[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 14, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H2590-H2597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REPUBLICAN FRESHMAN CLASS ON THE NEED TO REPEAL OBAMACARE
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Joyce). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 3, 2013, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Messer) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
General Leave
Mr. MESSER. 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 the subject of my Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Indiana?
There was no objection.
Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I rise for another in a series of Republican
freshman class Special Orders, this time to focus on the need to repeal
ObamaCare in a vote in this Chamber later this week.
The President and many of our colleagues on the other side of the
aisle proudly refer to this health care law as ``ObamaCare,'' but we
should neither be proud of the process that led us to this point nor
the resulting policy mess.
The 2,800-page bill was crafted behind closed doors and rushed
through Congress in 2010 with limited debate and without amendments.
The predictable result is a flawed product that expands the Federal
Government's role in health care, raises taxes on employers, and
mandates benefits that will increase health care costs for most.
Remarkably, there already have been more than 20,000 pages of
regulations issued regarding this bill's implementation.
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I would like to start by recognizing my distinguished colleague, the
gentlelady from Missouri, for her remarks on this important issue.
Mrs. WAGNER. I thank the gentleman from Indiana for yielding and for
organizing these Special Orders this evening.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 45, a bill that will
repeal the President's devastating health care reform law, commonly
referred to as ObamaCare. When promoting the health care reform
legislation to the American public, the President and members of his
party told people that if you liked your health insurance then you
could keep it, that the penalty Americans have to pay under the
individual mandate was not a tax, and that those with preexisting
conditions would have access to health care. Well, as many of us
suspected then, these claims were nothing more than blatant lies.
In fact, the Congressional Budget Office recently said that 7 million
people will lose their job-based health insurance due to ObamaCare. The
Supreme Court has affirmed what we already
[[Page H2591]]
knew: that ObamaCare penalties are, indeed, taxes, and on February 15
the Obama administration announced they would not cover over 40,000
patients suffering from preexisting conditions.
Mr. Speaker, friends, this should not happen in America. We need to
repeal this law, and we need to do it now. Today, though not fully
implemented, ObamaCare has already had many destructive effects on the
American people--real people with bills to pay, mouths to feed, and
jobs to do.
Since ObamaCare was signed into law, many of the new taxes in the
President's $1 trillion tax hike have gone into effect, most of which
target the middle class, increase the cost of health care, and stifle
job creation.
The law continues to take its toll on small business. I hear from mom
and pop operations throughout the St. Louis region that are not hiring
needed workers or reducing full-time employees to part-time workers,
for the sole purpose of being able to keep their doors open as a
consequence of the new ObamaCare regulations.
The impact on jobs already is unmistakable. ObamaCare promised 4
million jobs, including 400,000 almost immediately. Yet we know the
truth: that ObamaCare is destroying jobs and costing the American Dream
for millions of Americans.
Just today, a Missouri hospital announced that it was eliminating 129
good-paying jobs. The reason? ObamaCare.
These are facts, these are real jobs, and this law is hurting real
people.
It continues.
Premium costs continue to rise on hardworking families across the
country. Premiums for the average family have already grown by $3,000
since 2008, despite promises by the Obama administration that ObamaCare
would decrease premiums $2,500.
Premium costs are expected to double, triple, and even quadruple for
millions of Americans when many of the provisions of the law go into
effect next year. The greatest effect will be on young people in this
country, who are already struggling to find jobs, pay off student
loans, and grow healthy, prosperous families. These young people will
be stuck between paying for insurance they cannot afford and being
subject to a burdensome tax.
Mr. Speaker, I will close by addressing the shameful raiding of
Medicare by this irresponsible law called ObamaCare. Despite promises
to the contrary, ObamaCare has gutted Medicare to the tune of $716
billion--nearly three-quarters of a trillion dollars--stolen from our
Greatest Generation to pay for this devastating law.
Every day, more and more doctors are refusing to see Medicare
patients because they simply cannot afford to do so. Is this how we pay
back our seniors--with reduced benefits, reduced access to health care,
and reduced respect for their quality of life? We owe them more. We owe
the American people more.
Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear: this law is wrong for America and
needs to be repealed immediately before any more of its harmful
provisions are implemented.
Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady for her remarks.
Many of the promises that were made to justify ObamaCare's enactment
have been broken. The results of these broken promises are hurting
hardworking American families, workers, and businesses today, and will
hurt them even more in the future, which is why House Republicans will
be voting to repeal this government takeover of health care later this
week. Through the course of the Special Order, we will look at some of
those broken promises.
I would next like to recognize my good friend, my colleague from
North Carolina (Mr. Pittenger).
Mr. PITTENGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join a chorus of
individuals who are calling for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
Mr. Speaker, it's not even affordable. The CBO says it will cost $1.8
trillion just to employ. Blue Cross/Blue Shield in North Carolina says
the premiums are going to go up 284 percent. We can't afford this.
Seven million people won't be able to keep their own policies. There's
no risk pool now, no funding for it, no provision. Even Democrat
Senator Max Baucus, Finance Committee chairman, says this is a train
wreck getting ready to happen.
Mr. Speaker, last January, I sponsored a seminar in my district that
brought together 400 business leaders. The purpose of this seminar was
to explain ObamaCare. We had the Cato Institute and the AARP there. Mr.
Speaker, what they heard was a resounding, What in the world have we
done? They were so concerned about what ObamaCare was going to do to
their own businesses, they were afraid to hire people, and they thought
they would let people go.
