[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 15062]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1100
                      REOPENING GOVERNMENT FAIRLY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, we all remember hearing the promise ``if you 
like your health care, you can keep it.'' We also remember hearing that 
ObamaCare would reduce insurance costs for families by about $2,500 a 
year. That is not what we are hearing now.
  Ronald, one of my constituents from Advance, North Carolina, just 
received a letter from Blue Cross Blue Shield informing him because of 
ObamaCare his month monthly premiums are tripling from $400 per month 
to $1,200 per month. His deductible also skyrocketed to $11,000.
  William in Rural Hall, North Carolina, tells me the same story. His 
premiums are also tripling from $400 to more than $1,200. Dianne, one 
of my constituents from Clemmons, tells me that her health care 
premiums are slated to rise from $193 per month to $553 per month 
beginning on January 1, 2014, again due to ObamaCare. William from 
Winston-Salem recently informed me that his son's 2014 renewal rate 
came in. His premiums are rising from $314 to $821.96.
  Mr. Speaker, until now we have been forced to debate ObamaCare in the 
abstract, using economic predictions and common sense to explain why 
this ill-conceived law is going to be, as one of its key proponents in 
the Senate predicted, a train wreck. But now the verdict is in. 
Families from across my district are receiving letters from insurers 
explaining that the so-called Affordable Care Act is driving their 
premiums sky high.
  My constituents don't want to be forced to change their health care 
plans or risk losing access to doctors they trust. Again, they were 
promised that if they liked their doctor, they could keep their doctor 
and if they liked their health care plan, they could keep it. Those 
promises were broken. These aren't abstractions or predictions; these 
are real people whose health and livelihoods are being threatened by 
this law.
  Mr. Speaker, the proponents of this disastrous scheme keep reminding 
us that it is ``the law of the land.'' They implore us to simply give 
up and move on. We will not give up on our constituents. We will not 
move on when they need us to seek fairness on their behalf.
  The other side acts as if this bill which they hastily cobbled 
together and passed on a party-line vote against massive popular 
opposition is so firmly entrenched in American law that it can never be 
amended or repealed. This is nonsense and they know it.
  ObamaCare is the law. But what do we do in Congress every day? We 
work to change bad laws, and we certainly work to make sure laws treat 
all Americans fairly. And as Rich Lowry recently pointed out:

       If this were consistent principle rather than opportunistic 
     advice, Democrats would have been content to leave a number 
     of policies they vigorously fought in place out of deference 
     to duly constituted policy and law.

  Mr. Speaker, this is about basic fairness. The President has given 
special treatment to Big Business, Congress and his well-connected 
political allies; but he refuses to offer the same relief to working 
families. That is wrong. That is not fair. Ordinary Americans deserve 
the same exemption that the President has given businesses.
  Let's reopen this government. Let's reopen it fairly.

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