Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 5 (Thursday, January 8, 2026)

[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 5 (Thursday, January 8, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H213-H227]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

BREAKING THE GRIDLOCK ACT

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 780, the House
will proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1834, which the
Clerk will report by title.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 780, the
amendment in the nature of a substitute, submitted by Mr. McGovern of
Massachusetts, and printed in the Congressional Record of November 12,
2025, is adopted and the bill, as amended, is considered read.
The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:

H.R. 1834

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

SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF ENHANCED PREMIUM TAX CREDIT.

(a) Extension of Rules To Increase Premium Assistance
Amounts._Clause (iii) of section 36B(b)(3)(A) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended_

(1) in the heading, by striking ``through
2025'' and inserting ``through 2028'', and

(2) in the matter preceding subclause (I),
by striking ``before January 1, 2026'' and inserting
``before January 1, 2029''.

(b) Extension of Rule To Allow Credit
to Taxpayers Whose Household Income Exceeds 400 Percent
of Poverty Line._Subparagraph (E) of section 36B(c)(1) of such
Code is amended_

(1) in the heading, by striking ``through 2025'' and inserting
``through 2028'', and

(2) by striking ``before January 1, 2026'' and inserting
``before January 1, 2029''.

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

On January 8, 2026, from page H213, third column, to
page H217, second column, the following appeared:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Breaking
the Gridlock Act'' ... the activities of the Energy Information
Administration, $1,000,000, to remain available until expended.

The online version has been corrected to read:

SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF ENHANCED PREMIUM TAX CREDIT.

(a) Extension of Rules To Increase Premium Assistance
Amounts._Clause (iii) of section 36B(b)(3)(A) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended_

(1) in the heading, by striking ``through
2025'' and inserting ``through 2028'', and

(2) in the matter preceding subclause (I),
by striking ``before January 1, 2026'' and inserting
``before January 1, 2029''.

(b) Extension of Rule To Allow Credit
to Taxpayers Whose Household Income Exceeds 400 Percent
of Poverty Line._Subparagraph (E) of section 36B(c)(1) of such
Code is amended_

(1) in the heading, by striking ``through 2025'' and inserting
``through 2028'', and

(2) by striking ``before January 1, 2026'' and inserting
``before January 1, 2029''.

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TEXT FIRST COLUMN AND FIRST PARAGRAPH SECOND COLUMN

HAS BEEN REDACTED

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

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill, as amended, shall be debatable for 1 hour, equally divided and controlled by the majority leader and the minority leader, or their respective designees.
The gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith). General Leave
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Missouri?
There was no objection.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to $100 billion worth of bailouts for a broken system that is fueled by Democratic mandates.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to subsidizing insurance plans for wealthy people. Any support for the bill ensures that subsidies go to wealthy families making as much as $600,000 a year.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to using hard-earned taxpayer dollars to bail Democrats out of their own decision_their own decision_to make this COVID-era spending temporary so that they could give Green New Deal tax breaks to the wealthy for electric vehicles and solar panels.
They had the option. They had the option to make it permanent twice, whether it was in the American Rescue Plan or the Inflation Reduction Act. Instead, they wanted to put their resources into their wealthy environmentalists.
Check the math. Nearly half of all Americans get their insurance from their employer, nearly a quarter from Medicaid, and a bit less than that from Medicare.
Mr. Speaker, only 7 percent of the population relies on ObamaCare marketplace plans. This Chamber should be about helping 100 percent of Americans, and lowering the cost of healthcare and premiums, not just 7 percent.
Mr. Speaker, it is shameful that Democrats are only focusing on 7 percent of the population while ignoring the millions of working families who are struggling to afford healthcare.
Since ObamaCare was enacted, premiums have increased by 80 percent. Since ObamaCare was enacted_let me say that again_the premiums have increased by 80 percent. Deductibles and out-of-pocket costs have skyrocketed. Families worry about medical debt_that is, those who still have access to doctors. In fact, 150 rural hospitals have closed since passage of ObamaCare, and small businesses were crushed under the weight of the new mandates.
Not only did Democrats refuse to fix any of this, but they want to make it permanent at a cost of $400 billion. No thanks, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, reverting these tax credits back to the original structure that the Democrats designed means that 93 percent of enrollees will still retain very generous subsidies next year. Mr. Speaker, 60 percent of the enrollees will still have access to a plan at or below $50 a month.
I represent one of the poorest congressional districts in the country, and still, 99.7 percent of my constituents in my district, one of the poorest congressional districts, will be unaffected by this expiration.
This is all about subsidizing the wealthy, so why are we even having this debate? It is because Democrats chose to make these giveaways temporary_not once, but twice, Mr. Speaker_as part of their partisan spending bills. The reason they did so was to shower the rich with Green New Deal subsidies, which they made permanent. We reversed those in the big, beautiful bill.
Mr. Speaker, here is a word you won't hear from Democrats: ``fraud.'' They forced taxpayers to pay up to $27 billion for as many as 6.4 million individuals fraudulently enrolled in the ObamaCare plans. Nearly half of all enrollees_that is, 12 million people_didn't even file one single medical claim, not even a prescription, all year, last year. It sounds like they didn't even know that they had insurance through ObamaCare, but those insurance companies were subsidized, almost half of them, on the exchanges.

1540

If Democrats think that is not a problem, that is pretty scary.
I called on the Government Accountability Office to investigate. They created fictitious ObamaCare applicants with fake documentation, and 100 percent_not some, but 100 percent; not half, but 100 percent_were approved in the first year, and 90 percent are still being subsidized, resulting in checks worth more than $12,000 per month going to insurance companies.
One Social Security number was associated with more than 125 different ObamaCare policies. One Social Security number was tied to more than 125 policies_waste, fraud, abuse. Apparently, the other side doesn't see that. They don't see the truth. In fact, more than 58,000 dead people were being subsidized, according to the Government Accountability Office.
In response, Democrats only brag about higher health insurance enrollment. They are really celebrating.

[[Page H218]]

What they are celebrating is subsidizing insurers for people without a
pulse. For Democrats, fraud comes first.
Mr. Speaker, Republicans are putting real, living Americans first.
Republicans blocked illegal immigrants' access to taxpayer-funded
healthcare benefits, then eliminated over $185 billion worth of fraud
and waste in the ObamaCare marketplace. For Americans who are eligible,
Republicans actually lowered ObamaCare premiums and expanded access to
health savings accounts, direct primary care, and telehealth for
millions, including ObamaCare enrollees, as part of the Working
Families Tax Cuts.
There was $50 billion invested in the healthcare needs of rural
communities. The Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act was
passed, which also lowered premiums even further, as well as provided
more freedom and flexibility for healthcare access and increased
competition by negotiating better drug prices for workers.
Mr. Speaker, I will take greater access to affordable healthcare any
day over shoveling more tax dollars into Democrats' healthcare fraud
schemes. I oppose this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this argument is about universal access. For years, the
Republican leadership in this institution has attempted to avert this
very moment. For us this is not to be about spiking the football. This
is not to be about an end-zone dance. This is about to declare a major
victory for the American people.
Despite what I have heard, they have used every maneuver and
procedure to prevent the very debate that we are going to have for the
next hour. All these years later, they never even had a plan or an
alternative.
We can finally choose families, and they can join us today in
extending the ACA tax credits and save healthcare for millions of
members of the American family. How easily and quickly they did a
massive tax cut for the wealthiest amongst us while subsequently
arguing that they could deny average men and women an opportunity for
health insurance.
So here we are all these years later, as one who helped to write the
Affordable Care Act, the ACA is still standing. We will continue to
improve it every single year. When I consider now the uninsured
enrollment in America is down to 6 percent, it is thanks to the ACA.
If Congress did not do what we are about to do in the next hour, a
family of four making $130,000 would see their marketplace premium go
from $921 to $1,992. That would be an 18.4 percent increase. Our
enhanced credits make sure that nobody would pay more than 8.5 percent
of their income for coverage.
Now, Republicans think that people can afford increased premiums by
37 percent, and that is what they are proposing today. They said 2
weeks ago that they had a healthcare plan that they wrote on Friday
night. As I noted at the time, it was held together by bubble gum and
Elmer's Glue. By the way, Democrats never even got to see it. If they
had a healthcare plan alternative, they should have shown it to us.
Let me say this, Mr. Speaker. This is a good day for the American
family. This is an important consideration for this institution.
Despite repeated denials and efforts to thwart this very moment, in the
next hour, my colleagues are going to do for the American family what
they said they would do, and that is to extend these tax credits for
the ACA.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington).
Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, my friend from Massachusetts talked about
not seeing the Republican bill. There was a bipartisan provision in
there that would lower premiums by 11 percent per the Congressional
Budget Office, the nonpartisan budget office. This is a provision that
the Democrats all supported. They know we have to make the ObamaCare
market work. It doesn't work today. The facts belie that: double
premiums, double deductibles, one out of five claims rejected, limited
choice. It has failed. That experiment has failed.
The only game in town that has actually lowered costs of healthcare,
reduced premiums is what Republicans passed out of the House. There was
not a single Democrat vote to join us.
Here is what I can't understand for the life of me, and I have some
good friends over there, and I am not mad. I am miffed that Democrats
would all talk about affordability in healthcare and bring to this
Chamber the idea, the notion that Congress take a COVID-era program
that Democrats all designed to expire when COVID was over, that every
watchdog group has said is loaded with fraud and waste--as the chairman
said, Social Security numbers from tens of thousands of dead people--it
is siphoning money out of the taxpayers' pockets, away from the
vulnerable, and enriching insurance companies.
There are millions of ineligible people, billions of dollars of
fraud, and people are watching what is going on in the country,
especially in Minnesota. How could my colleagues across the aisle, in
good faith, call this affordable healthcare and stewardship of the
sacred treasure of our fellow Americans?

