[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 19 (Tuesday, February 2, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H441-H450]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1245
  RESTORING AMERICANS' HEALTHCARE FREEDOM RECONCILIATION ACT OF 2015--
          VETO MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 25, 2016, the unfinished business is the further consideration 
of the veto message of the President on the bill (H.R. 3762) to provide 
for reconciliation pursuant to section 2002 of the concurrent 
resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2016.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is, Will the House, on 
reconsideration, pass the bill, the objections of the President to the 
contrary notwithstanding?
  (For veto message, see proceedings of the House of January 8, 2016, 
at page H210.)
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Tom Price) 
is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate 
only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland 
(Mr. Van Hollen), pending which I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend 
their remarks and insert extraneous material on the veto message of the 
President of the United States to the bill, H.R. 3762.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, this is a historic day. It is 
not often that the House has the opportunity to so clearly fight to 
defend the will of the people. This is a day that embraces our 
Constitution and one of its fundamental tenets, our system of checks 
and balances.
  This issue, the issue of health care, is vital to every single 
American. Health care is so very personal. The American people are 
offended by a Federal Government that says that they know best, that 
they know and should dictate to folks what kind of health care we 
should have, who should be treating us, where we should be treated, and 
on and on and on.
  The American people have always opposed the current law. From the 
very day it was passed and was signed into law, a majority of the 
citizens of this country opposed this law.
  In fact, Mr. Speaker, more people oppose the law now than they did 
when the bill was passed. This is truly remarkable. More people oppose 
it now than did when it was passed, which is why we have worked and 
fought so very hard to represent them, to represent our constituents, 
and to carry out our solemn responsibility as their Representatives.
  The House and the Senate voted to veto this destructive law, a law 
that is not only destructive to the health and well-being of our 
citizens, but destructive to the health of our economy, taking jobs 
away, forcing people into part-time work, forcing businesses to 
downsize or limit who they hire. It is remarkably destructive.
  In fact, the House voted to repeal it by larger numbers than it voted 
to pass it originally. However, the President vetoed our repeal.
  The President is the only person standing in the way of what the 
American people want. Let me repeat that, Mr. Speaker. The President is 
the only person standing in the way of what the American people want.
  So our job now is to stand up for them, to demonstrate for them who 
is on their side, and who is standing in the way of positive, patient-
centered reform.
  We favor a healthcare system where patients and families and doctors 
are making medical decisions, not Washington, D.C. We favor a 
healthcare system that gets everyone covered with policies that they 
want for themselves and for their families, not that the government 
forces them to buy.
  We favor a healthcare system that embraces the principles of health 
care, accessibility, affordability, quality, responsiveness, 
innovation, and choice, principles that are all violated by the current 
law.
  So today, Mr. Speaker, we stand with the American people. We will 
vote to override the veto of the President, an action that runs 
absolutely counter to the will of the majority of our country.
  I urge my colleagues to support this veto override vote and stand 
with positive solutions based on the principles of health care that we 
all embrace.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  The only thing historic about this vote today is it probably breaks 
the record for the number of times a Congress has voted to try to 
overturn existing law that has been twice upheld by the Supreme Court 
of the United States.
  Yes, Mr. Speaker, here we go again and again and again. How fitting 
it is that we are here, on Groundhog Day, for the 63rd vote in the 
House of Representatives to overturn the Affordable Care Act.
  And make no mistake. The Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan 
entity that analyzes bills, has told us and told the American people 
that, in overturning the Affordable Care Act, you will eliminate 
affordable health care for 22 million Americans.
  So this is a historically callous action that, in 1 day, our 
colleagues are proposing that we would deny affordable health care to 
22 million Americans. It is also the 12th vote this House

[[Page H442]]

has taken to attack women's health care and defund Planned Parenthood.
  You know, the American people have got to be scratching their heads. 
They were told that, with a new Speaker, in the new year, 2016, we 
would actually begin to address the real challenges facing this country 
and do some serious work.
  Yet, the very first action taken here on this House floor in 2016 
with the new Speaker was to again try to dismantle the Affordable Care 
Act. And, yes, that legislation went through the Senate and the House. 
It went to the President's desk, and the President vetoed it.
  Make no mistake. We will not overturn the President's veto today. 
This is a futile gesture. It is part of an obsession to try to undo 
affordable care for 22 million Americans, and it is not going to 
happen.
  Now, what has happened since the last vote we had here to attack 
women's health programs and defund Planned Parenthood?
  We have had a decision by a court in Texas. Here were the headlines 
that came out of that court decision: ``Vindication for Planned 
Parenthood'' and ``Texas grand jury clears Planned Parenthood, indicts 
its accusers.''
  I have to say, Mr. Speaker, our colleagues have a lot of gall to 
bring this to the floor after that Texas court decision.
  You know, they went into that Texas court decision, and the Harris 
County District Attorney said at the outset of their investigation into 
Planned Parenthood: We must go where the evidence leads us.
  It began as an investigation into Planned Parenthood, just as we have 
had a series of witch-hunt investigations here in the House, where the 
chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee 
said months ago that there was no evidence that Planned Parenthood had 
committed any wrongdoing. Now we have a Texas court not only 
vindicating Planned Parenthood, but indicting their accusers.

  Mr. Speaker, I tell you, this does take a lot of gall to come back 
here after that and go after women's health programs not for the first 
time, not for the second time. This is now the 11th time.
  This will be the 11th time this House has wasted taxpayer time and 
money trying to overturn women's health programs and the 63rd time it 
has wasted taxpayer time and money trying to strip away affordable 
health care to 22 million Americans by undoing the Affordable Care Act.
  So, yes, this is a shamefully historic day. As I said, Mr. Speaker, I 
think it probably breaks all the records in wasting taxpayer time and 
money where, in a really cruel way, if we actually did overturn the 
President's veto, 22 million Americans would be denied access to health 
care.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to sustain the President's veto. 
Don't take away health care to 22 million Americans, and don't continue 
this attack on women's health.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I would simply say that what 
we are interested in is expanding health care for the American people 
that actually responds to their needs.
  I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe), a fellow 
physician who is the chair of the Health, Employment, Labor, and 
Pensions Subcommittee of the Education and the Workforce Committee.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage my 
colleagues to vote to override President Obama's veto of the Restoring 
Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act.
  I practiced medicine in rural Tennessee for over 30 years, where I 
didn't just talk about health care; I actually provided it for 
patients. The problems that I saw in the system were a major reason why 
I ran for Congress.
  The premise of the Affordable Care Act was to increase access and 
decrease costs. Everyone in this room agrees with that. Unfortunately, 
the President's healthcare proposal was a 2,500-page bill that defined 
what kind of health insurance coverage you bought and then fined you 
when you didn't buy it, even if you couldn't afford it.
  Access might be up because Americans are forced to buy into the 
President's healthcare law, but so are costs. I hear from east 
Tennesseans almost every day who are worse off--not better off--under 
ObamaCare.
  The President was wrong to veto this legislation, just like he is 
wrong when he says Republicans have no ideas for healthcare reform.
  Republicans have many ideas and have introduced numerous pieces of 
legislation to put patients and doctors in charge of their healthcare 
decisions, not the government and not insurance companies.
  I know I have a comprehensive bill, and so does Dr. Tom Price of 
Georgia, as many of my colleagues do in the Doctors Caucus. It is time 
to repeal this flawed law and give the American people the viable 
healthcare options they deserve.
  I encourage my colleagues to support overriding this veto.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. DelBene), who is on the Republican 
committee designed to roll back protections to women's health care.
  Ms. DelBENE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this 
frivolous and wasteful exercise, which will be our sixth vote to defund 
the Nation's leading provider of reproductive health care.
  That is right. House Republicans have now voted six times to defund 
an organization that 2.7 million Americans rely on, even though four 
different Congressional committees tried and have failed to uncover any 
evidence of illegal activity, even though a grand jury last week 
cleared Planned Parenthood of all wrongdoing and, instead, indicted 
their anti-choice accusers, even though Republicans' taxpayer-funded 
Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, which they created nearly 4 
months ago, hasn't held a single meeting.

