[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6173-6176]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 CORRECTING THE ENROLLMENT OF H.R. 1473

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 218, I call 
up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 35) directing the Clerk of 
the House of Representatives to make a correction in the enrollment of 
H.R. 1473, and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 35

       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That, in the enrollment of the bill (H.R. 1473) 
     making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the 
     other departments and agencies of the Government for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for other 
     purposes, the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall 
     make the following correction: At the end of title VIII of 
     division B, insert the following new section:
       ``Sec. 18__.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
     none of the funds made available in this Act or any previous 
     Act may be used to carry out the provisions of Public Law 
     111-148, or any amendment made by such Public Law, or title I 
     or subtitle B of title II of Public Law 111-152, or any 
     amendment made by such title or subtitle.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 218, the 
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Alexander) and the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) each will control 10 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on H. Con. Res. 35.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Louisiana?
  There was no objection.

                              {time}  1510

  Mr. ALEXANDER. I yield myself 3 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 35, if adopted, will add 
provisions to the continuing resolution, H.R. 1473, to prohibit any 
funds in this act or any previous act from being used to implement the 
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Most importantly, the 
resolution will guarantee that our colleagues in the Senate will take 
an up-or-down vote on this important issue. I think we can agree that 
this is a vote that the American people have called for and is a vote 
that we owe the American public.
  Mr. Speaker, today the House approved an historic spending agreement 
that cuts nearly $40 billion in Federal spending. When signed into law, 
Congress will have achieved the first step in addressing our Nation's 
ballooning debt. Our economy still suffers from apathetic growth, and 
millions of individuals remain unemployed. At a time like today, when 
the Federal Government is running record deficits, coupled with 
significant unsustainable liabilities like Medicare and Medicaid, we 
simply cannot afford this $2.6 trillion new entitlement program. It 
only seems fair that a vote on the billions of dollars in both 
mandatory and discretionary money required to implement the health 
reform law is part of the discussion.
  I, along with my colleagues in the House, have long argued for the 
repeal of this law. Several Members have also maintained that, for this 
strategy to be successful, it must include efforts to defund the 
enforcement and implementation of the law through the appropriations 
process. With the inclusion of this language in the CR, we will move 
one step closer to reaching that goal.
  Under new leadership, the House has already begun to tackle the 
health care law on various fronts. In January of this year, the Chamber 
approved a full repeal of the health care law. Additionally, during the 
historic open debate on a previous continuing resolution, H.R. 1, this 
Chamber debated and approved various provisions that would prohibit or 
slow the implementation of the health care law by restricting annual 
appropriations from going toward implementation. In fact, just 
yesterday, we passed a measure that would repeal just one section of 
the health care law that included $17.5 billion in mandatory 
``automatic'' appropriations.
  This resolution will go further by eliminating all of the funding, 
both mandatory and discretionary, which, it is clear, we presently 
cannot afford. It will also allow time for us to offer up new solutions 
to our Nation's health care challenges that will not have long-term 
negative consequences on job creation and economic growth.
  Putting all arguments on the merits of the health care law aside, 
this resolution simply ensures that accountability is restored over how 
hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being spent. The health care law 
turned hundreds of billions of dollars in discretionary spending into 
mandatory spending.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I yield myself 2 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, instead of working to create jobs, reduce the deficit 
and do the business of the American people, this majority has been 
consumed for months now with trying to repeal health care reform. Like 
the attempted repeal we saw in the first week of this Congress, like 
the Tea Party budget passed in February and like the many attempts we 
have seen to decimate health care reform piece by piece since, this 
concurrent resolution, once again, tries to take away the consumer 
protection of the Affordable Care Act and tries to put insurance 
companies back in charge. It is a further demonstration of the 
majority's special interest priorities and of their hypocrisy on job 
creation and deficit reduction.
  Passing this resolution will destroy jobs in the health professions. 
It will slow job growth by 250,000 to 400,000 jobs a year. It will 
increase medical spending and add nearly $2,000 to the average family's 
insurance premium. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget 
Office, it will add $230 billion to the deficit within 10 years and $1 
trillion more within 20 years. Let me repeat that. This amendment adds 
billions and ultimately trillions of dollars to the deficit, starting 
with $5.5 billion this year.
  This is not what we promised the American people. They want us to cut 
the deficit, to get rid of special interest waste, like oil company 
subsidies and breaks for corporate lobbyists. Instead, the majority 
wants to let insurance companies discriminate against people with 
preexisting conditions, even children with preexisting conditions once 
again. They want to see women denied coverage because they survived 
breast cancer or were victims of domestic violence or had c-sections. 
They want to see 4 million small businesses lose $40 billion in tax 
credits and seniors' health care and drug costs continue to rise at 
staggering rates.
  We are here to serve the needs of the American people, not the whims 
of the health insurance companies. This resolution will cost money and 
cost lives, and I urge my colleagues to vote against it.
  Mr. DICKS. Will the gentlelady yield?
  Ms. DeLAURO. I yield to the gentleman from Washington.
  Mr. DICKS. I want to associate myself with the gentlelady's remarks, 
and I rise in strong opposition to this concurrent resolution.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Montana (Mr. Rehberg).
  Mr. REHBERG. I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for his leadership 
on this issue to repeal the funding of ObamaCare, and I rise in support 
of the resolution.
  It is impossible in the short time I have to describe the many 
reasons that justify defunding, repealing and replacing ObamaCare. 
Today, I want to mention one--the adverse impacts for those on 
Medicare.

