[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 121 (Thursday, July 18, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E941-E942]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DEBRA A. HAALAND

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 18, 2019

  Ms. HAALAND. Madam Speaker, on July 17, I was inadvertently not 
recorded for Roll Call vote 493. I had intended to vote ``Aye.'' As a 
cosponsor of the bill, H.R. 748, the Middle Class Health Benefits Tax 
Repeal Act of 2019, I strongly support this important legislation that 
will help reduce the cost of healthcare for the over 181 million 
Americans who depend on employer-sponsored health insurance. To avoid 
the 40 percent excise tax, many employers have been making changes in 
plan design that are driving up deductibles and out-of-pocket costs, 
yet one in five employers are expected to hit the taxable threshold in 
2022. As a result, this tax is placing a disproportionate burden on 
working families, which was not the intent of Congress when it enacted 
the Affordable Care Act, and I intended to vote ``Aye'' on this 
legislation to repeal it.

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