Congressional Record, Volume 163 Issue 100 (Tuesday, June 13, 2017)

[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 100 (Tuesday, June 13, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H4875-H4884]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

VERIFY FIRST ACT

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 378, I
call up the bill (H.R. 2581) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
to require the provision of social security numbers as a condition of
receiving the health insurance premium tax credit, and ask for its
immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Mitchell). Pursuant to House Resolution
378, the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the
Committee on Ways and Means, printed in the bill, shall be considered
as adopted, and the bill, as amended, is considered read.
The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:

H.R. 2581

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Verify First Act''.

SEC. 2. VERIFICATION OF STATUS IN UNITED STATES AS CONDITION
OF RECEIVING ADVANCE PAYMENT OF HEALTH
INSURANCE PREMIUM TAX CREDIT.

(a) Application to Current Health Insurance Premium Tax
Credit.--Section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
in effect for months beginning before January 1, 2020, is
amended by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h) and
by inserting after subsection (f) the following new
subsection:
``(g) Verification of Status in United States for Advance
Payment.--No advance payment of the credit allowed under this
section with respect to any premium under subsection
(b)(2)(A) with respect to any individual shall be made under
section 1412 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act unless the Secretary has received confirmation from the
Secretary of Health and Human Services that the Commissioner
of Social Security or the Secretary of Homeland Security has
verified under section 1411(c)(2) of such Act the
individual's status as a citizen or national of the United
States or an alien lawfully present in the United States
using a process that includes the appropriate use of
information related to citizenship or immigration status,
such as social security account numbers (but not individual
taxpayer identification numbers).''.
(b) Application to New Health Insurance Premium Tax
Credit.--Section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
amended by the American Health Care Act of 2017 and in effect
for months beginning after December 31, 2019, is amended by
adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(h) Verification of Status in United States for Advance
Payment.--No advance payment of the credit allowed under this
section with respect to any amount under subparagraph (A) or
(B) of subsection (b)(1) with respect to any individual shall
be made under section 1412 of the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act unless the Secretary has received
confirmation from the Secretary of Health and Human Services
that the Commissioner of Social Security or the Secretary of
Homeland Security has verified under section 1411(c)(2) of
such Act the individual's status as a citizen or national of
the United States or a qualified alien (within the meaning of
section 431 of the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641)) using
a process that includes the appropriate use of information
related to citizenship or immigration status, such as social
security account numbers (but not individual taxpayer
identification numbers).''.
(c) Conforming Amendment on Continuous Health Insurance
Coverage Provision.--Section 2710A(b)(1) of the Public Health
Service Act, as added by section 133 of the American Health
Care Act of 2017, is amended by adding after subparagraph (C)
the following:
``In the case of an individual who applies for advance
payment of a credit under section 1412 of the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act and for whom a
determination of eligibility for such advance payment is
delayed by reason of the requirement for verification of the
individual's status in the United States under section
1411(c)(2) of such Act, the period of days beginning with the
date of application for advance payment and ending with the
date of such verification shall not be taken into account in
applying subparagraph (B). The Secretary shall establish a
procedure by which information relating to this period is
provided to the individual.''.
(d) Delay Permitted in Coverage Date in Case of Delay in
Verification of Status for Individuals Applying for Advance
Payment of Credit.--Section 1411(e) of the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18081(e)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3), by inserting after ``applicant's
eligibility'' the following: ``(other than eligibility for
advance payment of a credit under section 1412)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(5) Delay permitted in coverage date in case of delay in
verification of status for individuals applying for advance
payment of credit.--In the case of an individual whose
eligibility for advance payments is delayed by reason of the
requirement for verification under subsection (c)(2), if, for
coverage to be effective as of the date requested in the
individual's application for enrollment, the individual would
(but for this paragraph) be required to pay 2 or more months
of retroactive premiums, the individual shall be provided the
option to elect to postpone the effective date of coverage to
the date that is not more than 1 month later than the date
requested in the individual's application for enrollment.''.
(e) Effective Dates.--
(1) Application to current health insurance premium tax
credit.--The amendment made by subsection (a) is contingent
upon the enactment of the American Health Care Act of 2017
and shall apply (if at all) to months beginning after
December 31, 2017.
(2) Application to new health insurance premium tax
credit.--The amendment made by subsection (b) is contingent
upon the enactment of the American Health Care Act of 2017
and shall apply (if at all) to months beginning after
December 31, 2019, in taxable years ending after such date.
(3) Conforming amendment on continuous health insurance
coverage provision.--The amendment made by subsection (c) is
contingent upon the enactment of the American Health Care Act
of 2017 and shall take effect (if at all) as if included in
such Act.
(4) Flexibility in coverage date in case of delay in
verification of status.--The amendment made by subsection (d)
is contingent upon the enactment of the American Health Care
Act of 2017 and shall apply (if at all) to applications for
advance payments for months beginning after December 31,
2017.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady) and the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Sanchez) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.

General Leave

Mr. BRADY of Texas. 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 material on the bill currently
under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may
consume.
Last month House Republicans took a significant step to return
patient-centered healthcare to the American people. We passed the
American Health Care Act. The American Health Care Act begins our step-
by-step process to repeal ObamaCare and replace this collapsing law
with a 21st century healthcare system that truly works for American
families, job creators, our States, and our taxpayers.
Now, as work on the American Health Care Act moves forward in the
Senate, we are moving forward on a parallel track to deliver more
solutions for the American people. One of those is the Verify First
Act, sponsored by Congressman Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania.
This legislation takes important action to protect taxpayer dollars
from waste, fraud, and abuse. It prevents the American Health Care
Act's monthly tax credits and ObamaCare's current subsidies from being
dispensed until the legal status of an eligible recipient can be
verified.
Under ObamaCare, people who are in the United States illegally are
prohibited from receiving taxpayer-funded subsidies to help purchase
health insurance; but like so many aspects of ObamaCare, there is a
major defect. ObamaCare starts by assuming a person is a legal resident
and sends the money right away even if the verification process is
still incomplete.
As we have seen with so many Federal programs, it is all but
impossible to get fraudulently claimed money back after it is already
out the door. This flaw of ObamaCare is no different. It has resulted
in taxpayer-funded subsidies being spent on people who are not in the
United States legally and, therefore, not eligible to receive them.
My constituents in Texas and yours around the country work too hard
to see their tax dollars wasted by Washington's carelessness. The best
solution to protect taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud, and abuse is to
stop it before it occurs, and that is what the Verify First Act by Mr.
Barletta will do.
This bill strengthens existing verification tools by making a
commonsense change. Rather than sending the money first and confirming
legal status later, it verifies legal status up