[[Page 6174]]

  In Montana, this is a huge issue because our population is quite a 
bit older than in other States. Folks have paid into Medicare all their 
lives, and they rightfully expect the benefits to be there for them, 
but Medicare is going broke and will be bankrupt in 11 years. 
Supporters of the new health care law say they've strengthened 
Medicare, and point to the closing of the doughnut hole on prescription 
drugs.
  Let's examine that a little more carefully.
  The cost to the government to fix the doughnut hole is about $27 
billion between now and 2019, but ObamaCare cuts Medicare benefits and 
reimbursements by more than $500 billion. These cuts aren't being used 
to save Medicare. They're being used to pay for the cost of the new 
entitlements in ObamaCare. For seniors in Montana and in the rest of 
America, this is not a good trade.
  But that's not all.
  Most people aren't even aware that ObamaCare includes a $210 billion 
tax increase on Medicare. Again, that money isn't going to be used to 
save Medicare. This tax will go to pay for the cost of new 
entitlements. ObamaCare cuts Medicare benefits, increases Medicare 
taxes, and doesn't do anything to protect Medicare; and the new 
Medicare cuts and taxes, along with hundreds of billions of dollars in 
new taxes, penalties and fees, won't take effect until after the 2012 
election.
  That's not a coincidence.
  This is a classic bait and switch. We get all the small benefits up 
front and get hit with a pile of burdens after the 2012 election--just 
one of the many reasons to defund ObamaCare now. That's the first step 
toward replacing it with real reform in order to rein in health care 
costs and to improve access.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I am delighted to hear the gentleman from Montana say he 
opposes cuts to Medicare. That means, I am going to assume, that he 
will vote against the Ryan budget as well.
  With that, I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from New York (Mrs. 
Lowey).
  Mrs. LOWEY. I rise in strong opposition to the resolution. The House 
should be debating legislation to create jobs, not procedural tricks to 
repeal health reform and increase our deficit.
  Under this resolution, pregnant women and cancer survivors could lose 
coverage when they most need it. Young adults would lose coverage on 
their parents' plans. Seniors would pay higher drug costs. Businesses 
and families would not receive tax credits for affordable coverage; and 
accountability for large insurers to spend at least 85 percent of 
premiums on health benefits would end.
  Vote against this resolution in order to preserve vital consumer 
protections in health reform, reduce costs, and decrease the deficit.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Iowa (Mr. King).
  Mr. KING of Iowa. I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for his work 
and for yielding me time.
  I want to also thank the gentleman from Montana, who has drilled into 
this deeply, and it is a big reason why we are able to be here today. I 
appreciate his representation of seniors in Montana as I may well have 
the privilege of representing the most senior congressional district in 
all of America.
  I've watched what has happened not just with Medicare but with 
ObamaCare entirely, and when I hear the comments about the whims of the 
health insurance industry, that may well have been what helped write 
this bill in the first place--large health insurance companies. Yet we 
had 1,300 of them when we started this process over a year ago, and we 
have fewer today.