Republicans have a plan. It works. It is not perfect. There are some
things Congress could work together on. But for the love of God and
country, please, it is intellectually dishonest to tell the American
people that this COVID-era, fraud-ridden program is somehow going to
make healthcare affordable any more than the underlying bill itself,
ObamaCare, which everyone knows hasn't.
I said it the last time, I will say it again: Ronald Reagan was spot
on. Government isn't the solution. Government is the problem. This is a
case study for that. America needs less mandates, less taxes, less
regulations, and people need more freedom, more choices, more
competition.
Republicans are willing to work with Democrats, but this is beyond
the pale, and it is audacious to call it affordable healthcare. I am
amazed. I am surprised. I encourage my colleagues to roundly, soundly
stand firm and reject it, and no Republican should ever support this.
They didn't support ObamaCare when it was designed. They shouldn't
support doubling down on a failed policy, and I encourage them to not
begin now.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Massachusetts (Ms. Clark), the Democratic minority whip, who can stand
at that microphone and say the following: Every child in Massachusetts
has health insurance and 97 percent of the adults in Massachusetts are
covered because of the ObamaCare plan.
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
the Commonwealth for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, today, thanks to the persistence of the American people,
because millions of constituents have called their Members of Congress,
shown up at townhalls, shown up and marched in the streets, because of
parents who spoke out for their kids, for doctors who spoke out for
their patients, neighbors who mobilized together, today, Congress has a
chance to vote for Americans' healthcare.
Today, thanks to the strength and unity of our Democratic Caucus, the
House will vote to restore the ACA tax credits, and I will vote to
restore the affordable marketplace plans that working people depend on
to stay healthy, to live, to survive.
Today, I will vote to prioritize the lives of regular people over the
greed of billionaires and start bringing the Republican healthcare
crisis to an end.

{time} 1550

This vote won't solve every problem the GOP has created. We still
have to reverse their cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. We still have to
stop the closure of rural hospitals and deal with the maternity health
crisis and work together--yes, work together--to create a healthcare
system that is affordable and accessible to everyone.
Today, we can begin. Today, the people's House has a chance to stand
with and for the people. I hope we have a strong bipartisan majority
for this vote and that the Senate will immediately do the same.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bean).
Mr. BEAN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding
time.

[[Page H219]]

Mr. Speaker, when your old roof keeps leaking, you can keep adding
shingles to it, but eventually you must admit the structure underneath
isn't built to weather the storm. Rather than double down on a problem
that keeps getting more expensive, it is time sometimes to rethink the
foundation. Such is the case with ObamaCare.
Mr. Speaker, we all remember those promises made when Obama signed
the Affordable Care Act into law. If you like your doctor, you can keep
your doctor. It turns out that wasn't true. It is also not true the
promise made that this ObamaCare will bend the cost curve for
healthcare downward. That is not true at all. Premiums for the average
ObamaCare plan have skyrocketed much higher than traditional inflation
leaving patients with higher costs and fewer choices.
If Americans are just tuning in to C-SPAN, you might assume that
Republicans are eliminating the Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare
altogether. That is simply not the case.
The premium tax credits were developed during COVID to subsidize
Americans making more than 400 percent of the Federal poverty level,
including those making up to $600,000. People making up to $600,000 are
getting subsidized by the American taxpayers. In northeast Florida, we
call people making $600,000 rich, and that is who we are subsidizing
with these premium tax credits.
I have also got a news flash for you, Mr. Speaker: COVID is over. We
made these premium tax credits during COVID. COVID is over, and these
subsidies should be over with it.
ObamaCare will continue for those who need it. Americans making up to
400 percent of the poverty level are still eligible for the tax
credits. At this very moment that is still happening. That means a
family of four can make up to $128,000 and still qualify for help.
To call this, and I have heard it said a couple of times already, a
Republican healthcare crisis is fake news. There is new hope, Mr.
Speaker. Instead of throwing more money away, we can have a new day for
America to look at health savings accounts, to look at the Lower
Healthcare Premiums for All Act that according to the CBO is going to
lower premiums for everybody, all Americans across the Nation.
It is time to give more choice and more competition. Those are the
only ingredients that are going to make costs lower. We can't keep
patching the same roof. Everybody has sticker shock.
Mr. Speaker, I urge everybody, the right answer is to vote ``no'' on
extending these horrible tax credits.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries), the Democratic leader, whose
tactful leadership has brought us to this moment.
Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from
the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts for yielding and for his
tremendous leadership on behalf of protecting the healthcare of the
American people.
I rise today, Mr. Speaker, in strong support of this bipartisan
effort to protect the healthcare of the American people and ensure that
we extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, to make sure that tens
of millions of Americans do not experience dramatically increased
premiums, copays, and deductibles.
From the very beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have made
it clear that we will find bipartisan common ground with any of our
Republican colleagues in order to address the affordability issues that
are making life more expensive for everyday Americans, working-class
Americans, and middle-class Americans. That has been our commitment
from the very beginning.
Today, we are able to take a substantial step forward to address the
healthcare crisis that does exist in the United States of America and
was made worse by the one big, ugly bill. Medicaid was cut by the
largest amount in American history. As a result of the policies that
were part of that legislation, hospitals, nursing homes, and community-
based health clinics are closing all across America.
We have also seen an extraordinary assault on the Centers for Disease
Control and the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug
Administration, on vaccine availability, on public health, and on
healthcare of everyday Americans here in the United States of America.
Today, we have an opportunity to push back against that assault and
do it in a bipartisan way. That is what the American people have been
calling for: Democrats and Republicans working together to address the
affordability crisis in this country. It is not a hoax. It is very
real.
Housing costs are out of control. Grocery costs are out of control.
Electricity bills are out of control. Childcare costs are out of
control. Healthcare costs are out of control.
What we do here today will not be the end of the effort that is
necessary, but we can begin the effort that is necessary and extend the
Affordable Care Act tax credits.
Several things that were mentioned earlier by some of my colleagues
are completely and totally inaccurate. The Affordable Care Act tax
credits benefit working-class Americans, middle-class Americans, and
everyday Americans. That is why we are waging this fight.
We know that over 90 percent of the people who benefit from the tax
credits that we are working to protect today make on average $63,000 a
year. That is working-class America. That is middle-class America. That
is the heartland of America. That is rural America. That is urban
America. That is small-town America. That is what we are protecting
when we extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
This is not a partisan issue for us. This is an American issue.
In fact, we know that the 10 States that will be most adversely
impacted by the lapse in the Affordable Care Act tax credits are all,
Mr. Speaker, run by Republicans. We are standing up for the American
people. We are talking about States like West Virginia, Wyoming,
Alaska, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Alabama, South
Dakota, and North Dakota will be the States most impacted by the lapse
in the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
This is not a partisan issue for us. It is a patriotic one, and we
will always defend the healthcare of the American people. That is
exactly why.
This is an important moment for everyday Americans. It is what they
want to see out of this Congress, the people's House, the Article I
branch of government, the House of Representatives, the first amongst
equals coming together today, every single House Democrat and at least
10 House Republicans to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
Now, we believe as House Democrats that in this great country of ours
you work hard, you play by the rules, you should be able to live a
comfortable life, an affordable life, live the good life. You should
have a good-paying job, good housing, good education for your children,
good healthcare, and a good retirement. That is not too much to ask for
in the wealthiest country in the history of the world.

