[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 9 (Friday, January 13, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H490-H520]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017


                             General Leave

  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous materials on S. Con. Res. 3.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Tennessee?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 48 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union for the consideration of the concurrent 
resolution, S. Con. Res. 3.
  The Chair appoints the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hultgren) to 
preside over the Committee of the Whole.

                              {time}  1057


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the 
concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 3) setting forth the congressional 
budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2017 and 
setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2018 
through 2026, with Mr. Hultgren in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The CHAIR. Pursuant to the rule, the concurrent resolution is 
considered read the first time.
  General debate shall not exceed 2 hours, with 90 minutes confined to 
the congressional budget, equally divided and controlled by the chair 
and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Budget, and 30 
minutes on the subject of economic goals and policies, equally divided 
and controlled by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Tiberi) and the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), or their 
designees.
  The gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Black) and the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Yarmuth) each will control 45 minutes of debate on the 
congressional budget.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Tennessee.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I would like to inform my colleagues that I intend to 
reserve 5 minutes of debate time to use after the Joint Economic 
Committee debate has concluded.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise today to speak on behalf of Americans everywhere 
who are hurting because of ObamaCare. They are calling out for relief 
from this disastrous law, and Republicans are here today to begin 
delivering on our promise to provide relief.
  We hear plenty of claims from the other side of the aisle during this 
debate, but let's be clear: ObamaCare has failed and it is only going 
to get worse.

                              {time}  1100

  Patients have seen skyrocketing premiums and deductibles, lost access 
to the doctors they preferred, had fewer coverage options, while others 
have had their plans canceled outright. It is no wonder so many people 
have rejected this law.
  In 2015, roughly 8 million Americans paid the ObamaCare penalty, and 
more than 12 million Americans claimed an exemption from the penalty. 
That is 20 million Americans. What does that say about this law that 20 
million Americans want nothing to do with it, many preferring to pay a 
penalty rather than to be subjected to its higher costs and fewer 
choices? If you ask me, it is strong evidence that the American people 
are tired of paying more and getting less.
  Of course, the destruction that ObamaCare has caused extends beyond 
discouraging individuals to purchase coverage. It has been a direct 
attack on those who had insurance already.
  In my home State of Tennessee, 28,000 people lost coverage on a 
single day when the CoverTN program lapsed after the Obama 
administration decreed that it ran afoul of the Federal Government's 
top-down requirements. Now premiums in our State are rising by an 
average of 63 percent, and three-quarters of our counties only have one 
coverage option to choose from on the ObamaCare exchange.
  In five other States around the country--Alabama, Alaska, Oklahoma, 
South Carolina, and Wyoming--patients only have one insurer in the 
marketplace to choose from. That makes it pretty difficult for someone 
to find a plan that meets their unique needs or that of their family.
  President Obama promised that this law would lower premiums by $2,500 
per year for the average family. The exact opposite has happened. 
Average family premiums have gone up by $4,300, and deductibles have 
gone up by 60 percent. This is hitting hardworking Americans, many of 
whom are already struggling to make ends meet.
  Folks in Tennessee and all across the country are spending more and 
more money on their health insurance because of ObamaCare, when they 
would rather be saving for a new house or for their children's college. 
The last thing working men and women need right now is the Federal 
Government making their life harder with more expensive health 
insurance by continuing to support this failed law.
  That is why we are here today. The Senate successfully passed this 
resolution yesterday, and now it is time for the House to deliver on 
our promise, by kick-starting the reconciliation process so that we can 
repeal ObamaCare and provide relief for the folks who are hurting 
because of this law.
  While our friends on the other side of the aisle always claim that 
Republicans have no ideas or no plans to replace ObamaCare, that simply 
isn't

[[Page H491]]

true, and they know it. I have with me here today a few examples, 
including A Better Way, the 37-page proposal that will provide access 
to care for all Americans and increase choice and competition.
  I would like to also reference that Pete Sessions has a healthcare 
bill that he has filed. The RSC, with Phil Roe, has a replacement bill 
that has been filed. Paul Ryan filed a bill right after the passage of 
ObamaCare. We also have Tom Price's replacement bill that is here. All 
of these documents are here and available for people to look at and to 
also find online, as well as A Better Way that we have put out from our 
Conference.
  I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this resolution to begin the 
process of repealing ObamaCare and paving the way for patient-centered 
reforms.
  Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I would like to remind my colleague that her vote today to repeal the 
Affordable Care Act will result in 266,000 people from her State of 
Tennessee losing their healthcare coverage, 57,000 workers losing their 
jobs, and an economic loss of $34.2 billion in gross State product for 
the State of Tennessee over 5 years.
  The so-called budget before us was drafted by Republicans for the 
sole purpose of repealing the Affordable Care Act and defunding Planned 
Parenthood by a simple majority in the Senate. It squanders the 
opportunity to start this new Congress working together to address the 
concerns and priorities of the American people in a constructive and 
bipartisan manner.
  The Affordable Care Act is making an incredible difference across my 
home State of Kentucky, as in many other places. With our expansion of 
Medicaid and the success of our State marketplace, Kynect, more than 
half a million Kentuckians in a State of 4 million have gained quality, 
affordable coverage. In Louisville alone, the uninsured rate dropped 81 
percent.
  In a State with tremendous health needs, we are a national model of 
ACA success. Even our Republican Senator, Rand Paul, and our Republican 
Governor, Matt Bevin, who are vehemently opposed to the law, know we 
can't go back to where we were before the ACA. They now acknowledge 
that Republicans in Congress should not repeal the Affordable Care Act 
without immediately replacing it.
  Much of the debate about the ACA focuses on the 20 million newly 
insured individuals, but the law has done much more than that. Millions 
of seniors on Medicare have saved on prescription drug coverage. For 
people on their employer's plan, out-of-pocket costs are capped, and 
lifetime limits are gone. If you are one of the 129 million Americans 
with a preexisting condition, you currently have the peace of mind of 
knowing that you can always get coverage if you lose your job, change 
your job, or start your own business.
  Let me tell you about Steve Riggert, my constituent who recently 
wrote to me. When Steve's daughter Anna was 12, she was diagnosed with 
chronic pancreatitis, a rare disease for a child. This is Anna. Over 
the next 3 years, she was hospitalized 15 times. Despite their best 
efforts and prayers, transplant surgery did not achieve success. She 
has struggled with diabetes and complications. At age 22, she has been 
hospitalized 26 times for various reasons.
  From the beginning, Steve knew that Anna's preexisting condition 
would make getting medical coverage difficult. So far, he has been able 
to cover her medical bills through his employer plan. When the ACA was 
passed, he was immensely relieved that Anna could always get coverage 
even though she has had a serious preexisting medical condition.
  But the Republican plan to repeal the ACA has now left Steve 
feeling--and these are his words--helpless, petrified, and, literally, 
losing sleep. At age 64 and recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, 
he fears for how much he can support her. To quote his letter: ``Repeal 
of all aspects of the Affordable Care Act would place everything I have 
worked for and those I care about in jeopardy.''
  Mr. Chairman, I am here today to fight for Steve, for Anna, and for 
all the Americans across the country who are begging you not to take 
away their health care. Repealing the Affordable Care Act without a 
replacement will cause chaos. Nearly 30 million people would lose 
coverage, including more than 4 million kids. Any consumers left in the 
individual market are likely to face higher premiums and fewer choices 
as insurers exit the system.
  It has been nearly 7 years since the Affordable Care Act was signed 
into law, and Republicans still do not have a viable plan to replace 
it, period. Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers said 
this week that the Republican replacement plan will guarantee ``no one 
who has coverage today because of ObamaCare will lose that coverage.''
  We are waiting for that plan because none of the bills Republicans 
will wave from that podium today meet that standard or has the support 
of the majority of their Conference. Democrats offered a number of 
amendments to this budget to protect the ACA and make it reflect the 
priorities of American families. We owe the millions of people who are 
deeply concerned about this process nothing less. Unfortunately, 
Republicans refuse to allow a vote on a single one.
  Putting American families and our Nation's healthcare system at risk 
is irresponsible. I, therefore, urge my colleagues to oppose the 
Republican budget. The American people deserve better. Anna deserves 
better. Her father and her family deserve better.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Rokita), one of my classmates and also the vice chair of 
the Committee on the Budget.
  Mr. ROKITA. Mr. Chair, I thank the chairwoman for yielding the time. 
It is a pleasure to continue our work together on this very important 
issue.
  It has taken us 6 years to get to today, the first real step in 
repealing what is one of the most insidious laws that ever came out of 
these Chambers--insidious because it was built on lies. Remember ``You 
can keep your doctor if you want to,'' ``You can keep your plan if you 
want to''? Lies. Remember when premiums were to go down because this, 
of course, Mr. Chairman, was the Affordable Care Act? Lies.
  The gentleman from Kentucky made some assertions just a while ago. I 
want to take a look at the State of Kentucky itself. Four plans left 
the ObamaCare exchange at the end of 2016 in the State of Kentucky. Of 
the remaining plans, each increased their premiums by double digits: 
22.9 percent, 29.3 percent, and 33.7 percent, respectively, for 2017. 
And Kentucky's exchange enrollment decreased by 12 percent.
  How, Mr. Chairman, is this helping people?
  Look, if we didn't care about people, we could stand by and watch 
this failed plan, this insidious law continue to implode, continue to 
hurt people. Instead, we stand here ready to erase the foundation that 
this law was based on and put forth a better one, one that doesn't 
leave anyone behind, one that is based on market-driven, consumer-
driven, patient-driven needs and expectations and allows them to, for 
example, keep their job.
  What do I mean by that, Mr. Chairman? Consider this. Not only do we 
have bad healthcare outcomes as a result of this insidious law, people 
are losing work. They are being robbed of their dignity to work. Since 
ObamaCare, 21 percent of businesses are reducing the number of 
employees, their wages and salaries and their benefits, including their 
retirement benefits.
  So this insidious law is not only having detrimental implications on 
our health care and people's health, but it is taking away the very 
dignity that they have to work.
  It is also spelling the death of health savings accounts, proven over 
the last several years to be part of the solution to consumer-driven 
health care. The idea that you can save for your healthcare expenses, 
with or without the government's help, so that you can make value 
decisions as to your health care without government interference. It 
leads to better patient outcomes. It leads to freedom to make 
healthcare decisions absent the oversight of the government. ObamaCare 
all but outlawed health savings accounts. I think

[[Page H492]]

health savings accounts are probably in every one of those different 
plans the chairwoman pointed out.
  So we are offering a replacement. We are offering solutions. We are 
offering a better way.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank my colleague for the 
shout-out to Kentucky. He neglected to mention that our Governor, 
Republican Governor, who was elected in 2015 has done virtually 
everything he could over the last year to sabotage the Affordable Care 
Act, including dismantling our incredibly successful Kynect exchange, 
and that is one of the reasons why some of the enrollments declined, 
because he has made it harder for people to enroll.
  I would remind my friend, also, that his vote today to repeal the 
Affordable Care Act will result in 339,000 people from his State of 
Indiana losing their healthcare coverage, 55,000 workers losing their 
jobs, and an economic loss of $30.4 billion in gross State product over 
5 years in Indiana.
  I now yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green) for a 
unanimous consent request.
  (Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I oppose the Republican 
resolution and support the Democratic resolution. We shouldn't deal 
with affordable care without a solution. Just don't repeal. Let's see 
what the replacement is so we don't, as Kentucky would say, buy a pig 
in a poke.
  Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to S. Con. Res. 3, the FY 2017 Budget 
Resolution, the next step in the process of repealing essential 
coverage and patient protections established by the Affordable Care 
Act.
  Moving forward with implementing the GOP's devastating ACA repeal 
plan will lead to massive losses of coverage and consumer protections 
for people enrolled in insurance and in the Medicaid program.
  It will hamper the movement towards value-based payment reforms, 
burden seniors with higher out-of-pocket costs on their prescription 
drugs, and undermine prevention and wellness initiatives.
  Repealing the ACA will leave every state with big increases in the 
uninsured rate and higher uncompensated care costs, and threatens 
coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.
  Charging forward without even agreeing on a replacement plan is a 
blatant abdication of the responsibilities we have as representatives 
of the American people.
  The effects of doing so are not abstract. People are going to get 
hurt in very real ways.
  The American people deserve to know how Republicans plan to avoid the 
devastating consequences of ACA repeal, which include millions losing 
coverage, chaos in the insurance markets, hospitals and states losing 
billions of dollars and a hit to our economy.
  In addition, the FY17 Budget Resolution shamelessly prioritizes 
politics over patients by proposing to defund Planned Parenthood.
  Denying patients the quality care--including breast exams, 
contraception, and preventive and primary care services--will only 
exacerbate the pain felt from coverage losses for the 2.5 million 
patients who depend on Planned Parenthood each year for care.
  The Resolution is bad for patients, budgets, and will upend our 
health care system.
  It fails the test of sensible policymaking.
  The lack of any details on the ACA replacement Republicans say they 
will enact fails the test of sensible policymaking: having the key 
information before voting.
  We should be taking steps to amend, not upend, the law.
  I urge my colleagues to abandon this collision course and stop 
working against the American people.
  We should not be ``Making America Sick Again.''
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Washington (Ms. DelBene), a distinguished member of the Committee on 
the Budget.
  Ms. DelBENE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this 
reckless budget resolution. Congress had an opportunity to start on a 
bipartisan note, to work on creating jobs, building an economy that 
works for everyone, and investing in our infrastructure. Instead, House 
Republicans are ringing in the new year by repealing the Affordable 
Care Act, stripping more than 20 million people of their health 
insurance. What is worse, there is still no plan for what comes next, 
threatening massive disruption to the entire healthcare system.
  I offered a number of amendments to this legislation, none of which 
were allowed a vote today. My amendments would have stopped this 
dangerous process from moving forward if the Republican budget reduces 
access to treatment for those suffering from addiction, reduces access 
to health care in rural areas, forces seniors to pay more for care, or 
privatizes Medicare. I also cosponsored an amendment by Congresswoman 
Lee to protect women's access to reproductive health and family 
planning services.

                              {time}  1115

  Apparently, the majority is not concerned with these issues. Before 
the ACA, the situation was unacceptable. It was a time when people went 
bankrupt because they got sick, when individuals with preexisting 
medical conditions found it virtually impossible to obtain affordable 
coverage.
  But now, more than 120 million Americans with preexisting conditions 
are no longer denied coverage, and young adults can stay on their 
parents' plans until they are 26.
  Over 10 million seniors have received help with their prescription 
drug payments, and all insurance plans are required to cover 
preventative services with no copayments.
  Rather than focusing on commonsense reforms to strengthen the ACA, 
Republicans want to eliminate vital lifesaving policy with no plan for 
what comes next. I strongly urge a ``no'' vote.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson), one of my classmates from the 2010 
class, and a member of the Budget Committee.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Mr. Chair, it is amazing to me now that some of 
our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are calling to see the 
replacement before the repeal. What irony that is when--at that time 
the Speaker--the leader of their party, said: let's pass this law so we 
can see what is in it.
  Well, the American people saw what is in it, and they don't like it. 
It is broken. It needs to be fixed.
  The American people deserve a stable transition to a patient-centered 
healthcare system that gives them access to high-quality, affordable 
health care.
  It has got to be done thoughtfully and carefully as it will impact 
millions--because I agree with my colleagues that it is going to impact 
millions. But it is going to positively impact millions if we do it 
right. And we will.
  The only way to accomplish it in this current environment, the only 
way to accomplish the repeal of ObamaCare, is through the budget 
reconciliation process. And so this budget resolution that we are going 
to be considering today is simply a requirement, the triggering 
mechanism for the reconciliation process.
  We are going to get to the fiscal year 2018 budget, a budget that 
balances, a budget that puts us on a path of fiscal sustainability, but 
this resolution essentially fires the starting pistol, Mr. Chairman, 
for repeal of ObamaCare, which has failed the American people.
  We will be addressing the spending levels for the future in the 
fiscal year 2018 budget. This is something the American people have 
demanded, and now Republicans are going to deliver on it.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I remind my colleague that his vote today 
to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 664,000 people from 
his State of Ohio losing their healthcare coverage; 126,000 workers 
losing their jobs; and an economic loss of $69.5 billion in gross State 
product for the State of Ohio. Ohio's Republican Governor is begging us 
not to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
  Mr. Chairman, I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois 
(Mr. Krishnamoorthi), a distinguished member of the Education and the 
Workforce Committee.
  Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI. Mr. Chairman, I am Congressman Raja 
Krishnamoorthi, and I represent the hardworking families of Chicago's 
west and northwest suburbs.
  I rise today in strong opposition to S. Con. Res. 3.
  Repealing without replacing the Affordable Care Act at the same time 
would devastate our economy and harm millions of middle class families.

[[Page H493]]

Within the Eighth District of Illinois alone, we could lose upwards of 
$550 million from our economy, and over 4,000 jobs.
  Before joining Congress, I ran small businesses in the Chicago area 
in the national security and technology sectors. I know firsthand how 
important health coverage is to our workers and to our businesses. 
Without the protections of the ACA, we will see fewer entrepreneurs 
take the risk of starting a business and fewer workers taking the risk 
of working for a startup.
  Middle class and working families need good-paying jobs and 
affordable health care. And, unfortunately, the bill before us today 
would rob them of both.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I do want to make reference to Ranking 
Member Yarmuth's information on the Commonwealth fund. I want to note 
that that report that was reported out does not take into account that 
Republicans do have a plan. It also does not take into account that the 
repeal of the taxes would put money back into the economy and boost the 
economy.
  I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Lewis), a 
freshman and one of the newest members of the Budget Committee.
  Mr. LEWIS of Minnesota. Mr. Chairman, today, I join many of my 
colleagues in taking the first steps to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
  My home State of Minnesota has been hit especially hard by this law. 
Minnesotans have seen their health insurance choices shrink, while 
their premiums, copays, and deductibles skyrocket. I should know.
  For the last, in fact, over 5 years, I have been in the individual 
market and my own insurance premiums have nearly tripled, and I have 
gone through three insurers.
  Minnesotans have seen a 50 to 67 percent increase in the premium 
costs this year alone. That is the fourth highest increase in the 
country.
  As Democratic Governor Mark Dayton of Minnesota stated: ``. . . the 
Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable. . . .''
  In fact, politicians in Minnesota are looking for waivers from the 
Affordable Care Act; not more of it. The other side likes to talk about 
healthcare access. Mr. Chairman, I would argue that the single biggest 
obstacle to healthcare access right now is the Affordable Care Act. It 
is not sustainable.
  It is time to repeal this failed legislation and replace it with 
meaningful reforms that empower consumers, expand choice, and increase 
affordability.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, so all Minnesotans 
and all Americans can have access to affordable and portable health 
care.

  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I remind my colleague that his vote today 
to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 250,000 people from 
his State of Minnesota losing their healthcare coverage; 53,000 workers 
losing their jobs; and an economic loss of $32.9 billion in gross State 
product over 5 years.
  Mr. Chairman, it now gives me great pleasure to yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson), a distinguished member of the 
Ways and Means Committee.
  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to repeal 
of the Affordable Care Act.
  For 7 years, all we have heard from the Republicans regarding health 
care is repeal and replace.
  After 7 years and more than 60 votes, they still have not come up 
with the replace. This isn't just a talking point. This is literally a 
matter of life and death for people.
  Raymond, from Napa in my district, was diagnosed with stage III renal 
cancer in 1996. His premiums rose year after year until we passed the 
ACA.
  Before the ACA, Raymond worried about losing his insurance because of 
his preexisting condition. In fact, his cancer returned in 2014, but, 
thanks to the ACA, he got the treatment he needed.
  What are Republicans going to do for Raymond if they repeal the ACA 
and his premiums go up, or his insurance drops him because he had 
cancer over 20 years ago, or he hits his lifetime cap on coverage?
  Republicans need to ask themselves if they are willing to return 
Americans like Raymond to a time when the care they needed was always 
beyond their grasp.
  I am not saying that it is perfect, but we need to keep it. It also 
kills 3 million jobs.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, it is my distinct honor to yield 2 minutes 
to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), our House whip.
  Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman from Tennessee for 
bringing this budget resolution to the floor.
  Mr. Chairman, ObamaCare has failed the American people. And if you go 
back to the beginning, it was created with a series of lies to the 
American people. We all remember: if you like what you have, you can 
keep it. How has that worked out for millions of Americans who lost the 
plans that they liked and now cannot keep that plan?
  What about the promise, Mr. Chairman, that premiums would go down by 
$2,500? President Obama made that claim. And today, in States all 
across the Nation, you are seeing premiums go up, on average, 25 
percent, and that is on top of double-digit increases every single year 
ObamaCare has been in effect.
  This law is not working. It is failing families. It is costing jobs 
across our economy. It is time to repeal this law and actually replace 
it with reforms that put patients back in charge of their medical 
decisions with their doctors. What a great concept that would be.
  It is about time we focus on lowering the cost of health care and 
giving people real choices. In so many markets across the country--and 
it is a growing number--families have only one choice for health care 
now because ObamaCare has forced so many people out of the marketplace, 
which means you as a family don't have any choices, because one choice 
means it is a monopoly. And you wonder why the costs are skyrocketing.
  Mr. Chairman, this should not be about preserving somebody's legacy. 
It should be about fulfilling those promises to the American people 
that were broken. And we are here to fulfill that promise--how 
refreshing it is that you have people that ran for years saying we are 
going to repeal ObamaCare--with a President who is ready to sign the 
bill to repeal ObamaCare.
  Today, just in the second week of this new Congress, we are taking 
the first step to fulfill that promise to the American people, to put 
their healthcare decisions back in their hands with costs that they can 
afford, and real choices that work for all Americans.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind my colleague that his vote 
today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 269,000 people 
from his State of Louisiana losing their healthcare coverage; 37,000 
workers losing their jobs; and an economic loss of $21.5 billion in 
gross State product over 5 years for the State of Louisiana.
  Mr. Chairman, I now yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New 
Mexico (Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham), a distinguished member of the 
Budget Committee.
  Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico. Mr. Chair, I can tell you 
who is happy that the budget resolution will likely pass the House 
today, Big Pharma. Pharmaceutical companies are once again escaping any 
changes to a system which has repeatedly allowed them to prioritize 
profits over people and drive increases in out-of-pocket healthcare 
costs.
  Companies like Mylan, Turing, and Valeant are jacking up lifesaving 
drugs like EpiPen for anaphylactic shock; Daraprim for HIV and cancer 
patients; and Nitropress for heart failure overnight without any 
accountability.
  While the American people increasingly can't afford their medicine, 
pharmaceutical companies are the wealthiest they have been in years.
  In fact, median healthcare and pharmaceutical executive pay is higher 
than any other industry in the United States.
  And even though taxpayers fund billions of dollars of basic medical 
research used to develop groundbreaking drugs, pharmaceutical companies 
often charge Americans many times what the rest of the world pays.
  Mr. Chair, Americans can't afford to continue giving pharmaceutical 
and health insurance executives a pay raise, and many on both sides of 
the aisle agree.
  Just this week, President-elect Donald Trump added his voice to that 
effort saying: pharma was ``getting away

[[Page H494]]

with murder.'' I agree. They are literally getting away with murder. 
Because if a mother can't afford her child's EpiPen, or a cancer 
patient can't afford treatment, people die.
  So I offered an amendment to this budget resolution seeking to lower 
prescription drug costs, but Republicans refuse to even allow debate on 
my amendment.
  Instead of fighting to make sure Americans have access to lifesaving 
medications, Republicans are protecting the ability of pharmaceutical 
companies to continue to shake down the American people.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution and, instead, address 
these healthcare costs and access issues that every American knows too 
well.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, it is my honor to yield 3 minutes to the 
distinguished gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx), who is the 
chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee.