Do you know what they saw, Mr. Speaker? This chart right here. This
chart--what a quagmire to process through to try to get real health
care. It can't be done. We can do better.
That's why with Congressman Hudson I've introduced a bill called Auto
Enroll. This is a little provision put in the health care law, one of
those provisions that I believe Speaker Pelosi said we are going to
read it after we vote on it, we are going to learn about it then.
Well, we've learned about it. What did we learn? That the companies
have to automatically put people on their health care plan. And this
bill says, no, you can opt out, you don't have to comply.
Students who are already on their parents' health care, they
shouldn't have to do this. You have temporary people who are working
during seasonal work time in major retail or in restaurants. They
shouldn't have to be on this, yet they're required to. This bill will
allow some flexibility for employers.
The American people were told, We are going to provide you a champion
thoroughbred horse who is going to go win the Kentucky Derby. Do you
know what they got, Mr. Speaker? They got a maimed, blind, deaf,
crippled horse that can't even make its way around the track. That's
what we have with ObamaCare.
We are going to do better. We are going to provide for the American
people at the right time, and we can do this in competitive markets.
They can cross State lines, hundreds of companies competing, drawing
down the cost of health care. This needs to be done now.
We can get rid of the frivolous lawsuits that are driving the cost of
health care up. The American workers, responsible people, hardworking
taxpayer Americans, they deserve better, and we are going to do it.
Thank you, and God bless you.
Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
I would next like to recognize my good friend, the distinguished
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Stewart).
Mr. STEWART. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, Mr. Messer.
I've been blessed to do a lot of fun things in my life, to do a lot
of interesting jobs. I was an Air Force pilot for 14 years. That was
maybe the funnest thing I've ever done. I was a writer. I've written 15
books. That was very satisfying. But the hardest job, without question
the hardest job I've ever done was to be a small business owner.
As a small business owner, you fight every day to make ends meet. You
care about your employees. Your employees become your family.
One of the funnest things to do is to hire new people, but one of the
hardest things to do, and one of the most, frankly, discouraging things
you have to do is when you have to lay people off. But that is exactly
what has happened in the business that I owned, that is exactly what is
happening now, and that is what is going to continue to happen.
Jobs are being killed by the implementation of ObamaCare. And that's
not a statistic. That isn't some government projection. It isn't some
estimation from CBO. That is a fact. It is a reality. ObamaCare is
killing economic activity. ObamaCare is killing jobs. And it's only
going to get worse.
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There is a reason that the Democrats--and I'm not talking about the
Republicans; I'm talking about Democratic leaders--are calling
ObamaCare a train wreck. There is a reason why Nancy Pelosi said, We
have to pass this bill before we can find out what's in it.
This is like taking the lid off a garbage can that has been sitting
out in the sun too long. The longer it's out there and the more we know
about this legislation, the worse it is. 400 percent--that's how much
some people's
[[Page H2592]]
premiums are going to go up because of the implementation of ObamaCare.
The President promised and, in fact, the entire purpose of the
Affordable Care Act was to drive premiums down. Instead, we see exactly
the opposite--30 percent, 80 percent, 400 percent increases in health
care premiums.
All of us Americans have become familiar with new words over the last
year or two. We've learned about sequester, and we've heard a lot about
the fiscal cliff. The new government phrase of the year is going to be
``rate shock.'' You're going to hear about that all the time beginning
this fall because people will be shocked and businesses will be shocked
and jobs will be lost and people will be hurt because of the
implementation of ObamaCare.
Please, let's take the opportunity to repeal it now. We can do
better. We can write something and design something that is better.
Let's take the opportunity to do that.
Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
I would quote for you broken promise No. 1 of ObamaCare: ``If you
like your current health care plan, you will be able to keep it.''
Not true. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nearly 7
million people will lose their employer-sponsored health care coverage
under ObamaCare.
I would next like to yield to my good friend, the gentleman from New
York, Representative Collins.
Mr. COLLINS of New York. I want to thank the gentleman for holding
this special session tonight.
Mr. Speaker, the American public is often concerned there is not
enough agreement in the Halls of Congress. Well, I am pleased to report
there is growing agreement among both parties and in both Houses of
this Congress that ObamaCare is truly a train wreck, as recently
described by Democrat Senator Max Baucus. As this massive piece of
legislation is being implemented, the negative impact it is and will
have on our economy is becoming clear:
ObamaCare guts the funding for Medicare Advantage to help cover its
growing price tag. So, for all those seniors out there, like my 86-
year-old mom, who are happy with the coverage they receive through
Medicare Advantage, I have news for you: you can't keep your existing
plan, as promised, because ObamaCare effectively ends it.
What the administration could not raid from other sources to pay for
ObamaCare it makes up in new taxes. Just last week, as chairman of the
Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology, I heard from
small business owners and advocates about the impact the health
insurance tax will have on the bottom line of America's small
businesses. The amount of that tax will be $8 billion in 2014,
increasing to $14.3 billion in 2018, and will increase based on premium
trends thereafter.
Supporters of ObamaCare will say these fees are supposed to be paid
by the health insurance companies; but common sense, substantiated by
independent studies, tells you the insurance companies are passing
these costs directly on to consumers in the form of higher premiums. To
avoid the taxes and fees, companies are cutting jobs, not hiring, and
are reducing employee hours to stay under ObamaCare thresholds, all
this at a time when national unemployment remains embarrassingly high.