[[Page H4876]]

front. So if you want to receive financial support for health
insurance, this bill simply requires that you first provide a Social
Security number or another form of acceptable information to validate
citizenship or immigration status.
This commonsense change will apply to ObamaCare beginning with next
year's open enrollment period, and after ObamaCare is repealed, it will
apply to the tax credits offered in the American Health Care Act when
they take effect. This helps ensure that taxpayer-funded assistance for
the purchase of health insurance is only distributed to people who are
eligible, not to those who are in our country illegally.
I want to thank Congressman Barletta for his leadership on this
important legislation. The Verify First Act is a much-needed solution
to safeguard taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud, and abuse both now and
in the future, and that is crucial as we continue our efforts to repeal
and replace the failing ObamaCare law. It is vital to improving
America's health system for the long term.
I urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting the passage of the
Verify First Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I can't believe we are here today attempting to pass
such a blatantly discriminatory bill. Under the guise of fighting
fraud, Republicans are attempting to pass a bill that will put
additional barriers to care for all Americans--all this in exchange for
one Member's vote for TrumpCare, which guts healthcare for 23 million
Americans, and the Republicans barely passed that bill out of the
House.
This bill fails to recognize the diversity of American families;
instead, it forces a single approach for all those who need financial
help to get the care that they need.
I don't know if everyone on the other side of the aisle knows this,
but there are already measures in place to prevent advanced premium tax
credits from going to ineligible people. There is already a mechanism
in place for Treasury to reconcile tax credits, and any undocumented
individual found to have received a subsidy must repay them in full.
The other side will also try to make the argument that this measure
will help fight fraud in the healthcare system, that there is somehow
overwhelming amounts of evidence that immigrants are the main
perpetrators of fraud. Beneficiaries struggling to access care are not
the perpetrators of fraud. These are good people trying to do right by
their families and by their country.
Of course, my colleagues over there are going to cite a Senate
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs report, written
by a Republican majority, that found, ``a half a million illegal
immigrants received $750 million in healthcare subsidies.''
Well, I have that report right here in my hand, and nowhere does it
say that 500,000 undocumented immigrants received millions of dollars
in healthcare subsidies, as Mr. Barletta's press release claims. What
the report says is 500,000 individuals, and not 500,000 undocumented
individuals or any other term that Republicans like to use to disparage
immigrants.

{time} 1345

There is no evidence to suggest that immigrants without authorization
to be here would take the risk of signing on to a government website to
fraudulently get healthcare coverage.
So what are the unintended consequences of this bill?
I hate to break it to my colleagues, but the people most impacted are
U.S. citizens who were born abroad or naturalized, not undocumented
individuals.
This bill is yet another example that the Republican majority will do
anything to demonize even the smallest subsection of immigrants in
order to gut healthcare for Americans and get their billionaire buddies
a big, fat tax break. Whether that means sowing fear in communities by
raiding homes in order to hunt people down or denying access to care
for legal immigrants who are entitled to care, no excuse is too
ridiculous for Republicans to attack the immigrant community.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter signed by 226
organizations in opposition to H.R. 2581.

June 12, 2017.
Dear Member of Congress: As national, state, and local
organizations concerned about immigrant rights or access to
affordable health care, we are writing to strongly urge you
to VOTE NO on HR 2581, the ``Verify First'' Act. This bill is
an attack on people's ability to see a doctor and on
immigrants and people of color. It is not the ``common
sense'' taxpayer protection bill that its supporters would
have you believe.
HR 2581 is a dangerous bill that puts up roadblocks for
both citizens and immigrants to obtain timely, affordable
health insurance. It would strip away provisions that provide
for a person to obtain subsidies for enrollment in an
Affordable Care Act (or the contemplated American Health Care
Act) plan while they work with Department of Health and Human
Services to verify their U.S. citizenship or immigration
status. The people most impacted are U.S. citizens who were
born abroad or naturalized. The bill also affects many
immigrants, especially those newly arrived or certain victims
of domestic violence and trafficking survivors.
The fact is that when individuals are not able to
immediately verify their citizenship or immigration status on
an Affordable Care Act Marketplace, it begins an often months
long, strenuous process of sending in documents that must be
physically inspected. Health care assisters routinely say
these clients are the hardest cases they work on because the
process for verifying citizenship and immigration status is a
time-consuming exercise in dealing with inefficient
government processes.
Rather than protect American taxpayers, HR 2581 would strip
from American taxpayers important protections that are needed
to overcome deficiencies in federal government databases.
Immigrants who are not lawfully present are categorically
barred from enrollment in health insurance on the Affordable
Care Act marketplaces, and for the subsidies that make that
insurance affordable. Moreover, safeguards protecting
taxpayers are already built into the ACA; individuals whose
citizenship or immigration status cannot be verified already
are required to pay back all of their subsidies when they
file their taxes and ``reconcile'' their premium tax credits.
Supporters of this bill cite a sloppy Senate Homeland
Security and Government Affairs Committee report that arrived
at a made-up number of supposed ``fraud.'' It's just not
true. The committee assumed that every person who lost
coverage for failure to verify their citizenship and
immigration status was undocumented. In the experience of our
organizations and organizations we work with, this is false.
These reports describe the first year of the marketplaces,
and it is well documented that system outages and
understaffing, among other technical problems, contributed to
the federal Marketplace's failure to verify consumers' status
promptly. The Department of Health and Human Services
Inspector General reported in 2014 that a cause of the delay
in verification was the agency's lack of prioritization of
this issue.
Despite huge gains since then, problems still persist. The
Social Security database holding many citizens' information
may not reflect common changes, such as when a person marries
and changes their last name, or when someone naturalizes and
gains U.S. citizenship. People lose their coverage because
they receive notices in languages they cannot read.
Immigrants are required to submit documents multiple times,
or wait while the Department of Homeland Security finds paper
files, a result of deficiencies in their databases affecting
groups like asylum applicants and some survivors of domestic
violence. These are among the many issues consumers face.
Congress has already deprived undocumented immigrants from
the ability to buy coverage, even at full price, so they can
see a doctor when they are sick, but this bill would go a
step further to delay or put out of reach affordable health
insurance for many citizens and lawfully present immigrants.
Our organizations firmly believe that this would be
detrimental to the people we represent and to all of our
communities as a whole. We have seen that when health
insurance is unaffordable, people are effectively prevented
from obtaining access to the care they need to be healthy.
This bill is not just an attack on our health care system,
it is also an attack on immigrants and people of color, which
our organizations stand firmly against. In his statements
when introducing this bill, Rep. Lou Barletta focused the
bill as part of his effort to ``stop illegal immigration.''
Rep. Barletta has a long history of anti-immigrant rhetoric,
from trying to prevent immigrants from leasing a residence to
stating that they should be denied life-saving services in
hospital emergency rooms. This bill is simply a vehicle for
scapegoating immigrants and people of color and will keep
eligible people from accessing health care.
We the undersigned organizations urge you to vote NO on HR
2581 and the continued assault on immigrants and the health
of our communities.
Sincerely,

National

Advocates for Youth; African American Ministers In Action;
American Federation of Teachers (AFT); American Friends
Service

[[Page H4877]]