                              {time}  1130

  Ms. FOXX. I thank my colleague from Tennessee for yielding time.
  Mr. Chairman, today, we take the next step in the process of 
providing the American people a better way on health care. We have all 
heard from constituents and families who are struggling to get by as 
they suffer the consequences of the fatally flawed healthcare law.
  In my home State of North Carolina, the average ObamaCare premium has 
increased by a staggering 40 percent. Terry from Advance, North 
Carolina, is a 70-year-old retiree, but now he is working part time 
just to help pay for his wife's healthcare premiums, which jumped from 
$300 a month to more than $887 a month.
  On top of higher premiums, deductibles have skyrocketed, too. 
Patricia from Kernersville now has a whopping $6,550 deductible, and 
her premiums increased by 80 percent this year. Like so many Americans, 
Patricia is paying more for less coverage.
  Despite being promised, ``if you like your healthcare plan, you can 
keep it,'' millions of Americans have been kicked off their plans. 
Scott from Hickory has had his health insurance canceled three times 
now; disrupting his continuity of care.
  We have also heard from countless small-business owners who can no 
longer afford coverage for their employees because of limited resources 
and soaring costs. Facing similar challenges, school leaders and 
college administrators have spoken out about how ObamaCare is 
exacerbating tight budgets--hurting teachers, faculty members, and, 
ultimately, the students they serve.
  The current situation is not sustainable; so Republicans are here on 
a rescue mission by providing the American people relief. It is time to 
repeal President Obama's government takeover of health care. It is time 
to advance patient-centered reforms that lower costs, provide more 
choices, and put working families--not government bureaucrats--in 
control of their health care.
  I urge my colleagues to support this budget resolution because it 
will move us one step closer to the patient-centered health care the 
American people desperately want and need.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind the gentlewoman that her 
vote today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 552,000 
people from her State of North Carolina losing their healthcare 
coverage, 76,000 workers losing their jobs, and an economic loss of 
$39.4 billion in gross State product, over 5 years, for North Carolina.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. 
Bonamici), a distinguished member of the Education and the Workforce 
Committee.
  Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this budget 
resolution. The Affordable Care Act saves lives.
  Today I want to talk about Mark Rouska from Tualatin, Oregon. Mark 
was diagnosed with stage IV renal cancer, and doctors told him the 
cancer had metastasized to his lungs. He had to resign from a job he 
loved as a special education teacher. Without chemotherapy, he would 
probably not be alive. That treatment costs about $20,000 a month, but 
because he has insurance through the Affordable Care Act, Mark pays 
about $175 a month. At the end of this month, Mark and his wife, 
Patrice, will celebrate their 31st anniversary.
  Repealing the Affordable Care Act will endanger health coverage for 
millions of people. One of them is Mark. I will do everything in my 
power to protect the many Oregonians who rely on the Affordable Care 
Act. I urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman), who is also a member of our Budget Committee.
  Mr. GROTHMAN. I thank the gentlewoman.
  Mr. Chairman, it is not a surprise, when you try to take over such a 
sizable chunk of America's economy, that you have all sorts of 
unintended bad consequences. I am going to focus on two consequences 
that are true of so many programs that the government puts out there.
  First of all, ObamaCare is one more program that discourages work. If 
you talk to your accountants again and again, they will tell you 
stories of people who are very conscious of the fact that, as they get 
a raise, as they work more overtime, they lose big subsidies. If I were 
to lose my next election, ObamaCare would continue. As my income would 
go up from $49,000 to $50,000, I would get hammered with a $4,500 loss. 
So it wouldn't be surprising that people in my position would be very 
careful not to get a raise or not to work overtime.
  Even worse, this is one more government program that discourages 
marriage. If you have a single parent who is making $20,000 and if he 
decided to marry somebody making $30,000 or $40,000, he would be 
hammered with a $3,500 loss. Combined with the FoodShare program, the 
low-income housing subsidies, Pell grants, and various TANF programs, 
this is just one more step that the American Government has taken to 
discourage work and to discourage marriage.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind the gentleman that his vote 
today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 211,000 people 
from his State of Wisconsin losing their healthcare coverage, 46,000 
workers losing their jobs, and an economic loss of $25.7 billion in 
gross State product, over 5 years, for the State of Wisconsin.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. 
Jackson Lee), a distinguished member of the Judiciary Committee.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the distinguished gentleman.
  Mr. Chairman, I stand in opposition to this reckless, irresponsible, 
heartless, and bare bones Republican budget resolution because it does 
nothing to provide jobs for the American workers; it does nothing to 
invest in the roads, bridges, ports, cyber networks, and other 
infrastructure that is needed to sustain economic growth; it explodes 
the deficit and enriches those who are already wealthy at the expense 
of middle and working class families.
  In particular, this foolish rush to repeal the Affordable Care Act 
makes plain for all to see that congressional Republicans are far more 
interested in scoring political points with their rightwing base than 
they are in protecting the health and economic security of American 
families.
  Thirty million people will lose their insurance; the insurance market 
will be in shambles; and families left behind will have higher 
premiums. We will close rural hospitals; and hospitals will lose 
billions of dollars and might reduce services and cut jobs. The economy 
will lose 2.6 million jobs.
  Repeal and replace is just a straw man. It is about real lives, like 
Pamela Gross', who suffers from chronic lupus and a number of other 
autoimmune disorders that have required her to spend upwards of $5,000.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. YARMUTH. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 15 seconds.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the gentleman.
  She writes: ``I asked my doctor recently, `With all that's going on, 
would I make it without treatment?' The doctor's answer: `No.'''
  In her instance, if the Affordable Care Act goes--if is it repealed--
she could completely lose her eligibility for expanded Medicaid and 
simply die. A young man in my district would die as well.

[[Page H495]]

  This is a bad bill. Vote against it. Save America's good health.
  Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong opposition to S. Con. Res. 3, the 
Congressional Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2017, which more 
appropriately should be known as the ``Make America Sick Again'' 
Budget.
  I stand in opposition to this reckless, irresponsible, heartless, and 
bare-bones Republican budget resolution because it does nothing to 
provide jobs for American workers; does nothing to invest in the roads, 
bridges, ports, cybernetworks, and other infrastructure needed to 
sustain economic growth; and explodes the deficit and enriches those 
who are already wealthy at the expense of middle and working-class 
families.
  Let us be very clear about the real objective of our Republican 
colleagues: their sole purpose in bringing this resolution to the floor 
is to pave the way for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the 
defunding of Planned Parenthood by a simple majority vote in the 
Senate.
  This foolish rush to repeal the Affordable Care Act makes plain for 
all to see that congressional Republicans are far more interested in 
scoring political points with their right-wing base than they are in 
protecting the health and economic security of American families.
  Mr. Chair, the Affordable Care Act has been an undisputed success, 
making access to quality affordable healthcare available to more than 
20 million Americans who previously lived with the dreaded fear that an 
unexpected injury or illness to them or a family member would go 
untreated or could bankrupt their families.
  While House Republicans may pine for a return to those bad old days, 
the large majority of Americans do not because they understand that 
repeal of the Affordable Care Act will have devastating consequences 
for working families, women, and the economy.
  Mr. Chair, health care experts, governors, and hospitals warn that 
repealing the ACA without a comprehensive plan in its place will cause 
chaos and catastrophe, including:
  1. Nearly 30 million people would lose health care coverage, 
including more than 4 million kids;
  2. With the individual insurance market in shambles, families 
remaining in what's left of it could face higher premiums and fewer 
choices as insurers exit;
  3. Hospitals would lose billions of dollars and might reduce services 
or cut jobs; and rural hospitals would close.
  4. The economy would lose 2.6 million jobs in 2019, with the majority 
in non-health sectors.
  Additionally, eliminating Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood 
would severely restrict women's access to comprehensive care such as 
contraception, cancer screenings, and STI tests and treatments.
  Mr. Chair, Republicans claim they have a replacement plan for the 
Affordable Care Act but the truth is they do not have a plan now nor 
have they in the past nor will they in the future.
  ``Repeal and Replace'' is an empty slogan and is about as serious as 
the President-Elect's promise of ``something terrific.''
  Republicans have had seven years to produce and coalesce around an 
alternative to the ACA, and they totally failed.
  The reason for their failure is they are afflicted with Obama 
Derangement Syndrome that blinds them to the ACA's substantial and 
positive improvements in people's lives.
  Without the ACA, insurance companies could continue to make their own 
rules, and deny coverage based on a person's health status or job, 
offer lousy benefits, and impose annual and lifetime limits.
  Without the ACA, seniors would still face the Part D donut hole and 
have to pay more for drugs, and parents would not be able to keep their 
kids on their plan until age 26.
  Without the ACA, 20 million people would not have gained coverage, 
and we would not have the lowest uninsured rate on record.
  If Republicans really thought they could match this record of 
success, they would have unveiled and campaigned on their alternative 
plan in the last election or at least reveal it to the American people 
right now.
  It is immoral to put families, the health care system, or our economy 
at risk by repealing the ACA, hurting the economy, ballooning the 
deficit, and giving hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts to 
corporations and the wealthy.
  Mr. Chair, the constituents of the 18th Congressional District of 
Texas, which I am privileged to represent, are not buying the `Repeal 
and Replace' bill of goods that Republicans are selling because they 
know the Affordable Care Act, which they lovingly call ObamaCare, has 
brought peace of mind and security where before there was only worry 
and fear.
  Here are some of the ways the Affordable Care Act has made a positive 
difference to the residents of my congressional district:
  1. Coverage for the Previously Uninsured.
  Up to 193,000 individuals in the district who lack health insurance 
will have access to quality, affordable coverage without fear of 
discrimination or higher rates because of a preexisting health 
condition.
  2. Tax Credits to Make Insurance Affordable.
  Under the ACA, tax credits are available to assist individuals and 
families purchase the private health insurance they need.
  The amount of these tax credits range from $630 to $4,480 for 
individuals and from $3,550 to $11,430 for a family of four.
  This benefits as many as 446,850 constituents in my congressional 
district.
  3. Extra Benefits for Seniors.
  More than 4,100 seniors in my district receive prescription drug 
discounts worth an average of $828 per person.
  4. Extended Coverage for Young Adults.
  11,400 young adults in the district now have health insurance through 
their parents' plan.
  5. No Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays.
  121,000 individuals in my district--including 23,000 children and 
50,000 women--now have health insurance that covers preventive services 
without any co-pays, coinsurance, or deductible.
  6. Premium Rebates.
  113,000 individuals in my district are saving money due to ACA 
provisions that prevent insurance companies from spending more than 20% 
of their premiums on profits and administrative overhead.
  7. No Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions.
  In my district, up to 46,000 children with preexisting health 
conditions no longer can be denied coverage by health insurers.
  8. No Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage.
  153,000 individuals in my district now have insurance that cannot 
place lifetime limits on their coverage and no long face annual limits 
on coverage.
  It is said often, Mr. Chair, but is no less true, that the federal 
budget is more than a financial document; it is an expression of the 
nation's most cherished values.
  As the late and great former senator and Vice-President Hubert 
Humphrey said:

       The moral test of government is how that government treats 
     those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who 
     are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are 
     in shadows of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.

  It is for this reason that in evaluating the merits of a budget 
resolution, it is not enough to subject it only to the test of fiscal 
responsibility.
  To keep faith with the nation's past, to be fair to the nation's 
present, and to safeguard the nation's future, the budget must also 
pass a ``moral test.''
  The Republican budget resolution fails both of these standards.
  Because the American people deserve to know exactly what ills 
Republicans have in store for them, I strongly oppose S. Con. Res. 3 
and urge all Members to join me in voting against the reckless, cruel, 
and heartless measure that will do nothing to improve the lives or 
well-being of middle and working class families.
  Pamela Gross dreads repeal of Medicaid expansion. Still, millions of 
people like Gross, could face immediate effects. While her disability 
allows her access to Medicare coverage, she also relies on Medi-Cal, 
California's Medicaid program, to help pay for costs Medicare doesn't. 
Gross says she was insured before Obamacare became law. But her Medi-
Cal coverage, which she relies on to pay her monthly premiums and co-
pays, hung in the balance each year when she received a Supplemental 
Security Income cost of living increase. The minor jump in pay 
threatened to push her out of eligibility for the program, which would 
leave her without the means to pay for a private insurance policy and 
the doctor visits and medications she says her life literally depends 
on.
  ``I asked my doctor recently, with all that's going on would I make 
it without treatment?'' The doctor's answer: ``No,'' Gross says.
  Because Obamacare expanded eligibility for Medicaid and increased the 
program's income limits, Gross no longer has to be concerned each year 
that the cost-of-living increase she receives from her SSI income will 
throw her out of coverage. That would change if Medicaid expansion is 
eliminated as part of the law's repeal.
  ``If they repeal I could completely lose eligibility,'' she says. ``I 
would die.''
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Georgia (Mr. Ferguson), a new member of the Budget Committee.
  Mr. FERGUSON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the fiscal year 2017 
budget resolution.
  The need for this process can best be explained by a story I have 
been telling my colleagues.
  A little over 6 years ago, I lived in a pretty decent house. One day 
I heard a knock on the door, and before I knew

[[Page H496]]

it, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle had let a goat loose 
in my house. Now, for 6 years that goat has been messing in and 
destroying my house. I want to renovate my house, but before I can, I 
have to get the goat out of the house before it does any more damage. 
It makes no sense to start fixing up my house until I can get the goat 
out. Voting for the fiscal year `17 budget resolution gets this goat 
out of my house.
  Mr. Chairman, make no mistake: we must renovate our house; we must 
undo the Affordable Care Act. We can no longer as a nation hold on to 
policies that rob us of our freedom of choice, that destroy family 
finances, that rob people of their jobs, and leave the most vulnerable 
with substandard care.
  Now is the time for a 21st century healthcare system that puts 
patients and doctors first and sends government regulators and 
rulemakers to the back row. No more 32 percent increase in Georgia 
premiums; no more having your doctor pulled away from you; and no more 
government mandates.
  This is not a return to the pre-ObamaCare status quo, but is a new 
approach to putting consumers in the driver's seat. The first step in 
this process is to gut ObamaCare with this resolution, and I am honored 
to support it.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind the gentleman that his vote 
today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 581,000 people 
from his State of Georgia losing their healthcare coverage, 71,000 
workers losing their jobs, and an economic loss of $39.4 billion in 
gross State product, over 5 years, for the State of Georgia.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Jeffries), a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Chairman, this is a sad day in the history of this 
country as Republicans begin the process of destroying health care in 
America.
  ``Repeal and replace'' is just a slogan. It is not a solution. For 
more than 6 years, we have been waiting for a credible Republican 
healthcare plan, and none has been forthcoming. All you have is smoke 
and mirrors, and the American people are getting ready to get screwed.
  Under the so-called Republican plan, seniors will be forced to pay 
more for their medicine. Under the so-called Republican plan, children 
with preexisting conditions, like pediatric cancer, will be at risk of 
being kicked off of their health plans or of being denied health 
coverage. Under the so-called Republican plan, young people in America 
will no longer be able to stay on their parents' health insurance 
through the age of 26. Under the so-called Republican plan, more than a 
million people who are receiving drug treatment because of opioid 
addiction will be at risk of being denied that lifesaving care.
  Under the so-called Republican plan, premiums will go up, co-pays 
will go up, deductibles will go up; and the American people will be 
screwed. People in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio--screwed. 
Seniors in Florida--screwed. People on the west coast and on the east 
coast--screwed. People in Appalachia and rural America--screwed.
  The only folks who will benefit are the fat cats who are part of the 
healthcare cartel. The system, indeed, is rigged, and the American 
people should pay attention as to who is jamming them up.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, in response to the gentleman from New York, 
when he says we do not have a plan, I reference him to all of the plans 
that are here on the desk. He says we don't have a plan, but then he 
references all of the things that will happen under the Republican 
plan. He can't have it both ways.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. 
Womack), who is a member of both the Budget Committee and the 
Appropriations Committee.
  Mr. WOMACK. I thank the distinguished chair of the Budget Committee 
for giving me some time to talk today. She is a distinguished person, a 
colleague, a classmate, and somebody I have the utmost respect for.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the House budget resolution and to 
recognize the very important first step we are taking in our country 
today regarding ObamaCare. By adopting this budget resolution, we will 
set into motion the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
  Last week, on this very floor, the minority leader, Ms. Pelosi, stood 
here and called ObamaCare a magnificent success. Yet, since being sworn 
into office in 2011, I have heard just the opposite from my 
constituents. Every single day, I have heard that ObamaCare is raising 
the cost of health care, is creating uncertainty in Arkansas, is 
hurting Americans, and that we need to replace it with real reforms 
that focus on the patient, not the government.
  This law is not just bad for patients and healthcare consumers. 
ObamaCare's onerous mandates and endless regulations are hitting 
industry across the board. It stifles business; it squelches private 
sector job growth; it hurts our economy. Let me give you an example.
  Mr. Chairman, Superior Linen Service, in my district, employs over 
100 people. Prior to the enactment of ObamaCare, Superior Linen Service 
recognized the importance of having a healthy workforce and was already 
providing quality health insurance to its employees, and it was able to 
manage its payroll insurance benefits in-house for the entire 60 years 
of its existence. After the passage of the Affordable Care Act, 
Superior Linen Service could no longer manage the sheer amount of 
paperwork it took to prove that it was, in fact, complying with the 
law.
  Let me be clear. Thanks to ObamaCare, the company provided no new 
benefits, but had to outsource its payroll and management at a cost of 
$100,000 a year. This is just one of many examples. This is an 
important day. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the resolution.

                              {time}  1145

  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind my colleague that his vote 
today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result 234,000 people from 
his State of Arkansas losing their healthcare coverage, 28,000 workers 
losing their jobs, and an economic loss of $15.8 billion in gross State 
product over 5 years for the State of Arkansas.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. 
Schakowsky), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Chair, I want to say right now I believe--and it 
will be true, you will see--that Republicans will regret the repeal of 
ObamaCare.
  Hospitals in rural and underserved areas are panicking right now 
because they are finally getting paid through ObamaCare to serve low-
income people. Jobs will be lost. Those hospitals could close. Thirty 
million people will lose their benefits.
  I want to tell you, on the Energy and Commerce Committee, I have been 
hearing for years ever since ObamaCare passed, all these horror stories 
that my Republican colleagues embrace as evidence that this thing isn't 
working. Never once have they been willing to sit down with us.
  We don't claim that the bill is perfect, but we know that there are 
millions and millions of people with preexisting conditions or who run 
out of insurance when they hit their lifetime caps. We know it has 
helped, and yet never has a Republican been willing to sit down with us 
and craft amendments that would make this legislation better.
  Repeal means that the Republicans will make Americans sick again.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I would just like to note that it is 
ObamaCare that has, sadly, hurt these rural hospitals, healthcare 
providers, and people living in those rural areas. As a matter of fact, 
since January of 2010, there have been at least 80 rural hospitals that 
have had to close. The damage has already been done.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Arrington), a freshmen on the Budget Committee.
  Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of S. Con. Res. 
3 that would begin the process to repeal ObamaCare.
  Our experimentation in the Soviet-style, central planning of our 
healthcare system has been an abject failure: ObamaCare has failed our 
middle and working class families who

[[Page H497]]

have seen an uncontrollable increase in deductibles and premiums; it 
has failed our providers who spent years pursuing their passion for 
healing our sick but now find themselves spending more time filling out 
paperwork than caring for their patients; it has failed our small 
businesses that create 64 percent of the jobs in this country.
  Although the pathway of ObamaCare has been paved with good 
intentions, it has led to a series of disastrous, unintended 
consequences. To use a medical analogy, ObamaCare has made America 
sick; and when America is sick, rural America is in the ICU.
  I represent 29 rural counties in west Texas, ag producers, oil and 
gas and renewable energy operators, community bankers, and community 
hospitals. Like many rural areas throughout the country, my district is 
feeding and clothing the American people, bolstering our economy, and 
strengthening our national security.
  While large hospitals also suffer under ObamaCare, community 
hospitals are simply unable to handle the crushing weight of ACA's 
shrinking reimbursements, regulatory burden, and unfunded mandates. 
Since ObamaCare was implemented, 80 rural hospitals have closed and 600 
more are in danger of closing. Without access to quality health care, 
our hardworking families in middle America are left high and dry.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the 
gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Chairman, one of the greatest travesties of 
ObamaCare is not just the damage that it has done to our economy, but 
the destruction of a way of life of over 60 million Americans who call 
small town America their home. Whether it is producing reliable and 
affordable energy or a safe and abundant supply of food, people from 
all over the country rely on rural communities to make America great.
  We must repeal ObamaCare, restore market forces, and return to 
patient-centered care.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind my colleague that his vote 
today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 1.8 million 
people from his State of Texas losing their healthcare coverage, 
175,000 workers losing their jobs, and an economic loss of $107 billion 
in gross State product over 5 years for the State of Texas.
  I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Larsen), a 
distinguished member of the Transportation and Infrastructure 
Committee.
  Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to 
this budget resolution that would begin the process of repealing the 
Affordable Care Act without a plan to replace it, and I rise on behalf 
of my constituents who are imploring Congress to save the Affordable 
Care Act.
  Luanne from Coupeville, Washington, wrote to me. She said:

       As someone with several serious preexisting conditions, I 
     could not get insurance coverage in the past. My husband and 
     I spent an incredible amount of money--including retirement 
     savings and out-of-pocket dollars--for my care and 
     prescriptions. There were truly times when we had to choose 
     food over medication.