                              {time}  1300

  Yet here we are on Groundhog Day, no less, voting for the sixth time 
to prevent women from choosing their own healthcare provider. It might 
be funny if it weren't so outrageous. Women deserve better. They 
deserve leaders who actually care about the facts.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no''
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), a fellow member of the 
Budget Committee.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Budget Office just 
announced for the first time in our history that Federal healthcare 
payments now exceed Social Security benefits. Not coincidentally, it 
also warned that our deficit is again ballooning out of control.
  ObamaCare forced millions of Americans out of their low-cost 
catastrophic coverage and basic employee plans and into Medicaid--the 
dysfunctional government poverty program. The result is skyrocketing 
costs in that program in which surgical patients are 13 percent more 
likely to die than those with no health insurance at all, according to 
a recent University of Virginia study.
  Mr. Obama promised, if we liked our plans and our doctors, we could 
keep them, and that ObamaCare would save an average family $2,500 a 
year. In fact, millions lost their doctors and their plans while 
premiums have increased an average of more than $3,500 per family.
  This ain't working, and it is time to move on to something that does.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Yarmuth), a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.
  Mr. YARMUTH. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, this measure does absolutely nothing for the American 
people. Meanwhile, we have a terribly flawed campaign finance system, 
an unfair justice system, and a broken immigration system. There are so 
many things we could be doing, rather than passing another messaging 
bill just to make the opponents of ObamaCare feel good.
  This won't make the American people feel good. As a matter of fact, 
CBO said that by repealing the Affordable Care Act, we will not only 
add to the deficit, but we will have a demonstrably unhealthier 
population.

[[Page H443]]

  We have to remember, this is not just about the 22 million who will 
lose their insurance. This is about the tens of millions of people, 
hundreds of millions of people who will lose the protections that are 
part of this act: the ability to put their children on their policies 
until they are 26 years old, an end to lifetime caps, and an end to 
annual caps. There are so many things that we would be damaging without 
an alternative if we pass this measure today.
  Finally, the only reason that the Republicans are putting this up is 
because they know it can't pass because, if it passes, it will wreak 
havoc on the United States of America and the American citizens, and it 
will do nothing to help them. There is no alternative, and the 
Republicans know it.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from the great State of Indiana (Mr. Bucshon), a member of 
the Energy and Commerce Committee and a fellow physician.
  Mr. BUCSHON. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today in support of the 
Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015.
  Before I came to Congress, I spent my career taking care of patients. 
As a physician, I want every American to have access to quality, 
affordable care. The legislation before us today marks the next step 
toward that goal.
  Last month, for the first time, we put a bill to dismantle ObamaCare 
on the President's desk. It is no surprise that he vetoed it.
  Now, with this veto override vote, we are exercising our 
constitutional power to the fullest extent and bypassing the President 
to do what is right for our country.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this bill to show the American people 
that the House of Representatives is doing everything in our power to 
stop this disastrous law and replace it with a patient-centered 
healthcare plan.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman 
from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky), who is the ranking member of the Select 
Investigative Panel on Infant Lives that Republicans set up to take 
away reproductive healthcare access from women.
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, how appropriate that the House 
Republican leadership decided to vote again on repealing the Affordable 
Care Act and defunding Planned Parenthood on Groundhog Day. In the 
movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray's character relived the same day over 
and over again, and we are doing the same thing right here.
  This is the 63rd vote to undermine or repeal the Affordable Care Act. 
This is the 12th Republican attack on women's health in this Congress. 
While House Republicans have already passed 11 anti-women health 
measures and are now voting on their 12th, they have not passed one 
single measure that helps women get the health care that they need.
  So here we are--on only the 12th business day of the session--facing 
the same Republican attacks on women's access to health care. 
Republicans have said this bill will show the American people the 
difference between the political parties in this election year. You bet 
it will. The difference is clear. My Republican colleagues remain 
willing to play partisan politics at the expense of women's health and 
access to affordable, quality health care. Women of America are 
watching, and they don't like what they see.
  Never mind the fact that three House committees have already 
investigated Planned Parenthood following the release of the 
selectively edited videos, and never mind that a grand jury in Harris 
County cleared Planned Parenthood and, instead, indicted the two 
individuals who made the doctored videos.
  Facts matter. The truth matters. Despite my objection to the Select 
Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, as its ranking member, I will 
continue to fight to protect women's health. That is the promise of all 
Democrats. We will, once again, reject this legislation. This attempt 
to override is going nowhere, and it shouldn't.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Palmer), a fellow member of the Budget 
Committee.
  Mr. PALMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the veto 
override.
  James Madison wrote in Federalist Paper 51: ``It is of great 
importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the 
oppression of its rulers but to guard one part of the society against 
the injustice of the other part.''
  As expected, President Obama vetoed a reconciliation bill that would 
repeal the misnamed Affordable Care Act. This was within his 
constitutional authority. However, our Founders created a balance of 
powers within the three branches to prevent tyranny by one. With two-
thirds, we have the opportunity to override a veto that doesn't 
correlate with the views of the American public. We have the 
opportunity to listen to the American people and put healthcare 
decisions back in their hands.
  With this override, we have the opportunity to begin the process of 
real healthcare reform that provides the American people with 
healthcare choices, choices they can afford, choices that allow people 
to keep their doctors, choices that provide a safety net rather than a 
net that entraps people into a government program, and choices that 
allow people to keep their jobs.