{time} 1600

There is a lot of work that needs to be done to make that aspiration,
the American Dream, the good life, a reality. Today, we take an
important step forward in that regard by extending the Affordable Care
Act tax credits.
When we get this done, we can send it over to the Senate, and,
hopefully, get it out of that Chamber and to the President's desk. It
will be part of our continuing commitment to lower the high cost-of-
living, fix our broken healthcare system here in the United States of
America, and ensure that in every single part of this country, for
working-class America, urban America, rural America, suburban America,
exurban America, the heartland of America, and small-town America, we
can bring the American Dream to life.
We will protect the healthcare of the American people today, but our
commitment doesn't end today. We will protect it tomorrow, this week,
next week, this month, this year, and next year. We will protect the
healthcare of the American people always and forever, and we will
always fight to bring the great American Dream to life.
Vote ``yes'' on extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Moran).
Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to point out before I get to my
prepared remarks that Leader Jeffries just said

[[Page H220]]

that we need to fix our broken healthcare system. It is a healthcare
system put into place by the Democrats. It is a healthcare system
extended by the Democrats. The proposal today will do nothing to extend
anything but the failures of the past. It will not fix the broken
system they put in place.
Mr. Speaker, that is why I rise today in opposition to this
Democratic discharge petition. It is fiscally irresponsible and fails
to address the waste, fraud, and abuse of ObamaCare while ignoring the
real problems in our healthcare system and ignoring the fact that these
temporary COVID-era enhanced subsidies have done nothing but pad the
profits of big insurance companies and drive up the very premiums that
they purport to reduce.
Mr. Speaker, let's look at the facts more closely. First, ObamaCare
has yet to deliver on the promises made to Americans over a decade ago.
Since the ACA was enacted, premiums have increased by roughly 80
percent. Guess what. Ninety percent of that increase has been paid for
by the taxpayers.
It is important to note that these premium tax credits are sent
directly to insurance companies, not the taxpayers, and it is no secret
why. The ACA was written by insurance companies to benefit insurance
companies, and it has served to drive up the stock price for those
insurance companies by more than 1,000 percent since the ACA came into
existence.
Meanwhile, families face out-of-pocket costs exceeding $20,000 a year
and a 95-percent increase in their premiums over that same time period.
This is hardly a coincidence in a system designed to reward the
insurers, not the patient.
Let's not forget that today's proposed extension of these pandemic-
era tax credits only relates to the 7 percent of Americans who are
actually enrolled in the ACA, not the other 93 percent of Americans who
are not participants in the failed ACA exchange. Of those 7 percent,
roughly one-half did not even use their coverage once last year. Yet,
the Democrats want to pour more money into a failing ACA program at a
cost of $400 billion.
Far too often, Mr. Speaker, taxpayers have been left paying the bill
for a broken system that lacks proper guardrails and has been grossly
mismanaged. The ACA is just another example of this, and we should not
spend more money to prop up a failing program, certainly not a COVID-
era, temporary program that they put in place and they, the Democrats,
set to expire this year.
Waste, fraud, and abuse in this program cannot be ignored. My fellow
colleagues have gone over that today in large measure, but today,
Congress is being asked to pass a clean 3-year extension and to
continue to prop up this madness and to prop up the waste, fraud, and
abuse. This cannot stand. The Democratic-backed Big Insurance business
model is clear: charge excessive premiums to get excessive profits,
deny coverage to patients, and shift costs onto both patients and
providers.
This has to end, and I urge my colleagues to oppose this measure.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Pelosi). There is no finer leader or person who was
more determined to help bring us to this moment and whose fortitude
helped to give us the ACA than Speaker Emerita Pelosi.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I
want to quote him when he said that this is a happy day. I thank Mr.
Leader for making it so, and I thank the chairman for making it so and
bringing it to the floor. My mouth will breathe an exclamation point to
the gentleman's beautiful comments earlier and those of our
distinguished leader, Mr. Jeffries.
Mr. Speaker, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., famously said: ``Of
all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking
and the most inhuman,'' he said, because people can die.
The Affordable Care Act, proudly also known as ObamaCare, is a pillar
of health and financial security for America's working families. Today,
we vote on Leader Jeffries' clear, commonsense, and urgent bill to
extend the ACA tax credits signed into law by President Biden so
healthcare remains affordable and accessible for the American people.
Every Democrat supports this bill because we believe healthcare is a
right for all and not a privilege for the few. No family should be
pushed out of coverage, and we welcome our Republican colleagues who
will be voting with us today. This makes it a happy day.
As we vote today, let us remember the stories of Americans we have
heard across the country. Parents saying: My baby was born with a heart
condition costing millions of dollars before the Affordable Care
Act. Husbands saying: My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and we
couldn't afford it. Families saying: Dad had a stroke, and we couldn't
handle the cost.

That will not happen anymore because we are protecting these families
in this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' and support
this bill to protect healthcare and the dignity of America's working
families.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for
yielding.
Mr. Speaker, Hyde amendment protections need to be added to this
bill. Taxpayer funds should not be forced to subsidize the killing of
an unborn child by dismemberment or by baby poison pills.
The Hyde amendment was not--I will say it again, was not--included
when the ACA was enacted in 2010, nor was it included when President
Biden significantly expanded subsidies during COVID.
It has gotten so bad, Mr. Speaker, that, according to a 2025 article
by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 12 States, including my own State of
New Jersey, absolutely require all plans on the ACA marketplace to
cover abortion on demand. We permit abortion until birth in my State,
as do many others. That is all covered by ObamaCare.
The House has passed my bill, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion
Act, on four separate occasions beginning in 2011. It is pending again
in this Congress, but every time it has gone over to the Senate, it got
nowhere, sadly.
I remember the day, Mr. Speaker, when my friend and colleague, the
author of the amendment, Henry Hyde, first learned that about 1 million
children were alive because of his amendment. He was overcome with joy.
He had a tear in his eye. I was there when it happened, when he found
out that 1 million mothers were spared the agony of post-abortion pain,
and 1 million children were alive and well, growing up, going to
school, playing sports, dating, marrying, and having kids of their own.
Today, that number is estimated at over 2.6 million children not
aborted, all because abortion subsidies have been prohibited by the
Hyde amendment in Federal Medicaid programs and other HHS programs.
It is time to add the Hyde amendment to the ACA.
I believe it is time, as well, for all of us to face the harsh
reality of what abortion does to children and look beyond the slogans
and the surface appeal arguments.
The so-called abortion pill, mifepristone, is baby poison. It kills
the unborn child by how? Starving the innocent child to death. That is
its operation. They can't get food, so they die. Then, the body of that
baby is often flushed down the toilet.
We know, however, now, that mifepristone is extremely dangerous to
women. A big study, the biggest study ever done, found that 1 in 10
women experienced serious adverse events.
Mr. Speaker, that is not what you hear from the abortion lobby. You
hear about how safe it is. It ain't safe. They suffer things like
sepsis, infection, and hemorrhaging, all within about 45 days.

{time} 1610

Let me also say to my colleagues, another method of aborting a baby
is dismemberment. It tears the child's fragile body to pieces and
includes decapitation. Until rendered unconscious or dead by this
hideous procedure, the baby feels pain with every cut of the knife.
It is no wonder that the polling shows that the majority of Americans
do not want public funding for abortion. Abortion is the polar opposite
of healthcare.