  And without the ACA, Jennifer from Lynnwood told me that her best 
friend ``will be forced to work as many jobs as she can in order to 
obtain money due to the costs of her pregnancy that will no longer be 
covered. . . . . She needs the Affordable Care Act, as do many 
Americans. Please, I beg you, do not get rid of it. . . . The 
Republicans in Congress do not understand how much of us low-income 
Americans need this.''
  These are just two of the hundreds of Washingtonians who have 
contacted me over the past 2 weeks.
  Mr. Chairman, do not take away these lifesaving benefits from Luanne, 
Jennifer's friend, and the rest of my constituents.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker), who is a new member of our Budget 
Committee.
  Mr. SMUCKER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this resolution, 
which will be the first step to repealing ObamaCare.
  I, like so many of my colleagues, have heard from citizens all across 
my district in regard to the impact of this system on them. I want to 
share a conversation I had recently with a constituent.
  Tim Hollinger called me. Tim and his wife, Phyllis, are residents of 
Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, in my home county of Lancaster. Tim is on 
Medicare, but Phyllis, who is self-employed, has a healthcare plan that 
she obtained through the ObamaCare marketplace.
  Tim and Phyllis' annual income is $53,000 per year. Phyllis' 
healthcare premium is over $1,000 a month and carries a $2,700 
deductible. Let me repeat that. Phyllis' healthcare premium is over 
$1,000 per month. That is 23 percent of their combined annual income.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. SMUCKER. Mr. Chair, now Phyllis receives a Federal subsidy that 
covers 35 percent of that monthly cost. She takes pride in the fact 
that she has never taken a government handout in her life.
  Now that she is on ObamaCare, the American taxpayers have to 
subsidize her health care. To Phyllis, that is not right. To Phyllis, 
this is about her pride. She is not asking for a lot. She is simply 
asking that she have access to affordable health care that doesn't 
require the American taxpayers to help her pay for it.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to fix our Nation's 
failed healthcare system.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind my colleague that his vote 
today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result 479,000 people from 
his State of Pennsylvania losing their healthcare coverage, 173,000 
workers losing their jobs, and an economic loss of $76.5 billion over 5 
years in gross State product for the State of Pennsylvania.
  I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), a 
distinguished member of the Budget Committee.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I thank our ranking member for yielding and 
also for his steadfast commitment to protecting the health and well-
being of all Americans.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this resolution, which 
would advance the repeal of the Affordable Care Act without any 
replacement in sight.
  Let me be clear. This resolution would wipe away health care from 30 
million Americans and raise premiums for millions more. It would also 
create chaos through our community and our economy and our Nation. It 
would put the insurance companies back in charge.
  It is not just the Affordable Care Act that is on the chopping block. 
Republicans also want to cut women's reproductive health care. Once 
again, they want to defund Planned Parenthood, one of the Nation's 
leading providers of high-quality, affordable health care for women and 
families. Women would be denied breast cancer screenings and preventive 
health care. Community clinics in rural and urban communities would be 
devastated.
  We know that Planned Parenthood is one of the Nation's leading 
providers of high-quality, affordable health care for women and their 
families. Denying access to healthcare providers such as Planned 
Parenthood will hurt women who need these services the most: low-income 
women and women of color. That is why I offered an amendment to protect 
these critical services. Shamefully, the Rules Committee refused to 
make it in order and even allow for a debate on this floor.
  I also cosponsored the amendment with Representative Pocan and others 
within the Congressional Progressive Caucus opposing cuts to Medicare, 
Medicaid, and Social Security benefits. Republicans refused to allow a 
debate on this critical issue as well.
  The most vulnerable--the poor, seniors, and disabled individuals--
would be left to fend for themselves, and their lives would be 
shattered through these Republican cuts.
  Mr. Chairman, we must stand up for the millions of people who have 
coverage because the Affordable Care Act really does save lives. It is 
a disgrace; Republicans continue to raise this war to kill the ACA 
without replacing it.
  Once again, it will hurt the most vulnerable. People will be sicker 
again.

[[Page H498]]

America will be sick again. This is a matter of life and death.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Florida (Mr. Gaetz), who is a freshman on our Budget Committee.
  Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chairman, lend me your ears. I come to bury ObamaCare, 
not to praise it. The evil that men do lives after them.
  This is the true legacy of the last 8 years: a doubling of the 
national debt and $4 trillion in additional spending projected through 
ObamaCare.
  What have my constituents gotten from ObamaCare? Higher taxes, higher 
premiums, unaffordable deductibles, crippling drug costs, fewer 
choices, and more mandates.
  This resolution shows what will happen if we do nothing. Inaction 
will lead to $30 trillion in debt, the greatest generational theft the 
world has ever known.
  So it is past time to get the Federal Government out of the 
healthcare mandate business. Let people buy insurance across State 
lines; allow people to own their own healthcare decisions through 
health savings accounts; block-grant Medicaid to our States, our 
laboratories of democracy; and let's reinvigorate a Federal system that 
is promised by our Founders.
  The jobs data cited by the Democrats doesn't assume the positive 
economic benefits that come from ObamaCare repeal, including, according 
to the Congressional Budget Office, $200 billion in additional economic 
activity, more jobs, more opportunity, and more freedom. This is a 
flawed study that my friends across the aisle cite, and it is the 
Republican resolution before this body that offers a better way.

  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind my colleague that his vote 
today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 1.6 million 
people from his State of Florida losing their healthcare coverage, 
181,000 workers losing their jobs, and an economic loss of $90.4 
billion in gross State product over 5 years in Florida.
  I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the 
distinguished Democratic Whip.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, every American will be affected by this 
vote, not just the 20 million people who will lose their insurance 
immediately. Thirty million, in total, will lose their insurance. 
Everybody's premium will ultimately go up. Preexisting conditions will 
not be available. Seniors will pay more for prescription drugs. 25-, 
24-, 23-year-olds will be dropped from the insurance of their families.
  The fact of the matter is--the gentleman from Florida that just 
spoke--there is not a better way that has been proposed. There is some 
discussion about across State lines. There is some other discussion 
about health savings accounts, which is great if you have the kind of 
salaries we have; but if you are an average American trying to support 
your family, getting additional funds to put into a health savings 
account is not available to you.
  Mr. Chairman, this budget resolution is an abdication of 
responsibility and duty. Rather than showing Republican spending and 
revenue priorities, it is nothing more than a vehicle for expediting a 
repeal of the Affordable Care Act and taking insurance coverage away 
from 30 million people.

                              {time}  1200

  Again, let me remind you it is hundreds of millions of people that 
will be adversely affected.
  Since taking the House majority, Republicans have held 65 votes on 
this floor to undo healthcare reforms that have brought the uninsured 
rate to its lowest in recorded history and banned discrimination and 
discriminatory practices, such as denying coverage to Americans with 
preexisting conditions or charging women higher rates than men simply 
because of their gender.
  Now our Republican colleagues want to repeal the Affordable Care Act 
without immediately replacing it, contrary to at least 12 of their 
colleagues in the United States Senate--Republicans--saying that is not 
the right way to go. That is what this resolution would do.
  By the way, they should have adopted this resolution last Congress by 
April 15. They didn't do so.
  This is not a real budget resolution. This is simply a device so that 
they can jam through repeal of the Affordable Care Act in the United 
States Senate contrary to the existing rules. It would come at a severe 
cost to our economy and our budget sustainability.
  In addition to the 30 million who would lose their insurance, tens of 
millions more, as I have said, would see their costs go up. A report by 
the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund and Milken Institute found that the 
repeal would lead to the loss of 3 million jobs, and the Committee for 
a Responsible Federal Budget found it would add $350 billion to 
deficits over the next 10 years.
  Let us be clear, Mr. Chairman, a vote for this budget resolution is a 
vote to take health insurance away from 30 million Americans and 
adversely impact the health care of millions more.
  I urge my Republican colleagues who have serious concerns about our 
fiscal path and misgivings about repealing the Affordable Care Act 
without replacing it: let's lay down a marker that Congress should not 
rush headlong into this costly repeal not only in terms of dollars, but 
in terms of health security consequences for the American people.
  Mr. Chairman, I urge the House to vote ``no'' on this dangerous and 
destructive resolution.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I do want to note, once again, for my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle, if they say we have no 
plans, I want to reference them several plans that have been filed, and 
I will leave those here on the desk so they can pick those up at their 
convenience.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Poe).
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, the Affordable Care Act is a 
collection of failed policies and many empty promises.
  The American people have spoken. They do not want ObamaCare's high-
cost, job-killing, conscious-violating healthcare system. Since the 
enactment of ObamaCare, almost 5 million Americans have lost their 
insurance plans and their own doctors. This is a far cry from the fake 
promises that were made on this House floor in the dark of the night 
when we were told: ``Pass the bill so that we can figure out what is in 
it.''
  The American people are the ones paying for these failed promises. In 
fact, it is expected that in 2017, ObamaCare premiums will grow by an 
average of 22 percent across America. ObamaCare is hurting individual 
citizens, and it is also hurting small businesses. Out of 75 issues, 
small-business owners ranked the cost of health insurance as the number 
one problem they faced in 2016.
  ObamaCare is neither affordable, and it is certainly not better care. 
We cannot afford ObamaCare. Health care should be a decision made by 
individuals in America, not by bureaucrats here in Washington, D.C. The 
repeal bill is the first step in finally correcting this huge 
legislative blunder. Replace ObamaCare with a free-market alternative 
that provides affordable health care to all Americans. Let Americans 
choose their health care.
  ObamaCare has the efficiency of the post office and the compassion of 
the IRS, and it is time to make America healthy. Repeal this government 
control of our health.
  And that is just the way it is.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind my good friend that his vote 
today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 1.8 million 
people from his State of Texas losing their healthcare coverage, 
175,000 workers losing their jobs, and an economic loss of $107 billion 
in gross State product, over 5 years, in Texas.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. 
Castor), who is a distinguished member of the Energy and Commerce 
Committee.
  Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I am compelled to come to the 
floor this morning to oppose the Republican attempt to pull the rug out 
from under American families.
  Why are we going to a repeal bill without a replacement?
  It is irresponsible. What you are doing is you are throwing American 
families into quicksand. Here is a dirty little secret: this is also a 
fiscally irresponsible move because this is likely to balloon the debt 
and the deficit.
  Now, what I hear from my families back home in Florida is that the 
Affordable Care Act has been a godsend to them, and that includes the 9 
million families that have private health

[[Page H499]]

insurance. The Affordable Care Act has provided vital consumer 
protections to prevent them from being discriminated against for a 
preexisting condition or being canceled if they do get sick, and it has 
kept premium costs in check.
  We also have a lot of Floridians who depend on Medicare; and because 
of the ACA, Medicare is stronger. In 2015 alone, the average Medicare 
recipient has put about $1,000 back into their pocket because the ACA 
closes the doughnut hole.
  I urge the House to vote ``no.'' Don't throw American families into 
chaos and don't wreak havoc on our economy.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Kansas (Mr. Marshall).
  Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of today's 
resolution to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
  As a physician, I have lived the nightmare of the ACA for the past 6 
years. Because of ObamaCare, I know more physicians leaving their 
practice this year than any other year. With $12,000 deductibles and 
annual premium spikes of over 50 and many times over 100 percent, 
ObamaCare has made health care truly unaffordable and unattainable for 
many, many people. In fact, it would be irresponsible for Congress to 
sit back and watch the ACA continue its death spiral and bankrupt our 
country.
  As we begin to replace ObamaCare, we want to reassure Americans we 
will not pull the rug out from anyone. If you are on a current exchange 
policy or have preexisting conditions, we will have a period of 
transition and high-risk pools that will provide you with quality, 
affordable alternatives.
  Like many others, my district sent me here to fix health care, and we 
intend to do just that.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind my colleague that his vote 
today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 137,000 people 
from his State of Kansas losing their healthcare coverage, 19,000 
workers losing their jobs, and an economic loss of $10.5 billion in 
gross State product, over 5 years, for Kansas.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Rhode Island 
(Mr. Cicilline), who is a distinguished member of the Judiciary 
Committee.
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Chairman, for 8 years, House Republicans have 
wrongly claimed that the Affordable Care Act will be catastrophic for 
hardworking Americans.
  Here are the facts: since its passage, the ACA has helped cover 20 
million previously uninsured Americans; 95 percent of America's 
children are now covered; almost 130 million Americans with preexisting 
conditions now have the peace of mind to know that they will not be 
denied health services; and healthcare costs have been growing at the 
slowest rate in 50 years.
  But as Republicans prepare to take control of the White House, it is 
clear they don't have an actual plan to replace ObamaCare. Not only 
will their repeal and displace plan cut off millions of Americans--men, 
women, and children--from quality, affordable health care, but it will 
also have devastating impacts on our economy.
  Repealing the Affordable Care Act will cause the loss of 2.6 million 
jobs, a majority of which will be non-health industry jobs. It is 
projected that my home State of Rhode Island will lose more than 12,000 
jobs.
  This budget resolution will not only increase prescription drug 
prices for our seniors, raise premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for 
Americans who buy insurance, but will lead to significantly larger 
yearly deficits and contribute more than $9.5 trillion in debt over the 
next decade.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose this budget resolution, to protect the 
American people's access to quality, affordable health care, and to 
vote ``no.''
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Mitchell), who is one of our freshman Members.
  Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. Chairman, I rise to support the resolution to give 
relief to the millions of Americans who are struggling to access health 
care due to the destructive impact of the Affordable Care Act. 
Americans were promised that, with the passage of the Affordable Care 
Act, costs for health insurance would decrease and patients could keep 
their plans and their doctors if they liked them. Americans have now 
seen the truth: massive increases in premiums, constantly rising 
deductibles and copays, and fewer plans with fewer providers.
  Just because an individual or a family has insurance does not mean 
they can access and afford health care. Health insurance means little 
if they cannot find a participating doctor or afford the deductible. In 
Michigan, premiums have risen over 17 percent this year, and 
deductibles are up an average of $492.
  There is a plan. I will hand carry it over for you to read it. I 
suggest we not instill fear but, rather, we move forward with a better 
way to provide health insurance. Broken promises have led us to a 
broken healthcare system. We promise to fix it and, beginning today, we 
are going to do just that.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind my colleague that his vote 
today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 618,000 people 
from his State of Michigan losing their healthcare coverage, 101,000 
workers losing their jobs, and an economic loss of $54 billion in gross 
State product, over 5 years, for Michigan.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Michigan 
(Mr. Levin), who is a distinguished member and former chairman of the 
Ways and Means Committee.
  (Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I just want to say to my colleague from 
Michigan: Hundreds of thousands of people are going to lose their 
insurance under a plan that was agreed to by the Republican Governor, 
and I will send you the numbers in your district.
  Mr. Chairman, the Republican effort to repeal the ACA, causing 30 
million Americans to lose their health insurance, is built on a 
foundation of misrepresentations and falsehoods. Yesterday, the Speaker 
said the Affordable Care Act is collapsing. It is not. Nationwide, 
enrollment is higher than it is has ever been, and the percentage of 
Americans without health insurance is at the lowest level on record.
  What is collapsing is the time for Republicans to move beyond their 
rhetoric and come up with a plan. They say they will produce a 
comprehensive replacement, but they have been saying that for 7 years.
  Mr. Neal is here. Seven years, Mr. Neal, we have been hearing that.
  Those files on the Republican desk--I wish you would raise them 
again--aren't a plan. They are a ploy.
  Republicans say repealing the Affordable Care Act will help people, 
and there is at least a sliver of truth to that claim. The GOP repeal 
bill will help millionaires, providing them an average tax cut of over 
$50,000 a year. At the same time, it will actually raise taxes on 
millions of moderate and middle-income families who will lose tax 
credits for purchasing health insurance.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Virginia (Mr. Garrett), who is one of our freshman Members.
  Mr. GARRETT. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to make a clarification 
because while I support this resolution, I oppose the description that 
some here have used. They are calling it a budget. This isn't a budget. 
It is a paper trail of crimes our government commits against the future 
of our Nation vis-a-vis overwhelming debt. We need to be honest. We are 
sitting on $20 trillion in debt, and aside from starting the repeal of 
the unaffordable care act, this does nothing to address that.
  Reluctantly I will vote for it to repeal the monstrosity that is the 
unaffordable care act.
  We were told we need to pass the bill so that we could find out what 
was in it. Well, we found out what was in it. We saw premiums 
skyrocket; we saw families lose their plans and their doctors, even the 
ones they liked and they wanted to keep; and we saw businesses 
struggle. Now we are left in a position where we need to pass this 
resolution to get rid of what we found.
  Liberty and self-determination are the lifeblood of this Nation, and 
the Nation is terminally ill. Our debt is a cancer that continues to 
grow; and like a cancer, it doesn't discriminate. It is colorblind, it 
is gender neutral, and it doesn't care about your political affiliation 
or what State you are from. It is here, and it continues to grow.

[[Page H500]]

  Our children are being encumbered, packaged, and sold to the gallows 
by way of unprecedented debt. This is an unprecedented treatment, but 
if we continue down the ObamaCare unaffordable care act path that we 
are on, the results are guaranteed.
  Today's resolution provides treatment for some of the symptoms, but 
it is about time that we started getting to the root causes of the 
disease. The more government encroaches on the lives of its citizens, 
the more debt grows, the less our liberties can breathe, and the sicker 
we become. I may be new here, but in Virginia we keep a balanced 
budget; and it is about time we got serious about one in D.C.

                              {time}  1215

  I will vote to pass this here today, but I refuse to call it a 
budget. I refuse to ignore the problems the unaffordable care act was 
meant to address. Problems aren't political, solutions are, and we can 
provide a better way.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind my colleague that his vote 
today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 327,000 people 
from his State of Virginia losing their healthcare coverage, 52,000 
workers losing their jobs, and an economic loss of $31 billion over 5 
years in gross State product for Virginia.
  Mr. Chairman, how much time remains?
  The CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Tennessee has 14\3/4\ minutes 
remaining. The gentleman from Kentucky has 14\3/4\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Vermont (Mr. Welch), a distinguished member of the Energy and Commerce 
Committee.
  Mr. WELCH. Mr. Chairman, on probably the most important issue, we are 
having the dumbest debate. We say the healthcare bill is good. You say 
it stinks.
  We think it is good because we think it is good that kids, until they 
are age 26, can stay on their parents' plan. We think it is good 
because people with preexisting conditions ought to have access to 
health care, and we think it is good that a person who gets sick 
shouldn't lose their health care.
  You say it is bad, even though the plan was based on a Heritage 
Foundation initiative and adopted largely in Massachusetts by a 
Republican governor.
  Bottom line, you are the majority in the House; you are the majority 
in the Senate; and you have got the Presidency. You have got some 
responsibility to show us the beef. Where is the plan?
  Now, there is a lot of paper over there, but you haven't shown us a 
plan. And here is why: because when you put pen to paper, all hell is 
going to break loose on your side because you have to move beyond the 
rhetoric to figuring out how you are going to pay to keep our kids on 
our healthcare plan. You are going to figure out how to pay if we are 
going to let folks with preexisting conditions have health care.
  Those don't solve themselves, and you don't have a plan. We are 
entitled, the American people are entitled, to have it.
  The CHAIR. Members are reminded to address their remarks to the 
Chair.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, it is now my honor to yield 1\1/2\ minutes 
to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis), one of the leaders 
of our conference.
  Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, ObamaCare is not working. 
We know this because the average increase for plans in Illinois was 
between 45 and 55 percent this year. As a matter of fact, a good friend 
of mine had an 87 percent increase.
  We know this because millions of Americans who were told they could 
keep their health insurance were kicked off their plans. We know it is 
not working because 31 million people are underinsured, meaning they 
can't afford to use the insurance they have. Deductibles are simply too 
high.
  It is not enough to judge this law simply by the number of people who 
are insured, since it mandates people buy insurance anyway. We must 
remember the people paying premiums that continue to double and then 
have a deductible so high that it will never be reached.
  That is not success. That is a problem for hardworking taxpayers, 
many of whom don't qualify for subsidies but were forced off their 
previous plans because they didn't meet the standards set by ObamaCare 
and now can't afford the plan they are mandated to buy.
  We know it is not working because people in a third of our counties 
in the U.S. only have one insurance provider to choose from. ObamaCare 
is collapsing on itself.
  Some say: Why not work to fix it? I did. We did. We passed my Hire 
More Heroes Act. It helps small businesses, helps our heroes. But we 
have to begin today to fix the bill itself.
  To know why this process is needed, let's remember how we got here. 
This bill was rushed through Congress. It then had 20,000 pages of 
regulations just for that one bill.
  But taking this first step to repeal it should not be mistaken for 
supporting the status quo before the ACA was put in place. We have a 
plan. We are going to cover preexisting conditions. Because my wife is 
a cancer survivor, we have to do that.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind my colleague that his vote 
today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 850,000 people 
from his State of Illinois losing their healthcare coverage, 114,000 
workers losing their jobs, and an economic loss of $66 billion in gross 
State product over 5 years for Illinois.
  I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Neal), the distinguished ranking member of the Ways and Means 
Committee.
  Mr. NEAL. Mr. Chairman, I want to tell you that the last speaker said 
this was rushed through Congress. It took 2 years to write this 
legislation. Even by congressional standards, this was not rushed 
through Congress.
  We have waited 7 years to hear the alternative, and the gentlewoman 
from Tennessee has all of these plans over there, and she says: we have 
got plans right here. How about one plan that we might have a chance to 
focus on?
  They have had the luxury of saying: we are going to do a better job 
without telling us what the better job entails.
  The Governor of Massachusetts recently wrote to our delegation and to 
the leadership in the House and said: During the ACA repeal-replace 
deliberations, it is important that coverage gains, patient protections 
and market stability be maintained.
  Let me give you some numbers from Massachusetts. 97.2 percent of the 
residents of Massachusetts have health care. 100 percent of the 
children in Massachusetts now have health care.
  This is an effort at rhetoric. We want to hear what the plan is. We 
want to understand what the alternative is. We want to know precisely 
what is going to be included and, just as importantly, what will be 
excluded from the benefits that this Affordable Care Act has given to 
the American people.
  Twenty-two million Americans now have healthcare insurance who didn't 
have it. Nine percent of the American people are without adequate 
health care. We should be fixing that.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. YARMUTH. I yield the gentleman an additional 15 seconds.
  Mr. NEAL. I have heard this, in the 29 years I have been in Congress, 
time and again. Till an honorable effort is put forward, you know what 
the Republicans should be saying to us right now? Let's get on, 
together, with making it all work, instead of saying repeal and 
replace. How empty is that rhetoric?
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, it is my distinct honor to yield 1 minute 
to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan), who was the chair of our 
Budget Committee, our Ways and Means Committee, and now he is the 
Speaker of the House.
  Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. My colleagues, I rise to urge our colleagues 
in the House to support this resolution, and let me tell you why.
  This provides Congress with the legislative tools that we need to 
repeal and replace ObamaCare. This is a critical first step toward 
delivering relief to Americans who are struggling under this law.
  In the weeks ahead, several steps will be taken to provide relief. 
Some steps will be taken by this body. Some steps will be taken by the 
new administration, including, after he is confirmed as HHS Secretary, 
our own colleague from Georgia (Mr. Price).