ObamaCare is built on the premise that the young and the healthy will
pay to insure the old and the sick. Well, guess what? The young and the
healthy are too smart to have their pockets picked. Knowing they can't
be denied coverage down the road, the young and the healthy are going
to drop out of the insurance market and instead pay the $95 penalty and
their out-of-pocket medical expenses. They know this approach will be
far, far cheaper in the end than paying thousands of dollars for an
individual or a family plan under ObamaCare. It's like not buying
collision insurance on your new car because you know you can get it
after you've been in a wreck.
When attempting to defend ObamaCare, its supporters like to tout all
those ``free'' things that ObamaCare offers the American people. That
sales pitch crystallizes what is wrong with ObamaCare and the tax-and-
spend policies this town is famous for. Nothing is free in this world.
For every free service ObamaCare offers, someone out there in America
is paying for it with his hard-earned money; or, worse yet, we'll just
add a few more bucks onto our staggering debt to cover this so-called
``free'' service.
This country can't afford ObamaCare figuratively or literally.
ObamaCare must be repealed. It needs to be replaced with commonsense,
cost-effective ways to improve health care in this country.
Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
I would next like to yield to my good friend, the gentlelady from my
home State of Indiana, for her insights as to this important Special
Order.
Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Thank you to the gentleman from Indiana for
organizing this.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 45, the repeal of
the Affordable Care Act.
ObamaCare is bad for the young and for the elderly.
I recently received a letter from a high school senior in my
district. She noted that her family's out-of-pocket premium costs have
risen $7,000 in recent years while their deductible has increased
tenfold. She said she is worried about how she is going to pay for
health care on her own in the future.
She is right to worry. According to a study published by the American
Academy of Actuaries' magazine, 80 percent of Americans under the age
of 30 will face premium increases because of ObamaCare.
The costs of ObamaCare are more than monetary. Americans will also
have fewer health care choices because of it. Specifically, the
Independent Payment Advisory Board will threaten the options available
today to Medicare recipients. This board of 15 officials will get to
choose which treatments and which procedures Medicare will reimburse
and which it will not. What a doctor prescribes or what a patient needs
will come second, if at all. The IPAB is unelected and won't report to
Members of Congress or to any elected official. The budget for this
board is given directly by the executive branch. IPAB doesn't even have
to justify its finances to the public.
My friends on the other side of the aisle like to say Republicans
want to change Medicare as we know it; but, in fact, it is ObamaCare
that is changing Medicare, putting bureaucrats in charge of decisions
that should be between senior citizens and their doctors.
Repealing ObamaCare will right this wrong for the young and for our
seniors. I urge the adoption of this important bill.
Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentlelady for her remarks.
I would next like to yield to my good friend from the State of
Florida, Representative Yoho.
Mr. YOHO. I would like to thank my colleague from Indiana.
Mr. Speaker, I stand here today in support of H.R. 45, the repeal of
the Affordable Care Act.
It's not just the House Republicans who want this or House freshmen
who want to repeal this law; it's the American people. The American
people don't like this. The people of my district overwhelmingly desire
the repeal of this legislative debacle.
Let's face it: in March of 2009, with a Democratic Congress, this
bill was passed through in the twilight hours. The Speaker said--and I
think we all remember those infamous words--that we have to pass it to
see what's in it, that we have to pass it to see how it's going to
work.
America deserves better. Americans deserve better, and they demand
better.
The Affordable Care Act is the number one job-killing bill in
America. When the President speaks of job creation and of stimulating
the economy, the 800-pound gorilla in the room that nobody talks about
is the Affordable Care Act. It's the number one job-killing bill--bar
none. Here are a couple of examples:
I had a person call in today. A young lady, one of my constituents,
said that even though she doesn't have insurance, it's because she
doesn't have a job; and the reason she doesn't have a job is due to
this bill. It's getting in the way of job creation.
{time} 1950
Another business owner I know, he's got 350 employees. I asked him
how the
[[Page H2593]]
effects of this bill were going to affect his business. He said, Let me
tell you about this bill. I could expand my business right now and I
could add 100 new employees, but I'm not doing anything because of the
estimated cost of this bill.
Think about that. That's one man's business in one town in America.
How many businesses in America, throughout this country, are not
expanding because of this bill and the uncertainty? It's got to stop.
There's a county in our district, Clay County. I was talking to one
of the municipal people there that was in charge of the health care. He
said that the estimated costs coming up because of the Affordable Care
Act were going to cost $15 million. Then they figured out if they
didn't comply with the Affordable Care Act what that cost would be. It
would be $5 million. What choice do you think they're going to make?
They're either going to lay off people or they're not going to cover
people. They'll pay the fine.
In my own town in Alachua County, there's a contractor, and he's got
51 employees. He's bidding on a job against another contractor that has
49 employees. The estimated cost to him is $2,000 per employee. So this
contractor with the 51 employees is starting at the same line with this
guy who has 49 employees, and he's going to owe $102,000 more in his
opening bid. I asked him what he was going to do. He said, The most
commonsense thing to do is lay off some people so I don't have to pay
for that. Again, I hear this story over and over and over again.
Mr. Speaker, it seems the President himself doesn't really like his
plan that much either. In spite of all the glowing speeches he gives,
the President himself has signed into law repeals of certain ObamaCare
provisions on seven different occasions. When the President claimed
that his plan would lower the cost of health care for Americans, he
left out the fact that about 7 million Americans would just lose their
health care altogether.
Estimated insurance costs for the younger generation: they can expect
their insurance premiums to increase from what they are today 150
percent to 175 percent. When the President claimed that under his plan
no family making less than $250,000 a year would see taxes increase, he
completely left out the fact that there are 21 new taxes in this bill;
and these are taxes that are on not just the wealthy, but all Americans
at all income levels. It's a bad bill, and this is not what America
wants.