[[Page H221]]

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds
to the gentleman from New Jersey.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, abortion is not healthcare
unless one construes the life of an unborn child to be analogous to a
tumor to be excised or a disease to be vanquished.
I appeal to my colleagues: Don't ignore or trivialize the battered
victim in the womb. Unborn babies need Members of Congress to be their
friends and advocates, not powerful adversaries.
Abortion violence must be replaced with compassion and empathy for
women and respect for the weakest and most vulnerable.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. Doggett).
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, our vote today represents hope, the hope of
millions to access their family physician, the hope for so many
Americans who have wondered how they will be able to afford healthcare,
hope that by using an extraordinary measure today in the House, we can
address an extraordinary need.
After 70 Republican repeal efforts, after rejecting the amendment I
offered last May to retain these credits, and after delaying for months
to give us the opportunity to provide this care, we are here today with
hope.
Now, the responsibility shifts to the Senate. They need to promptly
approve this measure and not attach any weakening provisions such as
junk insurance and health savings account tax shelters. Keep it focused
on affordability, on providing enrollment periods for those who have
already lost their coverage because of enormous premium hikes.
We have heard so much about fraud. The only fraud that has been
identified relates to broker fraud that Trump has made worse and
Republicans have ignored. The biggest fraud of all would be replacing
ObamaCare with Republican nothing care.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Kennedy).
Mr. KENNEDY of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Missouri for
this time.
As a family practice doctor for more than 25 years, I hear directly
from my patients about the skyrocketing cost of insurance and
prescription drugs. Americans were promised lower costs, more choices,
and better care. More than a decade later, too many families are asking
what happened.
Since its passage, the unaffordable care act has created a subsidy-
fueled illusion with spiraling costs hidden by taxpayer dollars and
deficit spending.
Today, many Americans have insurance on paper but still cannot afford
to use it. Plans often come with deductibles of several thousand
dollars, meaning families pay out of pocket for most routine care.
Insurance that cannot be used when people are sick is not real
security. It is an illusion.
Let's look at the facts. Healthcare costs have skyrocketed since
ObamaCare went into effect. The ACA promised to lower healthcare
premiums by up to $2,500 per family per year, but since ObamaCare went
into effect, premiums have nearly tripled and deductibles have nearly
doubled. The cost of coverage for a family of 4 has increased by more
than $10,000.
The benchmark ACA silver plan cost $346 a month in 2014. In 2026, the
same exact plan costs $625 a month. The benchmark ACA silver plan
deductible was $2,425 in 2014. In 2026, the average deductible will be
$5,304, a 119 percent increase. That means that before your health
insurance even kicks in, you have to incur $5,304 in out-of-pocket
costs.
Such deductibles leave families effectively self-funding their care
despite being insured. A policy that you can't afford when you are sick
is not a real solution, only an illusion of coverage, leaving
individuals functionally uninsured.
Compounding these design failures are serious fraud and enforcement
breakdowns within the system itself. A 2024 GAO investigation found
that fake identities were approved for ObamaCare subsidies at a 100
percent rate. Often remaining enrolled despite missing or falsified
documentation, these ObamaCare subsidies continued for these fraudulent
applications. Taxpayers are left footing the bill as reused Social
Security numbers, subsidies paid on behalf of deceased individuals, and
billions in unreconciled payments expose a system unable to protect
public funds.
To be clear, expanding access to health insurance and protecting
people with preexisting conditions are worthy goals, but good
intentions do not excuse bad results.
Mr. Speaker, faced with these affordability problems, what have my
Democratic colleagues proposed? Their answer has been more taxpayer
subsidies to paper over ObamaCare's problems. Rather than address the
root causes of high premiums, they want to pour ever-larger subsidies
to insurance companies to mask the broken system.
Extending subsidies without reform is just paying more for a broken
system. I am not going to vote to promote a broken ObamaCare system. If
health insurance only looks affordable when Washington pumps in
billions of temporary subsidies, the law itself is not affordable. That
structure is the real problem that we need to fix. I urge my colleagues
to vote ``no.''
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Thompson).
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, House Democrats have fought
for months to save Americans' healthcare. That led to four Republicans
working with us to bring this bill to the floor today. Yesterday, nine
Republicans voted with us to bring this tax credit extension up. Today,
it is 11. They know that letting these tax credits expire will hurt the
people that they represent as well.

Congressional Republicans set the stage to price 4 million Americans
out of healthcare plans that they need. Democrats are fighting to bring
your costs down. If you take away the credits that millions of
Americans depend on to afford coverage, families will be forced into
junk plans that don't cover their needs or will have no coverage at
all. When they get sick or hurt, it will cost even more.
This is a good day for Americans. It is a great day for Americans.
Vote ``yes'' on this bill to protect healthcare for the people that we
represent.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from California (Mr. Kiley).
Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I agree with points that are
being made on both sides. The fundamental point of our side is
undeniably true, which is that our healthcare system is broken and
costs continue to spiral out of control.
However, it is also true that suddenly withdrawing premium support
from 22 million Americans is going to force those folks into a terrible
dilemma: either paying hundreds or thousands of dollars more, so they
face hard trade-offs for their families, losing their insurance
altogether in a way that will impact the employer-based market of 150
million Americans, or working less in order to remain eligible in a way
that will reduce their discretionary income as well as be bad for our
economy as a whole.
We need a solution to this, but this bill is obviously not a
solution. Everyone knows that. It is a political exercise that has been
engineered by the minority leader at the expense of pursuing an actual
solution.
Now, once again, it is falling on the Senate to do the real
policymaking, but I am heartened that they seem to be close to a deal
that roughly mirrors the compromise bipartisan bill that I have offered
with the gentleman from California (Mr. Liccardo) that does a temporary
extension with reforms and cost controls to provide runway, so then we
can begin the real hard work of fixing our healthcare system in this
country.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Connecticut (Mr. Larson).
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I thank the leader of the
Ways and Means Committee and rise in strong support of this
legislation.
We have heard an awful lot of talk about subsidies over there. Let's
cut right to the chase. It is about subsidies. You care about subsidies
for billionaires, and you are willing to do it on the backs of the
American people.
You would rather see them--thank God for the people who are standing
up on your side. They deserve the Profile

[[Page H222]]

in Courage award because they are able to stand up to a President who
would rather see 15 million people lose insurance and another 20
million see their prices double. Thank the Republicans on that side for
profiles in courage.
Vote your conscience. Vote your constituents. This is not about
politics. It is about people.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks
to the Chair.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis).

{time} 1620

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, in Illinois, there are 465,000
people who depend on the Affordable Care Act to acquire health
insurance. For the past several years, the majority of them have used
enhanced Federal tax credits to lower the cost.
In my district alone, 19,000, or 57 percent, will see the cost of
their policy go up $696, without the Federal tax credits.
In Austin, Mary will pay an additional $300 per month. On the North
Side, Emily will pay an additional $150 a month, raising her cost to
$600. Beginning January 1, Rebecca will pay $796 a month.
This is totally unacceptable. All of these are too high. Let's make
healthcare available to the American people. Let's pass today, not
tomorrow, not the next day, the Federal tax credits.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Sanchez).
Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the many working
families who rely on the ACA tax credits.
Speaker Johnson should have let us vote on this bill at the end of
last year, but instead of bringing down the cost of healthcare,
groceries, or housing, Republicans are focused on protecting President
Trump while he invades foreign countries, builds golden ballrooms, and
renames monuments to himself, all while families in my district watch
their healthcare premiums double.
I will remind everyone: Republicans already kicked 15 million people
off their healthcare to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.
I urge my Republican colleagues now to do the right thing and to vote
on behalf of their constituents' interests. Vote to extend the ACA tax
credits and lower costs for America's families.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I remind this body that the
reason why these COVID-era tax credits expired is because the Democrats
focused all their resources on helping their wealthy environmentalists
with permanent tax credits for electric vehicles and solar panels.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Alabama (Ms. Sewell).
Ms. SEWELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of restoring
the Affordable Care Act tax credits and lowering healthcare costs for
millions of Americans.
As of January 1, more than 400,000 Alabamians faced higher premiums
because Republicans in this body let the ACA tax credits expire. That
is on top of the nearly $1 trillion in cuts that Republicans made to
healthcare earlier this year.
Today's vote represents one more chance for Republicans to do the
right thing, reverse their disastrous policies, and join Democrats in
making healthcare more affordable.
Let's make no mistake: This vote would not have taken place had it
not been for the relentless efforts of House Democrats and our leader,
Hakeem Jeffries. I urge my Republican colleagues to vote ``yes'' to
restore the ACA credits and lower healthcare costs. In the words of Dr.
King: ``The time is always right to do what is right.''
Mr. Speaker, let us restore the ACA tax credits.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a
bombshell GAO report documenting evidence of widespread fraud, with
billions of dollars going to fraudulent enrollees, including as many as
58,000 dead people.
U.S. Government