                              {time}  1520

  We had 100,000 possible health insurance policy varieties. We have 
fewer today. We are looking at $2.6 trillion in outlays over ObamaCare 
for the first full decade of its implementation, and we have seen two 
Federal courts rule ObamaCare unconstitutional.
  We have uncovered what I think were intentionally hard-to-find 
numbers that were hidden in the automatic appropriations of ObamaCare 
to the tune of $105.5 billion to be laid out. We are sitting right now 
on top of $23.6 billion that is being used intensively to implement 
ObamaCare, all the while we expect, and the President surely must 
expect, the Supreme Court will rule it unconstitutional.
  ObamaCare has been rejected by the American people. It sent 87 
freshmen Republicans here to Congress to repeal it. Every Republican in 
not only the House of Representatives but in the United States Senate 
has voted to repeal ObamaCare in H.R. 2 and voted to cut off everything 
that could be ruled in order on the floor in H.R. 1 that would be used 
to implement or enforce ObamaCare.
  This is the language that cuts off the automatic spending to 
ObamaCare. It puts a freeze on it so the courts can decide, so the will 
of the people can be reflected not just in the House of 
Representatives, but eventually in the United States Senate. And also, 
let's bring a President that will sign this repeal, this 
unconstitutional taking of American liberty that is known as ObamaCare.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California 
(Mrs. Capps).
  Mrs. CAPPS. I thank my colleague.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this misguided 
resolution. It is another attempt by the Republicans to take away 
important consumer protections, return to a health care system that is 
clearly broken. I strongly oppose this amendment because it is harmful 
to the American people and to our economy.
  The majority of Americans, and certainly those in my district, are 
opposed to this defunding stunt. Seniors do not want to go back to a 
life of worry about how they will make it through the doughnut hole. 
Parents don't want to go back to worrying that their child will be 
uninsured this summer because she graduates. And small businesses do 
not want to cancel their employees health care coverage because they 
would lose the tax credits to pay for it.
  The Affordable Care Act is law, and attempts by my Republican 
colleagues to repeal it have failed. Instead of debating the past, we 
need to focus on the future. Let's work on creating jobs and 
strengthening our economy. Vote ``no'' on this foolish resolution.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, can you tell me how much time is left?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Connecticut has 6\1/2\ 
minutes remaining, and the gentleman from Louisiana has 2\1/2\ minutes 
remaining.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I would ask the gentleman from Louisiana if he has 
additional speakers.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. No.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Waxman).
  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, this resolution would defund the 
implementation of the Affordable Care Act. This is just another way the 
Republicans are trying to repeal that law. The very first week of this 
Congress, they voted to repeal the health care law. They said they want 
to repeal it and replace it. We still have not seen what they propose. 
They are not proposing reforms to help the middle class. In effect what 
they would do is increase the number of uninsured in this country by 50 
million people. This is a particularly reprehensible way to end health 
reform--to stop paying for its implementation.
  Americans are already benefiting from the law. Seniors are getting 
discounts on their prescription drugs. Adult children will be able to 
stay on their parents' insurance until 26. They would reverse the 
prohibition against preexisting condition denials for children, and 
they would stop allowing consumers access to preventive care with no 
cost-sharing.
  They pulled the rug out from under current State efforts to develop 
vibrant, competitive exchange marketplaces, which is the centerpiece 
for competition in insurance plans to give the consumers choice. But 
what is