The whole point of the Affordable Care Act was to create health
reform, which implies not just health care, but health prevention.
After 3\1/2\ years of this bill being out there, the Supreme Court said
in reviewing it that it's not health care; it's a health tax. The
bottom line is it's going to create people who have less insurance.
Then we have to think about who will collect these taxes: the IRS.
That's the very same IRS we found out that's under a criminal
investigation today. Americans don't want this.
Americans are a caring, generous, and a charitable people. We will
always make sure that the least fortunate among us are cared for. The
President's plan doesn't care for the less fortunate. In fact, it makes
us all less fortunate. Our vote this week is not about politics; it's
about being responsive to the people and adhering to the Constitution.
We represent the people who are being hurt the most by the ObamaCare
bill, and we owe it to them to relieve them of this burden. If we truly
want to create jobs, the full repeal of ObamaCare is the first step in
jump-starting our economy, and I'm proud and thankful to be able to be
a part of the process of repealing this legislative disaster and
replacing it with a commonsense health care reform.
Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his comments, and I thank my
colleagues for their stamina and patience.
I would next like to recognize my good friend, the straight-talking
Member from Oklahoma (Mr. Bridenstine).
Mr. BRIDENSTINE. I'd like to thank the gentleman from Indiana for
allowing me to speak on this issue on behalf of my constituents. I can
say very clearly that I support H.R. 45, ObamaCare repeal, and I can
tell you why.
Under ObamaCare, we're looking at a minimum of about $500 billion in
new taxes. We're talking about taxes on pharmaceuticals and taxes on
medical devices. We're also talking about taxes on payroll, things that
have nothing to do with medicine; taxes on the sale of real estate;
taxes on other capital gains. There will be 21 new taxes, and $500
billion is the conservative estimate. Some people say it's going to be
$1.1 trillion in new tax revenue.
Guess what? It's not enough. There's also going to be $500 billion in
new borrowing over the first 10 years of ObamaCare. And it's still not
enough. So we're going to rob $716 billion from Medicare at a time when
seniors are finding it hard to find providers who are willing to accept
Medicare as it is. This is hugely problematic for the people in my
district.
Let's talk about the employers. Employers are seeking ways to reduce
their staffs below 50 people. They're laying people off. No kidding. I
talked to an employer just a few weeks ago in my district. He's got 57
employees. He's now trying to get down to 49. He's also trying to
figure out ways to make his staff part-time. He's trying to get his
staff under 29 hours so he has less than 50 full-time equivalents, as
they refer to them now. This is going to be a disaster for the
employment prospects of the people in my district.
Let's talk about how this is administered. It's going to be
administered by the IRS. So everyone has to have the health insurance
that perfectly conforms to what the President wants them to have. It
used to be that there was a time when my wife and I had insurance,
where we had a high deductible and a low premium. We had a little bit
of savings. We wanted to save money on our premium, and so we were
willing to accept the high deductible. We were willing to accept a
little bit of risk upon ourselves to save money. That's not available
anymore under ObamaCare. All that will be enforced by the IRS.
So if you have that high-deductible, low-premium policy, or if you
have a policy that they call a ``Cadillac plan,'' you're going to be
penalized. These penalties have been ruled by the Supreme Court to be
taxes, but let's be clear that they are penalties for not conforming to
what the President wants you to have in insurance.
That penalty, if you don't have the right health insurance, is going
to be 2\1/2\ percent of your income, eventually. So if you make $50,000
a year, your penalty is $1,250, assessed by the IRS when you do your
taxes. Or you could pay the premium. If you want the comprehensive
health care that ObamaCare requires you to have, that premium is likely
to be around $7,000, or you can pay the penalty of $1,250. What are
most people going to pay? They're going to pay the penalty. Why?
Because under ObamaCare, they can't exempt you for a preexisting
condition. So you can pay the penalty, and then when you get sick you
can go to the doctor and get the health insurance you need and then get
healthy; and then when you're healthy, you can drop your health
insurance again.
This creates an adverse selection. This is a big problem. If you want
to see health insurance premiums skyrocket, let's only insure the
people who are sick; and that's exactly what this bill does.
Let's talk for a second about the expansion of Medicaid under
ObamaCare. I'm very proud of the State of Oklahoma for not expanding
Medicaid under ObamaCare. This is a teaser rate. This is a time when
the Federal Government comes in and they say, We're going to fully
expand your Medicaid expansion up to 138 percent of the poverty line
for the first 3 years, then we're going to pull the rug out from under
you.
The State of Oklahoma is going to be faced with challenges. What are
we going to cut? Maybe we'll cut education, maybe we'll cut the
Department of Transportation in the State of Oklahoma, or maybe we'll
raise taxes. This is just another way for the Federal Government to
addict States to a program that ultimately they're going to pull the
rug out from under the program and the State of Oklahoma is going to be
forced to carry this load. I'm very proud of Governor Mary Fallin for
not expanding Medicaid under ObamaCare.
I'd like to thank the gentleman from Indiana for allowing me to
express my views. I fully support H.R. 45, the repeal of ObamaCare.
[[Page H2594]]
Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
Mr. Speaker, I'd like to inquire as to the amount of time we have
left.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has approximately 30 minutes
remaining.
Mr. MESSER. Great. We're right on pace.
I would next like to recognize my good friend, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus).
