[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 159 (Wednesday, October 28, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H7268-H7271]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE SENATE AMENDMENT TO H.R. 1314,
ENSURING TAX EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS THE RIGHT TO APPEAL ACT
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call
up House Resolution 495 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 495
Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be
in order to take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R.
1314) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide
for a right to an administrative appeal relating to adverse
determinations of tax-exempt status of certain organizations,
with the Senate amendment thereto, and to consider in the
House, without intervention of any point of order, a motion
offered by the Majority Leader or his designee that the House
concur in the Senate amendment with the amendment printed in
part A of the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying
this resolution modified by the amendment printed in part B
of that report. The Senate amendment and the motion shall be
considered as read. The motion shall be debatable for one
hour equally divided and controlled by the Majority Leader
and the Minority Leader or their respective designees. The
previous question shall be considered as ordered on the
motion to its adoption without intervening motion or demand
for division of the question.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Oklahoma is recognized
for 1 hour.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the
customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter),
my good friend, pending which I yield myself such time as I may
consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is
for the purpose of debate only.
General Leave
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have
5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Oklahoma?
There was no objection.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Rules Committee met and reported
a rule for consideration of H.R. 1314, the Bipartisan Budget Agreement
of 2015. The rule makes in order a motion offered by the majority
leader that the House concur in the Senate amendment to H.R. 1314, with
an amendment consisting of the text of the Bipartisan Budget Agreement
of 2015. The rule provides for 1 hour of debate equally divided and
controlled by the majority leader and the minority leader.
Mr. Speaker, I want to start with a phrase I often share with my
fellow Members: In a negotiation, you are always going to get less than
you want and give up more than you would like. I think that is a
fitting way to describe the bill we find ourselves presented with
today. In an era of divided government, that is the reality we find
ourselves in.
At the beginning of the negotiation, the President demanded a clean
debt ceiling increase with no changes and no conditions. In addition,
he wanted more spending and higher taxes. Given that, I think the deal
that we have before us is a testament to our leadership's ability to
negotiate.
As I said yesterday, Mr. Speaker, nobody is going to be popping
champagne corks at either end of Pennsylvania Avenue over this bill. It
is what most things are in divided government, in a system of checks
and balances, and in an era of polarized politics. It is a deal that
leaves both sides unsatisfied, but it is a deal that avoids default,
prevents a government shutdown, and adequately funds our military.
Moreover, it reforms and funds the Social Security Disability Insurance
Fund, saving it from bankruptcy, and prevents a crippling increase in
the premiums paid by many people who receive Medicare part B.
There are any number of provisions that Members on both sides can
point to as reasons to oppose this legislation. I, myself, would have
negotiated a different deal. But in determining one's support for this
legislation, I encourage Members to look at what the alternative would
be, and that is this: the first default on our Nation's debt in the
history of this country, significant cuts to our military in a time
when we need our military the most, and an almost 50 percent increase
in Medicare premiums for many of our seniors. That is the reality of
what happens if we do nothing.
Mr. Speaker, I am encouraged by a number of provisions in this
legislation. First, just like the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, this
legislation sets forth 2 years of budget certainty for the
Appropriations Committee. That certainty puts us on a path to ensure
consideration of full-year spending bills for the next 2 years, just as
we were able to accomplish this past fiscal year.
In addition, this budget certainty provides the needed investment for
our military. With the ongoing conflicts across the Middle East,
Russian activity in Eastern Europe, and Chinese claims in the South
China Sea, it is clearer now than ever that America needs a robust
military.
Mr. Speaker, most importantly, all these discretionary spending
increases are fully paid for by offsets in mandatory programs.
In addition to these critical investments, the legislation before us
makes a number of commonsense, structural reforms to SSDI, like
requiring a medical review before awarding benefits, and expanding
Cooperative Disability Investigations units to investigate
sophisticated fraud schemes before benefits are awarded. These reforms
both ensure that the disability trust fund will be able to pay full
benefits and ensure that those who truly are disabled have access to
this important program.