[[Page H501]]

  Our goal is a truly patient-centered system, which means more options 
to choose from, lower costs, and greater control over your coverage. 
And as we work to get there, we will make sure that there is a stable 
transition period so that people don't have the rug pulled out from 
under them; so that this will be a thoughtful, step-by-step process, 
and we welcome ideas from both sides of the aisle.
  But today, I can't help but think back to, when we were debating this 
law in 2010, what was said at the time. I was a member of the minority 
then. I stood right here and pleaded with the majority not to do this. 
Don't take something so personal like your health care and subject it 
to a Big Government experiment. Don't do something so arrogant and so 
contrary to our founding principles.
  But they pushed it all the way through, making all kinds of promises. 
People were promised that their premiums would go down, but, instead, 
they are skyrocketing. Look at the new premium increases announced just 
this year: Kansas, 42 percent increase in their premiums; Illinois, 43 
percent; Pennsylvania, 53 percent; Nebraska, 51 percent; Alabama, 58 
percent; Minnesota, 59 percent; Tennessee, 63 percent increase in 
premiums; Oklahoma, 69 percent increase this year in premiums; Arizona, 
116 percent increase in their premiums.
  People were promised: if you like your plan, you can keep it. Well, 
guess what? That was rated the lie of the year that year. People lost 
their plans.
  People were promised all sorts of choices. You will have all these 
great menus of choices to choose from. A third of all the counties in 
America today, you get one choice. Five whole States, one insurer. If 
you have one choice, that is not a choice, that is a monopoly.
  My colleagues, this experiment has failed. This law is collapsing 
while we speak. We have to step in before things get worse. This is 
nothing short of a rescue mission.
  By taking this step today, we are doing what is right. We are 
stepping in and stopping the collapse from doing more harm to the 
working families of America, to bring the kind of relief and bring the 
kind of solutions that we need to really achieve the noble goal here.
  Everyone in America should have access to affordable health care, 
including people with preexisting conditions. This is what we want to 
achieve, but that is not what is happening under ObamaCare. The law is 
collapsing. The insurers are pulling out. People can't afford it. The 
deductibles are so high it doesn't even feel like you have got 
insurance in the first place.
  This is a rescue mission. This is a necessary move, and I urge all of 
our colleagues to do what is right because the time is urgent. On top 
of this, to my colleagues, we need to keep our promise that we made to 
the American people, and this helps us do just that.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind the Speaker that his vote 
today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 211,000 people 
from his State of Wisconsin losing their healthcare coverage, 46,000 
workers losing their jobs, and an economic loss of $25.7 billion in 
gross State product over 5 years in Wisconsin.
  It gives me great pleasure now to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Pelosi), the distinguished Democratic leader and 
architect of the Affordable Care Act.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I am so 
proud of him and his leadership as the ranking member on the Budget 
Committee.
  I am so sorry that the Speaker left the floor because I have some 
very good news for him. Clearly, he does not understand what the 
Affordable Care Act has brought to our country in terms of expanding 
benefits, lowering costs, and expanding the access of many more people 
to the promise of our founders, of life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness, a healthier life, and the freedom to pursue their happiness.
  I understand why the Speaker may want to concentrate on some 
mythology that he presented about the Affordable Care Act, because he 
is not going to focus on what this bill on the floor does today, and 
the Republican budget. It does not create more good-paying jobs, or 
raise wages. It does not invest in infrastructure to rebuild 
our Nation.

  The Republican plan does not invest in the education of our children 
or the lifetime learning of working people. It does not help Americans 
find balance between work and family. It does not reduce the deficit. 
In fact, it increases the deficit. And it does not seek to drain the 
swamp of secret money from our elections.
  Instead, the Republicans are feeding their ideological obsession with 
repealing the ACA and dismantling the health and economic security of 
hardworking families.
  We all know that a budget should be a statement of our values. What 
is important to us as a nation should be reflected in our budget 
proposals. I always say: Show me your values, show me your budget.
  Well, you heard me say some of what this budget does not do. As we 
get further into the next stage of the budget, we will see that what 
their budget does is just broaden, widen the disparity in income in our 
country, give tax breaks to the high end. And part of their tax breaks 
for the high end is to repeal the Affordable Care Act so they can 
eliminate the tax on those who are helping to fund the Affordable Care 
Act.
  So let me just talk about the Affordable Care Act for a while, 
because one of the things that the public should know is that the ACA, 
Medicare, and Medicaid, are now wed. If you mess with the ACA, it 
directly impacts these other important initiatives, Medicare and 
Medicaid.
  The Republicans have never supported Medicare. They opposed it at its 
origin and, over time, continued to oppose it.

                              {time}  1230

  In the nineties, their Speaker, Newt Gingrich, said Medicare should 
wither on the vine. Their Speaker, Paul Ryan, has in his budget 
removing the guarantee of Medicare for our seniors. Remove the 
guarantee. That means you get a voucher and you go shop for Medicare in 
this nonexistent health plan that they put forth.
  Republicans talk about how they are going to repeal and replace. It 
is interesting illustratively, but not realistic in terms of the fact 
that, for 6 years, they have had a chance to propose an alternative. We 
have seen nothing.
  What we have seen is cut and run. They want to cut benefits and run. 
They want to cut savings and run. They want to cut access and run. They 
want to cut Medicare and run. They want to cut Medicaid and run. The 
list goes on and on. They want to cut jobs. We will lose 3 million jobs 
if they have their way with their nonexistent cut-and-run plan on the 
Affordable Care Act.
  Let's talk about the relationship between ACA and Medicare and 
Medicaid. Hospitals will be devastated under the ACA repeal because 
they will be left with uncompensated care.
  One of the challenges to hospitals was that they must care for people 
who come in and don't have the ability to pay. With the Affordable Care 
Act, we now take care of that. That alleviates the cost to corporate 
America or those who are providing health benefits to their workers, 
adding between $1,000 and $3,000 a year per policy because they are 
carrying the uncompensated care cost. The Affordable Care Act 
alleviates that.
  The reality is, as Mr. Neal, our new ranking member on the Ways and 
Means Committee, has said, Medicaid is now a health program that 
crosses the economic spectrum. It is not just for the poor. People 
think of Medicaid as a poor people initiative--no. It enables mothers 
to work their way out of poverty by providing affordable coverage for 
their children--yes.
  It enables people with disabilities to get the care needed to live 
and work in the community, and it provides critical nursing home care 
for middle class elderly who have spent down their savings and have no 
other alternatives. As Mr. Neal says, Grandma is going to be living in 
the guest room or in the attic or in the basement if you cannot have 
nursing home care.
  This is very important to families because we want a budget that 
enables people to have good-paying jobs, increase their paycheck so 
that they can afford their home, address the aspirations of their 
children, and have a dignified retirement. If they have to care for 
their aging parents, they do less for

[[Page H502]]

their children. This assault on Medicaid is an assault on the financial 
stability of families across the board, whatever their age.
  Furthermore, Medicaid is one of best tools to fight addiction. We 
made a big deal about our opioid legislation. Americans who previously 
did not have access to health care and, therefore, self-medicated with 
opioids and other painkillers are able to access diagnosis, treatment, 
and pain management. Medicaid provides real care for the addiction and 
underlying condition to turn for the better for individuals and their 
families and the community. The list goes on and on.
  The jobs issue. In most of your communities, healthcare providers, 
hospitals, et cetera, are the biggest employers. They won't be anymore. 
Millions of jobs will be lost.
  Mr. Pallone, our ranking member on Energy and Commerce, another 
committee of jurisdiction, keeps making that point. Why are you being, 
he says, ideological about this when the practical effect is about the 
economic security of our families? I thank Mr. Pallone for that.
  Mr. Bobby Scott, the ranking member on the Education and the 
Workforce Committee shows what happens to States if you overturn the 
Affordable Care Act. In his own State of Virginia, he can give 
testimony to the increased cost to the State or lack of meeting the 
healthcare needs of constituents.
  The ACA guards and strengthens the health care and economic security 
of every American, no matter where he or she gets health insurance. It 
delivers transformational progress in terms of coverage, quality, and 
cost.
  Much has been said about the fact that more than 20 million people 
now have access to affordable health care. This is a wonderful and 
remarkable thing, but that is only part of the story.
  Every American who has access to health care benefits from this. Most 
Americans receive their health benefits in the workplace. If you do, 
you now cannot be discriminated against because of a preexisting 
medical condition.
  You cannot be discriminated against if you are a woman. No longer is 
being a woman a preexisting medical condition, which means you paid 
more if you are a woman.
  No longer can the insurance companies levy lifetime limits for a 
preexisting condition that you may have or even for the care that you 
are getting on a new basis. The list goes on and on.
  Do you know how many people have a preexisting medical condition? 
There are 100 million families affected by preexisting conditions, such 
as if your child is born prematurely.
  I, myself, have five children. Long ago, insurance companies said to 
me: You are a poor risk because you have had five children. I said: I 
thought that was a sign of my strength. I didn't know that you were 
measuring it as a weakness.
  Any excuse would have done, but not with the Affordable Care Act. It 
stands there as a pillar of economic and health security. It stands 
there as a pillar of economic security like Social Security, Medicare, 
and Medicaid, which, again, the Republicans and Newt Gingrich opposed 
in the 1990s and said would wither on the vine. In his budget, Paul 
Ryan takes away the guarantee. But it is a pillar of economic and 
health security.
  So the proposal today increases the deficit, does not create jobs, 
undermines the health security of the American people, and does not do 
much in any regard to address the challenges I posed in the beginning. 
It is no wonder they want to talk about the Affordable Care Act. They 
have nothing to recommend in their budget resolution.

  The GOP's repeal plan will raise premiums. Mr. Chairman, the rate of 
growth of healthcare costs in our country has been greatly diminished 
by the Affordable Care Act. In the more than 50 years that they have 
been measuring the rate of growth, it has never been slower than now.
  Repeal will create chaos that will echo in the health coverage and 
costs of every American. Chaos is the order of the day for them.
  The American people will not be dragged back to the days when an 
illness or injury meant financial ruin, that you might not get a job 
because someone in your family was ill and was going to raise the cost 
of health care in a company that might hire you, that you could lose 
your home. Most bankruptcies spring because of not being able to pay 
medical bills.
  In short, we will not allow the Republicans to make America sick 
again. I urge a ``no'' vote on this unfortunate resolution.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Faso), one of our newest Members.
  Mr. FASO. Mr. Chairman, I thank the new chairman of the Budget 
Committee for yielding.
  Mr. Chairman, I have listened to the debate and I understand the 
difficulty that both sides have with fixing this system.
  We clearly believe the system needs to be repealed and replaced. 
Moreover, the system needs to be reformed. And there is perhaps no 
better prominent Democrat in this country who has made the case for 
reforming this system. I quote former President Bill Clinton, who said 
just last October:

       So you have got this crazy system where, all of a sudden, 
     25 million more people have health care and then the people 
     who are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind 
     up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in 
     half. It's the craziest thing in the world.

  President Bill Clinton.
  Mr. Chairman, this is just the first step in terms of fixing this 
problem. The taxes, the premium increases, the loss of coverage, the 
small businesses who have been priced out of the market, the 
discouragement of employment in our country because of the costs that 
are imposed on the business sector through the ACA have to be fixed; 
they have to be addressed. Today is just the first step in addressing 
that.
  Later, we will have regulatory changes that come from the Department 
of Health and Human Services. More importantly, we will all have to 
come back here to work out a new plan to fix it.
  Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote for this resolution.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I will remind my colleague that his vote 
today to repeal the Affordable Care Act will result in 939,000 people 
from his State of New York losing their healthcare coverage, 131,000 
workers losing their jobs, and an economic loss of $89.7 billion in 
gross State product over 5 years in New York.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Maxine Waters), the distinguished ranking member of the 
Financial Services Committee.
  Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise to oppose this 
budget, which is designed to repeal--not replace--ObamaCare.
  I am adamant about this because of what I have witnessed all of my 
life. I am going to share with you--and some of you may have never 
heard of these things--that I have watched people die from preventable 
diseases.
  I have watched, over the years, from the time I was a child, where 
people had home remedies. They didn't have any prescription drugs.
  I watched as my great-grandmother was in pain, in tears, because of 
arthritis and rheumatism. We had to rub her down with something called 
liniment.
  I have watched men get up and try to go to work with pneumonia. They 
tried to heal pneumonia with what was known as hot toddies.
  I have watched as children have died. Little children used to walk 
around with little bags around their neck with something in it called 
asfidity that was supposed to protect them from harm. They had 
pneumonia. They had colds. That is all they had. They didn't have a 
doctor. They died from preventable diseases.
  Now we have 20 million more people who are insured under this 
healthcare plan. This is a healthcare plan for all Americans.
  The Republicans will tell you that, yes, they are going to give you 
something better, but they have been saying this for 8 years. They have 
been after what is known as ObamaCare for 8 years. Why don't they have 
a remedy? Why don't they have a plan? Why don't they have anything?
  They didn't have anything when they started to attack ObamaCare, they 
don't have anything today, and they are not going to have anything 
better than the ACA.

[[Page H503]]

  

  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I want to read the names of some of the groups that 
have written to us in support of S. Con. Res. 3. There are more than 35 
names on here, but I am going to read off some that we would recognize 
very quickly:
  The American Center for Law and Justice, Association of Mature 
American Citizens, Citizens Against Government Waste, Concerned Women 
for America, Health Benefits Group, Independent Women's Voice, Medical 
Device Manufacturers Association, National Association of 
Manufacturers, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, 
National Restaurant Association, National Retail Federation, National 
Taxpayers Union, Society for Human Resource Management, and the 
U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

  I just want to extract one paragraph out of the U.S. Chamber's letter 
that they have written:

       The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports S. Con. Res. 3, the 
     concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget 
     for 2016, an initial step toward making critical improvements 
     to the American healthcare system.''

  I think that you can see that not only do our constituents support a 
change, but also these companies around the country.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Virginia (Mr. Scott), the distinguished ranking member of the 
Education and the Workforce Committee.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this 
budget resolution and its intent to compromise the health insurance of 
all Americans.
  Republicans continue to pursue the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, 
root and branch, despite the fact that there is no credible plan to 
deal with the chaos that this repeal will create.
  Thirty million Americans will lose their insurance, the vast majority 
being working families. There is no plan to protect the other Americans 
who have enjoyed improved consumer protections and benefits.
  Although the rates have gone up, they have gone up at half the rate 
that they had been going up before ObamaCare, and most of those in the 
marketplace don't even have to pay those increased prices because of 
increased tax credits.

                              {time}  1245

  When Republicans talk about repeal and replace, the only thing 
guaranteed is the repeal part. Republicans have shown little interest 
in producing an alternative. We have heard lots of complaints, but we 
have not seen a plan that will make things any better.
  Remember, when Medicare was created, most of the Republicans in 
Congress voted ``no.'' Republicans in the House have voted numerous 
times, over 60 times, to repeal some or all of the Affordable Care Act 
without proposing a credible alternative, and now we have some vague 
ideas but no plan to deal with the total chaos that will be created if 
ObamaCare is repealed.
  I urge my colleagues to save the health and economic security of all 
Americans by defeating this resolution.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, what I would like to do now is to read some 
of the broken promises that have occurred through the Affordable Care 
Act.
  Here is one that I think we will all recognize: ``That means that no 
matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the 
American people: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your 
doctor, period.'' Those are remarks by the President at the annual 
conference of the American Medical Association back on June 15, 2009.
  Here is another one: ``I will sign a universal health care bill into 
law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every 
American and cut the cost of a typical family's premium by up to $2,500 
a year.'' This was in a speech on June 23, 2007.
  Here is another: ``You should know that once we have fully 
implemented, you're going to be able to buy insurance through a pool so 
that you can get the same good rates as a group that if you're an 
employee at a big company you can get right now--which means your 
premiums will go down.'' Which we know has absolutely not happened. 
These were remarks that were made by the President at a campaign event 
on July 16, 2012.
  Here is another one, remarks made by the President after a meeting 
with the Senate Democrats on December 15, 2009: ``Whatever ideas exist 
in terms of bending the cost curve and starting to reduce costs for 
families, businesses, and government, those elements are in this 
bill.'' As we know today, those elements have not come to fruition.
  Another: ``So this law means more choice, more competition, lower 
costs for millions of Americans.'' These were remarks by the President 
on the Affordable Care Act and the government shutdown on October 1, 
2013.
  Another: ``In my mind the Affordable Care Act has been a huge 
success, but it's got real problems.'' This came from Jonathan Chait, 
``Five Days That Shaped a Presidency,'' on October 2, 2016.
  The last one that I will read to you: ``I'm willing to look at other 
ideas to bring down costs. . . .'' These were remarks by the President 
in the State of the Union Address on January 25, 2011.
  In 2013, PolitiFact rated this the number one lie of the year. At 
publication, PolitiFact found that there were at least 37 instances 
when President Obama made this vow to the American people. I can say 
that, as we look at these statements that were made, these are not 
statements that have come true.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), the distinguished ranking member of the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, I have listened to every Republican who spoke 
during this budget debate, and I am convinced they will repeal the ACA 
and run. There will never be a replacement because they don't have the 
votes for it. The Republicans are ideologues. They don't believe we 
should regulate insurance companies or help people pay for their 
premiums, so they can never support a replacement plan that would do 
these things.
  The ACA is a market-based plan to deal with the healthcare crisis 
that we faced 8 years ago. More and more people didn't have health 
insurance. Insurance companies wouldn't sell them health insurance if 
they had a preexisting condition like cancer. People were paying more 
and more out of pocket, and the fact of the matter is that we stepped 
in in a practical way, not because we were ideologues, because we were 
looking at the situation practically to help people.
  What did we do? We provided 20 or 30 million people who didn't have 
insurance with insurance. For those who had health insurance through 
their employer, we guaranteed them a good benefit package, and we 
limited their out-of-pocket costs. We looked at this practically 
because we are trying to help the American people. We were not 
ideologues. We didn't care about whether you were on the left or the 
right.
  But what the Republicans are doing today is really a farce. They 
don't care about the average American. They don't care about all these 
people who have insurance now who didn't have it before, about the 
benefits that they are getting, that their out-of-pocket costs have 
been limited. No. They are just ideologues. They want to repeal this. 
They have no intention of ever replacing it, in my opinion, and they 
want to go back to the good old days when the insurance companies 
controlled the market. That is what we are going to have. Repeal and 
run, that is what you are doing.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Price), a distinguished member of the Committee on 
Appropriations.
  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong 
opposition to this sham Republican budget resolution.
  After wringing their hands for the last 8 years about debt and 
deficits, today's resolution makes clear Republicans care about fiscal 
discipline only when it is a Democratic President they are dealing 
with. This budget resolution would add $9.5 trillion to the debt

[[Page H504]]

over the next 10 years. It has only one purpose: to provide for the 
eventual repeal of the Affordable Care Act, but it would ruin our 
fiscal health as well.
  Of course, the ACA was fully paid for by Democrats with new revenue 
and with cost-containment measures. Nonpartisan budget experts say that 
repealing the ACA would actually increase the deficit by $350 billion. 
So the hypocrisy of our Republican colleagues on this issue is simply 
breathtaking, even by Washington standards.
  Of course, repeal of ACA wouldn't just blow a hole in the budget, it 
would: destabilize the insurance market and cause premiums to 
skyrocket; eliminate insurance coverage for 30 million Americans, 
including 4 million children; raise taxes on the middle-class; burden 
local and rural hospitals with more uncompensated care; eliminate 
Medicaid benefits for millions of vulnerable citizens; and abolish 
vital patient protections, including the provision that stopped 
insurance companies from discriminating against those with preexisting 
condition.
  After more than 6 years, moreover, we are still waiting for that 
comprehensive Republican plan to replace the ACA. News flash: they 
don't have one.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I yield the gentleman an additional 15 
seconds.
  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. They simply don't have one. Rather than 
work with Democrats to improve the ACA, Republicans continue to put 
their own political ideology over the health and well-being of the 
Americans we are all pledged to serve.
  I urge all Members to forcefully reject this budget resolution.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Washington (Ms. Jayapal), a distinguished member of the Committee on 
the Budget.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this budget 
resolution. It begins the gutting of the Affordable Care Act, stripping 
health care for millions of working families across the Nation, 
including over three-quarters of a million in my home State of 
Washington.
  Here is the bottom line: This repeal will put into chaos small 
businesses, hospitals, and community health centers. I have one of 
those in Seattle called the International Community Health Services, 
which provides culturally appropriate health services to anyone in 
need. Recently, an elderly woman at ICHS shared her fears about the ACA 
repeal. She and her husband, a heart attack survivor who went through 
bypass surgery, rely on Medicare and Medicaid for affordable health 
services. They have an annual joint income, Mr. Chairman, of $14,000, 
and they would be unable to afford quality care if the ACA repeal 
happens and, let's be clear, with absolutely no better plan to replace 
it.
  Mr. Chairman, the budget resolution is a moral document. It does 
translate our values into commitments, and it should tell the world 
what the United States stands for. Looking at this budget resolution, I 
cannot help but conclude that our moral compass will be broken if we 
pass this resolution. I urge my colleagues to oppose this immoral 
budget resolution.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman 
from New York (Ms. Velazquez), the ranking member of the Committee on 
Small Business.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. I rise in strong opposition to this resolution. Mr. 
Chairman, if Republicans go forward with this plan to dismantle the 
Affordable Care Act, 30 million Americans will lose health insurance. 
In New York State alone, 1.6 million of our neighbors--who gained 
coverage through ACA--will lose their health insurance and will see 
their health insurance taken away, and 2.7 million New Yorkers who have 
enrolled in Medicaid could lose coverage.
  But this is not just about Medicaid, and it is not just about who 
obtained coverage through the exchanges. This is about the young person 
just out of college who can stay on their parents' insurance until they 
turn 26, giving them time to secure employment and coverage on their 
own. It is about patients with preexisting conditions who, until the 
ACA, were blocked from securing quality medical insurance. It is about 
women who have faced gender discrimination in the insurance market. 
These are the people Republicans will harm with their irresponsible 
attack on our healthcare system.
  Now, let me also note this: the Republican slogan, repeal and 
replace, is a sham. What are they going to replace the ACA with? They 
have never, not once, put together a realistic, defensible plan to 
replace the ACA. Their plan should be called repeal and displace 
because it will displace millions of Americans from their health 
coverage. Reject repeal and displace. Vote ``no'' on this bill.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I have no other speakers, and I reserve the 
balance of my time to conclude the debate of the budget resolution 
after the Joint Economic Committee has finished its debate.
  The CHAIR. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Tiberi) and the gentlewoman 
from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney) each will control 15 minutes on 
the subject of economic goals and policies.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.
  Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Chairman, it is a pleasure for me to be here in my 
role as chairman of the Joint Economic Committee. I am also pleased to 
have a couple of our new Members here today.
  I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood), a new 
member of the Joint Economic Committee.
  Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this budget 
resolution as a first step in the process to repeal and replace 
ObamaCare. It is undeniable that ObamaCare has failed. It has broken 
promise after promise to the American people.
  Constituents in my district in central Illinois are watching their 
premiums skyrocket by an average of 15 percent. This chart next to me 
here shows, all across the country in State after State, premiums have 
skyrocketed. Citizens also face deductibles that are so high that they 
try to get by without going to a doctor.

  One constituent from Roseville, Illinois, whose insurance costs have 
gone up 75 percent, stated to me recently: ``This is crazy. Almost half 
of my paycheck goes to insurance. How do they expect us to afford 
this?''
  These burdensome costs stifle families and our small businesses' 
ability to participate in and help grow our economy. We have a mandate 
from the American people to fix this broken system and to rescue 
citizens from escalating healthcare costs.

                              {time}  1300

  The goal is not to pull the rug out from underneath anyone. In fact, 
we are working to provide a stable transition to better, more 
affordable health care. We must have something that is economically 
sustainable and fiscally responsible, something that actually works.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to replace ObamaCare 
with a system grounded in economic reality--a market-driven, consumer-
centered healthcare system that provides Americans with more choices, 
lower costs, and greater flexibility. That is why we are working on a 
replacement system that will expand consumer choice through health care 
focused on their needs; a system that will spur innovation in health 
care; attract new doctors and healthcare providers; and protect 
patients with preexisting conditions.
  Mr. Chairman, we must help Americans gain access to insurance they 
can afford. Passing this legislation is one step towards helping people 
and fulfilling our promise to the American people.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution. We owe it to our 
citizens.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 
such time as I may consume.
  Here we are more than 3 months into fiscal year 2017, debating a 
budget which is not really a budget resolution. Even the majority 
admits it is nothing more than a shell to help them repeal the 
Affordable Care Act. It doesn't contain any way to grow jobs and it 
doesn't contain any new ideas to grow our economy.