Mr. ROTHFUS. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for organizing
this important discussion with our freshman colleagues.
President Obama made big promises while pushing his health care law
through the House and Senate. He promised the American people that it
could create jobs, that it could increase access to health care, that
it would promote economic growth, that it wouldn't add to the deficit,
that it would not raise taxes on the middle class. He promised that if
you like your health care plan, you could keep it. He said that it
would lower the cost of premiums. He said that it would strengthen
Medicare.
{time} 2000
Three years later, President Obama's health care law has proven to be
a string of empty and broken promises. We are seeing premiums rise. One
business in my district that employs 13 workers expects a 26 percent
increase in its premiums, totaling more than $30,000. That's $30,000
that cannot go to increasing wages for workers. Another company in my
district with 17 employees expects a 19 percent premium increase with
an annual cost of more than $20,000. Companies are being forced to
change their health plans and pay more for them. Some companies may
even drop their plans and put their employees in the ObamaCare
exchanges. That means they're not keeping their plans. That's a broken
promise.
ObamaCare is also raising taxes on the middle class. The Supreme
Court made that clear.
One little known tax in ObamaCare is a medical device tax. This is a
tax on the middle class because it is going to be passed directly to
the consumers. Pennsylvania has the fourth largest medical device
industry in the Nation. The medical device tax threatens health care
businesses and innovators, like ZOLL Medical Corporation in my
district, that supports 600 good-paying jobs.
ObamaCare does not strengthen Medicare. It cuts $716 billion from the
program and creates the Independent Payment Advisory Board, also known
as IPAB, which puts unelected bureaucrats in between seniors and their
doctors.
President Obama's health care law is causing folks to lose their
health plans; it's raising taxes; it's hurting Medicare; it's
increasing the deficit; and it won't bring universal coverage. More
than 30 million people will still be uninsured in 10 years. The fact
remains that 3 years later, President Obama's health care law is a
trillion-dollar string of broken promises. It's damaging our families,
seniors, hardworking Americans and their health care. It's killing
jobs, and it's violating the First Amendment rights of people of faith.
It's a small wonder that even some of the authors of this misguided
health care law are now calling it a train wreck. The American people
deserve better. This law should be repealed. Then all Members of
Congress should sit down and do their jobs to craft commonsense,
patient-centered reforms that reduce costs, preserve Medicare, and
increase access to all Americans.
Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his comments.
I would like to talk right now about ObamaCare broken promise number
two. The President promised:
I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits,
either now or in the future.
The truth: ObamaCare will end up adding, according to a GAO report,
more than $6.2 trillion to the debt over the long run.
I would next like to yield to my good friend, the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Bentivolio).
Mr. BENTIVOLIO. I thank the gentleman from Indiana very much.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the unaffordable health care
act. I'll admit it: I'm standing here because of it. The unaffordable
health care act is what made me realize that Washington was out of
control and run amuck. It made me realize that the people of this great
country needed a voice. Whenever I think of the proceedings that gave
us this massive health care law, the words ``we must pass the bill to
find out what's in the bill'' ring in my ear. It makes me cringe.
My friends on the other side of the aisle are good people. They
passed the bill because their leadership assured them that it was good
law. I don't think they purposely wanted to harm the country. We now
know what's in the bill, and it's not good. I'm confident that my
friends wouldn't have voted in favor of ObamaCare had they known that
the bill empowered the IRS to bully people about their health insurance
or that the new law created a rationing board to decide who gets
treatment and who doesn't. Had the bill been read, I don't think it
would have passed.
On top of repealing this law, we must reform how business gets done
in the Capitol. That's why I've introduced the Read the Bills Act. The
law is easy to understand: before we pass laws which will impact
millions of hardworking Americans, Congress must read the bill. This is
the kind of bill that will help restore the faith in Congress of those
who send us here to represent them. Let's get rid of the notion that we
have to pass bills to find out what's in them. Please join me in
repealing ObamaCare and supporting the Read the Bills Act.
Mr. MESSER. I thank the good gentleman for his comments.
Next I yield to my very good friend from the great State of Georgia
(Mr. Collins).
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I appreciate the gentleman yielding to me.
This has been a great time tonight. It is a great time in the sense
that we get to stand here and explain to the American people what they
were not explained to a few years ago. It's a good time to explain to
them what they were sold as being something good and something that was
going to help in health care, and remember this bill says ``health
care'' in its title. But the truth of the matter is it's not about
health care, Mr. Speaker; it's about control. It's about who's going to
control health care, who's going to control what our government is
getting into and what our government should stay out of.
I fully support voting this week to repeal ObamaCare and moving
forward with an agenda that promotes jobs, that creates better
opportunities, because you see what is happening tonight, as my good
colleagues have stood here: they've talked about the problems with
business; they've talked about the problems with taxes; they've talked
about the broken promises. My colleague has spoken of the broken
promise of keeping your own health care, of it not adding to the debt,
all of which are lies, things that are not true that were not talked
about on this House floor just a few years ago.
So my problem is let's be honest. Let's talk about what it does do.
It begins to make a regulatory framework that is amazing. It wasn't a
matter if you read the bill. It didn't matter if you read the bill in
2009 because you wouldn't have known what's in it because at the end of
almost every paragraph it would say, oh, by the way, we're going to let
this agency promulgate the rules and regulations. You could have read
every page and you'd have just known that more bureaucrats were going
to tell you what health care was going to be like. Twenty thousand
pages of regulations are already on the books, 828 pages in one day.