  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
support this veto override and put the power to legislate back in the 
hands of the legislators.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Scott), the distinguished ranking member of the Education 
and the Workforce Committee.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, 
the House of Representatives has attempted to dismantle the law 62 
times. Today is number 63, to repeal a major portion of the Affordable 
Care Act.
  Mr. Speaker, since the Affordable Care Act passed, people with 
preexisting conditions can now get health insurance. The cost of health 
insurance has been increasing at the lowest rate since they started 
keeping records about a half a century ago. Those young people under 26 
can stay on their parents' policies. Women are no longer paying more 
for insurance than men. We are closing the prescription drug doughnut 
hole. While thousands of people were losing their insurance every day 
when we passed the bill, more than 17 million people have insurance 
today.
  If we vote ``yes'' on this motion, we will cancel all of that 
progress and at the same time just add to the deficit. Mr. Speaker, we 
should reject this motion, just as we have 62 previous times.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Roskam), the chair of the Oversight 
Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee.
  Mr. ROSKAM. Mr. Speaker, I just want to recap quickly how we got 
here.
  ObamaCare was passed on a partisan basis through the House and the 
Senate, signed into law, and then it went forward. It created a false 
premise, and the false promise that didn't come to fruition was that 
people were going to be able to keep their physicians, that premiums 
were going to go down, and it wasn't going to add to the deficit. We 
all know now that was nonsense.
  So what did the American public do? They said, ``We are going to 
change the House of Representatives.'' So they elected a Republican 
majority in the House to take out ObamaCare. What did they do next when 
they found an obstacle in the United States Senate? They changed the 
disposition of the United States Senate.
  Now, there are some people that say today, ``Oh, this is a complete 
waste of time.'' No, it is not, Mr. Speaker. This is not a waste of 
time.
  This is a demonstration to the American public that there is now one 
office that stands between them and the repeal of ObamaCare. There is 
one office that stands between them and the continued shameful subsidy 
of Planned Parenthood. We have got an opportunity to change that office 
in November.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge us to continue that momentum and to vote with Mr. 
Tom Price of Georgia on this bill.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I would remind my colleagues that the 
nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said that if you actually 
override this veto, 22 million Americans would lose access to 
affordable health care.

[[Page H444]]

  Under the Affordable Care Act, the number of uninsured Americans has 
dropped significantly. It is a sad day that some people don't see that 
as a good thing, just like the same people apparently want to deny 
women access to reproductive health care.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Nadler), a member of the Judiciary Committee and the Select 
Investigative Panel on Infant Lives.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, last month I said that my Republican 
colleagues had declared their verdict against Planned Parenthood 
without ever holding a trial. Now it is even worse. A grand jury in 
Texas has not only refused to indict Planned Parenthood, but instead 
indicted two individuals who made this series of blatantly manipulated, 
false videos on which the Republicans base their attack.
  Despite this unequivocal finding by a grand jury, not to mention by 
several congressional committees that Planned Parenthood has violated 
no laws and done nothing wrong, the Republicans are forging ahead in 
this ludicrous effort to cut off all Federal funding.
  If we override this veto today, we will pass legislation that targets 
one organization and cuts it off from all Federal funding, including 
reimbursement for services provided, for no justifiable legislative 
reason beyond punishment for offering a constitutionally protected 
medical procedure.
  This is a clearly unconstitutional bill of attainder. The prohibition 
on bills of attainder exist to ensure that Congress may not usurp the 
powers of the courts by using legislation to punish an organization or 
individual that a majority in Congress doesn't like. The Constitution 
is clear. Congress cannot be judge, jury, and executioner.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 
seconds.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, it is not our role to declare an 
organization guilty and to impose a punishment. That is for a court. 
Not only is this bill an unconstitutional bill of attainder, it is a 
travesty and is seeking to punish one of the best, most praiseworthy 
organizations in the country, and punish it for what? For enabling 
women to exercise their constitutional rights. This is really not only 
an unconstitutional act, but it is part of the war on women.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the Republican majority whip.
  Mr. SCALISE. I thank my colleague from Georgia for yielding, for his 
leadership, and for bringing this important bill to the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a historic day. This is the first time that the 
House of Representatives has had a vote to override President Obama's 
veto. If you look at what the veto is about and what the legislation 
that was vetoed is about, it is about letting the American people 
actually determine their own healthcare destiny. It is about stopping 
taxpayer money from going to abortion providers like Planned 
Parenthood.
  What this bill does is something very historic by gutting ObamaCare 
and returning that power back to families.
  I see in my district, and my colleagues share the same stories, all 
across the country, millions of Americans have lost the good health 
care that they had. They were promised by this President ``if you like 
what you have, you can keep it.'' Everybody knows that that is a 
promise that was broken by this President in his own healthcare law. We 
restore that ability back to the American people with this bill.
  With this bill, we also say that abortion providers like Planned 
Parenthood should not be able to get taxpayer money. We completely 
defund Planned Parenthood in this bill. If this is something that is so 
vital, look at what the bill does. It actually transfers the money to 
federally approved health centers all across the country--many more, by 
the way, than Planned Parenthood facilities that exist. These are 
facilities that actually provide services for women that don't include 
abortion. So if you look at what this bill is doing, it shows very 
clearly to the country what is at stake this November.
  We sent a bill to President Obama's desk that guts ObamaCare and that 
defunds Planned Parenthood, and he vetoed it. We are going to have the 
override today.