[[Page H505]]

  With all of the majority's rhetoric about deficits over the last 
decade or more, this budget explodes the deficit and adds $2 trillion--
as in T--to the national debt, only to set the stage for repeal of 
healthcare assistance to millions of Americans.
  What is more, the Congressional Budget Office has told us that repeal 
of the Affordable Care Act would increase the deficit by $353 billion 
over 10 years. Now, many of my colleagues have noted the devastating 
effect of the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the effect that it 
would have on millions of Americans' health. Thirty million Americans 
would lose insurance, including 4 million children. The cost of 
prescription drugs would go up for our seniors. Young people would lose 
the coverage on their parents' health care. Women wouldn't be 
protected, and men with preexisting conditions. Pregnancy would no 
longer be covered.
  The Affordable Care Act has made critical progress for Americans. 
Millions have gained health care that they never had before. Our 
uninsured rate is now at 8.9 percent. It is the lowest rate in the 
history of our great country. It is nearly halved from before the 
Affordable Care Act took place, as you can see from this chart. This is 
something we should be proud of. We have allowed more and more and more 
Americans to have health care when they need it. It is literally a 
life-and-death situation to millions of Americans.
  This reckless repeal of the Affordable Care Act will also cause 
economic havoc. It not only hurts people; it hurts our economy. Now, 
just last month, our economy added 144,000 private sector jobs--the 
75th straight month of job growth in the United States of America. That 
is something we can all be proud of. That is the longest stretch of job 
creation since 1939 in our Nation's history.
  That is in stark contrast to the way things were at the time that the 
last Presidential transition took place. When Barack Obama took the 
oath of office, our economy was shedding a staggering amount of jobs. 
In December of 2008, the economy lost 695,000 jobs. The next month, 
another 598,000 jobs gone. We were losing, over a period of time, 
roughly 700,000 jobs a month. The banks were teetering, lending had 
halted, the auto industry was exploding, our Nation was in economic 
turmoil. The combination of a bursting asset bubble and bank panic 
brought this country to the edge of collapse. It was the worst 
financial crisis in global history, according to the head of the 
Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke--in global history.
  Today we have a very different story. Thank you, President Obama. Our 
unemployment rate, which had soared up to 10 percent, is now at 4.7 
percent. That is a great achievement. In 2016 alone, our country added 
2.2 million jobs, bringing the total to over 15 million new jobs 
created over the last 7 years. Instead of shedding jobs and losing jobs 
under the prior administration, we were gaining.
  Just look at this chart. We moved from the deep red valley of 
political devastation, economic loss of jobs and suffering, to moving 
out of our economic troubles to a continued growth of blue job 
creation. In the job creation and in our economy, we also expanded 
health care to help our people. Just look at this chart. It tells the 
story--the deep red valley of economic devastation caused by the last 
Republican administration and the steady job growth under President 
Obama.
  We are now seeing stronger job growth after years of stagnation. Over 
the past year, average hourly earnings rose to 2.9 percent; another 
great success. But now we are considering a heartless and, I would say, 
reckless plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act; a move that threatens 
to undo our progress and will turn millions of lives absolutely upside 
down across this great Nation.
  A report issued this month by The Commonwealth Fund outlined the 
disastrous economic consequences of the majority's plan. In just the 
first year of repeal, our economy will lose nearly 2.6 million jobs and 
over $255 billion in economic output. Over the course of 5 years, our 
economy will lose over $1.5 trillion in output.
  These devastating job losses are not limited to the healthcare 
industry. As was pointed out by many Democratic speakers, our whole 
industry is intertwined. You can't cut the Affordable Care Act without 
also impacting not only people, but also the delivery of services 
through our hospitals, and also Medicaid and Medicare. It is all 
intertwined. It is reckless to move forward and say: Oh, we are going 
to come up with a good plan.
  Well, where is it?
  You have had years to come up with it. We have never seen it.
  We will lose not just two-thirds, over 1.6 million, of jobs just in 
health care, but also in related industries--construction, retail, and 
other sectors. What is more, this repeal plan would also place massive 
financial burdens on our State budgets.
  The Commonwealth Fund report estimates that in just the first year, 
States would lose out on $8.2 billion in tax revenue. Over 5 years, our 
States would lose over $48 billion in tax revenue. That means hits to 
our schools, our roads, our first responders, and our neighborhoods.
  Of course, repealing the Affordable Care Act will hurt the millions 
of people who have directly benefited from it. People have come up to 
me and told me on the street: I finally have health care; I have health 
care for my children; I know if they get hurt, they are going to be 
taken care of.
  People in my home State of New York will be hit very hard. Over 2.7 
million New Yorkers have healthcare coverage today that they did not 
have before because of the Affordable Care Act. Now their health care 
is on the line, for they are among the 30 million who would lose health 
coverage under the majority's repeal plan.
  This not only hurts people, it cost economic development--a loss of 
$89.7 billion in gross State product for my State of New York alone.
  This is the way it is all across the country. Americans of every 
political stripe, who work hard and play by the rules and think they 
finally have health care, who have at long last gained it, are now 
worried about what is going to happen to them tomorrow. They deserve 
better. They deserve what they already have. They, at least, deserve a 
plan.
  We should not repeal. We shouldn't repeal it in the first place. But 
if you are going to repeal it, let's be responsible about it and have 
what it is you are going to put back in place to help people. It is 
reckless to repeal it.
  In the most advanced, most economically prosperous country in the 
history of the world, our people deserve the certainty that they can 
have access to health care for themselves and their families. With all 
that is at stake--health care for millions, the loss of 2.6 million 
jobs, economic havoc--it is simply irresponsible to move forward with a 
budget, and reckless to repeal the Affordable Care Act without any real 
solution to help people.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote against this 
budget resolution, which is nothing more than a plan to take health 
care away from Americans.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Chairman, it is a pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Francis Rooney), a new Member of this 
Congress, and a new member of the Joint Economic Committee.
  Mr. FRANCIS ROONEY of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise to speak about 
and oppose the travesty known as ObamaCare.
  The need to replace this program was obvious on day one. It is a 
failed socioeconomic experiment perpetrated by people who don't believe 
in individual choice and don't understand free market competition. In 
fact, we can see less than half of the folks that were supposed to sign 
up have done it because it is a bad deal for them. Nothing promised 
under this medical health insurance program has proved true. Care costs 
have gone up, premiums and deductibles have skyrocketed.
  We have another chart here, if I might, that shows a projected 25-
plus percent increase in premiums in 2017. My State of Florida is 19 
percent. Coverage has been circumscribed and reduced. This business 
about keeping your doctor has proven to be another falsehood. You can't 
afford to keep your doctor. You can't afford to keep your insurance.
  The entire program was flawed from the beginning. It is a top-down, 
government-run boondoggle. All it has done is

[[Page H506]]

create monopolies for a bunch of insurance companies. I have heard 
heart-wrenching personal stories from so many families in southwest 
Florida who have suffered severe financial burdens and have had reduced 
and dropped coverage because of ObamaCare.
  Paying more for less is bad policy. It is bad economics. It is a raw 
deal for Americans. Now we have the opportunity to do three things to 
turn the page and put this disaster of ObamaCare behind us. We have the 
opportunity today to enact the resolution, which will lead to repealing 
ObamaCare. We have the opportunity to have Dr. Price take the helm of 
Health and Human Services and begin a substantial administrative 
overhaul. And we have the opportunity to put in the replacement plan 
that has been talked about, described in A Better Way for America, 
which provides a seamless transition into a new form of health care, 
leaves no one without coverage, and assures the continual coverage of 
preexisting conditions. But it will offer consumer choice the American 
way. It will make coverage affordable and competitive.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Chairman, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 
seconds.
  Mr. FRANCIS ROONEY of Florida. It will stimulate competition for 
insurance coverage across State lines for moving an archaic and 
artificial barrier, which shouldn't be there in the first place. 
Lastly, it will encourage innovation in the delivery of health care in 
advances in treatment.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Chairman, first, I would 
like to apologize to two dedicated members of the committee on which we 
serve: Mr. Beyer and Mr. Delaney, who have been sitting here, waiting 
for a long time. But Mr. Nadler tells me he has an absolute pressing 
emergency and must go first.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Nadler).
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, repeal of the Affordable Care Act will be a 
disaster for the American public. It will send America back to the days 
when people went bankrupt trying to pay medical bills, and seniors on 
Medicare spent $3,000 on prescription drugs alone.
  Adding insult to a very serious injury, the bill before us would 
defund Planned Parenthood because of debunked accusations. Republicans 
are asking us to pass legislation that will punish an invaluable 
organization without any evidence of due process because they don't 
agree with it. This bill smacks of an unconstitutional bill of 
attainder.
  If we do pass this bill, we will leave millions of women with no 
access to health care. Republicans know that community health centers 
and Medicaid networks do not include enough providers, particularly OB/
GYNs, to take on all of Planned Parenthood's patients.

                              {time}  1315

  By voting to defund Planned Parenthood today, we will be leaving 2.7 
million women and men with no access to reproductive health care.
  What a statement for the Republicans to make as their first major 
piece of legislation. They are saying to the American people, and to 
women in particular: Republicans don't care about your health or about 
your families. Republicans just care about politics.
  Well, my Democratic colleagues and I care about the health of the 
American people, about American jobs and about American women. That is 
why we will vote against this absurd budget resolution; that, and the 
ACA repeal.
  I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill.
  Mr. Chair, this budget resolution is primarily a vehicle to repeal 
the Affordable Care Act and to defund Planned Parenthood, steps the 
Republicans are taking without putting any plans in place to ensure 
that millions of men, women, and children will continue to have access 
to health care they need. They are proposing to let Americans get sick, 
even die, to score cheap political points.
  Repeal of the Affordable Care Act will be a disaster for the American 
public. In New York State alone, it will result in 2.7 million people 
losing health insurance and will create a $3 billion hole in the state 
budget. It will also result in the loss of thousands of health care 
jobs across the state. Republicans will send America back to the days 
when people went bankrupt trying to pay medical bills. It will mean 
that people with private insurance--from their employers or the 
individual market--will have their insurance cancelled for pre-existing 
conditions. It will mean that people once again will be subject to 
annual or lifetime limits--in other words, if you get an expensive 
illness, a heart attack or cancer, your insurance will run out just 
when you need it the most. And people on Medicare will have to pay an 
average of $3,000 a year for prescription drugs.
  Adding insult to very serious injury, this bill would defund Planned 
Parenthood because of debunked accusations. If members have real 
evidence that Planned Parenthood broke the law, they should send it to 
federal law enforcement agencies. Instead, they are asking us to pass 
legislation that will punish an invaluable organization without any 
evidence or due process because they don't agree with them. My 
colleagues who love to cloak themselves in the Constitution should know 
Congress is not the law enforcement body this bill asks us to be--it 
smacks of a clearly unconstitutional bill of attainder.
  If we do pass this bill, we will leave millions of women with no 
access to health care. Republicans may claim that women can go 
elsewhere for the services provided by Planned Parenthood--they've even 
gone so far as to provide additional funding for Community Health 
Centers to fill the gaps they clearly know this bill will leave behind. 
But did they check to see if the existing Community Health Centers or 
Medicaid networks can fill these gaps? Did they ask HHS to confirm that 
Community Health Centers even employ enough OB/GYNs and other 
specialists to actually take on the patients currently treated by 
Planned Parenthood? Of course not.
  Republicans know HHS would never be able to make that determination. 
More than half of Planned Parenthood patients rely on Medicaid. Most 
states do not have enough Medicaid providers, particularly specialists 
like OB/GYNs, to absorb Planned Parenthood's patients. By voting to 
defund Planned Parenthood today, you are leaving 2.7 million women, 
men, and families with no access to health care.
  Republicans are leaving women to suffer with no access to prenatal 
care, condemning seniors to undiagnosed cancers, and leaving children 
to suffer with asthma and other chronic illnesses all to make a 
political statement.
  And what a statement for Republicans to make as their first major 
piece of legislation. They are saying to the American people, and women 
in particular: Republicans don't care about your health. Republicans 
don't care about your families. Republicans just care about politics.
  Well, my Democratic colleagues and I care about the health of the 
American people. We care about American jobs. We care about American 
women. That's why we will vote against this absurd budget resolution. I 
urge my Republican colleagues to join us.
  Mr. TIBERI. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from the great State of Virginia (Mr. Beyer.)
  Mr. BEYER. Mr. Chair, I rise with my Joint Economic Committee 
Democratic colleagues to address the terrible effects that the 
Republican budget will have on this country's health.
  I listened with rapt astonishment to Speaker Ryan's recitation of the 
percentage increases in the premium costs for insurance, for insurers 
on the Obama exchanges. But the Speaker omitted important facts.
  Number one, more than 80 percent of ObamaCare customers get subsidies 
to help them pay the cost of these premiums. They do not pay the full 
cost and will not feel the brunt of these increases.
  Number two, these increases are uneven. Yes, Arizona is up, but Rhode 
Island will decrease 14 percent. The Speaker cherry-picked the highest 
ones, omitting the overall increase.
  But most importantly, number three, most people are unaffected 
because most people get their insurance through their employer, 
Medicare, Medicaid, or the VA. Only a small fraction of Americans 
actually buy insurance on the individual market. Premiums, for the 
average single person through the employer market last year, were 
exactly the same as those for families; only up 3 percent.
  As an employer myself who offers health insurance to more than 300 
people, and someone who is very concerned about the debt, my great 
concern is that the Republicans seem willing to throw out our total 
commitment to managing our debt for this repeal.

[[Page H507]]

  I have listened to my friends in the Freedom Caucus lament about our 
national debt and together we have made significant progress on the 
budget deficits.
  But blowing up ObamaCare will blow up our national debt, the most 
fiscally irresponsible act since we waged two wars without paying for 
them.
  A study by the Commonwealth Fund projects that repealing ObamaCare 
will cause the State of Virginia to lose up to 100,000 jobs and $50 
billion in business output.
  I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this most fiscally 
irresponsible plan.
  Mr. TIBERI. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Delaney), another distinguished member of 
the Joint Economic Committee.
  Mr. DELANEY. Mr. Chair, we all know that hard-edged partisan politics 
has not only eroded the confidence that the American people have in our 
government, but it has caused government to function to a very low 
standard.
  In my 4 years that I have been in this Congress, I have never seen a 
better example of that than what we have here today. Because today, we 
are considering a budget that is not only fiscally irresponsible, it 
doubles our deficits across 10 years, increases the national debt by 
$10 trillion, but its sole purpose is to repeal the Affordable Care 
Act.
  The purpose of today's budget is not to amend the Affordable Care Act 
to preserve its strengths and tackle it weaknesses, nor is the purpose 
of today's budget to repeal the Affordable Care Act and put something 
in place that has been well thought through and shared with the 
American public. The purpose of today's bill is to repeal the 
Affordable Care Act in a cold, hard way and let the chips fall where 
they fall. And this is not being done because it is good policy.
  Anyone who is serious about healthcare policy--even people who oppose 
the Affordable Care Act--who has looked at this issue, has concluded, 
by any measure, the Affordable Care Act should not be repealed without 
a replacement. It is being done for political reasons because my 
colleagues, unfortunately, for years, have told their supporters that 
they would repeal this bill at all cost, without having the courage or 
convictions to explain to them the consequences of repeal without 
replacement; nor without the determination to do the work to come up 
with an alternative.
  The Affordable Care Act was passed 8 years ago. It was passed on a 
straight party-line basis, which was unfortunate. It had three 
important goals, which it has achieved: to expand health care in over 
20 million people; to lower the overall cost of health care in this 
country, which is the most important number in our fiscal health; and 
to improve the quality of health care.
  Is it perfect? No. Are we addressing its problems today? No. Are we 
repealing it without any replacement? Yes. By any measure, will that be 
bad for the public health and potentially cause a public health crisis 
in the United States of America? The answer to that is yes.
  I urge my colleagues to reject the budget proposal.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Chair, I urge a strong 
``no'' vote. This budget resolution jeopardizes the very health of our 
citizens and puts our economic recovery at risk. I urge a ``no'' vote.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Chair, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself 
such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chair, there are several perspectives, important perspectives, to 
health care and health insurance: one, value delivered to patients in 
terms of insurance plan options, choice of doctors, access to 
treatment, and, most importantly, health outcomes; two, health 
insurance premiums and healthcare cost sharing; three, budgetary cost 
to the Federal and State governments; four, supply of healthcare 
services, including by doctors and hospitals and through medications; 
and fifth, indirect costs to the economy, such as reduced job creation 
and labor force participation.
  The Affordable Care Act fails on all five counts, and that is why we 
are here today, to start the process of repealing and replacing it. The 
program is dysfunctional, and its costs have become and will become 
more unsustainable.
  Supposedly, the central objective for passing the ACA was to insure 
those who did not have coverage. I was there.
  Yet, the increased government sprawl shown in this chart in health 
care is striking.

  The Joint Economic Committee chart from the time of the law's passage 
illustrates the law's mind-numbing complexity. Unsurprising to anyone 
skeptical of bureaucratic solutions, the Obama healthcare system has 
not worked.
  Instead of empowering innovators, doctors, patients, ObamaCare has 
implemented a complex scheme that relies on unelected bureaucrats. And 
this chart demonstrates that clearly.
  Mr. Chair, ObamaCare means fewer choices. In fact, Kimberly, a 
constituent in my district, recently told me that she had a brain 
tumor. She said:

       Virtually no doctors take the marketplace insurance, so I 
     am left to change doctors who I have seen for 30 years and 
     switch to new doctors who I don't trust and cannot provide 
     the same healthcare benefits that I have received in the 
     past.

  Traumatic for her.
  Remarkably, the enrollment failure is happening, despite penalties on 
individuals failing to obtain coverage and on employers failing to 
provide it.
  Even with billions of dollars in subsidies, in my opinion, this 
illustrates that many would likely prefer to trade their subsidies for 
more flexibility, the choice of their own doctors, and useful 
alternatives.
  ObamaCare also means higher premiums. Ohioans, on the individual 
marketplace, have seen increased premiums by 111 percent since passage 
of ObamaCare, and now in my State, the average premium is over $5,000.
  Republicans agree that the system needs reform, but ObamaCare cannot 
be reformed. The argument that parts of the American healthcare 
insurance system were not working previously, and that more people now 
have health insurance, is irrelevant to the decision to repeal 
ObamaCare. Nobody claims that the former system was perfect. I 
certainly don't.
  Certainly, the government can increase coverage with subsidies, 
increase coverage with mandates, but what has it done to the underlying 
health care that is being provided?
  The extent and method by which ObamaCare increases coverage has 
caused huge and unnecessary collateral damage to all others in the 
marketplace, all others with respect to patient choice of their 
doctors, the quality of the care that they are receiving, the supply of 
health care, and, certainly, State and Federal budgets.
  The focus of ObamaCare advocates has been almost exclusively on 
increasing the number of insured by government subsidy and mandate. I 
get that. I understand that, but not on maximizing healthy outcomes. 
Those aren't the same things.
  Health insurance is not an end in itself. Effective treatment to 
healthcare problems is.
  Private investment is so needed to push forward medical discoveries, 
innovation, accelerate drug development, personalize medicine, and 
harness technology to coordinate our health care and help administrate 
it.
  There is a better way. You will hear from the other side of the aisle 
that Republicans have no plan to replace ObamaCare. Here are the plans. 
It is just not true. The goal of the Republican plan is not to go back 
to the way things were before ObamaCare; it is to move forward.
  We want to facilitate a well-functioning market in health care, and 
health insurance as well. In the United States, we let the marketplace 
work things out. Republicans want to fix those obstacles and make it 
better.
  Among the features of the Better Way is: portability, patient-
centered care, insurance across State lines, medical liability reform, 
new mechanisms for small businesses and individuals to power together 
to negotiate, flexibility for our Governors, a patient-centered, 
patient-focused program.
  The government has a role and a responsibility to provide support for 
those who can't afford it, for those who fall through the cracks. A 
refundable tax credit is part of our plan, addressing preexisting 
conditions is part of our plan, and keeping dependents up to 26 on 
their parents' plan is part of our plan.

[[Page H508]]

  But the deeper points to recognize are: One, there is no reason why a 
free market could not offer insurance to individuals that provides 
continuous coverage throughout their lives. There is no reason that 
helping the poor should not limit the choices and flexibilities of 
everyone else, which ObamaCare has done, much less interfere with the 
larger economy.
  Moreover, the law has had an impact on employment. I see it every 
week. Economics Professor Casey Mulligan of the University of Chicago 
estimated that the ACA taxes will affect nearly half of the working 
population in America, reducing average wages, hours worked, and GDP.
  And based upon CBO estimates, the overall impact of the ACA on the 
supply of labor will become progressively worse as time passes.
  ObamaCare took certain problems in healthcare insurance--a large 
number of uninsured, lack of individual coverage for preexisting 
conditions, higher premiums for individuals--and used them as an excuse 
to create socialized medicine.
  The repeal of ObamaCare will take us off that path and replacement 
will offer shortcomings to other problems.
  Going forward, Republicans stand ready to provide support away from 
ObamaCare through a transition. And getting an improved healthcare 
system in place improves consumer choice.
  I understand the anxiety that many are feeling right now listening to 
the Democrats tell them that health care is going to be yanked out from 
under them.
  When I was a kid, my dad, a steel worker, lost his job. We lost our 
health care. We lost our insurance. I know what that anxiety is like. 
And I want to assure everyone today, that is not what we are doing here 
today.
  I know what we are doing here today. We are empowering patients. We 
are empowering doctors, not bureaucrats. We are giving them more 
choices, more opportunities, and a better healthcare system.
  Mr. Chair, I ask that we support this resolution.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIR. All time for the Joint Economic Committee has expired.
  The gentlewoman from Tennessee has 6 minutes remaining. The gentleman 
from Kentucky has 2 minutes remaining.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Tennessee.
  Mrs. BLACK. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. YARMUTH. I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. Chairman, everybody in this room wants the same thing. We want 
the best quality of care available to the most people at the lowest 
price. That is what every American wants. That is what Republicans and 
Democrats alike want.
  We have put our plan to do that on the table. We recognize that there 
are ways it could be improved. But the idea that there is a plan 
competing on the other side is just hilarious.