We're paying a lot of folks to do a lot of regulation writing. We're
paying a lot of folks to take away the basic rights that we're looking
at.
You see, you can make an argument this is not about health care, this
is about broadening regulatory authority at HHS and at IRS. Oh, wait,
IRS. Any thoughts this week about letting them be the regulators of
who's paying and who's not paying in our health care system? Excuse me,
we're having trouble dealing with what their job is. We don't need them
in health care. We've got bigger problems here.
But when broken promises come about, we have to remember--what has
disturbed me the most about this
[[Page H2595]]
whole debate tonight is we've heard about businesses; we've heard about
taxes; we've heard about some broken promises; but what we've not heard
about is health care. We've not really heard about health care in a
doctor and patient. As a doctor told me the other day, he said, Just
let me practice medicine, which is all I want to do.
You see, it's time we talked about health care because this law,
instead of helping those who need help, it kicks them off insurance and
makes people pay more and does all of the things that it was promised
not to do.
Doctors are getting out, and new doctors are not going in. And you
know who's lost? I can see it right now. The picture I have in my mind
is those waiting in the waiting room waiting to see a doctor who need
health care, and this law simply leaves them waiting.
Let's don't do that. Let's repeal this law. Let's get on with the
real business of this House.
I appreciate the gentleman yielding me this time.
Mr. MESSER. I appreciate the gentleman's remarks.
I yield to my good friend from Montana (Mr. Daines).
Mr. DAINES. I thank my good friend from Indiana, Congressman Luke
Messer, for organizing this Special Order in preparation for Thursday's
vote to repeal the President's health care law.
Earlier today I emailed my constituents a quick survey back home in
Montana with one simple question: Do you support efforts to repeal
President Obama's health care law?
We've seen already overwhelming response to our office here tonight
from Montanans across our State, combined with letters, emails, the
phone calls we've received, by three to one, Montanans want to repeal
ObamaCare.
{time} 2010
Last week I had a tele-townhall meeting so I could hear from the
people of Montana about the issues that matter most to them. The last
question I was asked at the very end of this hour-long tele-townhall
was from a woman from Florence, Montana, a small town on the western
side of our State.
She shared her heartfelt concerns about the health care law and how
it was going to affect her small business. Between the costly new rules
and regulations and rising health insurance premiums, she didn't know
how she would be able to follow the law and keep her business afloat.
And these challenges aren't unique to this one small business owner
from Montana. Families and small businesses across America are
struggling under President Obama's health care overhaul.
Rather than providing real solutions to increase access to affordable
care, ObamaCare is driving costs up, it's hurting small businesses,
it's raising taxes on Americans by more than $1 trillion over the next
decade and, ultimately, puts the government directly between patients
and their doctors.
This law also hurts our seniors and their access to health care. The
President's health care law took more than $700 billion out of Medicare
to pay for new ObamaCare spending, and establishes IPAB, this
unaccountable, unelected board of bureaucrats empowered to further
undermine seniors' access to medical care.
And following this week's troubling news from the IRS, it makes it
very clear that the IRS should not be in charge of enforcing
ObamaCare's core provisions. We need to repeal ObamaCare to strip them
of this authority.
Furthermore, the President's health care overhaul sets in motion
serious violations of America's religious freedoms. Under ObamaCare,
the Department of Health and Human Services has mandated health care
coverage of products and services to which some Americans are morally
opposed. Under this mandate, religious institutions and employers, as
well as health care providers who hold religious and moral convictions,
are stripped of their religious freedoms.
This is a clear violation of Americans' First Amendment rights, and
it is of critical importance that the religious and moral convictions
held by many Americans are protected.
That's why I recently joined more than 90 of my colleagues here in
the House in calling for the upcoming House appropriations proposals to
contain full protections for Americans' religious liberties and
conscience rights by including provisions found in the Health Care
Conscience Rights Act, which I helped introduce in March.
But we must continue fighting to repeal this failed law in its
entirety. We know that our health care system is complex; it has major
problems that need to be addressed. But ObamaCare only makes the
matters worse.
The President's health care law takes us in the wrong direction. At
the end of the day, it will result in higher costs, higher premiums,
and force millions of Americans to lose the coverage they currently
have.
And let's just remember something from 3 years ago. Remember in March
of 2010, when ObamaCare passed the House, there was nothing bipartisan
about ObamaCare. There was bipartisan opposition. In fact, 34 Democrats
joined 178 Republicans in opposing ObamaCare, but not one single
Republican voted for this. There's nothing bipartisan about it, other
than bipartisan opposition.
I will vote to repeal this law on Thursday. I will continue to work
with my colleagues in support of better, more effective solutions that
give Americans the quality, affordable care they deserve.
Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
I'll talk to you briefly about broken promise number three. The
President promised that ``coupled with comprehensive reform, our bill
could save families $2,500 in the coming years.''
The truth? Just the opposite has happened. The average family premium
has grown by more than $3,000 since 2008. In Indiana, residents are
expected to face some of the highest health care insurance cost
increases in the Nation, amounting to more than 60 percent for many and
as high as 100 percent for some.
I next would like to recognize my good colleague, a man who's shown
the patience of Job this evening as he's waited with great stamina, the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Holding).
Mr. HOLDING. Thank you to my friend from Evansville, Indiana (Mr.
Messer) for the time.
Mr. Speaker, few things in life are more personal than health care,
the care we receive as individuals, the treatment our children receive,
the treatment our friends and our loved ones receive.
And beginning next year, Mr. Speaker, the government will dominate
this personal arena. Dismantling this failed attempt at health care
reform needs to be a priority of this Congress.
