Congressional Record, Volume 160 Issue 38 (Thursday, March 6, 2014)

[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 38 (Thursday, March 6, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H2244-H2245]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

(Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute.)
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Conaway) for the purpose of inquiring of the schedule for the week to
come.
Mr. CONAWAY. I thank the gentleman from Maryland, the Democratic
whip, for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, on Monday the House is not in session. On Tuesday, the
House will meet at noon for morning-hour and 2 p.m. for legislative
business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m. On Wednesday and
Thursday, the House will meet at 10 a.m. for morning-hour and noon for
legislative business. On Friday, the House will meet at 9 a.m. for
legislative business. Last votes of the week are expected no later than
3 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the House will consider a few suspensions next week, a
complete list of which will be announced by close of business tomorrow.
Today, in a strong bipartisan vote, the House passed a bill to
provide the administration with the authority to extend loan guarantees
to the government in Ukraine, and I want to thank the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for his support, along with Chairman Hal Rogers
and Ranking Member Nita Lowey. I urge the Senate to act promptly on
this bill and send it to the President for his signature.
Building upon this support, I expect the House to consider a
resolution under suspension next week to express our support for the
people of Ukraine and their territorial integrity.
In addition, the House will consider a number of bills to address the
executive overreach of the Obama administration. Mr. Speaker, these
bills are designed to restore the balance of power created by our
Founders and require that this President faithfully execute our
Nation's laws. The House will consider the following bills to
reestablish the rule of law:
H.R. 3973, the Faithful Execution of Law Act, authored by
Representative Ron DeSantis, to require Federal officials to report to
Congress when the administration fails to faithfully enforce current
law;
H.R. 4138, the ENFORCE Act, sponsored by Representative Trey Gowdy,
to establish procedures under which the House, or the Senate, may
authorize a lawsuit against the executive branch for failure to
faithfully execute laws; and
H.R. 3189, the Water Rights Protection Act, authored by
Representative Scott Tipton, to ensure privately held water rights.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, as you know, the patch for the Medicare
sustainable growth rate expires at the end of the month. For this
reason, I expect the House to consider H.R. 4015, the SGR Repeal and
Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2014, sponsored by
Representative Michael Burgess, next week. This completely paid-for
bill will replace the flawed SGR formula.
Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for the information he has given to
us.
Let me say that on Ukraine, I think the House acted properly. It
acted in a timely fashion to express the views of this House with
respect to the Russian violation of international law and the
agreements that they have with Ukraine, and I am pleased we were able
to join together to pass that through the House. Hopefully the Senate
will pass it quickly.
I just make the observation that the Senate I know believes that the
reform of IMF will be important to work with that extension. We will
see what happens on that. I thank the gentleman and his side of the
aisle for acting promptly. We were pleased to join in that action.
Let me ask the gentleman, the gentleman mentioned as we know that by
March 31 the authorization for the sustainable growth rate payment will
expire and the payment to physicians for Medicare services will be
substantially reduced under present law. There is, I think, a strong
feeling by many of us that this needs to be fixed. It needs to be fixed
permanently, and it needs to be paid for.
It is my understanding that the bill H.R. 4015, a bipartisan
agreement on the SGR payment policy, as the gentleman knows, does not
have a pay-for in it. Is it my understanding that that will be amended
before it is brought to the floor, or will there be an amendment on the
floor to add the pay-for?
I yield to the gentleman
Mr. CONAWAY. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
We all are concerned about the SGR fix. We have seen this movie more
than four, five, six times. Physicians were in town this week
explaining to us exactly the impact of not getting this done on time,
so that their billing systems and their cash flows are not interrupted.
We have a keen interest in small businesses, which are most physician
offices, so there is a keen interest to do that. That will be amended
on the floor to include the pay-for that will offset the SGR.
Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman. Let me clarify, Mr. Speaker, this
will be under a rule and there will be an amendment made in order to
add the pay-for; is that correct?
Mr. CONAWAY. No, the pay-for will be added through the Rules
Committee.
Mr. HOYER. So before it comes to the floor, it will be paid for.
I ask the gentleman, it is my understanding that the pay-for, I don't
know if I am accurate on this, but my understanding is that the pay-for
is the repeal of the individual mandate. If so, can the gentleman tell
me whether he has any indication that the Senate would be in agreement
on that, and I say that because obviously there hasn't been agreement
in the past, and if we use that as a pay-for, it seems to me it puts at
risk meeting the March 31 deadline.
Mr. CONAWAY. The specifics of the pay-for have not yet been
finalized. There are lots of things under consideration. We, too, want
this done in advance of the March 31 date so, like I said earlier,
physician offices can continue their billing as is without the
interruption that a failure to extend or fix the doc fix would cause.
We are keen on making that work, and the specifics of what the pay-for
will be are currently under discussion.
Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman, and I would say I am hopeful in
light of the fact that the bill itself is a bipartisan, or at least the
two committees have agreed on it, and I think there is general
agreement on the fix for the SGR, but the pay-fors have been
contentious. I would hope that, as the bill has been a product of
agreement, that the pay-for, which is essential, would also be a
product of that. I would hope we would see a bill come to the floor
that does have agreement of both sides of the aisle so we can, as the
gentleman points out and we fully agree, ensure that the SGR is fixed
and put on a sustainable path for our Medicare and for the provider
community prior to March 31. I would hope that could happen.
Next, I don't know whether the gentleman has watched colloquies in
the past, but the majority leader and I have had an ongoing discussion
about immigration reform. Both of us believe

[[Page H2245]]

the immigration system is broken. Both of us believe it needs to be
fixed. Can the gentleman tell me whether there is any likelihood of an
immigration bill coming to the floor anytime soon? Again, we have a
relatively short period of time left to go, and we believe this
legislation is one of the most important pieces that are pending on the
agenda, and I would be, as I told the majority leader, very inclined to
try to work with the majority on behalf of the minority, and I know the
minority would like to get an immigration reform bill that we can both
agree on passed as soon as possible.
I yield to my friend.
Mr. CONAWAY. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
There is nothing scheduled for next week, and I would tell the
minority whip, beyond that I am not aware of any further scheduling
other than I know it is not next week.
Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman. I hope if it is not next week, it
will be soon. I thank the gentleman for his information.
I yield back the balance of my time.

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