Committee; American Intercession; American Society on Aging;
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum; Asian
Americans Advancing Justice/AAJC; Asian Pacific Institute on
Gender-Based Violence; Asian Pacific Partners for
Empowerment, Advocacy & Leadership (APPEAL); Association of
Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO);
Autistic Self Advocacy Network; Black Alliance for Just
Immigration; Breast Cancer Action; Center for Law and Social
Policy (CLASP); Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc.; Child
Welfare League of America; Children's Advocacy Institute;
Children's Defense Fund; Church World Service (CWS);
Coalition on Human Needs; Columban Center for Advocacy and
Outreach; Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good
Shepherd, US Provinces; Conscious Talk Radio; Detention Watch
Network; Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund;
Dominican Sisters; Dominicans of Sinsinawa; Family Equality
Council; Farmworker Justice; First Focus Campaign for
Children; Food Research & Action Center; Franciscan Sisters
of the Poor IJPC; Friends Committee on National Legislation;
Generations Inc.; GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT
Equality; Immigrant Legal Resource Center; Indivisible;
Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas; Interfaith
Worker Justice;
Irish Apostolate USA; Jobs With Justice; Justice in Aging;
Justice, Peace and Reconciliation Commission, Priests of the
Sacred Heart, US Province; Lambda Legal; Leadership Team of
the Felician Sisters of North America; League of United Latin
American Citizens (LULAC); Medical Mission Sisters; Mi
Familia Vota; MomsRising; NAACP; NAPAFASA; National Advocacy
Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd; National Asian
Pacific American Women's Forum; National Association of
County and City Health Officials; National Association of
Social Workers; National Black Justice Coalition; National
Center for Transgender Equality; National Council of Asian
Pacific Americans (NCAPA); National Council of Churches;
National Council of La Raza (NCLR); National Education
Association; National Employment Law Project; National Health
Law Program; National Hispanic Medical Association; National
Immigrant Justice Center; National Immigration Law Center;
National Justice for Our Neighbors; National Latina Institute
for Reproductive Health; National Network of Abortion Funds;
National Organization for Women; National Women's Health
Network; Network for Environmental & Economic Responsibility
of United Church of Christ; NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social
Justice; NMAC; OCA--Asian Pacific American Advocates; Our
Revolution; Peace and Justice Office of the Congregation of
Notre Dame; Physicians for Reproductive Health; PICO
National;
Planned Parenthood Federation of America; Poor People's
Economic Human Rights Campaign; Prevention Institute; Project
Inform; Racine Dominicans; Raising Women's Voices for the
Health Care We Need; Refuge Ministries; Sargent Shriver
National Center on Poverty Law; Service Employees
International Union; Sisters of Charity; Sisters of Charity
of Nazareth; Sisters of Mercy of the Americas--Institute
Justice Team; Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC);
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; United
Sikhs; United We Dream; Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk, U.S.
Province; We Belong Together; API Wellness;

State and Local

Academy of Medical & Public Health Services; Advocates for
Children and Youth; AgeOptions; Almost Home, Inc.; Anti-
Hunger & Nutrition Coalition; Arkansas Advocates for Children
and Families; Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing;
Asian Americans Advancing Justice--Los Angeles; Asian
Community Alliance--Cincinnati OH; Asian Law Alliance; Asian
Services In Action, Inc.; Baltimore Jewish Council;
California Health Professional Student Alliance; California
Immigrant Policy Center; California Latinas for Reproductive
Justice (CLRJ); California OneCare; California Pan-Ethnic
Health Network; California Partnership; California Physicians
Alliance; CASA;
Center for Southeast Asians; Chicago Hispanic Health
Coalition; Child Care Resources of Rockland; Children Now;
Children's Defense Fund-CA; Chinatown Service Center;
Chinese-American Planning Council; Coalition for Humane
Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA); Collaborative Center for Justice;
Colorado Center on Law and Policy; Colorado Center on Law and
Policy; Columbia Legal Services; Community Health Councils;
D. C. Hunger Solutions; DuPage Federation on Human Services
Reform; Empower Missouri; Ensuring Opportunity Campaign to
End Poverty in Contra Costa; Erie Benedictines for Peace;
Esperanza Health Centers; EverThrive Illinois; Farmworker
Association of Florida;
Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC); Give for a Smile;
Greater Kansas City Coalition to End Homelessness; Having Our
Say Coalition; Health Access California; Health Care for All-
WA; Health Law Advocates; Healthy House Within A MATCH
Coalition; Hmong Ohio of Tomorrow; Hunger Action Los Angeles;
IHM Sisters, Immaculata, PA; IL Hunger Coalition; Illinois
Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; Indivisible
Mountain Home, Idaho; Interfaith Movement for Human
Integrity; IRIS--Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services;
Islamic Civic Engagement Project; Jewish Family & Children's
Service; Kansas Appleseed; Kentucky Equal Justice Center;
Korean Community Services of Metropolitan NY; La Fe Policy
Research and Education Center;
La Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program; Legal Council for
Health Justice; Legal Services of Southern Piedmont; Maine
Consumers for Affordable Health Care; Make the Road New York;
Maryland CASH Campaign; Maryland Hunger Solutions;
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
(MIRA); Massachusetts Law Reform Institute; Maternal and
Child Health Access; Maternity Care Coalition; National
Association of Social Workers, CT Chapter; National Tongan
American Society; Nationalities Service Center; NC Child; New
Mexico Center on Law and Poverty; New York Immigration
Coalition; New York Legal Assistance Group; NICOS Chinese
Health Coalition; NJ State Industrial Union Council; NOELA
Community Health Center; Northern NJ Chapter, National
Organization for Women;
Northwest Health Law Advocates; Northwest Immigrant Rights
Project; Office of the Health Care Advocate at Vermont Legal
Aid; OneAmerica; Pacific Islander Health Partnership; Pitkin
County Human Services; Public Justice Center; Puget Sound
Advocates for Retirement Action (PSARA); Rainbow Center;
Reformed Church of Highland Park; RESULTS-Santa Fe (NM);
Salaam Cleveland; Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education
Network (SIREN); Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word,
Houston; Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvelt, NY; Sisters of
the Most Precious Blood; Social Justice Committee St. Patrick
Church; South Asian Network; Southwest Women's Law Center;
St. Francis St Vincent de Paul Society; Tennessee Justice
Center; Thai Health And Information Service;
The Children's Partnership; The Latino Health Insurance
Program, Inc.; Turning Points; United Way Bay Area; URI
Feinstein Center for a Hunger Free America; Vermont
Affordable Housing Coalition; Virginia Poverty Law Center;
Voices for Vermont's Children; Voz Hispana Cambio
Comunitario; Washington Community Action Network; Washington
Healthcare Access Alliance; Washington State Labor Council,
AFL-CIO; West Chester Food Cupboard; West Side Campaign
Against Hunger; Westlake Chinese Culture Association;
Wisconsin Council of Churches; Wisconsin Faith Voices for
Justice; Women's Action Movement Washtenaw County MI;
Worksite Wellness LA; Xaverian Brothers; Young Women United;

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta), the author of the Verify First Act,
and as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, I am proud to
advance this bill.
Mr. BARLETTA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and
working with me on this important issue. I also thank leadership for
recognizing this issue and working with me to fix the problem.
I am proud to rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 2581, the Verify
First Act.
My bill is intended to stop fraud in the distribution of healthcare
tax credits and protect taxpayer dollars. It is simple: the American
people expect that we are verifying that someone qualifies for taxpayer
money before that money goes out the door.
This is about the Federal Government being good stewards of the money
our constituents send to Washington. Every Federal dollar that goes to
someone committing fraud is a dollar that is not going to a person who
truly needs and deserves assistance.
No one should be allowed to commit fraud at the taxpayers' expense.
No business would give a refund without first verifying a receipt.
Yet this is exactly what is happening under our current healthcare
system. The law claims that taxpayer money will only go to people who
qualify for it. Yet no one is being held responsible for making sure
that that happens. My bill does that.
Under current law, the Federal Government pays tax credits to
individuals without first verifying that they qualify to receive them.
If individuals cannot verify their legal status, the IRS is then forced
to chase after the money.
This pay-and-chase model of distributing tax credits has greatly
increased costs to the taxpayers. A 2016 Senate report revealed that,
under ObamaCare, $750 million in taxpayer-funded healthcare subsidies
went to people who did not qualify for those benefits.
We could fix this problem and save time and money so that IRS agents
are helping people, instead of trying to recover improper payments by
verifying legal status first.
My bill simply requires the IRS to work with the relevant Federal
agencies to verify that an individual is a

