care in rural
areas. CMS would no longer be able to provide the bonus payments to
primary care and general surgeons for eligible services.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
[[Page H2797]]
Ms. DeLAURO. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.
Mr. WAXMAN. She also says about fraud, waste, and abuse: ``The
Affordable Care Act also gives CMS new tools to fight fraud, and helps
us move from a pay-and-chase system to a comprehensive, prevention-
focused strategy. This resolution would substantially impede CMS's
proven and successful efforts to reduce waste and fraud in the health
care system, resulting in increased erroneous payments.''
This is a harmful resolution to the interests of the American people,
and I urge my colleagues to oppose it.
Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
Pallone).
Mr. PALLONE. All I hear from the other side, the gentleman from Iowa
is trying to rehash the campaign, talking about who got elected in
November, saying the President should be defeated so we have a new
President.
What are you doing to create jobs? It's 100 days of the Republican
majority, and I don't see a single job creation bill.
Now, the Democrats, with our health care reform, we're trying to
expand options, give people low-cost insurance, end discrimination, and
look for new ways of training doctors so we have more doctors to cover
people. We're trying to give the American people options and choices,
and eliminate all of the problems that they have had with the health
care system. And the Republicans say, No, get rid of it. Defund it.
How many times are we going to vote on this same thing? And then
later today you're going to come back and try to destroy Medicare and
say the elderly should not have health care options and should have to
go out and buy their insurance, and maybe get a little help from the
government. Or if they have to go to a nursing home, you're going to
block grant Medicaid and say, well, the nursing home may not be
available to them, or the quality of the nursing home care will be
really terrible again, as it may have been years ago.
So I don't understand what you're up to. Look to the American people.
Look to create jobs for them. Look to create health care options. Don't
destroy. Don't destroy.
Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr.
Courtney).
Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, among the many programs which others have
talked about that would be blown up with this measure is the Early
Retiree Reinsurance Program, which is one of the most successful
aspects of the health care law. Over 5,000 employers all across
America, over half of the Fortune 500 companies--like Coca-Cola,
General Electric, UTC, General Dynamics--have all signed up with this
program, which, using the same principles as flood insurance, is
buttressing and strengthening early retiree benefits which have been
collapsing over the last 20 years.
These are the companies that are going to go out and hire people,
particularly young people, because early retirement allows their
workforce to have a natural change so that young people can find jobs.
The economy created 200,000 last month. It is because of programs, like
the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program, which the health care law
created. We should not end that program by passing this resolution.
These employers have signed up in good faith, and that good faith
deserves our commitment to follow through on the program that this
country offered them. That's a strategy. That's a winning strategy to
create jobs for this country.
{time} 1530
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Maryland (Ms. Edwards).
Ms. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I feel like I'm in the movie ``Groundhog
Day.'' This is the conversation that we had last year. It's the
conversation that we had the year before.
I cannot believe that we're standing here today when we should be
talking about creating jobs in this country for the millions of people
who are unemployed instead of taking away their health care, instead of
taking away the ability of a young person up to age 26 to stay on their
parents' health care plan. We're talking about taking away the ability
of children who have preexisting conditions--to be denied coverage once
again instead of creating jobs.
Instead of creating jobs, Mr. Speaker, we're here telling seniors
that we want them to reach into their pockets and into their retirement
to pay for outrageous prescription drug coverage.
We're standing here, instead of creating jobs, and we are telling
small businesses that they're not going to get a tax credit to provide
health care insurance for their business.
I mean, this is ridiculous. And, Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you the
American people must be wondering what it is that this Republican
majority is doing when they want to rip off seniors, rip off children,
and stop health care for the American people.
Ms. DeLAURO. I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from
Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized
for 1 minute.
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Finally, the United States of America made real the
possibility of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--all of
which are literally impossible unless health care is a right for all in
our great country.
This resolution goes in the opposite direction. A vote in favor of
this resolution tells Americans and small businesses that they will be
left to do battle with insurance companies on their own, insurance
companies that will once again refuse coverage, deny claims, and
subject them to double-digit premium increases. And under their budget
plan, they now want to end Medicare and leave seniors and disabled
people to the mercy of private insurers.
Enough is enough.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Connecticut has 15
seconds remaining.
Ms. DeLAURO. In that 15 seconds, let me just say they will defund
health care. They will end Medicare. They're going to kick seniors out
of nursing homes and send our health care back to the insurance
companies. It shows you where my colleagues on the other side of the
aisle are.
I urge my colleagues to vote against this measure.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, in closing, a key component of this
spending agreement is a guaranteed up-or-down vote in the Senate on a
provision that would prohibit any funds in this act or any previous act
from being used to carry out the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act.
Let's return to Congress its power to review this funding annually
and exercise full oversight.
House Concurrent Resolution 35 does just that. At a time when we are
being called on to rein in government spending, the American taxpayer
deserves this vote.
I urge my colleagues to support this enrolled resolution to deliver
on that promise today and call on the Senate to do the same.
Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this
resolution.
Mr. Speaker, the enactment of the Affordable Care Act was historic.
It made the necessary steps to reform our health care delivery system
and put patients first. A full repeal of this law will nullify all of
the popular provisions it put in place, and will once again leave
Americans at the mercy of insurance companies.
Young adults in their 20s who are looking for jobs in this difficult
economic climate, for instance, would suddenly find themselves without
insurance and without the option of staying on their parent's plan.
Recently, I heard from Michael, a Sacramento native. Michael has a
23-year-old son who was kicked off of his health plan at the age of 22.
A few months later, still unable to obtain affordable coverage, he had
to undergo an emergency tonsillectomy--a fairly common procedure that
can cost thousands for those without coverage. Because Michael's son
was kicked off of his plan his son now has massive medical debt and is
still only in his early twenties.
Mr. Speaker, we passed the Affordable Care Act last Congress because
our health care system needed to be reformed. We spend $2 trillion a
year on health care costs--far more than any other country--and we are
by no means a healthier nation; far from it!
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle say they are for
reducing spending. Well, Mr. Speaker, repealing the Affordable Care Act
will only increase the amount we spend every year on health care, both
at the federal level, and on the personal level. It will leave millions
without insurance and end up costing all of us more.
[[Page H2798]]
I urge my colleagues to oppose this harmful legislation.
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the millions of
Americans, many of whom are in my Congressional district, who through
the passage of President Obama's Affordable Care Act, have for the
first time been given more freedom and control over their health care.
Before the passage of this law nearly 40 percent of my constituents
were uninsured.
Now I hear from young adults who are grateful to be able to remain on
their parent's insurance plans until age 26.
I hear relief from seniors who once lived in fear of not being able
to afford their medication once they reached the donut hole.
I hear from struggling families who are thankful their child with a
preexisting condition can be part of new high risk pool insurance.
And I hear from those facing serious illness how relieved and
grateful they are their insurers can no longer drop them when they need
coverage the most.
The Affordable Care Act is working--I urge my colleagues to vote
``no'' on this resolution.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 218, the concurrent resolution is
considered read and the previous question is ordered.
The question is on the concurrent resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
____________________