Accountability Office,

Washington, DC, December 3, 2025.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Preliminary
Results from Ongoing Review Suggest Fraud Risks in the
Advance Premium Tax Credit Persist
Hon. Brett Guthrie,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce,
House of Representatives.
Hon. Jim Jordan,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives.
Hon. Jason Smith,
Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means,
House of Representatives.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
provides premium tax credits to those who purchase private
health insurance plans and meet certain income and other
requirements. Individuals may have the federal government pay
this credit to their health insurance issuers in advance on
their behalf, known as the advance premium tax credit (APTC),
which lowers their monthly premium payments.
Millions of consumers have purchased health insurance plans
through the marketplaces established under PPACA. The Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), within the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS), is responsible for
maintaining the federal Marketplace and overseeing state-
based marketplaces. Under PPACA, states may elect to operate
their own state-based marketplace or to use the federal
Marketplace. These marketplaces determine eligibility for
APTC, based in part on income, and allow individuals to
compare and choose among insurance plans offered by
participating private health care coverage issuers. CMS
estimated it paid nearly $124 billion in APTC for about 19.5
million enrollees for plan year 2024.
Consumers can enroll in health insurance coverage through a
marketplace independently or with assistance, such as from an
insurance agent or broker. As discussed later in this report,
agents and brokers can help a consumer apply for coverage,
including for related financial assistance, and enroll in a
plan. Assistance from an agent or broker is of no cost to a
consumer. Rather, agents and brokers are allowed to receive
compensation directly from health insurance issuers in
accordance with agreements with those issuers and any
applicable state requirements.
Indictments from December 2024 and February 2025 highlight
concerns about agent and broker practices in the federal
Marketplace. Specifically, the indictments allege that bad
actors enrolled consumers in insurance through the federal
Marketplace by falsifying information on their applications.
Additionally, according to CMS, the agency received
approximately 275,000 complaints between January and August
2024 that consumers were enrolled in a plan or had their plan
changed without their consent. Such practices can result in
wasteful federal spending on APTC for enrollees who are not
eligible. Further, such practices can result in harm and
unexpected costs for consumers. These can include loss of
access to medical providers and medications, higher
copayments and deductibles, or repayment of APTC if income or
other eligibility was misrepresented.
We previously reported that APTC is at risk of fraud. For
example, in September 2016, we found that federal and state
marketplaces approved coverage for our fictitious applicants.
Nearly all of these fictitious applicants remained covered
after we sent fictitious documents or no documents to resolve
issues with our applications. Further, in July 2017, we found
that CMS did not design processes to verify eligibility for
APTC, including preventing duplicate coverage.
You asked us to review issues related to fraud risk
management in APTC. This report is based on preliminary
results and analyses from that ongoing work. Specifically,
this report addresses preliminary results from our
1. covert testing of federal Marketplace enrollment
controls for plan years 2024 and 2025,
2. analyses of federal Marketplace enrollment data for plan
years 2023 and 2024, and
3. evaluation of CMS's fraud risk assessment and antifraud
strategy for APTC.
To perform covert testing of federal Marketplace enrollment
controls, we created 20 fictitious identities and submitted
applications for individual health care coverage in the
federal Marketplace. We submitted applications for four of
these fictitious identities in October 2024 for coverage
through December 2024, which was the remainder of that plan
year. We pursued coverage for plan year 2025 for all 20
fictitious identities, including the four identities for
which we already submitted applications. Our covert testing
for plan year 2025 is ongoing, since the plan year is not yet
complete. As a result, we will describe additional details of
the 2025 applications in a future report.
Our covert testing included applications submitted
independently through HealthCare.gov, which is the federal
Marketplace's website, and applications submitted with
assistance from an insurance agent or broker. For all our
applicant scenarios, we sought to act as an ordinary consumer
would in attempting to make a successful application. For
example, if, during online applications, we were directed to
make phone calls to complete the process, we acted as
instructed.
For applications for plan year 2024, our covert tests
included fictitious applicants

[[Page H223]]

who provided invalid (i.e., never issued) Social Security
numbers (SSN). Additionally, we stated income at a level
eligible to obtain APTC. As appropriate, we used publicly
available information to construct our applications for
coverage and subsidies. We also used publicly available
hardware, software, and materials to produce counterfeit
documents that we submitted, if appropriate for our testing,
when instructed to do so. We then observed the outcomes of
the document submissions, such as any approvals received or
requests to provide additional supporting documentation. The
results of our covert testing, while illustrative of
potential enrollment control weaknesses, cannot be
generalized to the overall enrollment population.
To examine federal Marketplace enrollment for plan years
2023 and 2024, we obtained and analyzed federal Marketplace
enrollment and payment data, including APTC information, from
CMS. We also matched enrollee SSNs in the data to two
additional data sources: (1) Social Security Administration's
(SSA) full death file, a database containing records of death
that have been reported to SSA, as of November 2024 and (2)
April 2025 data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on
APTC reconciliation from tax forms filed for tax year 2023.
We assessed the reliability of all data sets by performing
electronic tests to determine the completeness and accuracy
of key fields. We also reviewed agency documentation and
interviewed knowledgeable agency officials about the
reliability of the data. Overall, we found that the data were
reliable for our purposes.
To examine CMS's fraud risk assessment and antifraud
strategy for APTC, we reviewed documentation of CMS's
policies and fraud risk management activities related to
APTC. This included CMS's 2018 fraud risk assessment for
APTC. Additionally, we interviewed agency officials about
CMS's fraud risk management activities in this program. We
reviewed relevant reports from GAO and HHS's Office of the
Inspector General. We evaluated information from relevant
documentation and interviews of agency officials against
relevant leading practices in GAO's A Framework for Managing
Fraud Risks in Federal Programs (Fraud Risk Framework).
To support all three objectives, we interviewed CMS
officials and representatives from seven stakeholder
organizations that represent agents and brokers, state
insurance regulators, researchers, and one of the entities
that CMS approved to host a non-marketplace website where
consumers can apply for and enroll in a plan offered through
the federal Marketplace.
The ongoing work upon which this report is based is being
conducted in accordance with generally accepted government
auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and
perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence
to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and
conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that
the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our
preliminary findings and conclusions based on our audit
objectives. Additionally, our related investigative work is
being conducted in accordance with standards prescribed by
the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and
Efficiency.

Background

APTC ELIGIBILITY AND ENROLLMENT PROCESSES

APTC Eligibility

To qualify for a premium tax credit, individuals must be
enrolled in a qualified health plan offered through a
marketplace and meet certain criteria. These tax credits can
be paid in advance through APTC.
The amount of the premium tax credit varies based on
household income and the cost of a benchmark plan. The credit
limits what the consumer would pay for that plan to be no
more than a certain percentage of their household income. The
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 made temporary changes to
premium tax credits by expanding eligibility to higher-income
individuals and increasing premium tax credits for lower-
income individuals for tax years 2021 and 2022. For example,
the law increased the premium tax credit amounts for eligible
individuals and families, resulting in access to plans with
no premium contributions for those earning 100 to 150 percent
of the federal poverty level. It also expanded eligibility
for premium tax credits to include certain individuals and
families with incomes at or above 400 percent of the federal
poverty level. Public Law 117-169--commonly known as the
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022--extended these provisions
through the end of tax year 2025.
In 2013, CMS developed the Data Services Hub (Hub) to help
verify applicant eligibility in an automated manner. To do
so, the Hub matches applicant information, such as SSN and
estimated income, against trusted data sources. These sources
include records from SSA and IRS. In the federal Marketplace,
the system generates an inconsistency when data matching
processes are not able to verify applicant information
against the Hub's trusted sources. When an inconsistency is
generated, applicants are instructed to provide documentation
to support information on their applications that cannot be
verified by the Hub's data matching.

Marketplaces and Enrollment Pathways

States, along with the District of Columbia, may elect to
rely on the federal Marketplace or operate their own health
insurance marketplace.
The federal Marketplace offers multiple pathways to enroll
in health insurance coverage and receive APTC. Consumers in
states that use the federal Marketplace may enroll in
coverage through the pathway known as HealthCare.gov or an
enhanced direct enrollment (EDE) pathway, among others.

Role of Agents and Brokers

Consumers seeking to obtain health insurance through the
federal Marketplace may receive assistance from agents and
brokers who help them apply for coverage, including related
financial assistance, and enroll in a health plan. In return,
agents and brokers receive payment (commissions or salaries)
from the issuers of the health plans. Agents and brokers must
be licensed in the state in which they sell plans and
registered with CMS to sell plans through the federal
Marketplace. According to CMS, most enrollments in the
federal Marketplace are assisted by an agent or broker
through the EDE and direct enrollment pathways.
CMS is responsible for oversight of agents and brokers in
the federal Marketplace and ensuring that they comply with
federal rules. Agents and brokers are required to, among
other things, obtain and document consumers' consent before
assisting them with applying for and enrolling in coverage
through the federal Marketplace. For example, consumer
consent is required before the agent or broker can
collect or use any personally identifiable information,
such as name, date of birth, and SSN;
help a consumer apply for coverage or financial assistance
by completing an eligibility application on their behalf; and
actively enroll a consumer in a plan offered through the
federal Marketplace.
After a consumer has applied or is enrolled, the agent or
broker can also update a consumer's eligibility application
or plan selection on their behalf, if the initial consent
authorized the agent or broker to do so, or if they obtained
subsequent consent for any new actions. Agents and brokers
are required to make documentation of consumer consent
available to CMS upon request in response to monitoring,
audit, and enforcement actions.