Mr. Speaker, time and time again I hear from the medical
professionals in my district, those who have dedicated their lives to
serving others, about the uncertainty ObamaCare is causing them. What
regulations and rules are going to come down from HHS and step in
between the care that these medical professionals provide their
patients?
What treatments will they be able to provide?
How many hoops are they going to have to jump through to get the
procedures and tests that their patients need?
How many hoops will they have to go through to get approved?
Mr. Speaker, ObamaCare has also harmed small business in all sorts of
unimaginable ways. Small businesses are what drive this Nation's
economy, through innovation and good old-fashioned sweat equity. They
are a testament to what built this country and made it great.
But this law, Mr. Speaker, is causing many of them to make tough
decisions, tough decisions about whether they can go out and hire that
additional worker or employee; tough decisions on if they can invest in
growth as they try to grow their company, and what other long-term
impacts ObamaCare is going to have on their business.
Many small businesses are struggling, and this law will only make
things worse. We have heard here tonight about employers considering
dropping coverage altogether because of the uncertainty.
Providing health care benefits has served as a sense of pride for
small business owners, and has always been a means by which small
business owners have been able to recruit and retain the best talent.
This talent is what
[[Page H2596]]
helps them be successful but, unfortunately, under ObamaCare, providing
health care is not going to be something that many small businesses do.
Two years ago, Mr. Speaker, the Congress repealed the misguided 1099
reporting requirement that was included in ObamaCare. It was there to
gin up revenue. In this Congress I'm hopeful we can repeal the medical
device tax, and I've cosponsored a bill to do just that, one that
enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support, bipartisan support that is
similar to the support shared for many of the misguided provisions of
ObamaCare and the wish to get in there and repeal them and rein them
back in.
Anyone who reads or watches the news knows that the Affordable Care
Act, which, Mr. Speaker, probably should have been named the
Unaffordable Care Act, as Mr. Bentivolio said earlier this evening, is
costing more and more money just to get it up and running. Costs have
ballooned, and the law hasn't even been fully implemented yet or nearly
implemented yet.
State exchanges are requesting more and more Federal dollars, which
has sent the administration scrambling to pull dollars out of the so-
called Prevention Fund.
Mr. Speaker, the CBO estimates that ObamaCare may now cost twice as
much as originally promised, at a pricetag of $1.88 trillion through
2022.
Mr. Speaker, we haven't even touched on what will, without a doubt,
impact individuals and families the most: the cost of their premiums.
This is what American families are the most concerned about. Since
2008, families have seen their premiums grow by over $3,000, and the
new report by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, based upon
actual industry numbers, suggests that rates may go up anywhere from 47
percent to 400 percent.
Mr. Speaker, this law needs to be repealed immediately so patient-
oriented reforms can be enacted that protect American jobs and actually
deliver on the promise of affordable health care to individuals and
families.
Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
I would like to speak briefly about broken ObamaCare promise number
four. The President promised ``Under my plan, no family making less
than $250,000 a year will see their taxes increase.'' The truth? Taxes
have gone up for many, and not just the well-off.
The Joint Committee on Taxation has issued a report detailing 21 new
or higher taxes that will cost taxpayers more than $1 trillion.
Indiana, which has a medical device industry that employs 20,000
Hoosiers, with a payroll exceeding $1 billion, would be devastated by
ObamaCare's $20 billion tax on medical devices.
I would next like to recognize my good friend from Indiana--I
appreciate her leadership on this topic--Mrs. Walorski.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Thank you to my good friend and my colleague from
Indiana, Representative Messer, for organizing this Special Order
tonight.
It has been, Representative Messer, over 3 years since ObamaCare was
signed into law. In a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing, Senator
Max Baucus told Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
that he now sees this bill as ``a huge train wreck.'' I couldn't agree
more. ObamaCare is a huge train wreck.
A few weeks ago I held roundtable discussions in many of the Chambers
of Commerce in my area, in each county in my district. I sat down with
a wide spectrum of industries, ranging from agriculture to
manufacturing.
{time} 2020
The prominent topic of each discussion was ObamaCare and the
uncertainty it creates for Hoosier businesses that cannot afford the
overwhelming taxes and employer mandates. From longtime small
businessowners to aspiring start-up companies, employers agree that
ObamaCare is largely responsible for smothering economic development.
If the President and Members of Congress were truly listening to the
American people's opinion of this law, they would see the writing on
the wall: we must repeal ObamaCare.
The State of Indiana is proud to be a global leader in the medical
device industry that my colleague just spoke of. However, ObamaCare is
forcing a 2.3 percent tax on medical device manufacturing. This tax
affects the orthopedic industry, causing rises in costs for seniors,
veterans, and patients in need.
On the 3-year anniversary of ObamaCare, I met with Complexus Medical
in Mishawaka, an emerging leader in orthopedic instrument manufacturing
in the Second District. I was told that this tax will stifle innovation
and could force companies to consider overseas supply chains.
The medical device tax is of great concern also for our veterans.
That's why I sent a letter, along with my colleagues from Indiana, to
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs asking how this tax will impact
veterans care. After the sacrifice and fearless bravery demonstrated by
our troops and our veterans, it is unacceptable for them to worry about
their access to quality care.
And it gets worse. Just this week, we learned more shocking news when
the IRS admitted they're targeting certain groups of people, a practice
that is completely unlawful, unethical, and downright shameful. Their
willful actions to defy transparency have already qualified the IRS for
a comprehensive congressional investigation, with at least two hearings
scheduled in the House in the coming weeks.
