[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14614-14615]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               OBAMACARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise first to thank my colleague and 
friend from California (Mr. Bera), for recognizing that in divided 
government, which we've had in the past, it's important that we sit 
down and resolve differences and we negotiate.
  He correctly pointed out that President Reagan, in the 1980s, was 
willing to and quick to negotiate with then-Speaker of the House Tip 
O'Neill, and they accomplished great things. They reformed the Tax Code 
in 1982. In 1986, they reformed Social Security by working with Tip 
O'Neill and Senator Moynihan from New York. Twelve years later, 
President Clinton was willing to sit down and speak with then-Speaker 
of the House Newt Gingrich, and they performed important things for 
this country. They reformed welfare and balanced the budget. Those 
things weren't easy. Those things took resolution. It took resolve and 
willingness to sit down and talk with each other.
  Here we are in the year 2013, and many of us on this side of the 
aisle are feeling like we don't have government that's willing to sit 
down and negotiate. As a matter of fact, this morning in The Hill it is 
reported in a headline that says: ``Obama to Republicans: I will not 
negotiate.'' So here we are at the eleventh hour ready, willing to 
compromise, to negotiate with a Commander in Chief and Chief Executive 
that will not negotiate with us.
  What you need in order to compromise many times is time and space, 
and I'm here today, Mr. Speaker, to express my support for delaying the 
Affordable Care Act by at least 1 year. Since the law's passage, time 
has shown that the Affordable Care Act is a misguided effort which has 
divided Americans on the common goal of affordable access to world-
class health care, as opposed to bringing us together to rise to the 
challenges that we face as a country.
  What has most of us deeply troubled is that not only will the law 
leave over 30 million Americans uninsured and forced to pay a tax, but 
it is forcing physicians to fundamentally question the nature of their 
profession and its pursuit.
  The role of the doctor fundamentally changes under this law. As 
opposed to being healers, doctors are now bureaucrats. The law erodes 
the core of American medicine, defined by exceptional medical care 
practiced by highly trained experts who are driven to innovate and 
improve for the common good. Instead, this law leads to medicine by 
bureaucrat and checking off boxes.
  As for the 30 million who will remain uninsured under the law's 
design, they will continue to be left outside the health care system. 
Compounding matters, the law also creates countless newly uninsured 
Americans, something the President told us would not happen. But it is 
happening in the Eighth Congressional District of Pennsylvania, with 
workplaces struggling to deal with the law's overreach and the law's 
burdens.
  Additionally, former President Clinton has highlighted another 
500,000 Americans who will become uninsured due to the President's 
health care law: children. He's referring to it as the ``family 
glitch,'' where the law's complicated formula removes children from 
their parents' health insurance, leaving them without coverage. 
Furthermore, nearly one-third of those children will not qualify for 
Medicaid or for CHIP. Glitch? This is a catastrophe. Both the intended 
and the unintended consequences of the law are far-reaching and will 
not be fully understood until this week as Americans begin to live 
under this new system. As was said during the health care debate by the 
law's supporters, ``We have to pass the law to find out what's in it.'' 
That is the prevailing attitude by people in the Beltway who have 
continued to put themselves between patients and doctors, workers and 
workplaces, students and teachers, and families and their faith time 
and time again.
  One of the keys to our Nation's success is the manner we have adopted 
to solve problems. It is hardwired into our culture of freedom. 
Americans believe we can solve our own problems and are more apt to 
work together when we know the solutions lie in our hands, not in 
somebody else's. This is what makes America exceptional.

[[Page 14615]]

  While many of us agree that there is some good in the law, there is 
no telling what else we're about to find out about the health care law 
and its impact on families, workplaces, and the economy. That's the 
problem, Mr. Speaker, in a nutshell. As Congress struggles to deal with 
the costs, and presumably, the unintended consequences of the health 
care law, Americans need answers and they need answers now. At a 
minimum, glaring deficiencies like these are reasons for pause. All 
policymakers, including the President, should take a step back and 
delay the law's implementation for at least a year to ensure that 
Americans are being helped and not hurt.

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