Beyond that, Mr. Speaker, this legislation realizes over $30 billion
in Medicare savings within the budget window and countless billions in
years to come.
I am pleased to again be talking about the real drivers of our debt:
the two-thirds of our government spending that is on autopilot. If we
are unable to deal with these mandatory programs, they will end up
bankrupting us.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, this legislation suspends the debt ceiling
through March 15, 2017. Since its inception in 1917, 20 debt limit laws
also included a change in fiscal policy. I am pleased that this debt
limit increase is yet again accompanied by mandatory reforms.
Of course, Mr. Speaker, I would have preferred stronger reforms, but,
in this era of divided government with a
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Democratic President and a Republican Congress, no one will be able to
get everything they want.
The President wanted a clean debt limit increase. Congress wanted
significant entitlement reforms. What we are left with is a compromise
which lowers the trajectory of our debt, but also assures the world
that the United States will pay its bills.
While not a perfect piece of legislation, I believe this moves us in
the right direction and funds critical priorities for our Nation. I
urge support for the rule and the underlying legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am here to do my part of the rule. I
thank the gentleman from Oklahoma, my friend, for yielding me the time,
and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Bipartisan Budget
Agreement before us. Instead of the brinksmanship and short-term
stopgaps that we have seen, we have, I am glad to say, a 2-year budget
agreement that eases the burden of the damaging sequester cuts,
protects seniors, affirms the full faith and credit of the United
States, and provides much-needed economic stability and security to our
Nation.
This agreement provides relief from 90 percent of the sequester's
cuts for the next 2 years. While we should eliminate the sequester in
its entirety, this is a welcome respite from the sequester's grip,
ensuring a renewed investment in research, infrastructure, and early
childhood education.
The agreement also includes a clean way to pay the debts that
Congress has already incurred and will eliminate the threat of a debt
limit standoff for the next 2 years.
We should remember that the last time politics were played over the
debt limit, our credit rating was downgraded for the first time in our
history and our economy suffered.
Because of this agreement, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget
Office estimates that the certainty that this budget agreement creates
will encourage the growth of 340,000 new jobs in 2016 alone.
The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board wrote this morning that the
budget agreement will provide ``a welcome measure of stability at a
time of increasing anxiety about the global economy.''
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the text of the editorial from
the Los Angeles Times entitled ``John Boehner's Last Deal Leaves
Congress Better Off.''
[From the Los Angeles Times, Oct. 28, 2015]
John Boehner's Last Deal Leaves Congress Better Off
In a parting gift to the conservatives who hectored him out
of office, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) negotiated
a budget agreement with Senate leaders and the Obama
administration that increases federal spending and raises the
debt ceiling in exchange for--well, not much that Republicans
covet. There are no big changes in entitlements, no defunding
of Planned Parenthood. Yet this backroom deal delivers the
goods that matter most: It will avert the risk of a shutdown
until after the next president takes office, providing a
welcome measure of stability at a time of increasing anxiety
about the global economy.
Boehner had said he wanted to ``clean the barn'' for his
replacement--most likely Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.)--which
meant disposing of four divisive issues with rapidly
approaching deadlines. The federal government is days away
from hitting its borrowing limit. Federal agencies are slated
to run out of funding in early December. The Social Security
trust fund for disability benefits is expected to be empty by
late 2016. And millions of elderly and disabled Americans
face a whopping 52% increase in their Medicare Part B
premiums at year's end.
The compromise negotiated by congressional leaders and the
White House would resolve all of these issues in the time-
honored way: giving everyone much of what they want, then
paying for it with budget gimmicks. The debt ceiling would be
suspended until March 2017, the budget caps lifted for two
fiscal years, disability benefits assured through 2022 and
Medicare premium increases made less dramatic. Without these
steps, Congress risks defaulting on debts, forcing a
government shutdown and delivering a painful financial blow
to vulnerable Americans. None of those outcomes should even
be contemplatable, and yet Congress' record of dysfunction
over the last four years makes them all real possibilities
absent a deal like the one Boehner negotiated.