                              {time}  1315

  If it is not successful in the vote today with a two-thirds vote, it 
makes clear what is at stake this November. Just by changing the 
President, by having a President who shares our values, Mr. Speaker, 
who wants to gut this law that is failing Americans, who wants to 
defund Planned Parenthood, by having a President with those values, we 
can accomplish those important objectives.
  I urge everyone to vote ``yes.''
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I really urge my colleagues, Republicans 
and Democrats alike, to read the letter from the nonpartisan 
Congressional Budget Office. This is the agency that we all turn to for 
unbiased, nonpartisan advice. On page 9, you will read that their 
estimate is that, by overturning the President's veto and enacting the 
underlying bill, H.R. 3762, we would increase the number of people 
without health insurance coverage by about 22 million people in most 
years after 2017.
  When my colleagues say this is a historic moment, it is true. Never 
before would this Congress have voted on a veto override that would 
immediately deny access to affordable health care for 22 million 
people.
  I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. 
Watson Coleman), a terrific member of the Select Investigative Panel on 
Infant Lives.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I had no idea that my colleagues on the other side of 
the aisle were such great fans of the movie ``Groundhog Day.'' If I had 
a little more time right now, I would give the exact same speech I gave 
just 1 month ago, because nothing has changed.
  The facts remain that Planned Parenthood is a health organization 
serving 3 million Americans each year; that one in five Americans will 
receive care from Planned Parenthood; that despite arguments to the 
contrary, there are simply not enough health centers to fill the gap; 
that defunding Planned Parenthood snatches care away from millions of 
families; and that today's bill says to women once again how and when 
they get health care is not their choice.
  Like then, this has no chance of becoming law; and, like then, I urge 
my colleagues to abandon the merry-go-round of attacks on women and 
families. Enough attacks on health care, enough attacks on women, and 
enough attacks on families.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman.
  I rise today in support of a vote to override the President's veto of 
the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act.
  With his veto, the President sent Congress and the American people a 
disappointing--but unsurprising--message. Protecting the rights of 
patients, families, the unborn, and American taxpayers is clearly not a 
priority for this administration.
  It is, however, a priority for me and for Congress. We worked to pass 
this legislation with bicameral support. We worked to help reduce 
government spending and reduce the burdens of the President's 
healthcare law on patients and families. We worked together to prevent 
taxpayer dollars from funding organizations practicing, in my opinion, 
shameful and unethical activities.
  We must now work together to override the President's veto and give 
the power of healthcare decisions back to the people.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, it is hard to see how giving power to 
the people is stripping 22 million Americans of their affordable health 
care.
  I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Speier), a member of the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives.
  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman.
  Are we able to distinguish the plot of ``Home Alone'' from 
congressional proceedings? Today, I am not so sure. I find myself 
comparing the bumbling criminals trying to break into a house

[[Page H445]]

to the misleading criminals and bumbling legislators who seem to have 
broken this House. But while ``Home Alone'' is a comedy, the 
consequences of today's votes attacking women's health and the health 
care of hardworking Americans is a tragedy.
  In each case, we have people who do the same thing over and over but 
only succeed in hurting themselves. In Home Alone, the criminals are 
tricked with booby traps and misdirection; but in real life, 
Republicans are stumbling into their 63rd vote to undermine the 
Affordable Care Act and the 12th vote to attack women's health by 
filmmakers who have been indicted for their illegal activities.
  I am pleased to see that the Texas grand jury exonerated Planned 
Parenthood and indicted the real criminals--the video creators. If 
there were an Oscar for the most fraudulent film, the so-called Center 
for American Progress would be thanking the Academy.
  I urge my Republican colleagues to kick these criminals out of our 
House, disband the taxpayer funded Select Investigative Panel on Infant 
Lives, and get back to the business of governing.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Black), a fellow healthcare 
professional and a member of the Committee on the Budget and the 
Committee on Ways and Means.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, minority leader Nancy Pelosi famously called 
ObamaCare a jobs bill, yet the Congressional Budget Office says it will 
cost our economy the equivalent of 2 million jobs. The President 
himself promised that ObamaCare would save families an average of 
$2,500 in healthcare costs per year, yet the largest insurer in my 
State just upped premiums by 36 percent.
  Mr. Speaker, this law was built on a grand deception. Nearly 6 years 
later, the lofty promises have faded, and what is left behind are real 
stories and real people whose lives and livelihoods are impacted by the 
government-knows-best law they continue to reject.
  The President's veto of our reconciliation bill to repeal ObamaCare 
may be what is in his best interest for his political legacy, but my 
constituents have told me loud and clear it is not what is best for 
them.
  Today, let's call his bluff, and let's override this veto.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, facts are stubborn things. Since the 
Affordable Care Act was passed, which our Republican colleagues said 
would be a jobs killer, we have actually seen millions and millions of 
jobs added in the economy, and the unemployment rate has come way down. 
The notion that the Affordable Care Act was going to wreck the economy 
is just blatantly false for everybody to see. Just look at the 
statistics around the country.
  I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin), someone 
who cares about the facts, the distinguished ranking member of the Ways 
and Means Committee.
  (Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished minority, the 
gentleman who has worked so hard on budgets, for yielding.
  The majority whip referred to November. We are serving notice in this 
discussion: We are proud to defend healthcare reform and will do so 
between now, as we did before, and November.
  Since health care began, the uninsured rate has declined from 20.3 to 
11.4, nearly 18 million people now covered who were before uninsured.
  Now this has also happened: 137 million Americans have free 
preventive services.
  The ACA ends lifetime and annual limits on coverage for 105 million 
Americans.
  Also what it does--let me just emphasize this--129 million Americans 
with preexisting health conditions no longer have to worry about being 
denied care.
  I met, last weekend, a woman who had breast cancer. She lost her job 
and lost health insurance. Because of healthcare reform, she received 
health insurance. Her breast cancer came back. She looked at us and 
said to us squarely, one on one, each of us: ``I wouldn't be here 
except for healthcare reform.''
  That is what this is all about. This veto will be sustained. It will 
be sustained because healthcare reform responded to the needs of 
millions of Americans. We in the Democratic Party are proud of that and 
will, from now until November, say so with immense ardor.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), a pro-life champion in our 
Nation.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for 
yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, in the age of ultrasound imaging and benign life 
enhancing healthcare interventions for the baby in the womb, how is it 
that Planned Parenthood first dehumanizes and then massively kills 
unborn children--more than 7 million since 1973--and then demands that 
taxpayers subsidize the organization to the tune of about $500 million?
  Caught on numerous videos, Planned Parenthood abortionists describe 
how they dig with knives and cut out the inner organs of babies all 
while altering pain-filled dismemberment procedures so as to preserve 
intact baby hearts, lungs, and livers for a price.
  This isn't the first time Planned Parenthood has been caught red-
handed. In 2011, videos by Live Action exposed several Planned 
Parenthood clinics eager to facilitate secret abortions for undercover 
pimps for child sex trafficking. In 2012, more videos by Live Action 
exposed Planned Parenthood advising undercover investigators how to 
procure sex selection abortions for little girls.
  Have we lost our capacity to be shocked? Can we not empathize with 
the child victim?
  Support the override.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I would encourage everybody to read the 
results of the Texas grand jury proceeding. Here are some headlines 
from what happened: ``Vindication for Planned Parenthood,'' and ``Texas 
Grand Jury Clears Planned Parenthood, Indicts Its Accusers.''
  It is a charade that we are back on the floor after that grand jury 
decision. It is rare, my colleagues, to see a grand jury investigate 
one entity--in this case, Planned Parenthood--and turn around and 
indict its accusers. Despite that, we are back here in this evidence-
free zone.
  I yield 1 minute to gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Adams), a 
distinguished member of the Education and the Workforce Committee.
  Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Today, we find ourselves rereading the same chapter from a Republican 
extremist book that seems to have no end. Today's vote represents the 
63rd time the GOP has tried to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care 
Act and the 12th time the GOP has voted to attack women's health care 
in the 114th Congress alone.
  Partisan games and divisions are transgressions on our communities. 
We must work together to seize the opportunity that exists in our great 
Nation. We can't do that by wasting time and energy on radical agendas.
  Attacking Planned Parenthood is part of a ploy to roll back women's 
rights. No one should control a woman's right to make decisions about 
her own body. I won't stop advocating for women's comprehensive health 
care or a woman's right to control her own body.
  This war on women must stop.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), a champion of patient-
centered healthcare reform, the Republican leader.
  Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I 
thank the chairman for his work on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, today the House is keeping its promise to the American 
people. We showed we can defund abortion providers like Planned 
Parenthood and increase funding for thousands of women health centers 
across the country, and we showed we can send a bill repealing 
ObamaCare to the President's desk even when Democrats are trying to 
stop us.
  Now, this is big. That means that when a Republican President takes 
office next year, we know we can get this passed. We don't have to 
worry about the filibuster. We don't have to worry

