[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 183 (Wednesday, December 16, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H9332]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF FAILED EXCHANGES ACT

  (Mr. ALLEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, the only thing 5 years of ObamaCare has shown 
us has been its multiple and continuous flaws. When this legislation 
was signed into law, the President freely gave money away to establish 
State exchanges. However, they forgot one piece of the puzzle: They 
provided no provisions for recouping funds when the State exchanges 
failed.
  Mr. Speaker, these accounts spent billions of taxpayer dollars and 
provided zero solutions to protect taxpayers when States decided to 
stop operating the exchanges. Where is the accountability? This burden 
cannot be placed on the taxpayer.
  Today I introduced the Transparency and Accountability of Failed 
Exchanges Act to ensure Americans are not on the hook for the billions 
that were recklessly doled out to the States to establish these State 
exchanges. By promoting accountability and transparency, my legislation 
fixes the problems by providing clear steps to recover Federal funds 
when State exchanges fail, and it requires unused funds to be returned 
back to the Treasury Department to pay down the national debt.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this legislation that 
promotes accountability and transparency.

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