Obviously, it would be better for Congress to make real
choices about spending instead of relying on accounting
legerdemain to make the numbers look good. The proposed fix
for disability insurance, for example, would take the money
out of a fund for future retirement benefits; that's a
reprieve, not a solution. But when Congress ignores a problem
until the last minute, it takes real solutions off the table,
leaving lawmakers to choose between pragmatism and the sort
of posturing that dissident House Republicans have made their
stock in trade. Credit Boehner with opting for one last deal
rather than showing the country again that the House GOP's
reach exceeds its grasp.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, this agreement avoids the harmful cuts to
Medicare and Social Security beneficiaries by reforming tax compliance
among hedge funds and private equity funds, ensuring that people in the
top bracket pay their fair share.
The agreement also limits any increase in the Medicare part B
premiums for 2016, protecting millions of seniors from a roughly 50
percent rate hike. It does this by spreading out the cost of
replenishing the Medicare trust fund over a number of years, and it
prevents this kind of rate hike from happening again in 2017.
The health savings included in this agreement focus on well-
documented areas of overpayment and improved program integrity,
clearing out waste in the system.
What's more, the agreement avoids the deep cuts to Social Security
Disability Insurance benefits that would occur at the end of next year,
ensuring it continues to pay benefits without reducing benefit levels
or imposing new eligibility restrictions. Social Security Disability
will survive, but with reforms to ensure accountability and fiscal
prudence that are long overdue.
These are good steps forward. The agreement represents significant
progress for hardworking American families, and for the next 2 years,
we have come out of the sequester's shadow. Together, we have found a
way forward to confront the challenges we face as a nation.
This agreement is the first bipartisan budget bill we have seen in
quite awhile. It serves as a roadmap that will lead us through the
appropriations process; but until we finish that process, we are still
on the path toward a government shutdown.
However, with the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank yesterday
and now the introduction of this budget agreement, I am hopeful that
this House can make progress on issues that are important to America
and to our economy. We have sort of grown accustomed to governing by
crisis with stopgap measures that do harm to the Nation.
When John Boehner assumed the Speakership, he promised an open
process for all Members; but what we have seen is that one party has
been consistently shut out and only allowed to participate in fits and
starts, which silences half the voices of our Nation. We have seen
politicized select committees and political maneuvers, and we hope that
the cries to the Speaker-in-waiting for open legislative process will
include both parties and include all voices.
This agreement, with a 2-year outlook, with input from leadership
from both Chambers of Congress and the White House, has, perhaps,
marked a turning point. Only time will tell.
I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1245
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I just want to make a couple of points. First, I want to thank my
good friend for her work on this and her cooperation. I agree with many
of the points she made, certainly about the fact that I hope this
heralds a new beginning.
Worth noting, we did have a budget agreement 2 years ago, and that
worked pretty well for a couple of years. I am pleased to see that this
follow-on agreement is here before us today. I think it will give us 2
years of stability.
My friend will understand if I take mild exception with some of her
remarks about being shut out of the process. Those of us who were here
in the minority on the Republican side of the aisle certainly remember
not being allowed to offer amendments to the Affordable Care Act,
seeing the stimulus act come to the floor with no committee, and,
frankly, having the long-time practice of appropriations bills coming
under open rules totally suspended.
But, in the spirit of cooperation today, I will leave it at that.
Let's look
[[Page H7270]]
ahead. I think my friend is exactly right when she suggests this bill
not only solves some important issues that are in front of us in a
bipartisan way, a give-and-take way, but creates an opening and an
opportunity going forward.
I really think, if we get this rule passed--and I am sure we will--
and we get the underlying legislation passed--I am sure we will be able
to do that as well--that next year offers us an opportunity to do what
we have not done around here, really, since 2006, and that is see every
single appropriations bill come to the floor under an open rule so that
Members on both sides can participate in the most important process of
governing ourselves, and that is the appropriation of the taxpayers'
dollars for the functioning of government.