[[Page H446]]

about a veto. With simple majorities and the stroke of a pen, ObamaCare 
can be gone once and for all.
  Democrats see that. They know that ObamaCare, in particular, is 
hanging by a thread. And do you know what? They are terrified.
  You are going to hear a lot of mocking on the other side of the aisle 
today. Mr. Speaker, they are saying that Republicans are at it again 
trying to repeal ObamaCare. They are trying to make it seem like this 
vote doesn't matter.
  They tried to stop us at first with arguments and debate, but they 
have lost that debate.

                              {time}  1330

  The people aren't happy with what the Democrats sold them, as few are 
enrolling, premiums are skyrocketing, and deductibles are so high it 
can make insurance practically worthless.
  So, the Democrats, they have given up on debate. They have seen that 
they have lost, and they have tried their next tactic. They have tried 
to tell us that there is nothing we can do, that ObamaCare is the law 
of the land, and that we had better just give up.
  But then they realized we didn't give up. Year after year, we 
listened to the American people, and the people voted for 
Representatives to repeal ObamaCare; and year after year, the American 
people saw the healthcare promises that Democrats in Congress and 
President Obama made were just exactly what they were--empty: you can 
keep your doctor; you can keep your plan; your premiums will drop. 
Nobody--not even the President--believes that anymore.
  So we didn't give up. We fought for the American people, and we put a 
bill repealing this law on the President's desk.
  Now the Democrats have no more defenses. Their law is failing. The 
people aren't on their side. The end of ObamaCare is coming, and, in 
its place, we can create something that delivers so much more than just 
broken promises.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  The Republican leader said we don't have to worry about the veto. The 
reality is the President's veto will be sustained today. Apparently, 
our Republican colleagues are not worried about the 22 million 
Americans who will lose access to affordable health care. I don't know 
what the Republican leader's definition of ``mockery'' is, but if 
anybody is mocking the Republican bill here, it is the nonpartisan 
Congressional Budget Office, which wrote to each and every Member of 
Congress that, if you actually overrode the President's veto and 
enacted this legislation--and I am sorry to repeat it again, but it is 
here in black and white from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget 
Office--you would increase the number of people who are without health 
insurance coverage by 22 million people. That is what our Republican 
colleagues are talking about here.
  So, no, we don't want to do that, and the President doesn't want to 
do that, and that is not going to happen here today, but it certainly 
does indicate the stakes in the 2016 elections, because, on the one 
hand, you have a Republican-controlled Congress that would, at the snap 
of a finger, like to get rid of affordable health care for 22 million 
people, and, apparently, it wants to ignore the facts that we learned 
from the Texas grand jury that vindicated Planned Parenthood and said 
that their accusers, instead, should be indicted.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts), the chair of the Health 
Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
  Mr. PITTS. I thank the chairman.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the millions of families 
across the country who have had their health insurance disrupted by the 
President's health law and in support of the millions more Americans 
who don't want the government giving their tax money to abortion 
providers.
  Some 6 million households across the country have lost the health 
plans they liked or have lost their doctors even though President Obama 
promised 37 different times that this would not happen. Hundreds of my 
constituents have contacted me to tell me about higher premiums, higher 
deductibles, and coverage lost outright:
  Michael Cain of Lancaster contacted me recently to tell me that his 
premiums have nearly doubled just in the 2 years since the 
implementation of the President's health law;
  Jennifer Hoy of Ephrata wrote to me that her family lost three out of 
four of her children's doctors. Imagine the stress of a mother in that 
situation;
  Deborah Kennedy of Columbia contacted me to tell me that, in 
November, she spent countless hours trying to operate the broken 
healthcare.gov Web site. She lost her insurance and had to buy 
insurance nearly 50 percent more expensive while she lives on a fixed 
income.
  These are hardworking Pennsylvania families who have done nothing 
wrong but who have been victimized by the arrogance of a Federal 
Government that thinks it knows better than the people and that tries 
to bully hardworking American families.
  The legislation we are considering today saves taxpayers money and 
treats them with respect. Mr. Speaker, 84 percent of this country 
supports restrictions on abortions. However, this administration is 
giving their tax dollars to organizations that kill innocent babies. 
Today's legislation channels taxpayer money away from organizations 
that provide abortion and toward something that all Americans can 
support--federally qualified health centers. These centers are focused 
on caring for the poorest in our communities, and they actually care 
for women's health. Unlike Planned Parenthood, they actually do 
mammograms.
  A vote for this bill is a vote for the millions like Deborah Kennedy, 
Jennifer Hoy, and Michael Cain, who have borne the consequences of an 
out-of-control Federal Government. Vote to override the President's 
veto.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I heard the word ``bullying'' used. It is ironic that that word would 
be used in a vote that would deny 22 million Americans access to 
affordable health care.
  Again, I want to underscore for our colleagues, some of whom may not 
have read the Congressional Budget Office's report, that this comes 
from the nonpartisan entity that advises both parties in Congress. In 
fact, the head of the Congressional Budget Office was appointed by our 
Republican colleagues. It is they who are telling us that, with this 
vote, 22 million Americans would be denied access to affordable health 
care. That seems to qualify as bullying if anything does.
  Mr. Speaker, let's review the situation with respect to Planned 
Parenthood.