                              {time}  1330

  Last night, I testified at the Rules Committee before Chairman 
Sessions. Chairman Sessions introduced a bill last year. He had one 
cosponsor. That gentleman is no longer in the House, so he has no 
cosponsors as of now. His plan is called the World's Greatest 
Healthcare Act. I like the name, but I don't know how that relates to 
any of those other plans. I know that probably some of the elements are 
similar.
  This is the problem with the exercise we are going through. We are 
heading down a road with no final determination or destination. We are 
going to repeal the Affordable Care Act, eliminating all the 
protections that we have provided for 300 million Americans--expanded 
coverage, expanded guarantees, benefits, and quality--and we don't know 
what the alternative is.
  Waiving around a bunch of papers does not mean there is a plan. It 
does not mean that the Republicans can say to the American public: 
``Here is what your health care is going to look like when we get 
finished with our repeal and replace.'' They just can't do that.
  That is why only 18 percent of the American people, according to a 
Kaiser survey, want this course of action, want a repeal without a 
replacement.
  All I have to say is, if we go down this path, we won't have repeal 
and replace. What we will have is repeal and repent because we are 
going to owe a huge apology to the American people for the damage that 
we have caused.
  I urge my colleagues to reject this resolution.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, after all the debate that we have had 
today, these facts remain: ObamaCare is failing; health coverage is 
becoming less affordable; health care is becoming less accessible; and 
the American people want and deserve something better than this broken 
status quo.
  While my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are doing their 
best to defend this law and make excuses for the harm it is causing, 
Republicans promised the American people we will not ignore those in 
our country who are suffering under the current healthcare system.
  Today, we have an opportunity to begin to bring relief to the 
American people. Today's vote will kick-start the reconciliation 
process through which we can and must repeal ObamaCare and pave the way 
to a patient-centered healthcare system, and I include in the Record 
letters supporting passage of S. Con. Res. 3.

                                        Chamber of Commerce of the


                                     United States of America,

                                 Washington, DC, January 13, 2017.
       To the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives: The 
     U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports S. Con. Res. 3, the 
     concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget 
     for fiscal year 2017, as an initial step toward making 
     critical improvements to the American health care system.
       Congress must repeal the ``Cadillac'' tax, the health 
     insurance tax, the medical device tax, the employer 
     responsibility penalties, and other harmful taxes of the 
     Affordable Care Act that have increased health care costs for 
     millions of Americans. As committees begin consideration of 
     reconciliation legislation, the Chamber will continue to 
     advocate strongly for those and other issues.
       Furthermore, this proposal provides for modifications to 
     enacted FY 2017 discretionary spending levels to bring them 
     into alignment with the Appropriations Committee's existing 
     allocation as part of the deeming resolution required by the 
     Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. These levels are consistent 
     with the statutory limits established by the Budget Control 
     Act and amended by the Bipartisan Budget Act. This 
     legislation would also make changes to mandatory spending to 
     reflect $2 billion in mandatory savings--the same amount 
     established in the reconciliation instructions.
       The FY 2017 Appropriations bills include many Chamber 
     policy priorities. The Chamber strongly supports completing 
     work on those bills and hopes that passage of this budget 
     resolution will provide the framework for their quick 
     consideration, including beginning the important work on 
     fiscal year 2018 bills.
           Sincerely,
     Jack Howard.
                                  ____



                                   National Retail Federation,

                                                 January 11, 2017.
     Hon. Paul Ryan,
     Speaker, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
     Democratic Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Speaker Ryan and Democratic Leader Pelosi: I write to 
     share the support of the National Retail Federation (NRF) for 
     S. Con. Res. 3, the fiscal year 2017 budget resolution. 
     Please note that NRF may consider votes on S. Con. Res. 3 and 
     related procedural motions as Opportunity Index Votes for our 
     annual voting scorecard.
       The Affordable Care Act (ACA) remains a great concern for 
     NRF and the greater retail community. The ACA adversely 
     influences staffing patterns, discourages full-time 
     employment and adds to the cost of goods in retail stores. 
     NRF opposed enactment of the ACA in 2010 but has also worked 
     steadfastly to change the law since its enactment. We have 
     supported reasonable bipartisan efforts to reduce the ACA's 
     cost burdens and ease compliance concerns. The ACA remains a 
     heavy burden for the retail community despite all of our 
     efforts to fix and adjust to the law.
       This budget resolution is the first step toward the 
     eventual repeal of the ACA. We support this first step but 
     will be closely watching the ensuing reconciliation 
     legislation to help keep employment-based coverage as stable 
     and predictable as possible. We strongly urge that the 
     process of replacing the ACA be both bipartisan as well as 
     deliberate. Consensus reform will build on the employment 
     based system, which covers 178 million Americans, but not 
     threaten this coverage in the effort to help others.
       For all of these reasons, NRF supports S. Con. Res. 3 and 
     ask for your vote in support.
           Sincerely,
                                                     David French,
                      Senior Vice President, Government Relations.

[[Page H509]]

     
                                  ____
                                           National Association of


                                      Wholesaler-Distributors,

                                 Washington, DC, January 12, 2017.
     Hon. Paul Ryan,
     Speaker, House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
     Democratic Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Speaker Ryan and Leader Pelosi: I write on behalf of 
     the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) to 
     express support for S. Con. Res. 3, the Fiscal Year 2017 
     Budget Resolution. Passage of the budget resolution will 
     provide an important first step toward the repeal and 
     replacement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
       It has become painfully apparent that the ACA has not and 
     will not achieve the affordability, competition and choice 
     goals promised by its sponsors. Looking forward, NAW members 
     are deeply concerned about the ACA's potential to do harm to 
     the employment-based health insurance system through which 
     some 170 million Americans acquire their health coverage, 
     particularly as two ill-advised ACA financing components--the 
     excise tax on high-cost health plans (the ``Cadillac Tax'') 
     and the annual fee on health insurance providers (the 
     ``Health Insurance Tax'' or ``HIT'')--take hold.
       NAW looks forward to working with Members of both houses of 
     Congress on both sides of the aisle in what we hope will be a 
     collaborative effort to find common legislative ground on 
     marketplace-driven, patient-centered ways to achieve shared 
     access, cost-containment, and quality goals.
       I advise that votes taken on and in relation to S. Con. 
     Res. 3 may be considered key votes for the 115th Congress.
           Sincerely,
                                           James A. Anderson, Jr.,
     Vice President-Government Relations.
                                  ____

                                           National Association of


                                                Manufacturers,

                                 Washington, DC, January 12, 2017.
       Dear Representatives: The National Association of 
     Manufacturers (NAM), the largest manufacturing association in 
     the United States, representing manufacturers in every 
     industrial sector and in all 50 states, urges you to support 
     S. Con. Res. 3 the Obamacare Repeal Resolution.
       The Budget Resolution takes the first step towards 
     repealing the mandates and taxes resulting from the Patient 
     Protection and Affordable Care Act that are driving up the 
     costs of healthcare for manufacturers. Manufacturers believe 
     that repeal of the 40 percent excise tax on high cost plans, 
     the Health Insurance Tax, the Medical Device Tax, and other 
     fees and taxes associated with the Affordable Care Act will 
     help employers contain rising health care costs.
       Manufacturers historically have led the business community 
     in providing health benefits to their employees and are 
     committed to continuing this tradition in the future. At the 
     same time, providing health coverage in an environment where 
     costs are consistently rising represents a major challenge 
     for the industry.
       The NAM's Key Vote Advisory Committee has indicated that 
     votes on S. Con. Res. 3, including podural motions, may be 
     considered for designation as Key Manufacturing Votes in the 
     115th Congress.
       Thank you for your consideration.
           Sincerely,

                                                Aric Newhouse,

                                 Senior Vice President, Policy and
     Government Relations.
                                  ____

                                      Council for Citizens Against


                                             Government Waste,

                                 Washington, DC, January 12, 2017.
     U.S. House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Representative: You will soon have the opportunity to 
     vote on S. Con. Res. 3, a budget resolution that will begin 
     the long-awaited process of repealing the Patient Protection 
     and Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare. On 
     behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of 
     the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I 
     urge you to support this important legislation.
       Obamacare, which has been a disaster for patients and 
     taxpayers since it was passed in 2010, cannot be fixed. 
     Premiums have dramatically increased, co-ops and state 
     exchanges have failed, and medical costs continue to 
     skyrocket. Conservative estimates suggest that, by its sixth 
     birthday in early 2016, Obamacare had wasted $55 billion, 
     while its onerous regulations and taxes have stifled economic 
     growth and job creation.
       Over the past year, more co-ops have collapsed; health 
     insurers have abandoned numerous exchanges; and premiums have 
     increased an average of 25 percent for 2017. Even worse, 
     Obamacare has allowed overzealous Washington bureaucrats to 
     meddle in Americans' most personal and private decisions 
     concerning their health. At the same time, patients are 
     getting less care for their plans due to fewer healthcare 
     options and increasing medical costs; some counties have only 
     one or even no healthcare insurance options (and have to pay 
     a fine, as a result).
       Obamacare must be repealed before it further damages 
     consumers and the slow-growing economy. Passage of the 
     ``Obamacare repeal resolution'' is the first step to 
     accomplishing that critical objective. All votes on S. Con. 
     Res. 3 will be among those considered for CCAGW's 2017 
     Congressional Ratings.
           Sincerely,
                                                       Tom Schatz,
     President.
                                  ____


                        Americans for Tax Reform

       Congress is expected to soon vote on S. Con. Res. 3, a 
     budget resolution providing for repeal of Obamacare. The 
     ``repeal resolution'' is step one in undoing the legacy of 
     broken promises under the Barack Obama presidency which have 
     led to higher healthcare costs, cancelled plans, lost 
     doctors, and more than $1 trillion in tax increases which hit 
     millions of middle class families.
       All members of the House and Senate should vote ``yes'' on 
     the repeal resolution. The record of Obamacare is one of 
     broken promises and failed policies. Poll after poll has 
     shown the law is unpopular with the American people. 
     Republicans campaigned on repealing Obamacare and this 
     resolution will allow them to fulfill that promise
       Members of the Senate should also vote ``no'' on the 
     numerous amendments expected to be offered during 
     consideration of the repeal resolution. The purpose of this 
     budget resolution is to allow for an expedited process to 
     repeal Obamacare through budget reconciliation. These 
     amendments will slow down the process and are largely an 
     attempt for members to play political games.
       Passing the repeal resolution will allow members of 
     Congress to pass the first of many tax cuts over the next 
     four years by repealing the more than $1 trillion in higher 
     taxes over a decade. Obamacare's tax hikes directly hit 
     middle class families, in violation of President Obama's 
     ``firm pledge'' not to raise any tax on any family earning 
     less than $250,000 per year. Passing the repeal resolution 
     will allow members of Congress the opportunity to pass the 
     first of many tax cuts over the next four years by repealing 
     these taxes.
       The Obamacare law imposed taxes on Health Savings Accounts 
     and Flexible Spending Accounts and imposed an income tax 
     increase on Americans with high medical bills. Obamacare 
     levied a new tax on health insurance, a tax on medical 
     devices, a tax on employer provided care, a steep ``indoor 
     tanning tax'' and even a tax for not buying ``qualifying'' 
     government-mandated insurance.
       Passing the repeal resolution will also allow Congress to 
     undo a long list of wasteful subsidies including the risk 
     corridor and reinsurance programs as well as the Prevention 
     and Public Health slush fund. Each of these programs and 
     agencies have seen billions in taxpayer dollars wasted on 
     partisan activities at a time when the federal government 
     already spends far too much. Support for S. Con. Res. 3 is 
     the first step toward enacting a conservative, patient-
     centered, fiscally responsible healthcare system and 
     eliminating the broken promises, wasteful spending, and 
     higher taxes of the Obama years.

                        Americans for Prosperity

       For years, our lawmakers in Congress have vowed to get rid 
     of Obamacare. Now, they have their best chance yet to make 
     good on their word.
       Barack Obama's signature health-care law has failed to 
     deliver on its promises, and continues to leave Americans 
     with cancelled insurance plans, reduced access to doctors, 
     and premium increases in the double digits--or worse.
       Using a process called budget reconciliation, Obamacare's 
     opponents in our new Senate can repeal large portions of the 
     law with a simple majority, while leaving no possibility of a 
     filibuster by lawmakers who want to keep it. Then, the 
     resolution would just need to be passed in the House of 
     Representatives and signed by President Trump after he takes 
     office.
       We can't let our lawmakers pass up this opportunity to turn 
     back years of terrible policy and free Americans from 
     Obamacare's burdensome mandates and costs.

  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this 
resolution so that we can pursue those solutions that will expand 
access to care, increase the quality and affordability of that care, 
and give the American people, not Washington, the power to choose what 
best fits their individual needs.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Chair, I rise today to express my grave concerns with 
the Republican budget proposal for 2017. The budget before us today is 
a disaster for the American people. Not only does it add $9 trillion to 
the national debt and put our nation on the path to fiscal ruin, it 
begins the process of dismantling the Affordable Care

[[Page H510]]

Act, taking health insurance away from 30 million Americans.
  Our national budget is not just pages of numbers. It is a statement 
of our nation's values. By that measure, this budget is morally 
bankrupt.
  The Affordable Care Act became law in March 2010, yet despite their 
condemnations of the law, Republicans have failed to present any 
comprehensive alternative in the nearly seven years since it was signed 
into law. Not one single proposal. The Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy 
said it best at the Washington Post's Daily 202 interview on November 
29th last year when he suggested our healthcare system should look more 
like the cable industry because of all the choices consumers have in 
that market. He said, ``I always use the analogy, would I want to pick 
a cable company to watch what I want to watch on TV? I love the options 
that I have, I love the ability to switch, I love the different 
packages that I can pick if I like a certain sports team, or I want to 
watch HBO or something else. Why can't we have health care in a manner 
that we can do something to that extent?''
  If Republicans think the American people want the cable industry to 
serve as a model for the health insurance market, our Republican 
colleagues are even more out of touch than I ever imagined.
  After spending years and 65 votes to repeal the ACA, and warning 
Americans about the dire threats of budget deficits and the national 
debt, Republicans have suddenly done an about face. They no longer care 
about the fiscal impact of this budget which adds $9 trillion to the 
national debt over 10 years. Nor do they care about the fiscal impact 
of repealing the Affordable Care Act which is estimated to cost $350 
billion over 10 years according to the Congressional Budget Office.
  The House majority has also set its sights on dismantling our 
nation's premier social insurance program by including in the House 
Rules package the unprecedented requirement that each standing 
committee identify programs that can be moved from mandatory to 
discretionary spending. This is a chilling and thinly veiled move to 
begin dismantling the guarantee of Social Security, Medicare, and 
Medicaid, and tie the future of these essential programs to the 
uncertainty of the annual appropriations process.
  I urge my colleagues to think long and hard about the far-reaching 
consequences of this budget on the well-being of the American people 
and the fiscal health of our nation and vote `No' on final passage.


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  January 13, 2017, on pages H509/H510, the following copy was 
typeset in Ionic font: Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Chair, I rise today 
toexpress my grave concerns with the Republican budget proposal 
for 2017. The budget before us today is a disaster for theAmerican 
people. Not only does it add $9 trillion to the national debt and 
put our nation on the path to fiscal ruin, it beginsthe process of 
dismantling the Affordable Care Act, taking health insurance away 
from 30 million Americans. Our national budgetis not just pages of 
numbers. It is a statement of our nation's values. By that 
measure, this budget is morally bankrupt. TheAffordable Care Act 
became law in March 2010, yet despite their condemnations of the 
law, Republicans have failed to present anycomprehensive 
alternative in the nearly seven years since it was signed into 
law. Not one single proposal. The Majority LeaderKEVIN MCCARTHY 
said it best at the Washington Post's Daily 202 interview on 
November 29th last year when he suggested ourhealthcare system 
should look more like the cable industry because of all the 
choices consumers have in that market. He said,``I always use the 
analogy, would I want to pick a cable company to watch what I want 
to watch on TV? I love the options that Ihave, I love the ability 
to switch, I love the different packages that I can pick if I like 
a certain sports team, or I want towatch HBO or something else. 
Why can't we have health care in a manner that we can do something 
to that extent?'' If Republicansthink the American people want the 
cable industry to serve as a model for the health insurance 
market, our Republican colleaguesare even more out of touch than I 
ever imagined. After spending years and 65 votes to repeal the 
ACA, and warning Americansabout the dire threats of budget 
deficits and the national debt, Republicans have suddenly done an 
about face. They no longercare about the fiscal impact of this 
budget which adds $9 trillion to the national debt over 10 years. 
Nor do they care aboutthe fiscal impact of repealing the 
Affordable Care Act which is estimated to cost $350 billion over 
10 years according to theCongressional Budget Office. The House 
majority has also set its sights on dismantling our nation's 
premier social insuranceprogram by including in the House Rules 
package the unprecedented requirement that each standing committee 
identify programsthat can be moved from mandatory to discretionary 
spending. This is a chilling and thinly veiled move to begin 
dismantling theguarantee of Social Security, Medicare, and 
Medicaid, and tie the future of these essential programs to the 
uncertainty of theannual appropriations process I urge my 
colleagues to think long and hard about the far-reaching 
consequences of this budget onthe wellbeing of the American people 
and the fiscal health of our nation and vote `No' on final 
passage.
  
  The online version has been corrected to show the copy typeset 
in Helvetica font.


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 

  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Chair, this bill is a critical first step in 
our effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act and deliver relief to the 
millions of Americans who continue to be hurt by this failing law.
  The Affordable Care Act has helped some, but it's also inflicted 
tremendous harm to families and small businesses nationwide. And the 
damage grows bigger each passing year.
  Out of pocket cost are skyrocketing--often more than $10,000 a year.
  Choices have disappeared.
  And control over your personal health care decisions--whether it's 
which doctors you can see or which health plan you can have--is gone. 
It doesn't belong to the American people anymore. Instead, Washington 
is now in control of people's personal healthcare decisions.
  It doesn't have to be this way.
  The American people sent a clear signal in November. They are sick of 
this law because it hasn't improved their care, lowered their costs, or 
kept its promises.
  They want the Affordable Care Act repealed and replaced with a 21st 
century system--one based on what patients and families want and need, 
not what Washington thinks is best.
  Today, with this legislation, we have an opportunity to send a clear 
signal of our own:
  Relief is on the way.
  That's what I want to say to all of my constituents in Texas.
  People like Bill in The Woodlands, who just had his health plan 
canceled for the second year in a row.
  People like Lauren in South Montgomery County whose premiums just 
went up to $900 a month.
  Families like the Thomas's in Montgomery, who say they have paid over 
$24,000 this year for the poorest-quality care they have received in 
their adult lives. The Thomas's say it'll be $30,000 before their 
insurance contributes a dime.
  To the people of my district--to Bill, to Lauren, to the Thomas 
family--and to the millions of Americans across the country who are 
suffering because of the Affordable Care Act:
  Relief is on the way.
  We are working to deliver health care solutions that truly lower 
costs, increase choices, and put Americans back in control of their own 
health care decisions.
  That all starts today. It starts by passing this budget legislation 
and taking the crucial first step to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Chair, I rise today to express my grave concerns with 
the Republican budget proposal for 2017.
  The budget before us today is a disaster for the American people. Not 
only does it add $9 trillion to the national debt and put our nation on 
the path to fiscal ruin, it begins the process of dismantling the 
Affordable Care Act, taking health insurance away from 30 million 
Americans.
  Our national budget is not just pages of numbers. It is a statement 
of our nation's values. By that measure, this budget is morally 
bankrupt.
  The Affordable Care Act became law in March 2010, yet despite their 
condemnations of the law, Republicans have failed to present any 
comprehensive alternative in the nearly seven years since it was signed 
into law. Not one single proposal. The Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy 
said it best at the Washington Post's Daily 202 interview on November 
29th last year when he suggested our healthcare system should look more 
like the cable industry because of all the choices consumers have in 
that market. He said:
  ``I always use the analogy, would I want to pick a cable company to 
watch what I want to watch on TV? I love the options that I have, I 
love the ability to switch, I love the different packages that I can 
pick if I like a certain sports team, or I want to watch HBO or 
something else. Why can't we have health care in a manner that we can 
do something to that extent?''
  If Republicans think the American people want the cable industry to 
serve as a model for the health insurance market, our Republican 
colleagues are even more out of touch than I ever imagined.
  After spending years and 65 votes to repeal the ACA, and warning 
Americans about the dire threats of budget deficits and the national 
debt, Republicans have suddenly done an about face. They no longer care 
about the fiscal impact of this budget which adds $9 trillion to the 
national debt over 10 years. Nor do they care about the fiscal impact 
of repealing the Affordable Care Act which is estimated to cost $350 
billion over 10 years according to the Congressional Budget Office.
  The House majority has also set its sights on dismantling our 
nation's premier social insurance program by including in the House 
Rules package the unprecedented requirement that each standing 
committee identify programs that can be moved from mandatory to 
discretionary spending. This is a chilling and thinly veiled move to 
begin dismantling the guarantee of Social Security, Medicare, and 
Medicaid, and tie the future of these essential programs to the 
uncertainty of the annual appropriations process.
  I urge my colleagues to think long and hard about the far-reaching 
consequences of this budget on the well-being of the American people 
and the fiscal health of our nation and vote `No' on final passage.
  The CHAIR. All time for general debate has expired.
  Pursuant to the rule, the concurrent resolution shall be considered 
for amendment under the 5-minute rule and is considered read.
  The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:

                             S. Con. Res. 3

       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring),

     SECTION 1. CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL 
                   YEAR 2017.

       (a) Declaration.--Congress declares that this resolution is 
     the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2017 
     and that this resolution sets forth the appropriate budgetary 
     levels for fiscal years 2018 through 2026.
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this 
     concurrent resolution is as follows:

Sec. 1. Concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2017.

                TITLE I--RECOMMENDED LEVELS AND AMOUNTS

              Subtitle A--Budgetary Levels in Both Houses

Sec. 1101. Recommended levels and amounts.
Sec. 1102. Major functional categories.

              Subtitle B--Levels and Amounts in the Senate

Sec. 1201. Social Security in the Senate.
Sec. 1202. Postal Service discretionary administrative expenses in the 
              Senate.

                        TITLE II--RECONCILIATION

Sec. 2001. Reconciliation in the Senate.
Sec. 2002. Reconciliation in the House of Representatives.

                        TITLE III--RESERVE FUNDS

Sec. 3001. Deficit-neutral reserve fund for health care legislation.

[[Page H511]]

Sec. 3002. Reserve fund for health care legislation.

                        TITLE IV--OTHER MATTERS

Sec. 4001. Enforcement filing.
Sec. 4002. Budgetary treatment of administrative expenses.
Sec. 4003. Application and effect of changes in allocations and 
              aggregates.
Sec. 4004. Exercise of rulemaking powers.

                TITLE I--RECOMMENDED LEVELS AND AMOUNTS

              Subtitle A--Budgetary Levels in Both Houses

     SEC. 1101. RECOMMENDED LEVELS AND AMOUNTS.