Fraud Risk Management

The objective of fraud risk management is to ensure program
integrity by continuously and strategically mitigating both
the likelihood and effects of fraud, while also facilitating
a program's mission. The Fraud Risk Framework provides a
comprehensive set of leading practices that serve as a guide
for agency managers to use when developing efforts to combat
fraud in a strategic, risk-based manner. As depicted in
figure 2, the framework organizes the leading practices
within four components: (1) Commit, (2) Assess, (3) Design
and Implement, and (4) Evaluate and Adapt.
In June 2016, the Fraud Reduction and Data Analytics Act of
2015 (FRDAA) required the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) to establish guidelines for federal agencies to create
controls to identify and assess fraud risks to design and
implement antifraud control activities. The act further
required OMB to incorporate the leading practices from the
Fraud Risk Framework in the guidelines. The Payment Integrity
Information Act of 2019 repealed FRDAA but maintained the
requirement for OMB to provide guidelines to agencies in
implementing the Fraud Risk Framework.
In its 2016 Circular No. A-123 guidelines, OMB directed
agencies to adhere to the Fraud Risk Framework's leading
practices. In October 2022, OMB issued a Controller Alert
reminding agencies that they must establish financial and
administrative controls to identify and assess fraud risks.
In addition, the alert reminded agencies that they should
adhere to the leading practices in the Fraud Risk Framework
as part of their efforts to effectively design, implement,
and operate an internal control system that addresses fraud
risks.

The Federal Marketplace Approved Subsidized Coverage for Nearly All of
Our Fictitious Applicants in Plan Years 2024 and 2025, Suggesting
Weaknesses Persist

Our covert testing of enrollment controls in the federal
Marketplace suggests weaknesses have persisted since our
tests in plan years 2015 through 2016. All four of our
fictitious applications received subsidized coverage through
the federal Marketplace in late 2024. Additionally, although
our work is ongoing, as of September 2025 18 of our 20
fictitious applications for plan year 2025 were receiving
subsidized coverage. We will continue to monitor the status
of these applications during plan year 2025.

All Four of Our Fictitious Applicants Received Subsidized Coverage in
Late 2024

To test enrollment controls, we developed and submitted
four fictitious applications to obtain insurance coverage
with APTC through the federal Marketplace. We applied for
coverage for these four applicants in October 2024. We
submitted the applications outside of the open enrollment
period, using a special enrollment period for low-income
applicants. In two cases, we applied for coverage directly
through HealthCare.gov. In the other two cases, we applied
via telephone with assistance from an insurance broker. The
brokers that assisted us used EDE systems to submit our
applications.
The federal Marketplace approved fully subsidized insurance
coverage for all four of our fictitious applicants for
November through December 2024. The combined total amount of
APTC paid to insurance companies for all four fictitious
enrollees was about $2,350 per month. While our fictitious

[[Page H224]]

enrollees are not generalizable to the universe of enrollees,
they suggest weaknesses in enrollment controls--such as
identity proofing and income verification--in the federal
Marketplace through both HealthCare.gov and EDE systems.
The results of our covert testing for plan year 2024 are
generally consistent with results of similar testing we
conducted for plan years 2014 through 2016.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Washington (Ms. DelBene).
Ms. DelBENE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my unwavering
support for this extension of the enhanced ACA tax credits.
For the last year, my colleagues and I have fought to keep these
enhanced tax credits. While this vote is later than it should have
been, it is not too late to do what is right for the American people
and for my constituents like Gerry, who has already seen a 60-percent
increase in his premiums; Steve, whose plan went up by over 40 percent;
and Mitch, who is looking at a 420-percent increase for him and his
wife.
Republicans and the Trump administration promised to bring down
prices. Instead, they have made healthcare a luxury that only some can
afford.
I believe everyone should have affordable, quality, accessible
healthcare. Because of that, I will be voting in favor of this
legislation and supporting the extension of the enhanced ACA tax
credits.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Haridopolos).
Mr. HARIDOPOLOS. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to be here this afternoon
to talk about what is so important to all of us, and that is
healthcare, not just health insurance.
A clean, 3-year extension brought by the minority would send $110
billion directly to insurance companies.
As the chairman just mentioned, a recent GAO report showed that 23
out of 24 fraudulent enrollees were approved and received taxpayer
subsidies directly to insurance companies. The GAO even reported that
they were not required to provide documentation, such as Social
Security numbers or income verification. It was money sent directly to
insurance companies from taxpayers.
Democrats said healthcare would be affordable, yet since the
implementation of this bad idea, premiums are up 80 percent. At the
same time, nearly 20 percent of the individual market claims are denied
by insurance companies.
In 2024, 87 percent of the revenue made by insurance companies
selling ACA exchange claims came from taxpayer dollars.
To quote an article from The Wall Street Journal, Democrats sold
ObamaCare on the false pretenses that it would make healthcare
affordable. Let me say that again: false pretenses. Extending the
subsidies would perpetuate that fraud.
We passed a bill before Christmas that would reduce costs by 11
percent, and that was from the CBO. The CBO said that, and we are not
exactly the biggest fans of that unique organization. Our plan would
actually fight fraud, which was highlighted in the GAO report.
Finally, we would actually give choice to individuals as opposed to
this one-size-fits-all debacle. We want healthcare, not a plan to
simply fund insurance companies.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Chu).
Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, 1 week ago, Republicans skyrocketed healthcare
costs for 22 million Americans. They chose to let the ACA tax credits
expire, even though there was bipartisan support to extend them.
Now, families are seeing premiums jump by hundreds, even thousands,
of dollars a month. That is utterly devastating and was entirely
avoidable.
Middle-class families are being forced to cancel coverage. People
with cancer are going uninsured. Small business owners are being told
to pay 34 percent more, or $40,000 a year, or go without care.
Republicans knew this would happen, and they did it anyway. Now, we
have a chance to fix it. Democrats have a clean, 3-year extension of
these tax credits on the floor today with bipartisan support.
Let's make sure families get the help they need. We must vote ``yes''
on this bill.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Beyer).
Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, every day, more Americans are being hurt by
the Republican healthcare crisis. Tax credits that help working people
afford healthcare are vanishing, and Americans are watching
billionaires get huge tax cuts while the cost of living goes up.
My Republican friends knew that refusing to renew these tax credits
would cause healthcare costs to skyrocket.

{time} 1630

Mr. Speaker, they decided to cancel work for 2 months and simply
ignored the affordability problem. President Trump even called it a
hoax.
Democrats put forward this bill to help the American people. Thanks
to a few sensible colleagues on the other side, we were able to force a
vote on it.
While Trump continues his self-dealing corruption and growing
fondness for attacking foreign countries, his administration is
lawlessly killing and lying about the death of an unarmed woman in
Minneapolis.
Republican leadership in Congress had to be forced to even allow a
vote on this bill. Democrats here are focused on a bill to lower costs
for tens of millions of Americans and prevent many from losing
healthcare.
Mr. Speaker, we speak about life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. We can't be free, it is hard to be happy, and lives are cut
short with no healthcare.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the President.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Schneider).
Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to strongly and proudly
support Leader Jeffries' discharge petition to extend the ACA premium
subsidies.
Just 8 days ago, President Trump and the Republican Congress let the
ACA subsidies expire. Consequently, rather than working on their new
year's resolution, 22 million hardworking Americans are forced to
decide what sacrifices they need to make to afford their insurance or
whether they need to sacrifice their families' healthcare.
That is why today is a happy day. We are one step closer to helping
millions of Americans afford healthcare. Getting to this day wasn't
easy, but Democrats stayed united and stood firm. After fighting for
months, we are joined by Republican colleagues who recognize that we
have a responsibility to help ensure Americans can afford to provide
healthcare for their families.
Mr. Speaker, it is our job to bring down the cost for Americans. It
is our job to make life better for Americans. It is our job to ensure
that every family has access to affordable and quality care. Let's do
our job. Let's extend the ACA credits. I urge my colleagues to support
the discharge petition.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Panetta).
Mr. PANETTA. Mr. Speaker, for the past year we have been talking
about the damage done by not extending tax credits for the Affordable
Care Act. Now this year, no longer is it theory. It is fact. It is no
longer talk. It is pain.
The fact is 20 million people are feeling the pain with their
healthcare costs going up. Millions more are losing health insurance.
In my district, tens of thousands are going to be paying more for
healthcare.
Today, the fact is that we can do our jobs and, rather than take
healthcare away, we can actually help fix it. I commend all of my
Democratic colleagues and, yes, even a few on the Republican side that
signed the discharge petition and will vote for this bill today, a day
in a week that has been absolutely hectic.
Rather than constantly responding to the craziness from this
administration, by voting ``yes,'' Congress can finally focus on the
substance of fixing healthcare. The fact is this bill is a short-term
fix for extending tax credits. It is also a vehicle for our Senate