  This Republican-controlled House had its standing committees 
investigate Planned Parenthood, including the Committee on Oversight 
and Government Reform. They had hearings, and they hauled up the head 
of Planned Parenthood to some of these hearings. At the end of those 
hearings, the Republican chairman of that committee concluded that 
Planned Parenthood had engaged in no wrongdoing. He said that on 
national television. Despite that finding, back in January, our 
Republican colleagues went ahead and launched this attack on women's 
reproductive health and defund Planned Parenthood.
  That was bad enough.
  Since that time, we have had even more evidence. We have had the 
grand jury proceeding in Texas that exonerated Planned Parenthood. They 
began the investigation against Planned Parenthood, and they said they 
would go where the evidence led them. At the end of that evidence-
seeking effort, they exonerated and vindicated Planned Parenthood and 
called for the indictment of the people who had wrongly accused them. 
That was the result.
  Yet here we are on this House floor today as if nothing had 
happened--ignoring the evidence that the grand jury heard and 
continuing on this witch hunt of the special committee's against 
Planned Parenthood.
  So, yes, maybe this day is making history. It is probably one of the 
saddest examples of a Congress run amuck, when, for the 62nd or 63rd 
time now, we are trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act--ObamaCare--
and,

[[Page H447]]

for the 12th time, trying to launch this attack on women's reproductive 
health and on Planned Parenthood despite all of the intervening and 
previously existing evidence.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, one of the saddest days that 
the American people remember on the floor of this House was a day in 
March of 2010. It was when this House voted in a hyperpartisan way to 
pass a healthcare bill that took away patient-centered health care and 
put Washington in charge of health care across this country.
  I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Rothfus).
  Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, millions of Americans have endured 
skyrocketing premiums, higher deductibles, limited networks, failing 
co-ops, and dropped coverage because of the Affordable Care Act, like 
the mom in my district who now has to pay $400 for her son's lifesaving 
peanut allergy medication when it used to cost her $10 under the plan 
that the President promised she could keep.
  While some have gained coverage under this failing law, it has been 
at the expense of far too many others. Just last Monday, the 
Congressional Budget Office announced that 40 percent fewer Americans 
signed up for health coverage this year than was predicted. In fact, 
many Americans are choosing to pay a penalty instead of signing up for 
the so-called affordable healthcare coverage mandated by this law. We 
need to empower all patients with more choice while offering solutions 
for the uninsured and those with preexisting conditions.
  Mr. Speaker, if we vote to override, contrary to what has been 
suggested, the insurance doesn't end tomorrow. We have provisions in 
this legislation that would extend credits through the end of 2017, 
giving us the opportunity to do proper healthcare reform that does 
empower patients and not bureaucrats here in Washington, D.C.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind), a distinguished member of the Ways and Means 
Committee.
  Mr. KIND. I thank my friend for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this veto override.
  Listen, I understand people's objections and concerns about the 
healthcare reform that we have embarked upon as a nation, but, clearly, 
now is not the time to take us back to the status quo, which was going 
to leave us in a very bad place in this Nation.
  Before the Affordable Care Act was passed, the numbers of uninsured 
were going up. The expense for individuals and businesses was going up. 
Healthcare costs, budgetwise, were going up. Too many people were being 
denied coverage based on preexisting conditions. Young people--younger 
than 26--were being dropped from health insurance plans.
  All of that now is being corrected. Not that this is a perfect 
response to the complexity of the healthcare system, but there is a lot 
of good that is being done, including in two areas. One is delivery 
system reform so that we move to a more integrated, coordinated, 
patient-centered healthcare delivery system based on models that do 
work. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, we are changing, under 
the Affordable Care Act, how we pay for health care so that it is based 
on the quality or on the outcome or on the value of care that is given 
and no longer on the numbers of procedures and how much is done to us 
rather than how well it's done.
  We are demanding better quality at a better price, and the numbers 
are showing that we are heading in this direction. I say we stay the 
course in continuing to benefit by extending affordable healthcare 
coverage to more Americans and in finally getting a grip on these 
rising healthcare costs. I encourage my colleagues to vote ``no'' on 
this veto override.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Guinta), a champion of patient-
centered health care.
  Mr. GUINTA. I thank the chairman.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3762 and in support of 
overriding the President's veto of this very important bill.
  The Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act 
repeals some of the most egregious and harmful aspects of ObamaCare: 
the individual mandate, the employer mandate, the medical device tax, 
and especially the Cadillac tax--a 40 percent excise tax on certain 
employer health benefits.
  In the coming years, the Cadillac tax will be responsible for 
employees from local governments, small businesses and large, 
nonprofits, and colleges-universities losing their access to high-
quality, affordable health care. This is unacceptable for my home State 
of New Hampshire--people who want patient-centered health care and 
options for themselves, their families, not higher premiums, higher 
deductibles, and fewer doctors.
  That is why it is so important to override this veto today. The House 
and Senate have worked hard in giving American families and small-
business owners better care, better options, and greater affordability. 
We need to continue that approach and ensure that patient-centered 
health care is at the center of what America stands for.
  As a new member of the Budget Committee, I thank my chairman for 
giving me the opportunity to speak today, and I look forward to working 
with my colleagues to support this legislation.

                              {time}  1345

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Not having access to any affordable health care certainly doesn't 
meet anyone's definition of patient-centered healthcare.
  Our Republican colleagues, when they first launched the attacks on 
the Affordable Care Act and ObamaCare, said: We are going to repeal 
this, and we are going to replace it.
  Well, we have voted, as of today, 63 times to dismantle it. How many 
times have we voted to replace it? Zero. Zero times to replace it.
  My colleague, Mr. Kind from Wisconsin, raised an important point. The 
way our healthcare insurance system was working back in the early 
2000s, millions of Americans were denied access to health care because 
of a preexisting condition, because their kid had diabetes or asthma. 
Premiums were going through the roof and skyrocketing.
  The Affordable Care Act has now provided affordable health care to 
millions more Americans and, as we have heard from the nonpartisan 
Congressional Budget Office, passing this bill would actually take it 
away for 22 million Americans.
  Despite all that, despite the 63rd attempt to get rid of it and deny 
that access to health care, not once have we heard the replaced part of 
that Republican agenda.
  So, Mr. Speaker, it is a sad day when you want to take away access to 
affordable health care from 22 million Americans and don't have a 
single alternative to put on the floor of this House.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady), the chair of the Ways and Means 
Committee, a gentleman who has dedicated so much time and effort to 
responsible, appropriate health care for the American people.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Price for his 
leadership during this historic effort to dismantle the President's 
burdensome healthcare law and stand for the rights of the unborn. I am 
pleased to support this veto override. It couldn't come at a more 
critical time in our history.
  The rights of the innocent unborn is the great human rights issue of 
our time. This President has chosen to stand on the wrong side of 
history. By vetoing this bill, he continues to funnel taxpayer dollars 
to subsidize the gruesome practices at Planned Parenthood.
  This country has lost 58 million children to abortion since 1973. 
That means there are more American deaths from this practice each year 
that are nearly equal to all of the American casualties from all our 
wars combined. This government-financed war on the innocent unborn has 
to stop.
  This House has already spoken. Whether you are pro-life or pro-
choice,