       The following budgetary levels are appropriate for each of 
     fiscal years 2017 through 2026:
       (1) Federal revenues.--For purposes of the enforcement of 
     this resolution:
       (A) The recommended levels of Federal revenues are as 
     follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $2,682,088,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $2,787,834,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $2,884,637,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $3,012,645,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $3,131,369,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $3,262,718,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $3,402,888,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $3,556,097,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $3,727,756,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $3,903,628,000,000.
       (B) The amounts by which the aggregate levels of Federal 
     revenues should be changed are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $0.
       Fiscal year 2018: $0.
       Fiscal year 2019: $0.
       Fiscal year 2020: $0.
       Fiscal year 2021: $0.
       Fiscal year 2022: $0.
       Fiscal year 2023: $0.
       Fiscal year 2024: $0.
       Fiscal year 2025: $0.
       Fiscal year 2026: $0.
       (2) New budget authority.--For purposes of the enforcement 
     of this resolution, the appropriate levels of total new 
     budget authority are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $3,308,000,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $3,350,010,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $3,590,479,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $3,779,449,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $3,947,834,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $4,187,893,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $4,336,952,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $4,473,818,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $4,726,484,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $4,961,154,000,000.
       (3) Budget outlays.--For purposes of the enforcement of 
     this resolution, the appropriate levels of total budget 
     outlays are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $3,264,662,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $3,329,394,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $3,558,237,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $3,741,304,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $3,916,533,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $4,159,803,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $4,295,742,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $4,419,330,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $4,673,813,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $4,912,205,000,000.
       (4) Deficits.--For purposes of the enforcement of this 
     resolution, the amounts of the deficits are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $582,574,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $541,560,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $673,600,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $728,659,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $785,164,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $897,085,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $892,854,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $863,233,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $946,057,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $1,008,577,000,000.
       (5) Public debt.--Pursuant to section 301(a)(5) of the 
     Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632(a)(5)), the 
     appropriate levels of the public debt are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $20,034,788,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $20,784,183,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $21,625,729,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $22,504,763,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $23,440,271,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $24,509,421,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $25,605,527,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $26,701,273,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $27,869,175,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $29,126,158,000,000.
       (6) Debt held by the public.--The appropriate levels of 
     debt held by the public are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $14,593,316,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $15,198,740,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $15,955,144,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $16,791,740,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $17,713,599,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $18,787,230,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $19,901,290,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $21,033,163,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $22,301,661,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $23,691,844,000,000.

     SEC. 1102. MAJOR FUNCTIONAL CATEGORIES.

       Congress determines and declares that the appropriate 
     levels of new budget authority and outlays for fiscal years 
     2017 through 2026 for each major functional category are:
       (1) National Defense (050):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $623,910,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $603,716,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $618,347,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $601,646,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $632,742,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $617,943,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $648,198,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $632,435,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $663,703,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $646,853,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $679,968,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $666,926,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $696,578,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $678,139,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $713,664,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $689,531,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $731,228,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $711,423,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $750,069,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $729,616,000,000.
       (2) International Affairs (150):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $61,996,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $51,907,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $60,099,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $53,541,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $61,097,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $55,800,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $60,686,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $57,690,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $61,085,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $58,756,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $62,576,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $60,205,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $64,141,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $61,513,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $65,588,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $62,705,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $67,094,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $63,915,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $68,692,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $65,305,000,000.
       (3) General Science, Space, and Technology (250):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $31,562,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $30,988,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $32,787,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $32,225,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $33,476,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $32,978,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $34,202,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $33,645,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $34,961,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $34,313,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $35,720,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $35,038,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $36,516,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $35,812,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $37,318,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $36,580,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $38,151,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $37,393,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $39,021,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $38,238,000,000.
       (4) Energy (270):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $4,773,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $3,455,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $4,509,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $3,495,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $4,567,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $4,058,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $4,975,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $4,456,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $5,109,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $4,523,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $5,019,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $4,332,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $4,083,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $3,337,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $3,590,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $2,796,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $3,608,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $2,755,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $5,955,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $5,124,000,000.
       (5) Natural Resources and Environment (300):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $41,264,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $42,254,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $43,738,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $44,916,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $44,486,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $45,425,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $46,201,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $46,647,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $47,126,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $47,457,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $48,203,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $48,388,000,000.

[[Page H512]]

       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $49,403,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $49,536,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $50,497,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $50,055,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $51,761,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $51,164,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $53,017,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $51,915,000,000.
       (6) Agriculture (350):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $25,214,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $24,728,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $26,148,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $24,821,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $23,483,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $21,927,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $22,438,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $21,751,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $22,834,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $22,179,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $22,600,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $21,984,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $23,037,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $22,437,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $23,018,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $22,409,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $23,343,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $22,714,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $23,812,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $23,192,000,000.
       (7) Commerce and Housing Credit (370):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $14,696,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $666,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $16,846,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $1,378,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $18,171,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $5,439,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $15,799,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $2,666,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $14,821,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $915,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $15,408,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $674,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $15,739,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$840,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $16,143,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$1,688,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $17,889,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$2,003,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $17,772,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$2,238,000,000.
       (8) Transportation (400):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $92,782,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $91,684,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $94,400,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $93,214,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $96,522,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $95,683,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $91,199,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $97,992,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $92,154,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $99,772,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $93,111,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $101,692,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $94,118,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $103,431,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $95,143,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $105,313,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $96,209,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $107,374,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $97,323,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $109,188,000,000.
       (9) Community and Regional Development (450):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $19,723,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $22,477,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $19,228,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $21,277,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $19,457,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $20,862,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $19,941,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $20,011,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $20,384,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $21,048,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $20,825,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $19,831,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $21,288,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $19,535,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $21,756,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $19,787,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $22,245,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $19,285,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $22,751,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $20,037,000,000.
       (10) Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services 
     (500):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $104,433,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $104,210,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $108,980,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $112,802,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $112,424,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $110,765,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $114,905,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $113,377,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $116,921,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $115,591,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $119,027,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $117,545,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $121,298,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $119,761,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $123,621,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $122,001,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $126,016,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $124,359,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $128,391,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $126,748,000,000.
       (11) Health (550):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $562,137,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $560,191,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $583,006,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $593,197,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $615,940,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $618,089,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $655,892,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $645,814,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $677,902,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $676,781,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $711,176,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $709,301,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $744,335,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $742,568,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $780,899,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $778,293,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $818,388,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $815,246,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $857,176,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $853,880,000,000.
       (12) Medicare (570):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $600,857,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $600,836,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $600,832,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $600,762,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $667,638,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $667,571,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $716,676,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $716,575,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $767,911,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $767,814,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $862,042,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $861,941,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $886,515,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $886,407,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $903,861,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $903,750,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $1,007,624,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $1,007,510,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $1,085,293,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $1,085,173,000,000.
       (13) Income Security (600):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $518,181,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $511,658,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $524,233,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $511,612,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $542,725,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $534,067,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $558,241,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $549,382,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $571,963,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $563,481,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $590,120,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $587,572,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $599,505,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $592,338,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $609,225,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $597,287,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $630,433,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $619,437,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $646,660,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $641,957,000,000.
       (14) Social Security (650):
       Fiscal year 2017:

[[Page H513]]

       (A) New budget authority, $37,199,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $37,227,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $40,124,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $40,141,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $43,373,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $43,373,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $46,627,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $46,627,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $50,035,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $50,035,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $53,677,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $53,677,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $57,540,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $57,540,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $61,645,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $61,645,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $66,076,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $66,076,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $70,376,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $70,376,000,000.
       (15) Veterans Benefits and Services (700):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $177,448,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $182,448,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $178,478,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $179,109,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $193,088,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $192,198,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $199,907,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $198,833,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $206,700,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $205,667,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $223,542,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $222,308,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $221,861,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $220,563,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $219,382,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $218,147,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $237,641,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $236,254,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $245,565,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $244,228,000,000.
       (16) Administration of Justice (750):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $64,519,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $58,662,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $62,423,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $63,800,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $62,600,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $66,596,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $64,168,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $69,555,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $65,134,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $68,538,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $66,776,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $67,691,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $68,489,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $68,466,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $70,227,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $69,976,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $72,023,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $71,615,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $79,932,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $80,205,000,000.
       (17) General Government (800):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $25,545,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $24,318,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $27,095,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $25,884,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $27,620,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $26,584,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $28,312,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $27,576,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $29,046,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $28,366,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $29,787,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $29,149,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $30,519,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $29,886,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $31,101,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $30,494,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $31,942,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $31,248,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $32,789,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $32,071,000,000.
       (18) Net Interest (900):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $393,295,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $393,295,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $453,250,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $453,250,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $526,618,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $526,618,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $590,571,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $590,571,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $645,719,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $645,719,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $698,101,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $698,101,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $755,288,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $755,288,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $806,202,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $806,202,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $854,104,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $854,104,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $903,443,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $903,443,000,000.
       (19) Allowances (920):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, -$3,849,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $7,627,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, -$56,166,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$39,329,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, -$55,423,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$47,614,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, -$58,021,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$52,831,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, -$61,491,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$57,092,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, -$63,493,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$60,260,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, -$65,783,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$62,457,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, -$67,817,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$64,708,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, -$70,127,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$66,892,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, -$69,097,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$68,467,000,000.
       (20) Undistributed Offsetting Receipts (950):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, -$87,685,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$87,685,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, -$88,347,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$88,347,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, -$80,125,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$80,125,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, -$81,468,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$81,468,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, -$84,183,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$84,183,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, -$86,292,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$86,292,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, -$87,518,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$87,518,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, -$91,245,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$91,245,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, -$99,164,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$99,164,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, -$97,786,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$97,786,000,000.

              Subtitle B--Levels and Amounts in the Senate

     SEC. 1201. SOCIAL SECURITY IN THE SENATE.

       (a) Social Security Revenues.--For purposes of Senate 
     enforcement under sections 302 and 311 of the Congressional 
     Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 633 and 642), the amounts of 
     revenues of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 
     Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund are as 
     follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $826,048,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $857,618,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $886,810,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $918,110,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $950,341,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $984,537,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $1,020,652,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $1,058,799,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $1,097,690,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $1,138,243,000,000.
       (b) Social Security Outlays.--For purposes of Senate 
     enforcement under sections 302 and 311 of the Congressional 
     Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 633 and 642), the amounts of 
     outlays of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 
     Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund are as 
     follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $805,366,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $857,840,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $916,764,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $980,634,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $1,049,127,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $1,123,266,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $1,200,734,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $1,281,840,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $1,369,403,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $1,463,057,000,000.
       (c) Social Security Administrative Expenses.--In the 
     Senate, the amounts of new budget authority and budget 
     outlays of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 
     Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund for 
     administrative expenses are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $5,663,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $5,673,000,000.

[[Page H514]]

       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $6,021,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $5,987,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $6,205,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $6,170,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $6,393,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $6,357,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $6,589,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $6,552,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $6,787,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $6,750,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $6,992,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $6,953,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $7,206,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $7,166,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $7,428,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $7,387,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $7,659,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $7,615,000,000.

     SEC. 1202. POSTAL SERVICE DISCRETIONARY ADMINISTRATIVE 
                   EXPENSES IN THE SENATE.

       In the Senate, the amounts of new budget authority and 
     budget outlays of the Postal Service for discretionary 
     administrative expenses are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $274,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $273,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $283,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $283,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $294,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $294,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $304,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $304,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $315,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $315,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $326,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $325,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $337,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $337,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $350,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $349,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $361,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $360,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $374,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $373,000,000.

                        TITLE II--RECONCILIATION

     SEC. 2001. RECONCILIATION IN THE SENATE.

       (a) Committee on Finance.--The Committee on Finance of the 
     Senate shall report changes in laws within its jurisdiction 
     to reduce the deficit by not less than $1,000,000,000 for the 
     period of fiscal years 2017 through 2026.
       (b) Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.--
     The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 
     the Senate shall report changes in laws within its 
     jurisdiction to reduce the deficit by not less than 
     $1,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2017 through 
     2026.
       (c) Submissions.--In the Senate, not later than January 27, 
     2017, the Committees named in subsections (a) and (b) shall 
     submit their recommendations to the Committee on the Budget 
     of the Senate. Upon receiving all such recommendations, the 
     Committee on the Budget of the Senate shall report to the 
     Senate a reconciliation bill carrying out all such 
     recommendations without any substantive revision.

     SEC. 2002. RECONCILIATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

       (a) Committee on Energy and Commerce.--The Committee on 
     Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives shall 
     submit changes in laws within its jurisdiction to reduce the 
     deficit by not less than $1,000,000,000 for the period of 
     fiscal years 2017 through 2026.
       (b) Committee on Ways and Means.--The Committee on Ways and 
     Means of the House of Representatives shall submit changes in 
     laws within its jurisdiction to reduce the deficit by not 
     less than $1,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2017 
     through 2026.
       (c) Submissions.--In the House of Representatives, not 
     later than January 27, 2017, the committees named in 
     subsections (a) and (b) shall submit their recommendations to 
     the Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives 
     to carry out this section.

                        TITLE III--RESERVE FUNDS

     SEC. 3001. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND FOR HEALTH CARE 
                   LEGISLATION.

       The Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the Senate 
     and the Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the House 
     of Representatives may revise the allocations of a committee 
     or committees, aggregates, and other appropriate levels in 
     this resolution, and, in the Senate, make adjustments to the 
     pay-as-you-go ledger, for--
       (1) in the Senate, one or more bills, joint resolutions, 
     amendments, amendments between the Houses, conference 
     reports, or motions related to health care by the amounts 
     provided in such legislation for that purpose, provided that 
     such legislation would not increase the deficit over the 
     period of the total of fiscal years 2017 through 2026; and
       (2) in the House of Representatives, one or more bills, 
     joint resolutions, amendments, or conference reports related 
     to health care by the amounts provided in such legislation 
     for that purpose, provided that such legislation would not 
     increase the deficit over the period of the total of fiscal 
     years 2017 through 2026.

     SEC. 3002. RESERVE FUND FOR HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION.

       (a) In General.--The Chairman of the Committee on the 
     Budget of the Senate and the Chairman of the Committee on the 
     Budget of the House of Representatives may revise the 
     allocations of a committee or committees, aggregates, and 
     other appropriate levels in this resolution, and, in the 
     Senate, make adjustments to the pay-as-you-go ledger, for--
       (1) in the Senate, one or more bills, joint resolutions, 
     amendments, amendments between the Houses, conference 
     reports, or motions related to health care by the amounts 
     necessary to accommodate the budgetary effects of the 
     legislation, provided that the cost of such legislation, when 
     combined with the cost of any other measure with respect to 
     which the Chairman has exercised the authority under this 
     paragraph, does not exceed the difference obtained by 
     subtracting--
       (A) $2,000,000,000; from
       (B) the sum of deficit reduction over the period of the 
     total of fiscal years 2017 through 2026 achieved under any 
     measure or measures with respect to which the Chairman has 
     exercised the authority under section 3001(1); and
       (2) in the House of Representatives, one or more bills, 
     joint resolutions, amendments, or conference reports related 
     to health care by the amounts necessary to accommodate the 
     budgetary effects of the legislation, provided that the cost 
     of such legislation, when combined with the cost of any other 
     measure with respect to which the Chairman has exercised the 
     authority under this paragraph, does not exceed the 
     difference obtained by subtracting--
       (A) $2,000,000,000; from
       (B) the sum of deficit reduction over the period of the 
     total of fiscal years 2017 through 2026 achieved under any 
     measure or measures with respect to which the Chairman has 
     exercised the authority under section 3001(2).
       (b) Exceptions From Certain Provisions.--Section 404(a) of 
     S. Con. Res. 13 (111th Congress), the concurrent resolution 
     on the budget for fiscal year 2010, and section 3101 of S. 
     Con. Res. 11 (114th Congress), the concurrent resolution on 
     the budget for fiscal year 2016, shall not apply to 
     legislation for which the Chairman of the Committee on the 
     Budget of the applicable House has exercised the authority 
     under subsection (a).

                        TITLE IV--OTHER MATTERS

     SEC. 4001. ENFORCEMENT FILING.

       (a) In the Senate.--If this concurrent resolution on the 
     budget is agreed to by the Senate and House of 
     Representatives without the appointment of a committee of 
     conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, the 
     Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the Senate may 
     submit a statement for publication in the Congressional 
     Record containing--
       (1) for the Committee on Appropriations, committee 
     allocations for fiscal year 2017 consistent with the levels 
     in title I for the purpose of enforcing section 302 of the 
     Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 633); and
       (2) for all committees other than the Committee on 
     Appropriations, committee allocations for fiscal years 2017, 
     2017 through 2021, and 2017 through 2026 consistent with the 
     levels in title I for the purpose of enforcing section 302 of 
     the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 633).
       (b) In the House of Representatives.--In the House of 
     Representatives, if a concurrent resolution on the budget for 
     fiscal year 2017 is adopted without the appointment of a 
     committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two 
     Houses with respect to this concurrent resolution on the 
     budget, for the purpose of enforcing the Congressional Budget 
     Act and applicable rules and requirements set forth in the 
     concurrent resolution on the budget, the allocations provided 
     for in this subsection shall apply in the House of 
     Representatives in the same manner as if such allocations 
     were in a joint explanatory statement accompanying a 
     conference report on the budget for fiscal year 2017. The 
     Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the House of 
     Representatives shall submit a statement for publication in 
     the Congressional Record containing--
       (1) for the Committee on Appropriations, committee 
     allocations for fiscal year 2017 consistent with title I for 
     the purpose of enforcing section 302 of the Congressional 
     Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 633); and
       (2) for all committees other than the Committee on 
     Appropriations, committee allocations consistent with title I 
     for fiscal year 2017 and for the period of fiscal years 2017 
     through 2026 for the purpose of enforcing 302 of the 
     Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 633).

     SEC. 4002. BUDGETARY TREATMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding section 302(a)(1) of the 
     Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 633(a)(1)), 
     section 13301 of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 
     632 note), and section 2009a of title 39, United States Code, 
     the report accompanying this concurrent resolution on the 
     budget, the joint explanatory statement accompanying the 
     conference report on any concurrent resolution on the budget, 
     or a statement filed

[[Page H515]]

     under section 4001 shall include in an allocation under 
     section 302(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to the 
     Committee on Appropriations of the applicable House of 
     Congress amounts for the discretionary administrative 
     expenses of the Social Security Administration and the United 
     States Postal Service.
       (b) Special Rule.--In the Senate and the House of 
     Representatives, for purposes of enforcing section 302(f) of 
     the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 633(f)), 
     estimates of the level of total new budget authority and 
     total outlays provided by a measure shall include any 
     discretionary amounts described in subsection (a).

     SEC. 4003. APPLICATION AND EFFECT OF CHANGES IN ALLOCATIONS 
                   AND AGGREGATES.

       (a) Application.--Any adjustments of allocations and 
     aggregates made pursuant to this concurrent resolution 
     shall--
       (1) apply while that measure is under consideration;
       (2) take effect upon the enactment of that measure; and
       (3) be published in the Congressional Record as soon as 
     practicable.
       (b) Effect of Changed Allocations and Aggregates.--Revised 
     allocations and aggregates resulting from these adjustments 
     shall be considered for the purposes of the Congressional 
     Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) as the allocations 
     and aggregates contained in this concurrent resolution.
       (c) Budget Committee Determinations.--For purposes of this 
     concurrent resolution, the levels of new budget authority, 
     outlays, direct spending, new entitlement authority, 
     revenues, deficits, and surpluses for a fiscal year or period 
     of fiscal years shall be determined on the basis of estimates 
     made by the Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the 
     applicable House of Congress.
       (d) Aggregates, Allocations and Application.--In the House 
     of Representatives, for purposes of this concurrent 
     resolution and budget enforcement, the consideration of any 
     bill or joint resolution, or amendment thereto or conference 
     report thereon, for which the Chairman of the Committee on 
     the Budget of the House of Representatives makes adjustments 
     or revisions in the allocations, aggregates, and other 
     budgetary levels of this concurrent resolution shall not be 
     subject to the points of order set forth in clause 10 of rule 
     XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives or section 
     3101 of S. Con. Res. 11 (114th Congress).

     SEC. 4004. EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS.

       Congress adopts the provisions of this title--
       (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate 
     and the House of Representatives, respectively, and as such 
     they shall be considered as part of the rules of each House 
     or of that House to which they specifically apply, and such 
     rules shall supersede other rules only to the extent that 
     they are inconsistent with such other rules; and
       (2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of 
     either the Senate or the House of Representatives to change 
     those rules (insofar as they relate to that House) at any 
     time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as is the 
     case of any other rule of the Senate or House of 
     Representatives.

  The CHAIR. No amendment shall be in order except the amendment 
printed House Report 115-4.
  Such amendment may be offered only by the Member designated in the 
report, shall be considered as read, and shall be debatable for the 
time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the 
proponent and an opponent.


                 Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Yarmuth

  The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 1 printed in 
House Report 115-4.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute.
  The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL 
                   YEAR 2017.

       (a) Declaration.--Congress declares that this resolution is 
     the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2017 
     and that this resolution sets forth the appropriate budgetary 
     levels for fiscal years 2018 through 2026.
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this 
     concurrent resolution is as follows:
       Sec. 1. Concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 
           2017.

                TITLE I--RECOMMENDED LEVELS AND AMOUNTS

              Subtitle A--Budgetary Levels in Both Houses

       Sec. 1101. Recommended levels and amounts.
       Sec. 1102. Major functional categories.

              Subtitle B--Levels and Amounts in the Senate

       Sec. 1201. Social Security in the Senate.
       Sec. 1202. Postal Service discretionary administrative 
           expenses in the Senate.

                         TITLE II--RESERVE FUND

       Sec. 2001. Deficit-neutral reserve fund for job creation, 
           infrastructure investment, and tax reform.

                        TITLE III--OTHER MATTERS

       Sec. 3001. Budgetary treatment of administrative expenses.
       Sec. 3002. Application and effect of changes in allocations 
           and aggregates.
       Sec. 3003. Exercise of rulemaking powers.

                TITLE I--RECOMMENDED LEVELS AND AMOUNTS

              Subtitle A--Budgetary Levels in Both Houses

     SEC. 1101. RECOMMENDED LEVELS AND AMOUNTS.

       The following budgetary levels are appropriate for each of 
     fiscal years 2017 through 2026:
       (1) Federal revenues.--For purposes of the enforcement of 
     this resolution:
       (A) The recommended levels of Federal revenues are as 
     follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $2,682,088,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $2,787,834,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $2,884,637,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $3,012,645,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $3,131,369,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $3,262,718,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $3,402,888,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $3,556,097,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $3,727,756,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $3,903,628,000,000.
       (B) The amounts by which the aggregate levels of Federal 
     revenues should be changed are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $0.
       Fiscal year 2018: $0.
       Fiscal year 2019: $0.
       Fiscal year 2020: $0.
       Fiscal year 2021: $0.
       Fiscal year 2022: $0.
       Fiscal year 2023: $0.
       Fiscal year 2024: $0.
       Fiscal year 2025: $0.
       Fiscal year 2026: $0.
       (2) New budget authority.--For purposes of the enforcement 
     of this resolution, the appropriate levels of total new 
     budget authority are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $3,308,000,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $3,350,010,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $3,590,479,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $3,779,449,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $3,947,834,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $4,187,893,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $4,336,952,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $4,473,818,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $4,726,484,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $4,963,189,000,000.
       (3) Budget outlays.--For purposes of the enforcement of 
     this resolution, the appropriate levels of total budget 
     outlays are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $3,264,662,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $3,329,394,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $3,558,237,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $3,741,304,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $3,916,533,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $4,159,803,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $4,295,742,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $4,419,330,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $4,673,813,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $4,914,240,000,000.
       (4) Deficits.--For purposes of the enforcement of this 
     resolution, the amounts of the deficits are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $582,574,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $541,560,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $673,600,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $728,659,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $785,164,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $897,085,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $892,854,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $863,233,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $946,057,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $1,010,612,000,000.
       (5) Public debt.--Pursuant to section 301(a)(5) of the 
     Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632(a)(5)), the 
     appropriate levels of the public debt are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $20,034,788,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $20,784,183,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $21,625,729,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $22,504,763,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $23,440,271,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $24,509,421,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $25,605,527,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $26,701,273,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $27,869,175,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $29,128,193,000,000.
       (6) Debt held by the public.--The appropriate levels of 
     debt held by the public are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $14,593,316,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $15,198,740,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $15,955,144,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $16,791,740,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $17,713,599,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $18,787,230,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $19,901,290,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $21,033,163,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $22,301,661,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $23,693,879,000,000.