If we can build on this and achieve that, I think a lot of people on
both sides of the aisle who are concerned about regular order and who,
frankly, have never seen it work will have an opportunity to watch it
work.
I would suggest the fact that we already have an agreement as to what
the top-line number will be on what we spend in the normal
appropriations process might make it easier for a lot of the votes to
be more bipartisan.
Frankly, I know that is certainly possible in my committee, the
Appropriations Committee, and I think that is something that Members
are genuinely looking for: an opportunity to debate priorities and
discuss, but also to come together when there is common ground.
Again, I want to look at this bill. I know there will be some
controversy about it today and there will be some people who would have
liked to have done some things differently. Frankly, I suspect every
Member would like to do things differently.
But the reality is we are in a period of divided government. We do
operate in a system of checks and balances. It has been an
exceptionally polarizing political environment. The fact that, with all
of those challenges, the Speaker, the majority leader, the President,
and the respective minority leaders of both Chambers could come
together and find enough common ground to accomplish the things that
this accomplishes is something that we ought to laud, not to disparage.
I look forward to working with my friend. I look forward to this
becoming the foundation for a much more productive 2016, where we can
do something we have not done for a long time, and that is operate
under regular order throughout the entire appropriations process. That
is going to be my New Year's resolution after we get an omnibus done.
I think this will set the ground for getting that done by early
December and we can have stability next year and an opportunity to
legislate the way I think most Members, regardless of party or
philosophical point of view, want to legislate.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to
the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney).
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good
friend and the ranking member on the Rules Committee for yielding to me
and for her extraordinary leadership for the State of New York and for
so many issues before this body.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my strong support for this 2-year
budget bill and the exemplary bipartisan cooperation that made it
possible. Although this bill is by no means perfect, it is a good bill.
It is good for the economy and good for the country.
It will ensure our Nation maintains the full faith and credit of
global financial markets. It protects millions of Americans from an
enormous Medicare premium increase. It frees us from the uncertainty
that roils markets and worries businesses, both big and small.
While I support the compromise, I would like to raise some concerns
about its impact on hospitals in the district that I represent.
The bill puts restrictions on which hospital-affiliated facilities
can be considered outpatient departments and reimbursed at hospital
rates.
Under the bill going forward, acquired facilities that are a certain
distance from the main campus of hospitals will be reimbursed, but at a
lower rate. They will be reimbursed for services as a regular doctor's
visit. Existing sites will be grandfathered, but those that are under
construction will be exempted and charged the lower rate.
This will be a challenge in areas, like the district that I
represent, where increasing demand collides with the lack of physical
space to cause scattered hospital-affiliated facilities. I hope to work
with my colleagues to improve the changes made to these outpatient
services Medicare payments.
I commend all who have worked with such goodwill on this budget. I
urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying bill.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I want to say I think my good friend from New York makes an excellent
point. There are going to be some issues like this that I think we need
to look at very carefully in the coming weeks and perhaps find some
common ground on. In an agreement of this magnitude, occasionally we
are going to have some problems.
I have some other areas of concern in some of the offsets,
agricultural crop insurance being one of them. I suspect, in the coming
weeks, perhaps we can find some common ground on these issues. I
certainly hope so.
Of course, if we get an omnibus spending bill done, which this is the
foundation or the predecessor for, then we will have a vehicle where
perhaps we can address some of the concerns that my friend raises and
as I know others have in different areas with respect to this
agreement.
Again, I want to thank my friend for bringing the issues forward. I
think they are important to air and make note of. I just pledge that I
will do what I can to see if we can find some common ground here and
iron out some of these knotty problems that we have.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. COLE. I certainly yield to my friend.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. I thank the gentleman for
yielding. I would like to underscore my appreciation to you and the
ranking member for your willingness to work on correcting this.