[[Page H448]]

we have always agreed you don't use taxpayer dollars for the 
controversial practice of abortion.
  It is up to us to continue to stand with those we represent who don't 
believe their dollars should go to this. We are going to stand with our 
constituents against this terrible healthcare law because they have 
been hurt by higher prices, fewer doctors, and less affordable 
medicine. Frankly, this healthcare law has hurt too many Americans.
  We know now the path to repeal. We know how to remove the law's 
mandates, tax hikes, and slush funds. Now we just need a new President.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Cartwright).
  Mr. CARTWRIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I am embarking on completing my fourth 
year here in the United States House of Representatives. Four years ago 
I ran for the Congress, in part, to support the Affordable Care Act.
  There is a group of beneficiaries of the ACA that is often not 
discussed, and it is hospitals. I come from a part of northeastern 
Pennsylvania where the hospitals bore the brunt--and this is true all 
over America--bore the brunt of having to treat uninsured patients. 
People would show up on the doorsteps of the hospital and have to be 
treated. Well, the hospital has to absorb that when they treat 
uninsured patients.
  So what we saw over and over in my district in northeastern 
Pennsylvania was hospitals were closing. I know why. I sat on the board 
of directors of a small hospital.
  When you absorb it and you absorb it and you absorb the uninsured 
care year after year, eventually they start cutting back on nurses, 
start cutting back on essential services. Finally, there is nothing 
left to cut and they close the hospital.
  That is a terrible detriment to your health care when your hospital 
is no longer 10 minutes away and it is 40 minutes away. That can be the 
difference between life and death. That is why the Affordable Care Act 
is something that I supported. We should not dismantle it.
  I urge Members to vote against this bill.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen), who serves on the Education and the 
Workforce Committee.
  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Chairman, since ObamaCare was forced onto the American 
people 6 long years ago, Americans have seen their premiums skyrocket 
and access to providers dwindle.
  In fact, Chairman Price and I were in my district talking to a number 
of physicians at the emergency room. They said: Not a thing has 
changed, but we are still taking care of the people just like we did 
before this terrible bill.
  Ever since I came to Congress, I have consistently heard from folks 
in the 12th District of Georgia about the burdens of ObamaCare and that 
Planned Parenthood should not receive one dime of their hard-earned tax 
money.
  I have heard from a family of five whose previous healthcare policy 
was terminated and buying a new plan means their premiums will go from 
$700 to over $1,000. Those seeking treatment could not even pay their 
deductible.
  A small-business owner's premiums more than doubled and benefits have 
been reduced. An individual projects 16 percent of his income will go 
toward health care this year alone.
  This law is killing the economy. This law is crushing. Even worse, it 
is crushing Americans and American families and their ability to earn a 
good living.
  Is the sake of a political legacy worth all of this? I think not. 
After 6 years of failed policy, Americans deserve better.
  That is why I am proud to cast my vote to override the President's 
veto of the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act. 
It is time to move forward in finding a cost-effective and patient-
centered plan for our citizens.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  We have heard a lot of talk about premiums going up. The dirty little 
secret, which every Member of this House knows or should know, is that 
premiums have been going up consistently for a very long period of 
time. The issue is: How fast do they go up?
  If you look at this chart, you will find that, for employer-sponsored 
insurance, which is what most Americans are on, premium increases were 
huge between 2000 and 2010, before the passage of the Affordable Care 
Act, 9.5 percent. After the passage of the Affordable Care Act, those 
premium increases have dropped substantially, 4.8, now 2.7.
  When Members of Congress get up here and talk about premiums going 
up, ask yourself the question: How fast are they going up? Because 
before the Affordable Care Act passed, it was through the roof, and 
they have dramatically slowed.
  I said our Republican colleagues did the repeal part, but not the 
replace part. So they want to take out the part that has slowed down 
the premiums and go back to the day when you had skyrocketing premium 
increases.
  So we need to talk in a fact-based conversation here on the floor of 
the House of Representatives.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman), a fellow member of the 
Committee on the Budget.
  Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, in an era where people are so easily 
offended, where nativity scenes are shut down, where racism is claimed 
at the tiniest of circumstances, it is surprising that, in 2015, the 
Federal Government is still funding Planned Parenthood.
  Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, once wrote: ``We 
don't want the word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro 
population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that 
idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.''
  You can see that is a little bit out of context, but there is no 
doubt that Margaret Sanger is connected with some of the ugliest 
periods in our country's history involving racism or eugenics.
  Her endorsements of promiscuity and opposition to Christian teachings 
and sexual conduct are well known. To this day, Planned Parenthood 
counsels minors without parental consent.
  If you really want to strike a blow for equality and strike a blow 
for not offending people, we should stop spending the hundreds of 
millions of dollars we do every year on Planned Parenthood.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), a distinguished member of the Committee on the 
Judiciary who is focused on an evidence-based approach to all of these 
issues.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman 
from Maryland. I do want to say to the gentleman that, as you well 
know, the Judiciary Committee, in many machinations over the years, has 
looked at this question of choice and the constitutional right that 
comes from Roe v. Wade. Unfortunately, our voices--those of us who are 
there who argue the constitutional premise--have not been heard
  Let me stand in opposition to, again, a Groundhog Day announcement, 
which is again trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The good news 
is that this is my daughter's birthday. So I can celebrate February 2nd 
in a good way.
  This approach to again try to take away from the millions of people 
in Texas who are uninsured the right to be insured, to have insurance 
with preexisting conditions, and this horrible provision to defund 
Planned Parenthood, which is a health prospect and a health project 
that gives good health care to women, is absurd.
  Let me also say, Mr. Speaker, that we face some troubling times when 
people are unemployed, and Planned Parenthood has provided resources to 
those vulnerable women. I can't understand why this bill continues to 
come up.
  I am glad to stand in opposition to support Planned Parenthood and 
its funding and to recognize that the Constitution does protect choice. 
We do need to provide health care.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I think this is the chart that gets to the issue that is before us 
today the