[[Page H225]]

colleagues to use so that we in Congress can provide a long-term fix to
provide people with affordable and accessible healthcare.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nevada
(Mr. Horsford).
Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak about being on the right
side of history. I have taken the time to listen directly to the people
of Nevada's Fourth District and all across my great State. They have
shared their stories, their concerns, and their fears about their
healthcare.
I am talking about people like Richard and his wife who have worked
to do everything right. They budgeted. They made sacrifices. Yet,
today, they are paying $1,200 a month for health insurance, up from
$280 a month just a month ago because vital healthcare lifelines were
allowed to expire.
Richard told me that they can identify places to make cuts in their
lives, but what worries him is what they will be forced to give up.
That includes fewer groceries, fewer essentials, and fewer visits with
family.
Mr. Speaker, I get it. Some in this Chamber want to make this about
politics. The reality is this is life and death. It is life and death
for the 15 million Americans who are at risk of losing healthcare,
while Republicans found the time and the money to give tax cuts to
billionaires but no time to give relief to middle-class families.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Leader Jeffries and Democrats. I call on my
Republican colleagues to join us, and let's be on the right side of
history.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is
remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Massachusetts has 10\1/2\
minutes remaining.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentleman from New York (Mr. Suozzi).
Mr. SUOZZI. Mr. Speaker, everyone here knows that affordability and
the affordability of healthcare is the top concern of Americans today.
Failure to extend these tax credits will cause health insurance
premiums to skyrocket all across our land.
In my district, Mr. Speaker, if you utilize the premium tax credits,
a family of four making $130,000 has to pay 8\1/2\ percent of their
income for health insurance premiums, or about $10,000 or $11,000 a
year. If we refuse to act, their bill will go to $30,000 a year, or
$1,500 more per month. That is crazy. They won't even buy their
insurance. As a result, it will reduce the risk pool, which will cause
everyone's premiums in our country to go up.

That is why for months the Problem Solvers Caucus has been working
across the aisle, both here in the House and the Senate, to find
bipartisan solutions to this very real affordability crisis.
Mr. Speaker, let's deliver a huge victory for the American people.
Let's overcome the partisan toxicity of Washington, D.C. Let's get
Democrats and Republicans, Members of the House and the Senate, to work
together to serve the needs of the American people. I urge all of my
colleagues to vote ``yes.''
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the
Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett).
Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in defense of affordable healthcare
for all Americans, even though my own constituents are not afforded the
same benefits as Americans living in the 50 States. We are not part of
the exchange. We have no SSI. We have caps on Medicaid in
jurisdictions, unlike elsewhere.
If my colleagues need a clear illustration of what happens when
Affordable Care Act benefits are taken away, look to the Virgin Islands
and Puerto Rico, which are excluded from those. Our healthcare system
is in crisis. Hospitals operate under Medicare formulas from the 1980s
with chronic shortages of supplies, medication, equipment, and staff.
Patients bring sheets and diapers to the hospital. Doctors pool their
money to pay vendors. Hospital funding gaps exceed $34 million. More
than 3,000 people have lost Medicaid. Puerto Rico's capped Medicaid
funding forced reliance on borrowing and debt, which contributed to
their 2017 bankruptcy.
The failure to extend enhanced premium tax credits has doubled
healthcare costs for 20 million Americans. My colleagues don't want the
healthcare system we have. Pass this legislation.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), the ranking member of the
Committee on Education and Workforce.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill to
extend the Affordable Care Act's enhanced premium tax credits through a
clean, 3-year extension.
Last year, the Republicans blocked the extension of these credits in
the big, ugly bill. With the expiration of the tax credits last month,
the health premium costs have skyrocketed, causing millions to lose
their coverage.
When more people lose coverage, costs go up for everyone. Uninsured
patients often delay seeing a doctor and end up needing more costly
care at the emergency room. When there are more uninsured, hospitals,
especially in rural areas, face financial hardships and may be forced
to close. In other words, those unpaid bills do not disappear. They are
shifted onto everybody else, and everyone suffers.
Today, Congress can step in to address the sharp premium increases
and provide stability for working families across the country. I urge
my colleagues to support this bill and to support affordable
healthcare.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Gomez).
Mr. GOMEZ. Mr. Speaker, it is about damned time that this bill is
actually going to get a vote. Here is why. The Republicans in the
summer passed their One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which I am glad they
are not trying to rebrand anymore. It cut Medicaid by almost $1
trillion. It took away food stamps. Then they refused to extend the ACA
subsidies that would help ACA tax credits, that would help people in
their own States.
That is what the Democrat majority next year is going to do. We will
continue fighting for our own people throughout the country. It doesn't
matter if a constituent is in a red State or a blue State, if someone
is hurting because of the Republican majority this year. Donald Trump
has taken away healthcare. He has taken away food stamps. He has taken
away opportunities. We are going to make sure that we reverse all that.
The first step is these ACA tax credits because it is going to help
working families. The party in the majority now said they were going to
lower the cost of living, but they failed. Now we are going to step up.

{time} 1640

Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Illinois (Ms. Underwood).
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill to
extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits and to put an end to the
Republican healthcare crisis.
This Republican majority wasted all of 2025 by refusing to extend the
tax credits in time to prevent the premium hikes that families across
the country are facing right now. Costs are outrageous. House Democrats
had to use a discharge petition to force them to do the right thing and
finally hold this vote.
We have heard a lot of confusing lies from the majority today. Mr.
Speaker, the truth is that the ACA tax credits from my legislation
work. They are incredibly popular, yet Republicans chose to let them
expire on December 31.
Today, we have a chance to fix their mistake, lower costs, and
protect care for millions of Americans. I urge a ``yes'' vote.
I thank Leader Jeffries, Mr. Neal, Speaker Pelosi, and Brandon Casey
for working with me on this.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Oregon (Ms. Salinas).
Ms. SALINAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to pass
this legislation to prevent families' healthcare costs from
skyrocketing.
I will share just a few messages from my hardworking constituents who
will be impacted.
Kelly from Salem wrote: ``My policy is going to increase from $40 to
$191. I will have no wiggle room in my budget, no room for
emergencies.''

[[Page H226]]

Rachel from Amity says that her plan will increase from $511 to
$1,328 per month. She wrote: ``We will probably choose to only insure
our child. We cannot afford 25 percent of our income going to health
insurance.''
Janice from Salem said that her monthly costs will go from $465 to
$1,100. ``I will go without health insurance if I can't bring it way
down to no more than $500 a month. I am 5 years away from retirement.''
Mr. Speaker, these are just three stories from about 16,000 in my
district, and there are millions just like these across our country.
Our constituents are counting on this body to lower their costs and
save their healthcare.
Mr. Speaker, I urge an ``aye'' vote.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Krishnamoorthi).
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of extension of
the ACA tax credits.
I met Shadene Butchart in Chicago. She has ALS. Since the ACA tax
credits have expired, her health insurance premium consumes the
entirety of her husband's Social Security check. She will not be able
to afford any health insurance to cover this incredibly distressing
disease.
I rise strongly in support, and I urge my colleagues to support it,
as well.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared
to close.
May I inquire as to how much time is remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Massachusetts has 4
minutes remaining.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, it is too bad that we had to play this out to the
anxiety and consternation of the American people. Think of what this
might be like if you didn't know a month ago whether or not your
children were going to have health insurance. Think of the anguish that
you might feel proceeding into the holidays while not knowing whether
or not that child would be able to complete the doctor's appointment
that you had made for them because you didn't have health insurance.
I didn't hear the other side complaining about keeping 26-year-olds
on their parents' health insurance. How about the idea that, in the
ACA, we were able to abolish preexisting conditions being routinely
used to deny the opportunity to access even primary care for millions
and millions of Americans.
Mr. Speaker, I call attention to this because I have watched over
these years how the ACA has not only become more popular, but the
American people have come to expect the benefits of the ACA.
This argument for those of us who were here and participated at the
time was not really complex at all. The argument was that we would
proceed on the basis of the notion of universal access and that you
wouldn't have to worry that if you went to the emergency room, you
somehow might be turned away because you had not been able to pay
another bill.
We don't get a chance on this Earth to predict when we are going to
get sick. Those are the basic actuarial realities of what insurance is
about. By way of example, we don't get to buy homeowners' insurance
after the house has burned down. We don't get to buy life insurance
after we die.
The idea of what we did here was to spread the notion of risk, an
entirely reasonable consequence, authored by former President Obama
and, by the way, the steadfast determination at the time of Speaker
Pelosi.
This was negotiated across the board with all members of the
healthcare system, and we came up with a reasonable solution that we
continue to build upon.
Mr. Speaker, I will point out a couple of pretty important
statistics: 4 years straight of record enrollment in the Affordable
Care Act, and 24.3 million Americans have now signed up.
That is what we had in mind. When you look back at these enhanced
premium tax credits, we keep hearing the other side say that there are
billionaires and millionaires who are driving the benefit. JCT has said
that nobody over $500,000 is getting this benefit. We are open to these
conversations as we go forward, as well. Yet, only 38 percent of their
tax cuts inure to the benefit of people at the lower end of the
economic spectrum.