     SEC. 1102. MAJOR FUNCTIONAL CATEGORIES.

       Congress determines and declares that the appropriate 
     levels of new budget authority and outlays for fiscal years 
     2017 through 2026 for each major functional category are:
       (1) National Defense (050):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $623,910,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $603,716,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $618,347,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $601,646,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $632,742,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $617,943,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $648,198,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $632,435,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:

[[Page H516]]

       (A) New budget authority, $663,703,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $646,853,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $679,968,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $666,926,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $696,578,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $678,139,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $713,664,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $689,531,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $731,228,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $711,423,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $750,069,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $729,616,000,000.
       (2) International Affairs (150):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $61,996,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $51,907,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $60,099,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $53,541,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $61,097,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $55,800,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $60,686,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $57,690,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $61,085,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $58,756,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $62,576,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $60,205,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $64,141,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $61,513,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $65,588,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $62,705,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $67,094,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $63,915,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $68,692,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $65,305,000,000.
       (3) General Science, Space, and Technology (250):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $31,562,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $30,988,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $32,787,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $32,225,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $33,476,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $32,978,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $34,202,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $33,645,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $34,961,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $34,313,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $35,720,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $35,038,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $36,516,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $35,812,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $37,318,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $36,580,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $38,151,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $37,393,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $39,021,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $38,238,000,000.
       (4) Energy (270):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $4,773,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $3,455,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $4,509,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $3,495,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $4,567,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $4,058,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $4,975,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $4,456,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $5,109,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $4,523,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $5,019,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $4,332,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $4,083,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $3,337,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $3,590,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $2,796,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $3,608,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $2,755,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $5,955,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $5,124,000,000.
       (5) Natural Resources and Environment (300):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $41,264,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $42,254,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $43,738,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $44,916,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $44,486,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $45,425,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $46,201,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $46,647,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $47,126,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $47,457,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $48,203,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $48,388,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $49,403,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $49,536,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $50,497,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $50,055,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $51,761,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $51,164,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $53,017,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $51,915,000,000.
       (6) Agriculture (350):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $25,214,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $24,728,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $26,148,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $24,821,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $23,483,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $21,927,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $22,438,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $21,751,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $22,834,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $22,179,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $22,600,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $21,984,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $23,037,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $22,437,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $23,018,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $22,409,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $23,343,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $22,714,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $23,812,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $23,192,000,000.
       (7) Commerce and Housing Credit (370):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $14,696,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $666,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $16,846,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $1,378,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $18,171,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $5,439,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $15,799,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $2,666,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $14,821,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $915,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $15,408,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $674,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $15,739,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$840,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $16,143,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$1,688,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $17,889,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$2,003,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $17,772,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$2,238,000,000.
       (8) Transportation (400):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $92,782,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $91,684,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $94,400,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $93,214,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $96,522,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $95,683,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $91,199,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $97,992,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $92,154,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $99,772,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $93,111,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $101,692,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $94,118,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $103,431,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $95,143,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $105,313,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $96,209,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $107,374,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $97,323,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $109,188,000,000.
       (9) Community and Regional Development (450):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $19,723,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $22,477,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $19,228,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $21,277,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $19,457,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $20,862,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $19,941,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $20,011,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $20,384,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $21,048,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $20,825,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $19,831,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $21,288,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $19,535,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $21,756,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $19,787,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $22,245,000,000.

[[Page H517]]

       (B) Outlays, $19,285,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $22,751,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $20,037,000,000.
       (10) Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services 
     (500):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $104,433,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $104,210,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $108,980,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $112,802,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $112,424,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $110,765,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $114,905,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $113,377,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $116,921,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $115,591,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $119,027,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $117,545,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $121,298,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $119,761,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $123,621,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $122,001,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $126,016,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $124,359,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $128,391,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $126,748,000,000.
       (11) Health (550):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $562,137,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $560,191,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $583,006,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $593,197,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $615,940,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $618,089,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $655,892,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $645,814,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $677,902,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $676,781,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $711,176,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $709,301,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $744,335,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $742,568,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $780,899,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $778,293,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $818,388,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $815,246,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $857,176,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $853,880,000,000.
       (12) Medicare (570):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $600,857,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $600,836,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $600,832,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $600,762,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $667,638,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $667,571,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $716,676,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $716,575,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $767,911,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $767,814,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $862,042,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $861,941,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $886,515,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $886,407,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $903,861,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $903,750,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $1,007,624,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $1,007,510,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $1,085,293,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $1,085,173,000,000.
       (13) Income Security (600):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $518,181,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $511,658,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $524,233,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $511,612,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $542,725,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $534,067,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $558,241,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $549,382,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $571,963,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $563,481,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $590,120,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $587,572,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $599,505,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $592,338,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $609,225,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $597,287,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $630,433,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $619,437,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $646,660,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $641,957,000,000.
       (14) Social Security (650):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $37,199,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $37,227,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $40,124,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $40,141,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $43,373,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $43,373,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $46,627,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $46,627,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $50,035,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $50,035,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $53,677,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $53,677,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $57,540,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $57,540,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $61,645,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $61,645,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $66,076,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $66,076,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $70,376,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $70,376,000,000.
       (15) Veterans Benefits and Services (700):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $177,448,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $182,448,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $178,478,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $179,109,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $193,088,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $192,198,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $199,907,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $198,833,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $206,700,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $205,667,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $223,542,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $222,308,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $221,861,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $220,563,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $219,382,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $218,147,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $237,641,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $236,254,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $245,565,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $244,228,000,000.
       (16) Administration of Justice (750):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $64,519,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $58,662,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $62,423,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $63,800,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $62,600,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $66,596,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $64,168,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $69,555,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $65,134,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $68,538,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $66,776,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $67,691,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $68,489,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $68,466,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $70,227,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $69,976,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $72,023,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $71,615,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $79,932,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $80,205,000,000.
       (17) General Government (800):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $25,545,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $24,318,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $27,095,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $25,884,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $27,620,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $26,584,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $28,312,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $27,576,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $29,046,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $28,366,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $29,787,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $29,149,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $30,519,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $29,886,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $31,101,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $30,494,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $31,942,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $31,248,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $32,789,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $32,071,000,000.
       (18) Net Interest (900):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $393,295,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $393,295,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $453,250,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $453,250,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $526,618,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $526,618,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:

[[Page H518]]

       (A) New budget authority, $590,571,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $590,571,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $645,719,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $645,719,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $698,101,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $698,101,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $755,288,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $755,288,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $806,202,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $806,202,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $854,104,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $854,104,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $903,478,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $903,478,000,000.
       (19) Allowances (920):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, -$3,849,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $7,627,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, -$56,166,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$39,329,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, -$55,423,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$47,614,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, -$58,021,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$52,831,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, -$61,491,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$57,092,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, -$63,493,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$60,260,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, -$65,783,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$62,457,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, -$67,817,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$64,708,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, -$70,127,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$66,892,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, -$71,097,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$70,467,000,000.
       (20) Undistributed Offsetting Receipts (950):
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, -$87,685,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$87,685,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, -$88,347,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$88,347,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, -$80,125,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$80,125,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, -$81,468,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$81,468,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, -$84,183,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$84,183,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, -$86,292,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$86,292,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, -$87,518,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$87,518,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, -$91,245,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$91,245,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, -$99,164,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$99,164,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, -$97,786,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, -$97,786,000,000.

              Subtitle B--Levels and Amounts in the Senate

     SEC. 1201. SOCIAL SECURITY IN THE SENATE.

       (a) Social Security Revenues.--For purposes of Senate 
     enforcement under sections 302 and 311 of the Congressional 
     Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 633 and 642), the amounts of 
     revenues of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 
     Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund are as 
     follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $826,048,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $857,618,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $886,810,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $918,110,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $950,341,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $984,537,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $1,020,652,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $1,058,799,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $1,097,690,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $1,138,243,000,000.
       (b) Social Security Outlays.--For purposes of Senate 
     enforcement under sections 302 and 311 of the Congressional 
     Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 633 and 642), the amounts of 
     outlays of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 
     Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund are as 
     follows:
       Fiscal year 2017: $805,366,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018: $857,840,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019: $916,764,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020: $980,634,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021: $1,049,127,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022: $1,123,266,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023: $1,200,734,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024: $1,281,840,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025: $1,369,403,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026: $1,463,057,000,000.
       (c) Social Security Administrative Expenses.--In the 
     Senate, the amounts of new budget authority and budget 
     outlays of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 
     Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund for 
     administrative expenses are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $5,663,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $5,673,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $6,021,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $5,987,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $6,205,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $6,170,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $6,393,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $6,357,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $6,589,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $6,552,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $6,787,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $6,750,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $6,992,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $6,953,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $7,206,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $7,166,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $7,428,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $7,387,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $7,659,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $7,615,000,000.

     SEC. 1202. POSTAL SERVICE DISCRETIONARY ADMINISTRATIVE 
                   EXPENSES IN THE SENATE.

       In the Senate, the amounts of new budget authority and 
     budget outlays of the Postal Service for discretionary 
     administrative expenses are as follows:
       Fiscal year 2017:
       (A) New budget authority, $274,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $273,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2018:
       (A) New budget authority, $283,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $283,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2019:
       (A) New budget authority, $294,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $294,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2020:
       (A) New budget authority, $304,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $304,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2021:
       (A) New budget authority, $315,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $315,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2022:
       (A) New budget authority, $326,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $325,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2023:
       (A) New budget authority, $337,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $337,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2024:
       (A) New budget authority, $350,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $349,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2025:
       (A) New budget authority, $361,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $360,000,000.
       Fiscal year 2026:
       (A) New budget authority, $374,000,000.
       (B) Outlays, $373,000,000.

                         TITLE II--RESERVE FUND

     SEC. 2001. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND FOR JOB CREATION, 
                   INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT, AND TAX REFORM.

       In the House of Representatives, the chair of the Committee 
     on the Budget may revise the allocations, aggregates, and 
     other appropriate levels in this resolution for any bill, 
     joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that 
     provide job creation through robust Federal investments in 
     America's infrastructure and reforming the tax code to 
     provide relief for American families. The revisions may be 
     made for any measure that--
       (1) provides for additional investments in highways, public 
     transit, rail, aviation, harbors, seaports, inland waterway 
     systems, public housing, broadband, energy, water, and other 
     job-creating infrastructure improvements, and
       (2) reforms the tax code to support hardworking American 
     families;
     by the amounts provided in such measure if such measure does 
     not increase the deficit for either of the following time 
     periods: fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2021 or fiscal year 
     2017 to fiscal year 2026.

                        TITLE III--OTHER MATTERS

     SEC. 3001. BUDGETARY TREATMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding section 302(a)(1) of the 
     Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 633(a)(1)), 
     section 13301 of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 
     632 note), and section 2009a of title 39, United States Code, 
     the report accompanying this concurrent resolution on the 
     budget, the joint explanatory statement accompanying the 
     conference report on any concurrent resolution on the budget, 
     shall include in an allocation under section 302(a) of the 
     Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the applicable House of Congress amounts 
     for the discretionary administrative expenses of the Social 
     Security Administration and the United States Postal Service.
       (b) Special Rule.--In the Senate and the House of 
     Representatives, for purposes of enforcing section 302(f) of 
     the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 633(f)), 
     estimates of the level of total new budget authority and 
     total outlays provided by a measure shall include any 
     discretionary amounts described in subsection (a).

     SEC. 3002. APPLICATION AND EFFECT OF CHANGES IN ALLOCATIONS 
                   AND AGGREGATES.

       (a) Application.--Any adjustments of allocations and 
     aggregates made pursuant to this concurrent resolution 
     shall--
       (1) apply while that measure is under consideration;
       (2) take effect upon the enactment of that measure; and
       (3) be published in the Congressional Record as soon as 
     practicable.

[[Page H519]]

       (b) Effect of Changed Allocations and Aggregates.--Revised 
     allocations and aggregates resulting from these adjustments 
     shall be considered for the purposes of the Congressional 
     Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) as the allocations 
     and aggregates contained in this concurrent resolution.
       (c) Budget Committee Determinations.--For purposes of this 
     concurrent resolution, the levels of new budget authority, 
     outlays, direct spending, new entitlement authority, 
     revenues, deficits, and surpluses for a fiscal year or period 
     of fiscal years shall be determined on the basis of estimates 
     made by the Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the 
     applicable House of Congress.

     SEC. 3003. EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS.

       Congress adopts the provisions of this title--
       (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate 
     and the House of Representatives, respectively, and as such 
     they shall be considered as part of the rules of each House 
     or of that House to which they specifically apply, and such 
     rules shall supersede other rules only to the extent that 
     they are inconsistent with such other rules; and
       (2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of 
     either the Senate or the House of Representatives to change 
     those rules (insofar as they relate to that House) at any 
     time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as is the 
     case of any other rule of the Senate or House of 
     Representatives.

  The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 48, the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Yarmuth) and a Member opposed each will control 10 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, the Republican rush to eliminate the 
Affordable Care Act, to take health insurance from 30 million 
Americans, introduce chaos into the health insurance market, and give 
millionaires and billionaires a giant tax cut is misguided and does not 
reflect the values of the American people. On top of that, it can 
significantly damage our economy.
  Repeal will upend our Nation's healthcare system. Hospitals will see 
a spike in uncompensated care, leading to reduced services, job cuts, 
or higher prices for every one. It will cost the Nation 2.6 million 
jobs in 2019 alone, including 44,000 jobs in Kentucky. The hit to the 
economy will be in the trillions of dollars, and it will give 
corporations and the wealthy hundreds of billions of dollars of tax 
cuts.
  Repeal isn't about what is best for the American people. It is solely 
about politics and what is in the financial interest of the well-off 
and the well-connected. There is absolutely no logic to this.
  That said, if Republicans are determined to rush something through 
Congress right now using the budget process, we would suggest a totally 
different approach. Let's look at areas where this Congress and this 
incoming administration can work together to address a pressing 
challenge facing the country.
  Members of both parties and the President-elect have expressed 
support for repairing our Nation's failing infrastructure, investing in 
our roads, bridges, ports, and other transportation needs to create 
jobs and build a stronger economic future. The substitute I have 
offered today provides the budget procedures needed for such a bill to 
be considered.
  Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this alternative budget so 
we can move our Nation forward together.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.
  The CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Tennessee is recognized for 10 
minutes.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, the Democratic substitute would guarantee 
that the American people continue to be harmed by ObamaCare. It would 
ensure that insurance markets continue to collapse and that premiums 
and deductibles continue to rise and that patients have less access to 
healthcare choices.
  At a time when we are trying to provide relief to the American people 
and protect them from a failed and broken status quo, this amendment 
ignores those who are suffering under the law. It ignores the 20 
million Americans who have either paid the ObamaCare penalty or sought 
an exemption from it because the cost of complying with the law is 
either too costly or not worth their trouble.
  This amendment tells those families who have seen their premiums go 
up dramatically--many, who are paying more and getting less--that there 
is no relief in sight for you. What is more, the substitute does not 
include any reconciliation instructions, and it lacks the savings we 
achieve through our instructions.
  The bottom line is this: ObamaCare is collapsing. It is failing. The 
American people need relief. And in order to get them that relief, we 
need to reject this amendment and get to work on patient-centered 
solutions for our Nation's healthcare challenges.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), a distinguished member of the Budget 
Committee.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Chair, as a mother, a breast cancer 
survivor, and a proud Floridian, I rise today in strong opposition to 
the majority's irresponsible efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. 
The facts speak for themselves:
  20 million Americans, including more than a million and a half 
Floridians, have obtained quality, affordable health care since the ACA 
became law.
  129 million Americans, who, like me, have preexisting conditions, can 
no longer be discriminated against by their health insurance company.
  Our Nation's young adults now rest easy that they can stay on their 
parents' insurance until they are 26.
  Allow me to remind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that 
we are elected to help Americans, not hurt Americans. Make no mistake, 
repealing the ACA will not only rip health care away from millions of 
Americans who have ObamaCare, but we owe it to the 155 million 
Americans with employer-based coverage to maintain the prohibition 
against annual and lifetime limits.
  Before the ACA, 105 million Americans, most of them with employer 
coverage, had a lifetime limit on their insurance policy. The ACA 
prohibits annual and lifetime limits on policies.
  We owe it to our seniors to stop the repeal of key new Medicare 
benefits. Repeal of these lifesaving provisions would actually increase 
prescription drug costs for millions of seniors in the doughnut hole 
who are currently saving more than $2,000 on their drugs due to the ACA 
by reopening the gap in Medicare part D coverage.
  In addition, since enactment of the ACA, the solvency of the Medicare 
trust fund has been extended by 11 years. And we owe it to the 129 
million Americans like me with preexisting conditions, such as breast 
cancer survivors, to stop repeal so they cannot be dropped or denied 
coverage or charged an exorbitant premium by their insurance company.
  As a cancer survivor, I am also appalled that the Republican plan--or 
lack of a plan--would increase out-of-pocket costs for every patient by 
requiring them once again to pay for preventative services like cancer 
screenings.
  Mr. Chairman, the assault on the well-being of our constituents is an 
outrage, and we will not take it lying down. We will fight tooth and 
nail for the established right of all Americans to have quality, 
affordable healthcare coverage and not return to the days when it was 
available only as a privilege to those who could afford it or who were 
fortunate enough not to have a preexisting condition.

  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Cohen), a distinguished member of the Judiciary 
Committee.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, I have been listening to the debate, and I 
see the buzzwords that have been used about the repeal of the 
Affordable Care Act: ``patient-centered''--that sounds good--and 
``against bureaucrats''--that sounds good. What they don't tell you is 
that it is for the insurance companies.
  They say it leaves it patient-centered and for the people to deal 
with it, not the government--because the people will have to deal with 
the insurance companies in the future. The people don't want to have to 
deal with insurance companies when their claims are denied, when they 
won't pay them, when they won't allow them to have certain procedures. 
That is what the American people are against.
  The Affordable Care Act was insurance reform on steroids. And you 
can't have all of the insurance reform on steroids without government 
action looking out for the people versus the insurance companies.

[[Page H520]]

  They also don't tell you about rich people, who the other side is 
always concerned about, who could use tax credits and get a lot more 
money for their tax credits because they are at a higher tax rate than 
others. So, in essence, they are going to get more out of this.
  What we ought to be doing--it is what this alternative budget is 
about--is trying to create jobs, jobs for people in infrastructure, 
construction jobs for people out there in middle America.
  America used to be first in infrastructure, and now we are 28th in 
infrastructure. We need to have an infrastructure that gets goods to 
market and goods to the public for sale. That helps create jobs 
further. Jobs is what is important, and it is where America used to be 
first--in infrastructure jobs.
  America has always been last in health care. We were the only 
industrialized country in the world without a national healthcare 
policy, and the Republicans never wanted a national healthcare policy 
until now.
  So the Affordable Care Act did good because it woke the people up on 
the other side of the aisle to the fact that we needed to have a policy 
to make sure people got health care because they have never, ever cared 
about it.
  Teddy Roosevelt cared about it in their party. Richard Nixon cared 
about it in their party. Mitt Romney cared about it in their party. But 
they were mute. They didn't say a word about it. All of a sudden--
because they found something they thought is good.
  Two-thirds of the people in Tennessee like the Affordable Care Act. 
Don't repeal it.
  Pass this alternative budget and create jobs.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Brendan F. Boyle), a new member of the Budget 
Committee.
  Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, it is interesting 
that after 6 years of the mantra of repeal and replace, here we are. 
And we have repeal and maybe replace at some point when we get around 
to it; although, that shouldn't be very surprising, considering.
  What is ObamaCare?
  More than 20 years ago, Senator Bob Dole, then the Republican leader 
of the Senate, and a group of his colleagues introduced the Republican 
alternative to the then-Democratic plan to expand health insurance to 
some 40 million Americans who didn't have it. The Republican plan 
hatched at the Heritage Foundation was, instead of expanding Medicare 
for all, let's instead create a system of taxes and tax credits where 
we pool all the uninsured together and we enable them to buy private 
health insurance on a marketplace.
  Fast-forward about two decades. Barack Obama comes to the White House 
wanting to compromise, wanting to create a system that would disrupt 
the existing healthcare system as little as possible, and decides to go 
in this direction. Then suddenly, all of those on the other side who 
supported that idea for two decades decided it was socialism and could 
not possibly be the healthcare law.
  So the reason why they don't have an alternative to ObamaCare is 
because this is the market solution. This was the more moderate 
approach. This actually isn't a Big Government-run plan.
  So I am extending a hand to the other side. If they really want to 
come up with a way to improve the Affordable Care Act, there are many 
of us on this side who genuinely want to work on that. I have already 
voted, as a Member only here 2 years, on ways we can improve the 
Affordable Care Act and make some modifications, the same way we have 
made modifications to Medicare and Medicaid many times since 1965.
  Mr. Chairman, if the real intent of the other side is just to strip 
away health insurance to 22 million Americans, we will say ``no'' and 
continue to fight it.

                              {time}  1345

  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, as I said in my closing to the debate on 
the resolution itself, it would be wonderful if the Republicans had a 
plan that they could describe to the American people so that American 
families would know what would be in their healthcare future. It would 
also be nice if they would wait to repeal the Affordable Care Act until 
they could do that. I think the American people expect it. The poll I 
mentioned from Kaiser, 82 percent of the people preferred to go in that 
direction. Let's find out if there is a better way.
  I have said many times in public the reason there has been no 
Republican alternative to the Affordable Care Act is because there 
really are only two alternatives: one is to go back to the era in which 
insurance companies decided who lived and died, and the other one is to 
go to single payer, something like Medicare for everyone. I would love 
to discuss that option. I think it would be immensely popular in this 
country. But, instead, Republicans come up with ideas that are drifting 
in the other direction, again, back to not patient-centered care but 
back to insurance company-centered care.
  The important thing today is that we have an alternative here through 
which we can actually do something constructive for the American 
people, something that will help the economy, something that will make 
vital investments in our Nation and the future economy instead of 
putting the country's healthcare system at risk. That is what this 
amendment does. That is why I introduced it, and that is why I urge my 
colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman 
from Kentucky (Mr. Yarmuth).
  The question was taken; and the Chair announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
  The CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on 
the amendment offered by the gentleman from Kentucky will be postponed.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.
  The motion was agreed to.
  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. 
Womack) having assumed the chair, Mr. Hultgren, Chair of the Committee 
of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that that 
Committee, having had under consideration the concurrent resolution (S. 
Con. Res. 3) setting forth the congressional budget for the United 
States Government for fiscal year 2017 and setting forth the 
appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2018 through 2026, had 
come to no resolution thereon.

                          ____________________