[[Page 6175]]

most distressing is the dangers it poses to Medicare, Medicaid, and the 
Children's Health Insurance Program, or health care safety net.
  According to a letter from Secretary Sebelius: ``The Affordable Care 
Act modifies and improves almost every Medicare payment system. If this 
resolution were enacted, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 
would not be able to use any funds to administer payments based on any 
rate calculated on the basis of provisions of the Affordable Care 
Act,'' which is to say virtually all rates.
  Medicare and Medicaid could grind to a halt. The Secretary goes on to 
say: ``This resolution would adversely affect health care in rural 
areas. CMS would no longer be able to provide the bonus payments to 
primary care and general surgeons for eligible services.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.
  Mr. WAXMAN. She also says about fraud, waste, and abuse: ``The 
Affordable Care Act also gives CMS new tools to fight fraud, and helps 
us move from a pay-and-chase system to a comprehensive, prevention-
focused strategy. This resolution would substantially impede CMS's 
proven and successful efforts to reduce waste and fraud in the health 
care system, resulting in increased erroneous payments.''
  This is a harmful resolution to the interests of the American people, 
and I urge my colleagues to oppose it.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Pallone).
  Mr. PALLONE. All I hear from the other side, the gentleman from Iowa 
is trying to rehash the campaign, talking about who got elected in 
November, saying the President should be defeated so we have a new 
President.
  What are you doing to create jobs? It's 100 days of the Republican 
majority, and I don't see a single job creation bill.
  Now, the Democrats, with our health care reform, we're trying to 
expand options, give people low-cost insurance, end discrimination, and 
look for new ways of training doctors so we have more doctors to cover 
people. We're trying to give the American people options and choices, 
and eliminate all of the problems that they have had with the health 
care system. And the Republicans say, No, get rid of it. Defund it.
  How many times are we going to vote on this same thing? And then 
later today you're going to come back and try to destroy Medicare and 
say the elderly should not have health care options and should have to 
go out and buy their insurance, and maybe get a little help from the 
government. Or if they have to go to a nursing home, you're going to 
block grant Medicaid and say, well, the nursing home may not be 
available to them, or the quality of the nursing home care will be 
really terrible again, as it may have been years ago.
  So I don't understand what you're up to. Look to the American people. 
Look to create jobs for them. Look to create health care options. Don't 
destroy. Don't destroy.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. 
Courtney).
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, among the many programs which others have 
talked about that would be blown up with this measure is the Early 
Retiree Reinsurance Program, which is one of the most successful 
aspects of the health care law. Over 5,000 employers all across 
America, over half of the Fortune 500 companies--like Coca-Cola, 
General Electric, UTC, General Dynamics--have all signed up with this 
program, which, using the same principles as flood insurance, is 
buttressing and strengthening early retiree benefits which have been 
collapsing over the last 20 years.
  These are the companies that are going to go out and hire people, 
particularly young people, because early retirement allows their 
workforce to have a natural change so that young people can find jobs. 
The economy created 200,000 last month. It is because of programs, like 
the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program, which the health care law 
created. We should not end that program by passing this resolution. 
These employers have signed up in good faith, and that good faith 
deserves our commitment to follow through on the program that this 
country offered them. That's a strategy. That's a winning strategy to 
create jobs for this country.