[[Page H4878]]

citizen, national, or lawfully present in the United States before tax
credits go out the door. This can be done by verifying an applicant's
Social Security number or other immigration documents. Again, the
American people expect that we are already doing this.
Under my bill, everyone who applies for the advance premium tax
credit will be verified for legal status. Most people won't even know
that this is happening because the verification check is so quick.
My bill also includes protections that ensure that individuals who
are legally entitled to these tax credits are not penalized if there is
a delay in verifying their documents. I first raised this issue last
year with the previous administration. I am raising it again this year
because there is no evidence that anything has been done to address it.
Nobody wanted to take responsibility for mismanaging $750 million of
taxpayer money. Everyone pointed fingers at other people. My bill holds
people accountable.
While I received assurances from the current administration that it
would implement and follow a process to verify legal status, my bill
would require it in law. This issue is too important to be left to the
changing positions of unelected Federal bureaucrats. The American
people deserve to know that their representatives are doing everything
in their power to protect taxpayer money.
The Verify First Act provides that certainty and upholds the
integrity of the health insurance premium tax credit by putting an end
to fraud and abuse.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the cosponsors of my bill for their support.
They include Diane Black, Mo Brooks, Jeff Duncan, Jimmy Duncan, Mike
Kelly, Doug Lamborn, Mike McCaul, David McKinley, Kristi Noem, Jim
Renacci, Mike Rogers, Lamar Smith, Jason Smith, G.T. Thompson, and Joe
Wilson.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters of support from
NumbersUSA and FAIR, two groups that have been working with me to
protect the interests of the American worker and legal immigrants.

NumbersUSA,

Arlington, VA, May 23, 2017.
Hon. Lou Barletta,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Congressman Barletta: NumbersUSA, on behalf of our
more than 8 million activists, applauds you for introducing
the Verify First Act to ensure that health care tax credits
are not paid to illegal aliens or other disqualified aliens.
As you know, NumbersUSA opposed the ineffective verification
provisions in the Affordable Care Act because we knew they
would result in taxpayer-funded subsidies being sent to
illegal aliens. Our concerns, unfortunately, were confirmed
by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, which reported that more than $700 million in
Obamacare subsidies had been paid to ineligible aliens by
2015. Like you, we recognized that these same ineffective
verification procedures in the American Health Care Act
(AHCA) would result in the payment of health care tax credits
to illegal or otherwise ineligible aliens.
The Verify First Act will require the Social Security
Administration (SSA) and the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) to actually verify the citizenship or immigration
status of every applicant for a credit under the AHCA before
the Treasury Department issues the credit. Both SSA and DHS
have established, proven methods of verifying status in a
timely and efficient manner, including the E-Verify system,
which relies on data from these two agencies to verify work
authorization, and the Systematic Alien Verification for
Entitlements (SAVE) system, which uses DHS data to establish
welfare eligibility.
Hard-working Americans and legal residents already are
struggling to pay for their own health care. There is simply
no excuse for the Federal government to force them to
subsidize health care for illegal aliens through taxpayer-
funded credits.
For this reason, NumbersUSA is delighted to support your
Verify First Act and we look forward to working with you to
make sure it is enacted into law. We also applaud House
Republican Leadership and the House Ways and Means Committee
for working with you to close this expensive loophole in our
health care system.
Sincerely,
Anne Manetas,
Vice President, NumbersUSA.
____

Federation for American

Immigration Reform,

Washington, DC, May 24, 2017.
Hon. Lou Barletta,
Washington, DC.
Dear Congressman Barletta: On behalf of the Federation for
American Immigration Reform's (FAIR) nearly 1.5 million
members and supporters nationwide, I am writing to thank you
for introducing the Verify First Act. This important piece of
legislation would deny health care tax credits to illegal
aliens and ensure that Americans' hard-earned tax dollars
only go to those with a valid Social Security number (SSN).
As you know, federal law explicitly prevents illegal aliens
from receiving tax credits. Despite this, a recent report by
the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee found that nearly 500,000 illegal aliens received
approximately $750 million in taxpayer-funded health care
subsidies as of June 2015. Under Obamacare, the federal
government pays health care tax credits on a ``temporary
basis'' to individuals who are unable to verify their
citizenship. If an individual is ultimately unable to verify
their immigration status, the funding is suspended and the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) attempts to recoup
overpayments from the individuals who were wrongly covered.
This challenging practice--known as ``pay and chase''--is
costing taxpayers millions.
As a complement to the recently passed American Health Care
Act, your legislation ensures that the IRS has verified that
an individual is a citizen, national, or lawfully present in
the United States before the advance health insurance premium
tax credit is disbursed. This will be done by checking an
applicant's SSN or other immigration documents. Additionally,
your legislation prohibits the use of the Individual Taxpayer
Identification Number (ITIN), which are issued without
verification of legal status.
For the aforementioned reasons, FAIR applauds you for
introducing the Verify First Act. When this important piece
of legislation is considered on the House floor, FAIR will
include the vote in our voting report.
Sincerely,
Dan Stein,
President.

Mr. BARLETTA. Additionally, this legislation is supported by Citizens
Against Government Waste and Americans for Tax Reform.
Finally, I include in the Record a Statement of Administration Policy
noting that the President would sign this bill into law.

Statement of Administration Policy

H.R. 2581--Verify First Act--Rep. Barletta, R-PA and 14 cosponsors

The Administration supports H.R. 2581, the Verify First
Act. Under Obamacare, millions of dollars in advance payments
of the premium tax credit may have been paid on behalf of
individuals who were likely ineligible beneficiaries,
including illegal immigrants. By eliminating the practice of
providing advance payments while an applicant's immigration
status is being verified, this bill stems the flow of
payments to ineligible individuals under Obamacare and
strengthens the ability of the Administration to ensure
premium tax credits will be appropriately provided to
eligible individuals under the American Health Care Act of
2017 (AHCA). By protecting the integrity of Federal funds,
this bill furthers the President's vision of a more efficient
Federal Government that respects taxpayer dollars.
H.R. 2581 would prohibit advance payments of premium tax
credits to individuals under current law and the AHCA, unless
the Secretary of the Treasury receives confirmation that the
individual is a citizen or a national of the United States,
or is lawfully present in the United States. H.R. 2581 would
also strengthen the AHCA, as passed by the House of
Representatives on May 4, 2017, which the Administration
continues to support strongly.
If H.R. 2581 were presented to the President in its current
form, his advisors would recommend that he sign the bill into
law.