I believe a correction could literally save taxpayer dollars and be
more efficient. The willingness to work together for better government
for our country is, I think, a good step forward.
I thank the leaders on the other side of the aisle for approaching
this in a bipartisan, cooperative spirit, as you are showing on the
floor today. It is better for our country and certainly better for the
budget in all respects.
Thank you very, very much. I am extremely appreciative.
Mr. COLE. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend
again. I again express my appreciation for the point that she raises
and the willingness to work together.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. My
scheduled speakers have not arrived, and I am prepared to close.
Mr. Speaker, today we have before us a 2-year budget agreement that
protects seniors, invests in job training, and eases the burden of the
sequester.
However, unless we see the process through with the appropriations
process, we are still on a path toward shutdown, which is not what the
American people want from Congress and what the economy can't stand.
So I urge my colleagues to vote for this bipartisan agreement, for
the rule, and the underlying bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I want to just reiterate a number of points that I
opened my remarks with.
First, I don't think this is a perfect bill. I doubt that anybody on
this floor does. However, it is the only deal that can be considered in
the timeframe we have before the debt limit is breached.
Secondly, the deal ensures an appropriate level of discretionary
government spending for the next 2 years, a level that robustly funds
our military and ensures America's security.
Finally, this deal is fully paid for and includes mandatory offsets
that will build over time, further decreasing the trajectory of our
expanding debt, shifting the burden to where the true drivers of the
debt are and where the supercommittee was intended to actually
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find cuts and brings us back to fiscal balance.
Before I conclude my remarks, Mr. Speaker, I also want to add a
personal tribute, if I may, to our Speaker. This is probably the last
significant piece of legislation that this body will pass under Speaker
Boehner's leadership. He was instrumental in forging it.
I know there are many people who are critical of particular aspects
of this deal or about the process. Indeed, our Speaker himself has used
rather colorful language in expressing his opinion of the process by
which we arrived at this agreement.
However, I think it is worth noting that, in the finest traditions of
this House and the institutions that we all cherish, the Speaker, the
President, the majority leader, the minority leader in the House, the
minority leader in the Senate, came together, put aside differences,
and found common ground.
In doing so, they solved some really difficult issues for us. They
dealt with an impending default to make sure that didn't happen. They
dealt with a potential government shutdown or at least bought us the
time to deal with it between now and December 11.
They made sure that the additional discretionary spending that they
both agreed to was offset by a variety of means. They included a really
important reform in the Social Security disability system that, again,
will keep it from going bankrupt and help millions of Americans who
need help.
Finally, they also made sure that millions of Americans who are
facing literally 50 percent rate increases under Medicare part B will
not have those increases. That is no small achievement.
And John Boehner, for 25 years in this institution, from a freshman
to the highest pinnacle that we have, the Speakership, has operated
with integrity and has operated from principle, but has never been
afraid to try and find common ground for people with different points
of view. I, for one, appreciate the manner in which he has led our
House, the manner in which at the very last minute he continues to work
for the good of the American people and to reach across the aisle to
find common ground with those with opposing views and opposing partisan
affiliations.
I appreciate the manner in which he has dealt with our own
Conference, which is the largest since 1928, and, consequently,
probably the most fractious. He has worked with Members of differing
opinion and found common ground and brought us together.
So I just, again, speaking for myself, want to say how much I have
enjoyed, throughout my entire career, having had the opportunity to
serve with Speaker Boehner, first as a freshman member on his committee
when he chaired Education and the Workforce, then at the leadership
table when he became the leader of our party, and, finally, just as
another Member who admires and appreciates his many, many
accomplishments, his character, and the manner in which he has led.
So, with that, Mr. Speaker, I want to again thank the Speaker of the
entire House, Mr. Boehner, for his distinguished service to this
institution and to this country and for being a valued friend and a
person that I genuinely admire and I think people on both sides of the
aisle genuinely admire.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the
previous question on the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on ordering the previous
question.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on
this question will be postponed.
____________________