                              {time}  1530

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Maryland (Ms. Edwards).
  Ms. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I feel like I'm in the movie ``Groundhog 
Day.'' This is the conversation that we had last year. It's the 
conversation that we had the year before.
  I cannot believe that we're standing here today when we should be 
talking about creating jobs in this country for the millions of people 
who are unemployed instead of taking away their health care, instead of 
taking away the ability of a young person up to age 26 to stay on their 
parents' health care plan. We're talking about taking away the ability 
of children who have preexisting conditions--to be denied coverage once 
again instead of creating jobs.
  Instead of creating jobs, Mr. Speaker, we're here telling seniors 
that we want them to reach into their pockets and into their retirement 
to pay for outrageous prescription drug coverage.
  We're standing here, instead of creating jobs, and we are telling 
small businesses that they're not going to get a tax credit to provide 
health care insurance for their business.
  I mean, this is ridiculous. And, Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you the 
American people must be wondering what it is that this Republican 
majority is doing when they want to rip off seniors, rip off children, 
and stop health care for the American people.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized 
for 1 minute.
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Finally, the United States of America made real the 
possibility of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--all of 
which are literally impossible unless health care is a right for all in 
our great country.
  This resolution goes in the opposite direction. A vote in favor of 
this resolution tells Americans and small businesses that they will be 
left to do battle with insurance companies on their own, insurance 
companies that will once again refuse coverage, deny claims, and 
subject them to double-digit premium increases. And under their budget 
plan, they now want to end Medicare and leave seniors and disabled 
people to the mercy of private insurers.
  Enough is enough.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Connecticut has 15 
seconds remaining.
  Ms. DeLAURO. In that 15 seconds, let me just say they will defund 
health care. They will end Medicare. They're going to kick seniors out 
of nursing homes and send our health care back to the insurance 
companies. It shows you where my colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle are.
  I urge my colleagues to vote against this measure.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, in closing, a key component of this 
spending agreement is a guaranteed up-or-down vote in the Senate on a 
provision that would prohibit any funds in this act or any previous act 
from being used to carry out the Patient Protection and Affordable Care 
Act.
  Let's return to Congress its power to review this funding annually 
and exercise full oversight.
  House Concurrent Resolution 35 does just that. At a time when we are 
being called on to rein in government spending, the American taxpayer 
deserves this vote.
  I urge my colleagues to support this enrolled resolution to deliver 
on that promise today and call on the Senate to do the same.
  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this 
resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, the enactment of the Affordable Care Act was historic. 
It made the necessary steps to reform our health care delivery system 
and put patients first. A full repeal of

[[Page 6176]]

this law will nullify all of the popular provisions it put in place, 
and will once again leave Americans at the mercy of insurance 
companies.
  Young adults in their 20s who are looking for jobs in this difficult 
economic climate, for instance, would suddenly find themselves without 
insurance and without the option of staying on their parent's plan.
  Recently, I heard from Michael, a Sacramento native. Michael has a 
23-year-old son who was kicked off of his health plan at the age of 22. 
A few months later, still unable to obtain affordable coverage, he had 
to undergo an emergency tonsillectomy--a fairly common procedure that 
can cost thousands for those without coverage. Because Michael's son 
was kicked off of his plan his son now has massive medical debt and is 
still only in his early twenties.
  Mr. Speaker, we passed the Affordable Care Act last Congress because 
our health care system needed to be reformed. We spend $2 trillion a 
year on health care costs--far more than any other country--and we are 
by no means a healthier nation; far from it!
  My colleagues on the other side of the aisle say they are for 
reducing spending. Well, Mr. Speaker, repealing the Affordable Care Act 
will only increase the amount we spend every year on health care, both 
at the federal level, and on the personal level. It will leave millions 
without insurance and end up costing all of us more.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose this harmful legislation.
  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the millions of 
Americans, many of whom are in my Congressional district, who through 
the passage of President Obama's Affordable Care Act, have for the 
first time been given more freedom and control over their health care.
  Before the passage of this law nearly 40 percent of my constituents 
were uninsured.
  Now I hear from young adults who are grateful to be able to remain on 
their parent's insurance plans until age 26.
  I hear relief from seniors who once lived in fear of not being able 
to afford their medication once they reached the donut hole.
  I hear from struggling families who are thankful their child with a 
preexisting condition can be part of new high risk pool insurance.
  And I hear from those facing serious illness how relieved and 
grateful they are their insurers can no longer drop them when they need 
coverage the most.
  The Affordable Care Act is working--I urge my colleagues to vote 
``no'' on this resolution.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
  Pursuant to House Resolution 218, the concurrent resolution is 
considered read and the previous question is ordered.
  The question is on the concurrent resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. 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.

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