Mr. BARLETTA. Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge passage of my bill.
Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the majority that
the IRS would be able to do their job if they didn't spend the last 8
years demonizing the IRS and cutting their budget year after year.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Michigan (Mr. Levin), my colleague on the Ways and Means
Committee.
(Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, this act jeopardizes American families'
ability to afford health insurance.
The so-called Verify First Act would require a new verification
process of an individual's Social Security number before he or she can
receive any tax credit for health coverage, either under the ACA or
under the disastrous House-passed TrumpCare bill.
This bill does nothing to address the reality that more than 23
million Americans would lose health insurance under the Republican
healthcare legislation; nor does it address the harm caused by cutting
$800 billion from Medicaid by eliminating the expansion

[[Page H4879]]

for moderate-income workers and by imposing per capita caps on program
spending; and it does nothing to address higher premiums for older
workers and discrimination against Americans with preexisting
conditions that will occur under the TrumpCare bill that this
legislation is amending.
Instead, this bill takes that one step further by making it harder
for children, including newborns and survivors of domestic violence and
sex trafficking, to obtain a tax credit for purchasing their own health
coverage. Under the legislation, Social Security numbers would be
required before receiving a tax credit, and it prohibits the use of an
individual taxpayer identification number, which those without a Social
Security number use to file their tax returns.
Mr. Speaker, as has already been said, there are already protections
built into the law to ensure that tax credits are issued to qualifying
individuals. Under current law, eligibility for tax credits is verified
when an individual applies to enroll in coverage. The eligibility is
then subject to a secondary verification process that identifies
ineligible individuals and terminates their coverage. This system
strikes a balance between rigorously verifying eligibility, while also
ensuring that eligible individuals are not subject to financial
hardship because of red tape.
Mr. Speaker, this bill would make it more difficult for American
families to access affordable healthcare. I oppose this bill, and I
urge my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly), a key member of the Ways and Means
Committee.
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I have a chart that I am
going to put up here in a minute, but there is something that I think
we all need to realize: Our positions here not only are as
representatives but also stewards of taxpayer money.
Now, a lot of people sometimes become confused as to whose money it
is that we are talking about, and what we are talking about is
hardworking American taxpayers.
The definition of a steward is pretty simple: It is someone who
manages another's property or financial affairs; one who administers
anything as the agent of another or others.
The oath we take makes us responsible for every single penny that we
spend or allocate because it came out of the pocket of a hardworking
American taxpayer.
So it just seems to me that Mr. Barletta's idea makes sense: this
idea that somehow actually making sure that people qualify for a
subsidy is somehow being mean-hearted and not being actually a steward
of these dollars.
I just wanted to point this out. This is H.R. 3590, the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act. It was the final vote on March 21,
2010. And I would just tell some of my colleagues: Take a look because
some of your names are very prominent there--and you can see it. The
piece that we are talking about is the piece that was included in the
Affordable Care Act. This isn't something that we dreamed up overnight;
this is something that was actually part of the Affordable Care Act.
And now we are saying: My goodness, we are allowing these subsidies
to be out there. And then what we are saying is: Well, we are going to
presume that whoever it is who applied for these subsidies actually is
entitled to them.
Now, that only works in Washington, D.C. In the private sector, you
usually have to verify before you do anything, as opposed to saying:
Well, do you know what, somebody said that they were entitled to this,
so we ought to just go ahead and pass this on.
I have got to tell you: It is a lot easier when it doesn't come out
of your pocket. But, when it comes out of hardworking American
taxpayers' pockets, I think it is incumbent upon us, as elected
representatives, to say that there is something that doesn't make sense
here.
When over half a million people receive over $750 million in
subsidies, somebody, somewhere, should be saying: How did this happen?

I think it is interesting that neither HHS or the IRS has any method
in place to actually go out and recoup these dollars that were
wrongfully awarded. This just doesn't make sense. Mr. Barletta is doing
something that is common sense.
And I know that when the act was passed, the most famous quote of all
is: We have to pass it to find out what is in it.
Well, we did pass it. I wasn't here. I was in the private sector. But
these are all of the folks who passed it. This is actually your policy.
This is Lou Barletta's policy. This isn't a Republican policy. This is
a policy that was part of the Affordable Care Act.
Why in the world would we ever, as taxpayers, expect people to verify
this type of activity?
We should just say: Listen, they seem like pretty good folks, and
they are going to eventually get back to us.
We have no way of recouping this money.
Now, we can rail about people not having hearts; we can rail about
people who don't like immigrants; and we can rail about taking this out
on hardworking families and making it difficult for them to get by.
I would just say this: We are trying to protect taxpayer money. We
are trying to protect something that is so basic. We are trying to
protect something that is actually part of the law that was passed as
part of the Affordable Care Act. This isn't a foreign idea. This just
makes sense.
So I would just ask my friends: Listen, please go to H.R. 3590, the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and go to section 1411--
this is your language, by the way. As I said, I wasn't here at the
time. I did read it, and I am still scratching my head to say: Do you
know what, this is probably a good policy; you should probably read it
before you pass it.
But it says exactly what it is that you expect people receiving these
subsidies to go through.
It is amazing me today that, all of a sudden, this is Potomac
amnesia: I don't remember that part of the law.
So, look, there could be nothing more sensible--commonsensical--than
making sure that before we issue subsidies, that are funded by
hardworking American taxpayers, that we actually verify who it is that
is getting them; rather than going ahead and putting it out there and
then saying: Do you know what, maybe they don't qualify.
Well, how do you get the money back?
This pay-and-chase idea, to me, would never work in the private
sector because we actually have to be responsible for what we do.
Now, I don't want you to get all wrapped around the axle and think
that somehow we are coming after people in a way that doesn't make
sense.
Here is what I want you to think about: I want you to think about the
people who actually pay the tab, the people who actually pick up the
check, the people who actually pay taxes, the people to who we are the
most responsible.
And to somehow come up with an idea that it is mean-hearted to verify
who is getting these subsidies, to me, is tomfoolery. If you want to do
something, and you want to make it hard for people to understand what
we are doing, do this: I would love to go back home and tell people
what you folks just don't understand. You sent the money to us, we
decided how we are going to spend it, we decided that we can give it to
anybody we want, and, by the way, if they don't qualify, that shouldn't
bother you.
Now, let's just do something that makes sense.

{time} 1400

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional
1 minute.
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Well, you know what? I really don't need a
full minute to talk about something that is common sense, but I have
been here now a little bit over 6 years, and it is hard for me to
believe that this act was passed back on March 21, 2010, and the
language we are talking about today is the actual language that was in
the bill that we had to pass before we could find out what was in it.
Maybe at that time somebody should have read this, and it was a good
idea to actually verify these things. That would have saved a whole lot
of time, a whole lot of money, and a whole lot of irresponsible
spending.

[[Page H4880]]