By ending these enhanced tax credits, we will stop the Republican
assault on the ACA. They have repeatedly said that they want to work
with us, but there has been no effort on the Republican side to work
with us on expanding and extending these tax credits.
There has been no concerted effort from our Republican colleagues to
really put on a piece of legislation, a tax bill, that stands up under
the magnifying glass of critical analysis. It is patchwork. It is
announced every time we get near some cliff in the debate that somehow
they have a healthcare plan. We haven't seen it yet.
Mr. Speaker, I am going to close by saying the same words that I
opened with: This is a most significant day. This is a happy day for
the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
Mr. Speaker, I will remind the body that the reason why these
enhanced subsidies are expiring is because the Democrats are the only
ones in this Chamber who voted for them to expire on December 31.
Apparently, they regret that vote because they focused most of their
dollars on making permanent environmental tax policy in the Green New
Deal.
Mr. Speaker, they are the only ones who have voted to take away these
subsidies. It is laughable, Mr. Speaker, when you hear Members on the
other side say that the Republicans created this healthcare crisis.
Guess what. It was the Democrats who wrote the Affordable Care Act
that is being debated on the floor right now. They are upset because,
as of December 31, it reverted back to the Affordable Care Act, which
they have championed, what they passed, not Republicans, Democrats.
Mr. Speaker, the healthcare crisis is clearly created by the
Democrats.
We have highlighted the fraud and waste within the exchanges. More
than half of the people on the exchanges did not even file one medical
claim last year, but those insurance companies were being subsidized.

{time} 1650

I want to remind the American people that not $1 goes to them. It all
goes to the big health insurance companies that have been doing very
well, while premiums for every single American have been rising for the
last decade and a half.
Mr. Speaker, with that, I urge this body to vote ``no.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 780, the previous question is ordered on
the bill.
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.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 230,
nays 196, not voting 5, as follows:

[Roll No. 11]

YEAS--230

Adams
Aguilar
Amo
Ansari
Auchincloss
Balint
Barragan
Beatty
Bell
Bera
Beyer
Bishop
Bonamici
Boyle (PA)
Bresnahan
Brown
Brownley
Budzinski
Bynum
Carbajal
Carey
Carson
Carter (LA)
Casar
Case
Casten
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Cherfilus-McCormick
Chu
Cisneros
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Conaway
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Craig
Crockett
Crow
Cuellar
Davids (KS)
Davis (IL)
Davis (NC)
De La Cruz
Dean (PA)
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
Deluzio
DeSaulnier
Dexter
Dingell
Doggett
Elfreth
Escobar
Espaillat
Evans (PA)
Fields
Figures
Fitzpatrick
Fletcher
Foster
Foushee
Frankel, Lois

[[Page H227]]

Friedman
Frost
Garamendi
Garbarino
Garcia (CA)
Garcia (IL)
Garcia (TX)
Gillen
Golden (ME)
Goldman (NY)
Gomez
Gonzalez, V.
Goodlander
Gottheimer
Gray
Green, Al (TX)
Grijalva
Harder (CA)
Hayes
Himes
Horsford
Houlahan
Hoyer
Hoyle (OR)
Huffman
Hurd (CO)
Ivey
Jackson (IL)
Jacobs
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (TX)
Joyce (OH)
Kamlager-Dove
Kaptur
Kean
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy (NY)
Khanna
Krishnamoorthi
LaLota
Landsman
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Latimer
Lawler
Lee (NV)
Lee (PA)
Leger Fernandez
Levin
Liccardo
Lieu
Lofgren
Lynch
Mackenzie
Magaziner
Mannion
Matsui
McBath
McBride
McClain Delaney
McClellan
McCollum
McDonald Rivet
McGarvey
McGovern
McIver
Meeks
Menendez
Meng
Mfume
Miller (OH)
Min
Moore (WI)
Morelle
Morrison
Moskowitz
Moulton
Mrvan
Mullin
Nadler
Neal
Neguse
Norcross
Nunn (IA)
Ocasio-Cortez
Olszewski
Omar
Pallone
Panetta
Pappas
Pelosi
Perez
Peters
Pettersen
Pingree
Pocan
Pou
Pressley
Quigley
Ramirez
Randall
Raskin
Riley (NY)
Rivas
Ross
Ruiz
Ryan
Salazar
Salinas
Sanchez
Scanlon
Schakowsky
Schneider
Scholten
Schrier
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Sewell
Sherman
Simon
Smith (WA)
Sorensen
Soto
Stansbury
Stanton
Stevens
Strickland
Subramanyam
Suozzi
Swalwell
Sykes
Takano
Thanedar
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tlaib
Tokuda
Tonko
Torres (CA)
Torres (NY)
Trahan
Tran
Underwood
Valadao
Van Orden
Vargas
Vasquez
Veasey
Velazquez
Vindman
Walkinshaw
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson Coleman
Whitesides
Williams (GA)
Wilson (FL)
Wittman

NAYS--196

Aderholt
Alford
Allen
Amodei (NV)
Arrington
Babin
Bacon
Balderson
Barr
Barrett
Baumgartner
Bean (FL)
Begich
Bentz
Bergman
Bice
Biggs (AZ)
Biggs (SC)
Bilirakis
Boebert
Bost
Brecheen
Buchanan
Burchett
Burlison
Calvert
Cammack
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Ciscomani
Cline
Cloud
Clyde
Cole
Collins
Comer
Crane
Crank
Crawford
Crenshaw
Davidson
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Donalds
Downing
Dunn (FL)
Edwards
Ellzey
Emmer
Estes
Evans (CO)
Ezell
Fallon
Fedorchak
Feenstra
Fine
Finstad
Fischbach
Fitzgerald
Fleischmann
Flood
Fong
Foxx
Franklin, Scott
Fry
Fulcher
Gill (TX)
Gimenez
Goldman (TX)
Gonzales, Tony
Gooden
Gosar
Graves
Griffith
Grothman
Guest
Guthrie
Hageman
Hamadeh (AZ)
Haridopolos
Harrigan
Harris (MD)
Harris (NC)
Harshbarger
Hern (OK)
Higgins (LA)
Hill (AR)
Hinson
Houchin
Hudson
Huizenga
Issa
Jack
Jackson (TX)
James
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (SD)
Jordan
Joyce (PA)
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
Kennedy (UT)
Kiggans (VA)
Kiley (CA)
Kim
Knott
Kustoff
LaHood
Langworthy
Latta
Lee (FL)
Letlow
Loudermilk
Lucas
Luna
Luttrell
Mace
Malliotakis
Maloy
Mann
Massie
Mast
McClain
McClintock
McCormick
McDowell
McGuire
Messmer
Meuser
Miller (IL)
Miller (WV)
Miller-Meeks
Mills
Moolenaar
Moore (AL)
Moore (NC)
Moore (UT)
Moore (WV)
Moran
Nehls
Newhouse
Norman
Obernolte
Ogles
Onder
Owens
Palmer
Patronis
Perry
Pfluger
Reschenthaler
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rose
Rouzer
Roy
Rulli
Scalise
Schmidt
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Self
Sessions
Shreve
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smucker
Spartz
Stauber
Stefanik
Steil
Steube
Strong
Stutzman
Taylor
Tenney
Thompson (PA)
Tiffany
Timmons
Turner (OH)
Van Drew
Van Duyne
Van Epps
Wagner
Walberg
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Westerman
Wied
Williams (TX)
Wilson (SC)
Womack
Yakym
Zinke

NOT VOTING--5

Baird
Hunt
McCaul
Murphy
Rutherford

{time} 1713

Messrs. CRAWFORD and SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida changed their vote
from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
So the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

____________________