But let's not forget, the IRS is set to play a major role in
ObamaCare from enforcing the individual mandate to distributing tax
credits. If the IRS cannot operate under the light of transparency
today with their current duties, I am deeply concerned that further
responsibilities with sensitive information and controversial policies
are a recipe for disaster.
This bill, ladies and gentlemen, is spiraling out of control. It's
time for Washington to heed the overwhelming evidence and wipe the
slate clean to show the American people that we are listening. Now,
more than ever, the President and the Congress must restore
transparency at the Federal level. I support the full repeal of
ObamaCare and urge my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentlelady for her remarks. As many other
speakers have said tonight, ObamaCare is Big Government at its worst.
Federal agencies have recently reported that it will take them almost
190 million additional man hours per year for employers, families, and
health care providers to comply with its onerous implementation
regulations. That's nearly 95,000 new, full-time employees just to do
ObamaCare paperwork.
Now I'd like to recognize our final speaker of the night, one of the
hardest working Members I know in this Chamber. I appreciate your
stamina and persistence for being here, the gentleman from Kentucky
(Mr. Barr).
Mr. BARR. Well, I want to thank the gentleman, my friend from
Indiana, for his courtesy and for his leadership on this very important
issue. I join my colleague in supporting H.R. 45, the full repeal of
ObamaCare.
Mr. Speaker, it is true, you've heard from the other Members here
this evening, you've heard about the importance of repealing ObamaCare
because it is legislation that is full of broken promises. We know that
the signature promise of this legislation was that if you like your
current health insurance, you can keep it. We know now that 7 million
people will lose their employer-sponsored health insurance at least,
which is nearly double the previous estimate of 4 million.
We heard about savings. Remember, this was titled the ``Affordable
Care Act,'' but in 2013, the Congressional Budget Office projection
tags the total cost at $1.88 trillion. Premiums--premiums are not
decreasing; premiums are going up. The average family premium has grown
over $3,000 since the passage of ObamaCare. Individuals earning as
little as $25,000 will pay more for insurance because of ObamaCare. And
1.1 trillion in new taxes and jobs. This legislation was supposed to
create 400,000 jobs immediately. Speaker Pelosi promised that ObamaCare
would create 4 million jobs. Well, Mr. Speaker, small employers in
Kentucky and central Kentucky tell me that ObamaCare is the principal
reason that they're not hiring.
According to a study by the National Federation of Independent
Business, the employer mandate like the one included in ObamaCare could
eliminate
[[Page H2597]]
an additional 1.6 million jobs by 2014. ObamaCare is creating an
environment in which employers are incentivized to reduce hours for
their employees to go to part-time work. The supporters of ObamaCare
are supporting a part-time work economy. We need a full-time work
economy, and that's why we need to repeal ObamaCare.
It increases the Federal deficit. According to a January GAO report,
ObamaCare will add 6.2 trillion to the deficit over the next 75 years.
But, Mr. Speaker, I want to conclude with the story that illustrates
why this really matters.
There's a lot of statistics about jobs and the economy and increased
premiums and costs, but the real signature failure of this legislation
is that it hurts patients, that it deprives the American people of the
benefits of medical innovation. A hospital administrator told me in
central Kentucky that we used to take care of patients, but we now take
care of paper. Medical innovation is central to America's future
economic growth and to delivering new lifesaving medical devices to
patients. But the new medical device tax included in ObamaCare, which
imposes a 2.3 percent tax on medical device manufacturers, punishes
medical innovation and prevents quality health care.
Families around the country know this all too well. In my own family,
we saw this up close. Christmas Day 2012 could have been one of the
worst days of our lives. Fortunately, it was the best day of our lives.
It happened when my mother called me that morning on Christmas
morning and said, Andy, your father has had a fainting spell. I said,
can I talk to him? So she got him on the phone. I said, Dad, how are
you doing? He said, I need to drink a glass of water. I said, Well,
stop drinking any more coffee. Calm down and give me a call if anything
happens.
I got another call an hour later. This time, it was from my mother
again. She said they were in the emergency room. My father had passed
out a second time. So I rushed to the emergency room. I was greeted by
the ER doctor. I said, What's going on, Doctor? He said, Well, we did
an EKG, and here are the results. He showed me a flat line. He said,
your father's heart is slowing down. I said, Doctor, what are we going
to do about that? He said, Well, fortunately, we can put a pacemaker in
your father.
An electrophysiologist came down to the ER, and he reassured us. He
said, We can put a pacemaker in your father, and we can make him
better. So he went in to get that pacemaker surgery. When he came out,
he was recovering, and his life was saved because of that pacemaker
technology.
Mr. Speaker, the American people, American families depend on the
innovative, unbelievable technology that American entrepreneurship has
created. But ObamaCare punishes that. And if it wasn't for that kind of
medical innovation and technology, my father wouldn't be here today.
So I stand opposed to ObamaCare for all the reasons we've talked
about here tonight, but, most importantly, because I credit the
American free enterprise system for saving lives, and ObamaCare rolls
that back. I certainly appreciate the leadership of the gentleman from
Indiana for discussing the importance of this issue and the future of
high-quality, innovative health care in America in the future.
Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his moving remarks. I thank all
my colleagues for their remarks today. We're going to vote this week on
repealing ObamaCare. That vote is more than symbolism. ObamaCare is
wrecking this economy. ObamaCare is terrible for patient outcomes, and
it needs to be repealed.
I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________