Again, whether you want to agree with the study or not agree with the
study, when half a million people receive over $750 million in
hardworking American taxpayer money, and then we are told: Geez, I
can't believe you are that mean that you want to go back and recoup
money from people who didn't deserve it--no. What we are saying is
let's verify first. Let's make sure of every single penny that goes out
of this House--the people's House, by the way--and let's do what is the
responsible thing to do as stewards of every single taxpayer penny.
Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I would just remind my colleagues that
under the ACA, there is also a verification process for subsidies. But
I would just raise the issue that for newborn children, most of whom
don't have a Social Security number when they are newborn--and this
includes children of our military members serving overseas--if they
have a severe health problem, then delaying verification, which can be
up to 6 weeks for them, can mean the difference between life and death.
And I am talking about a situation such as that experienced by Jimmy
Kimmel, if you take the time to see his response to what happened with
his newborn.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the
distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett), also a member of the
Ways and Means Committee.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, this so-called American Health Care bill is
a real Titanic of a sorry piece of legislation: It would sink 23
million Americans losing their health coverage; millions more who have
a preexisting condition would face great barriers; it would undermine
Medicare; it would provide price-gouging, Big Pharma manufacturers with
a huge tax windfall, all as part of almost a trillion dollars in a tax
cut--which is what their bill is really all about, not healthcare--
those benefits going to a few corporations and the superrich among us.
Most every healthcare professional group in the country along with
the AARP and the vast majority of Americans reject this bill. We would
have even more people rejecting if it hadn't been hidden, if even one
administration official had had the courage to come and be held
accountable for this bill in a public hearing. But, apparently, we will
not have that anywhere in this Congress before this huge bill is
approved.
The American people are locked on board this sinking ship. Our
insurance markets are already taking on water from Trump sabotage, and
disaster looms in front of us.
This is not a Verify First bill that we take up today; it is a patch
on this sinking Titanic ship.
It is not a Verify First; it is a ``Vilify First'' our immigrants,
and it is really just the next chapter in Trump's anti-immigrant
crusade, which he tweets about on a regular basis.
Our Republican colleagues celebrate this Immigrant Heritage Month,
June. They celebrate the fourth anniversary of 68 Members of the United
States Senate, in a bipartisan way, approving comprehensive immigration
reform. They do it with this ``Vilify First Act.''
And while I want to protect taxpayers and think we have a
responsibility to ferret out and prevent every dime of fraud that might
be out there, I also feel a responsibility to struggling families that
I represent who already have so many barriers in the way of getting
medical coverage to their children.
Not everyone is as fortunate as Jimmy Kimmel, although he had the
misfortune of a child born with serious medical needs, he at least had
the ability to do something about it. And folks need to be able to
access promptly and immediately, sometimes, a family doctor.
We should fight fraud wherever it occurs. I do wish we had the same
level of enthusiasm about protecting taxpayers from Medicaid fraud by
big pharmaceutical manufacturers, for offshore tax dodging that denies
us billions of dollars, as they voice for taking on the poor. We don't
have that, but we do need to analyze carefully what the Government
Accountability Office that provides the basis for this legislation
really said.
They found a need to address $750 million. Under the program, they
did not find one dollar, one red cent that an immigrant had taken
improperly from this program. They did not document any immigrant
fraud. There may be some out there, but you can't rely on this study to
find it.
We were asked: Well, why do you think this has anything to do with
immigrants? Well, I can tell you why. Because the sponsor of the
amendment, who is here on the floor, when he introduced this piece of
legislation, said he was after what he called illegal immigrants; and
he said that he would not vote for TrumpCare, that sorry Titanic of a
bill, he would not vote for it unless this provision was adopted.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. SANCHEZ. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I personally represent San Antonio, San
Marcus, Lockhart, and Austin families that already face barriers to
getting their children medical coverage, and adding an additional
requirement just means they are that much less likely, in the event of
an emergency, to be able to get coverage. We need to prevent fraud.
This is not the way to do it.
What we need is comprehensive immigration reform to deal with these
immigration issues just like the Senate approved 4 years ago--make
improvements on it; debate it; consider it--sink this sorry piece of
legislation, try to raise up the antifraud provisions and the
comprehensive immigration reform that we so desperately need, and to
grow this economy.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2581, the
Verify First Act. This legislation is part of our continued focus on
improving the Nation's healthcare system beyond the passage of the
American Health Care Act. The bill ensures those who receive help to
purchase health insurance are truly eligible. What is wrong with that?
Under the Obama administration, an estimated $750 million in tax
credits have been awarded to over 500,000 individuals who were later
determined to be ineligible. For the sake of hardworking Americans
everywhere, we need to be better stewards of taxpayer dollars. That
means verify first.
Why not? The Verify First Act protects taxpayer dollars from waste,
fraud, and abuse under ObamaCare and, in the future, under the American
Health Care Act. This bill is good for taxpayers and good for America's
healthcare future. It is as simple as that.
Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to
the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Judy Chu), a colleague from the
Ways and Means Committee.
Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition
to this misguided bill. This bill will prevent people who have a
legitimate right to healthcare from accessing it and will harm them,
and it is for reasons that are completely unjustified.
Currently, taxpayers must provide a Social Security number or tax
I.D. number in order to qualify for a premium tax credit for
healthcare. While the taxpayer's citizenship and immigration status are
verified, they are given a 90-day grace period in which to prove their
legal status.
This grace period was put into place to ensure that people do not
lose critical healthcare coverage and continue to have it while their
paperwork is cleared. This bill would remove this safeguard and make it
more difficult for numerous people to obtain health insurance. That
could be a matter of life or death.
This bill would certainly create barriers for immigrants who are here
legally. It would also create barriers for U.S. citizens who have
complications with their Social Security numbers. This includes people
who recently change their name after marriage, have an error in their
records, were born abroad, or were victims of human trafficking. It
would also affect newborns, who do not get their Social Security number
right away.
Republicans claim that reports released by the GAO and the Senate
Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee were proof of
immigrants defrauding the government, but neither of these reports back
up this claim.
First of all, the GAO report was actually a test to identify
vulnerabilities

[[Page H4881]]

for fraud in the system. They did not find instances of immigrants
committing fraud for healthcare subsidies. The Senate report found that
500,000 individuals did not complete their verification process and
were, thus, deemed ineligible for subsidies.
The author of today's bill takes this information and leaps to the
conclusion that all those who did not complete the process were
undocumented immigrants and were attempting to commit fraud, but there
is nothing in either report to substantiate this. In fact, the ACA
requires undocumented immigrants or anybody who does receive subsidies
in error to pay back every cent on their tax return at the end of the
year.
This bill seeks to address a problem that does not exist. Instead, it
would harm people by denying or delaying health insurance subsidies to
people who need them. This is wrong. I urge my colleagues to vote
``no.''
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Marino).
Mr. MARINO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2581, the
Verify First Act, which was introduced by my colleague, good friend,
and fellow Pennsylvanian Lou Barletta. This is a simple piece of
legislation that ensures no American taxpayer dollars are used to fund
healthcare for those who are here undocumented.
Congress, the American people, and my constituents were told that,
under ObamaCare, illegal immigrants would not be eligible for tax
credits. Instead, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs
Committee issued a report detailing that, as of June 2015, over half a
million people without legal status have received up to $750 million in
taxpayer-funded subsidies. No record can be found if any of this was
ever recovered.
It is time that we ensure our taxpayers that their dollars are only
going to those with legal status. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes''
on this legislation.
Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased at this time to yield 3
minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), my colleague on
the Ways and Means Committee.
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, it is always a privilege to share the
Chamber with my fellow Northwesterner.
We have gone through this in the Ways and Means Committee with one of
the least productive hearings I can remember, and that says a lot in my
10 years on the committee. We do it good natured, but, frankly, it is
beside the point. And my friends from the Ways and Means Committee have
documented the fact that this is a solution in search of a problem.
The real outrage ought to be what is happening now behind closed
doors to take a flawed bill that came from the House, was actually made
worse in order to get the votes for it, and passed through on a narrow
party-line vote--actually, a number of Republicans voted against it--
lodged in the Senate, no public hearings. In fact, we are told that
they are not enabling people to actually get ahold of the documents to
know what is going on.
You know, it is stunning to me to have heard some of my Republican
friends complain about the process of the Affordable Care Act. I was in
the middle of that. We took a year. Three committees in the House had
multiple hearings, work sessions. There were actually some Republican
amendments adopted out in the open. CBO scored the bill so people knew.
Now we are on the verge of, we are told, having that sneak through the
Senate without the glare of publicity, without an open public process,
which will deny healthcare to millions of people--millions of people--
and shred much of the good work that has been done through the
Affordable Care Act.