[[Page H449]]

most, and that is what is our responsibility to our constituents.
  As I mentioned earlier, when this bill passed on the floor of the 
House in March of 2010 in a hyperpartisan vote, the American people 
opposed it.
  The fact of the matter is the American people oppose it by greater 
numbers now than they did back then. It is because they have seen its 
implementation.
  They know that their premiums have gone up. They know that their 
healthcare costs more. They know that they can't see the doctor that 
they want to see. They know that they can't go to the hospital or the 
clinic that they want to go to. They know that the quality of their 
health care is actually decreasing if they talk to their doctor, and 
they know that their choices have been harmed in so many ways.
  So this is a little chart here that demonstrates that 52 percent, 
according to Gallup in November of last year, oppose this bill. 
According to Fox, in August of last year, 54 percent opposed this bill. 
According to Quinnipiac, in July of last year, 52 percent opposed this 
bill. Those numbers only increase.
  Our responsibility, as Representatives of the people, is to represent 
them. That is what we are doing today. The President is standing in the 
way of the people's wishes on this piece of legislation. The President 
is standing in the way of patient-centered health care.
  It is our job and our responsibility to stand up for the American 
people and the will of the American people. We will vote today to 
override this veto. I urge my colleagues to join in that activity.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, is the gentleman prepared to close?
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, may I ask how much time 
remains on each side?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Costello of Pennsylvania). The gentleman 
from Maryland has 1 minute remaining. The gentleman from Georgia has 
5\3/4\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I share with my colleague 
that, unless the Speaker shows up, I am prepared to close.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  What the chairman of the Budget Committee said about the Affordable 
Care Act omitted the fact that a majority of Americans do not want to 
repeal and dismantle the Affordable Care Act.
  We would be happy to work with our colleagues in smoothing out some 
of the edges, but our Republican colleagues are only determined to take 
it down entirely without a replacement.
  In fact, when you ask the American public: ``What one word describes 
how you feel about the ongoing political debate about the Affordable 
Care Act?'' they respond: ``ridiculous,'' ``waste of time.''
  It is a waste of time. Here we are for the 63rd time trying to get 
rid of the Affordable Care Act. It is not going to happen. The 
President vetoed the bill. We will sustain the veto.
  To add insult to injury, our Republican colleagues now want to ignore 
all the facts about the grand jury investigation into Planned 
Parenthood, which vindicated Planned Parenthood and concluded instead 
that they should indict Planned Parenthood's accusers.
  Mr. Speaker, we will sustain the President's veto. We will protect 
health insurance for 22 million Americans, and we will protect women's 
access to reproductive care.
  Let's sustain the President's veto. Let's get on with doing the 
people's business here.

                              {time}  1400

  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I think it is important to appreciate the numbers of individuals who 
are supporting our work on this issue, the folks who support repealing 
this legislation: Associated Builders and Contractors, Christian 
Coalition of America, Concerned Women of America, the Family Research 
Council, FreedomWorks, National Right to Life, American Center for Law 
and Justice, American Commitment, American Conservative Union, American 
Principles Project, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, 
Americans United for Life, Conservative Women for America, Focus on the 
Family, Heritage Action for America, Independent Women's Voice, Liberty 
Counsel Action, March for Life, the National Center for Policy 
Analysis, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, National 
Taxpayers Union, Population Research Institute, Priests for Life, 
Students for Life, Susan B. Anthony, The Justice Foundation, Tradition, 
Family, Property, Incorporated, and Traditional Values Coalition. Mr. 
Speaker, the majority of the American people oppose the law in place.
  As I close, the remarks that we make today, this is the time to try 
to set the record straight. We have heard from our friends on the other 
side what the Congressional Budget Office says. I will tell you what 
the Congressional Budget Office says about jobs. It says that this law 
will decrease the equivalent of over 2 million jobs in this Nation. 
Over 2 million jobs in this Nation lost because of this law.
  Our friends talk about the CBO saying that 22 million individuals are 
going to lose their insurance. That is because CBO scores things in a 
way that doesn't recognize the other action that will occur, which is 
why we have in this bill a transition period to phase in to patient-
centered health care; again, health care where patients and families 
and doctors are making decisions, not Washington, D.C.
  We have a government of, by, and for the people, and we take that 
very, very seriously. When the President is standing in the way of the 
desires and the wishes of the American people as it relates to 
something as personal as health care, our responsibility is to stand up 
for the American people, and that is precisely what we are doing today.
  As it relates to women's health care, our bill actually would 
increase spending--increase spending--on women's health care across 
this great land and allow greater opportunity for access to community 
health centers by women to receive the kind of health care that they 
need.
  Our friends on the other side talk about premiums going up only a 
little bit more than they had been in the past. Mr. Speaker, what that 
ignores is that the President of the United States promised--promised--
the American people that premiums would go down on average $2500 for a 
family of four. In fact, what they have done is gone up by nearly 
$3,000 for a family of four.
  Mr. Speaker, that is not comparing it to anything else. That is 
comparing it to what the President promised the American people, and 
the American people expect their Representatives and the President to 
keep their promises.
  Deductibles have gone up incredibly. Our friends on the other side 
don't talk about that because what that means is that folks have health 
coverage out there, but they don't have health care. If you are a 
family of four, if you are an individual out there making $40,000, 
$50,000, $60,000 a year, and your deductible is $10,000 a year or 
$12,000 a year, which is not unusual given this law, Mr. Speaker, you 
may have health coverage, but you don't have any health care.
  As a formerly practicing physician, I can tell you I hear from my 
colleagues all the time about folks across this land who are making 
decisions, financial decisions because of this law, denying themselves 
and their family the ability to care for themselves and their family 
because of this law.
  Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is, we believe that the 
principles of health care that we all hold dear ought to be adhered to. 
We believe in a system that ought to be accessible for folks--
everybody. We believe in a system that ought to be affordable for 
everybody, that is of the highest quality, and that expands choices for 
the American people. The American people ought to be the ones who are 
deciding who is taking care of them when and where and the like.
  Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that this law violates every 
one of those principles. Accessibility is going down across this great 
land. Affordability is going down. Costs are going up. Quality is 
decreasing. All you have to do is talk to the men and women who are 
charged with caring for the American people. Choices have been 
destroyed in our health care system.

[[Page H450]]

  The principles that the American people hold dear, regardless of 
their political stripe, have been violated by this law. That is why we 
are standing here today, standing up and representing the American 
people, standing up on behalf of the American people and demonstrating 
once again that the only thing that stands in the way of what the 
American people want and what is occurring right now is that the 
President of the United States refuses--refuses--to follow the will of 
the people.
  I urge a vote in favor of this veto override. We can get on then with 
the hard work of making certain that we move in the direction of 
patient-centered health care where patients and families and doctors 
are making medical decisions and not Washington, D.C.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the American People have spoken and 
they do not want Obama's high-cost, job-killing, conscience-violating 
healthcare law.
  But the President refuses to listen. He vetoed Obamacare 
Reconciliation passed by both the House and Senate to dismantle 
Obamacare.
  Americans have lost their insurance plans and their doctors. Their 
insurance premiums have skyrocketed and some have even lost their jobs 
because of Obamacare. Yet the Administration just sits by and watches 
while the American people suffer.
  Today, the House continues to stand up for the people with this veto 
override. We will continue to fight for our constituents to defeat 
Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood.
  I urge a ``yes'' vote on this important measure to show the President 
and the America people that we will not stop until Obamacare is 
defeated.
  And that's just the way it is.
  Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time, and I move the previous question.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is, Will the House, on 
reconsideration, pass the bill, the objections of the President to the 
contrary notwithstanding?
  Under the Constitution, the vote must be by the yeas and nays.
  Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this question 
will be postponed.

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