{time} 1415

We have been told and we acknowledge there are little things that we
could do to fine-tune it, but in 7 years of Republican crow and crow,
we have never had an opportunity to do that. Instead, this
administration and my Republican friends consistently made it worse,
destabilized, sent conflicting signals to the healthcare industry, to
the insurance companies. And you don't have to take my word for it.
News accounts quote people in the industry about what the Republicans
have done to destabilize it and try to make it fail.
There was a reason that virtually everybody in the healthcare space
was opposed to the Republican approach. It is not thoughtful. It is not
fair. It is not effective. It is not necessary. But today we are
looking at some provisions that will make it a little more burdensome.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). The time of the gentleman has
expired.
Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Oregon.
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, there may be some people that will be
swept up who had gotten care that they didn't, but there will be people
who will be swept up who were entitled to care who could not jump
through the hurdles or, at a minimum, had their care delayed. We
haven't properly analyzed that. But as I say, it is beside the point.
There are tremendous opportunities for us to work together on a
bipartisan agenda that we have in the Ways and Means Committee, of
things that we could move forward and agree upon to make healthcare
better, that doesn't depend on shredding the guarantees of the ACA;
that doesn't depend on gutting Medicaid, which more Americans rely upon
for their healthcare than any other program in the country. We wouldn't
have to mess with that.
Instead, we are having a sideshow. I don't know that it goes
anywhere, but it certainly isn't the issue that Americans could focus
on, should focus on, that is going to imperil their healthcare for tens
of millions of Americans if the Republicans have their way.
That is exactly why we are debating this today, to deflect attention,
occupy time, and prevent doing the job that we should have done right
here, and allow the Senate to be able to continue this unfortunate
process.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Renacci), a colleague of mine on the Ways and
Means Committee.
Mr. RENACCI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2581, the
Verify First Act, introduced by my good friend and colleague,
Congressman Lou Barletta. This legislation seeks to remedy one of the
many oversights of the ACA that it failed to address--an oversight at
the expense of the American taxpayer.
Under the current system, the Treasury disburses credits to
individuals before their application has been verified. In the real
world, where I come from, that just doesn't happen. If the IRS then
finds out that this individual is not eligible, they have to try to get
the money back. It is almost impossible to recover that money.
This legislation closes a loophole simply by requiring an individual
be verified as lawfully present before the Treasury releases the money.
It is important to understand that the issue at hand is about poor
stewardship of hard-earned tax dollars. That is what the American
people sent us down here for. The sole intent of this credit was for
the credits to be used lawfully, and this legislation helps ensure just
that.
At a time when our national debt is $19 trillion and counting, it
makes no sense for the Federal Government to continue to write these
checks. My constituents in Ohio depend on me to ensure responsible
stewardship of their hard-earned tax dollars.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to commit to the same
responsibility and support the Verify First Act.
Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are calling this bill
and the two other healthcare bills on the floor this week ``fixes'' for
TrumpCare. But what exactly is it that you are fixing?
This bill does nothing to address the more than 23 million
individuals who will lose their coverage or the $800 billion cut to
Medicaid under TrumpCare. Nothing in this bill will do anything to fix
the waiver allowing insurers to discriminate against individuals with
preexisting conditions by jacking up their rates, and nothing in this
bill will do anything to roll back the massive tax cut that they are
handing out to the top 400 households in America.
Instead of addressing the real issues with our healthcare system, you
bring

[[Page H4882]]

a racist bill to the floor that you use to buy a vote, literally, for
your TrumpCare bill.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the rules of the House are very
clear about imputing the character of lawmakers, and I would warn the
gentlewoman, she is treading on the rules.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman attempting to raise a
parliamentary inquiry?
Mr. BRADY of Texas. I am considering.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from California has the
time.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. I will monitor the remainder of the remarks.
Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I was addressing a racist piece of
legislation that was used to buy a vote for the TrumpCare bill. But the
problem is that this bill doesn't do anything that it says it does. It
is based on a blatantly partisan Senate report that doesn't even say
what my colleagues on the other side of the aisle claim that it says.
It is baffling how many of my Republican colleagues believe that this
report that they keep citing actually said anything about undocumented
immigrants. Did you ``read'' this report in the same way that you
``read'' the AHCA and all of its amendments?
If you actually read the report, you would know that it does not
state that these individuals were undocumented immigrants, but only
that they did not complete the verification process. The hurdles might
have been too big, it might have taken too much time or too much
effort, and they dropped out of the verification process without
completing it.
The report also doesn't say that hundreds of thousands of
undocumented immigrants enrolled and received premium credits. The
report states that ``as of September 30, 2015, CMS awarded
approximately $750 million in advance premium tax credits to
individuals enrolled through healthcare.gov who CMS later determined to
be ineligible. . . .''
It is funny that the daughter of Mexican American immigrants is able
to read and understand the distinctions made in this report better than
some of my native-born colleagues can.
Mr. Speaker, I want to close by begging my Republican colleagues to
prove to me that this bill isn't about shutting out immigrants from
access to care: legal immigrants or children of those born overseas to
our military or newborn children or victims of domestic violence or
victims of human trafficking.
Prove to me that you care about the health and wellbeing of all
Americans, regardless of the color of their skin or their economic
circumstances.
I am actually in agreement with you that ineligible individuals
should not see a single penny of the subsidies provided by both the ACA
and the AHCA, but there are protections already in place where only
citizens and people lawfully present in the United States can enroll in
marketplace coverage and get subsidies to help them pay their premiums
and cost-sharing charges.
This bill doesn't fix anything. It just seeks to further demonize
immigrants as criminals and people with my last name out of the
healthcare system.
Instead of wasting our time on a bill that is in search of a problem
to solve, a problem that doesn't even exist, let's work together to
make sure that other Americans are not caught up in the unintended
consequences of this bill and aren't denied coverage when they are
actually eligible for those subsidies and that coverage.
Let's actually work on a better way for the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Let's make sure we fact-check some things here. Nothing in this bill
changes the eligibility of the Affordable Care Act and who is eligible
for it. In fact, the Republican healthcare bill that passed the House,
according to the American Action Network, there will be roughly 5.3
million more Americans that will be eligible for help for their
healthcare under the Republican plan than under the Affordable Care
Act.
Let's fact-check a couple of other issues. We are told that this has
all come about because the IRS has not funded properly, but I would
remind our Democrat colleagues that the majority of our Democrat
colleagues supported the spending levels, which President Obama signed
into law regarding the Internal Revenue Service.
Secondly, they have raised the issue that there are no Social
Security numbers available. But in truth, nearly 96 percent of children
born in America receive their Social Security numbers within 2 weeks.
There is an expedited process going forward to achieve the others as
well.
We are told, listening today: there is no fraud in ObamaCare; there
is no fraud to worry about; there is no need for this bill by Mr.
Barletta.
But I remind our colleagues that twice the Government Accountability
Office looked at eligibility within the Affordable Care Act. In 2014,
they used fake identities to see if they could obtain ObamaCare
coverage on the exchange, and in 11 out of 12 applications--some with
no data at all--the GAO was granted subsidies for people who don't even
exist.
So you say: Well, that is 2014. Certainly, things got better.
Well, last year, they ran it again in the special enrollment period,
and in this test, the GAO was able to obtain coverage for imaginary
people in 9 out of 12 cases.
We are told today that our taxpayer dollars aren't being wasted.
Well, the American public knows better, and they know this because we
have worked for 7 years to oppose what we knew would be a failing law.
We held more than 200 congressional hearings. We had 65-plus hours of
open debate on the American Health Care Act, and 37 bills passed the
House that were ultimately, in one form or another, included in the
Republican bill.
The bottom line is this, Mr. Speaker: Our Democrat friends are in
denial. ObamaCare is collapsing. Prices have more than doubled. They
haven't gone down. They have more than doubled for most Americans; in
some States more than tripled, and those rates aren't going down. They
are skyrocketing. People aren't getting more choices of healthcare
plans. They are disappearing.
Texas has seen nine insurers abandon our State--I think more than any
other State--and it is getting fewer and fewer. It is occurring across
the country.
You are not able to see more local doctors and go to more local
hospitals; just the opposite. It is fewer, and that is hurting everyone
in America. ObamaCare is a sinking ship, and it is taking some very
good Americans down with it.
The question is: Do we begin to give people a lifeline to truly
affordable care?
With this bill, Mr. Barletta insists in a commonsense way that your
tax dollars go to those we are trying to help: those who can't get
healthcare at work; those who don't get it through government programs
like Medicare or the VA; those small-business people; those folks
coming out of college; those entrepreneurs who are at home starting a
new business or raising their families; even those early retirees.
Those are the people we are trying to help, and every dollar counts.
Mr. Barletta's bill, which I am proud as chairman of the Ways and
Means Committee to bring to you, makes a commonsense requirement: that
you be verified to get those subsidies before you receive them; to make
sure those precious dollars actually go to the Americans we are trying
to help.
I strongly support the Verify First Act. If you stand for stopping
waste, and fraud, and abuse in protection of your tax dollars, I would
urge your support for this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BABIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2581, the Verify
First Act, which will put important safeguards in place to ensure that
federal tax dollars are not fraudulently used to pay for illegal
immigrants to enroll in Obamacare.
Right now, the federal government provides Obamacare premium tax
credits to individuals before fully making sure that these individuals
rightfully qualify for these benefits.
For example, the federal government has wrongfully issued hundreds of
millions of dollars in tax credits to individuals without first
verifying their immigration status. After the money goes out the door,
the Internal Revenue Service must attempt to track down these
individuals to recoup the money.

[[Page H4883]]

Last year the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government
Affairs reported that more than $750 million in taxpayer dollars went
to 500,000 people who did not meet the qualifications for those
benefits.
H.R. 2581 addresses this issue by requiring that the Social Security
Administration, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department
of Health and Human Services to certify that an individual is a
citizen, national, or legal immigrant before they receive a health care
tax credit.
Given that our nation is nearly $20 trillion in debt, we cannot
afford to hand out hundreds of millions of dollars in Obamacare tax
credits to individuals who do not qualify.
This bill is a common-sense measure that puts the interests of
hardworking taxpayers first and ensures that health care dollars will
be directed only at those who are eligible.
I hope that the Senate will soon take up and pass this commonsense
bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 378, the previous question is ordered on
the bill, as amended.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was
read the third time.

{time} 1430

Motion to Recommit

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentlewoman opposed to the bill?
Ms. SANCHEZ. I am opposed to the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to
recommit.
The Clerk read as follows:

Ms. Sanchez moves to recommit the bill H.R. 2581 to the
Committee on Ways and Means with instructions to report the
same back to the House forthwith with the following
amendment:
Page 4, line 5, insert after the first period the
following: ``The preceding sentence shall not apply in the
case of a delay in verification of such status of an
individual who has not attained the age of 1.''.
Page 5, line 4, insert after the first period the
following: ``The preceding sentence shall not apply in the
case of a delay in verification of such status of an
individual who has not attained the age of 1.''.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
California is recognized for 5 minutes in support of her motion.
Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, this is the final amendment to the bill,
which will not kill the bill.
If adopted, the Verify First Act will proceed to final passage as
amended.
The Democratic motion to recommit simply amends the Verify First Act
to ensure that our most vulnerable--newborns and infants--do not
experience a delay in health coverage.
We know that the citizenship of newborns can't be verified
electronically because they don't have Social Security numbers yet when
they are born. In order to verify their child's status, parents have to
send a copy of their child's birth certificate, which can take anywhere
from 1 to 6 weeks to obtain, depending on the State, and that is the
best-case scenario if the parents throw a perfect game in documenting
and planning for the arrival of their newborn. Just like any perfect
game, a little luck is involved in that.
That luck includes having the Social Security Administration process
your child's Social Security number as soon as they receive it, that
the Administration doesn't make a mistake in the spelling of your
child's name, and that you have the financial resources and education
to know exactly what steps you need to take to ensure that your newborn
has coverage the moment they come out of your womb.
When most people are anticipating the birth of a child, that is not
what they are thinking about. The birth of a child is one of life's
most precious moments. The joy you feel when you hold your child for
the first time should be the only feeling going through your mind.
Filling the paperwork out to ensure that your child is covered
shouldn't even be something that you should have to worry about.
But the Verify First Act, as currently drafted, would give you
another thing to worry about and add an unnecessary barrier for
newborns to receive the care they need. God forbid if your child needs
extra care after they are born but doesn't have coverage because your
plan is waiting to verify your child's status.
A child's life should not hang in the balance because of paperwork
and red tape. For all the claims that Republicans are the pro-life
party, they sure know how to make life difficult for a newborn as soon
as they are out of the womb. They claim to protect the lives of the
unborn and crusade against lifesaving institutions such as Planned
Parenthood. But where are their morals and love of life after the child
is born? It somehow magically disappears, and they will throw every
obstacle up to ensure that newborns don't receive the care that they
need and that they are entitled to.
Whether it is through the unintended consequences of a poorly drafted
bill such as this one, or gutting the program that covers half the
births in the U.S., Republicans will do everything to gut access to
care or place obstacles in struggling people's paths. That's right, by
cutting over $800 billion out of Medicaid, Republicans are endangering
the health and welfare of all newborn children.
Earlier I asked my Republican colleagues to prove to me that they
care about the health and well-being of all Americans regardless of the
color of their skin or their economic circumstances. Well, I am asking
them now to prove to me that they care about the well-being of newborn
children.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for the Democratic motion
to recommit, and let us write a bill that will actually help all U.S.
citizens get the coverage that they need and are entitled to.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion
to recommit.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this isn't about verifying for
infants. Ninety-six percent of children receive their Social Security
numbers within 2 weeks after they are born in a hospital, and many of
them have parents who are eligible for these credits as well, so it is
immediate care. Even without all that, they can achieve and receive
healthcare immediately as they process the premium support.
In the American Health Care Act that passed the House, there are more
than $1 billion set aside to help further the verification process to
make sure that we are providing timely credits--but for those who are
eligible. In truth, our friends across the aisle want to detract from
the challenge today, which is that ObamaCare is a sinking ship.
Today's bill is about the taxpayers. Congress has to do all in its
power to ensure the money taken from hardworking taxpayers is actually
used for programs that improve their lives in this country and are not
frittered away on fraud and abuse.
That is why this bill is so critical. It doesn't change eligibility.
It simply says that we are not going to pay first and chase later,
which always is a losing approach for taxpayers. Not a dollar of
taxpayer money should go out the door until citizenship or legal status
is verified, period.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to defeat the Democrats' motion to
recommit and stand on behalf of taxpayers who want those dollars to go
to Americans we are truly trying to help for the first time get truly
affordable healthcare.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is
ordered on the motion to recommit.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.

[[Page H4884]]

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