[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6788-6796]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       REPUBLICAN FRESHMAN CLASS ON THE NEED TO REPEAL OBAMACARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Joyce). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2013, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Messer) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members

[[Page 6789]]

may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Indiana?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I rise for another in a series of Republican 
freshman class Special Orders, this time to focus on the need to repeal 
ObamaCare in a vote in this Chamber later this week.
  The President and many of our colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle proudly refer to this health care law as ``ObamaCare,'' but we 
should neither be proud of the process that led us to this point nor 
the resulting policy mess.
  The 2,800-page bill was crafted behind closed doors and rushed 
through Congress in 2010 with limited debate and without amendments. 
The predictable result is a flawed product that expands the Federal 
Government's role in health care, raises taxes on employers, and 
mandates benefits that will increase health care costs for most. 
Remarkably, there already have been more than 20,000 pages of 
regulations issued regarding this bill's implementation.

                              {time}  1930

  I would like to start by recognizing my distinguished colleague, the 
gentlelady from Missouri, for her remarks on this important issue.
  Mrs. WAGNER. I thank the gentleman from Indiana for yielding and for 
organizing these Special Orders this evening.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 45, a bill that will 
repeal the President's devastating health care reform law, commonly 
referred to as ObamaCare. When promoting the health care reform 
legislation to the American public, the President and members of his 
party told people that if you liked your health insurance then you 
could keep it, that the penalty Americans have to pay under the 
individual mandate was not a tax, and that those with preexisting 
conditions would have access to health care. Well, as many of us 
suspected then, these claims were nothing more than blatant lies.
  In fact, the Congressional Budget Office recently said that 7 million 
people will lose their job-based health insurance due to ObamaCare. The 
Supreme Court has affirmed what we already knew: that ObamaCare 
penalties are, indeed, taxes, and on February 15 the Obama 
administration announced they would not cover over 40,000 patients 
suffering from preexisting conditions.
  Mr. Speaker, friends, this should not happen in America. We need to 
repeal this law, and we need to do it now. Today, though not fully 
implemented, ObamaCare has already had many destructive effects on the 
American people--real people with bills to pay, mouths to feed, and 
jobs to do.
  Since ObamaCare was signed into law, many of the new taxes in the 
President's $1 trillion tax hike have gone into effect, most of which 
target the middle class, increase the cost of health care, and stifle 
job creation.
  The law continues to take its toll on small business. I hear from mom 
and pop operations throughout the St. Louis region that are not hiring 
needed workers or reducing full-time employees to part-time workers, 
for the sole purpose of being able to keep their doors open as a 
consequence of the new ObamaCare regulations.
  The impact on jobs already is unmistakable. ObamaCare promised 4 
million jobs, including 400,000 almost immediately. Yet we know the 
truth: that ObamaCare is destroying jobs and costing the American Dream 
for millions of Americans.
  Just today, a Missouri hospital announced that it was eliminating 129 
good-paying jobs. The reason? ObamaCare.
  These are facts, these are real jobs, and this law is hurting real 
people.
  It continues.
  Premium costs continue to rise on hardworking families across the 
country. Premiums for the average family have already grown by $3,000 
since 2008, despite promises by the Obama administration that ObamaCare 
would decrease premiums $2,500.
  Premium costs are expected to double, triple, and even quadruple for 
millions of Americans when many of the provisions of the law go into 
effect next year. The greatest effect will be on young people in this 
country, who are already struggling to find jobs, pay off student 
loans, and grow healthy, prosperous families. These young people will 
be stuck between paying for insurance they cannot afford and being 
subject to a burdensome tax.
  Mr. Speaker, I will close by addressing the shameful raiding of 
Medicare by this irresponsible law called ObamaCare. Despite promises 
to the contrary, ObamaCare has gutted Medicare to the tune of $716 
billion--nearly three-quarters of a trillion dollars--stolen from our 
Greatest Generation to pay for this devastating law.
  Every day, more and more doctors are refusing to see Medicare 
patients because they simply cannot afford to do so. Is this how we pay 
back our seniors--with reduced benefits, reduced access to health care, 
and reduced respect for their quality of life? We owe them more. We owe 
the American people more.
  Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear: this law is wrong for America and 
needs to be repealed immediately before any more of its harmful 
provisions are implemented.
  Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady for her remarks.
  Many of the promises that were made to justify ObamaCare's enactment 
have been broken. The results of these broken promises are hurting 
hardworking American families, workers, and businesses today, and will 
hurt them even more in the future, which is why House Republicans will 
be voting to repeal this government takeover of health care later this 
week. Through the course of the Special Order, we will look at some of 
those broken promises.
  I would next like to recognize my good friend, my colleague from 
North Carolina (Mr. Pittenger).
  Mr. PITTENGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join a chorus of 
individuals who are calling for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
  Mr. Speaker, it's not even affordable. The CBO says it will cost $1.8 
trillion just to employ. Blue Cross/Blue Shield in North Carolina says 
the premiums are going to go up 284 percent. We can't afford this. 
Seven million people won't be able to keep their own policies. There's 
no risk pool now, no funding for it, no provision. Even Democrat 
Senator Max Baucus, Finance Committee chairman, says this is a train 
wreck getting ready to happen.
  Mr. Speaker, last January, I sponsored a seminar in my district that 
brought together 400 business leaders. The purpose of this seminar was 
to explain ObamaCare. We had the Cato Institute and the AARP there. Mr. 
Speaker, what they heard was a resounding, What in the world have we 
done? They were so concerned about what ObamaCare was going to do to 
their own businesses, they were afraid to hire people, and they thought 
they would let people go.
  Do you know what they saw, Mr. Speaker? This chart right here. This 
chart--what a quagmire to process through to try to get real health 
care. It can't be done. We can do better.
  That's why with Congressman Hudson I've introduced a bill called Auto 
Enroll. This is a little provision put in the health care law, one of 
those provisions that I believe Speaker Pelosi said we are going to 
read it after we vote on it, we are going to learn about it then.
  Well, we've learned about it. What did we learn? That the companies 
have to automatically put people on their health care plan. And this 
bill says, no, you can opt out, you don't have to comply.
  Students who are already on their parents' health care, they 
shouldn't have to do this. You have temporary people who are working 
during seasonal work time in major retail or in restaurants. They 
shouldn't have to be on this, yet they're required to. This bill will 
allow some flexibility for employers.
  The American people were told, We are going to provide you a champion

[[Page 6790]]

thoroughbred horse who is going to go win the Kentucky Derby. Do you 
know what they got, Mr. Speaker? They got a maimed, blind, deaf, 
crippled horse that can't even make its way around the track. That's 
what we have with ObamaCare.
  We are going to do better. We are going to provide for the American 
people at the right time, and we can do this in competitive markets. 
They can cross State lines, hundreds of companies competing, drawing 
down the cost of health care. This needs to be done now.
  We can get rid of the frivolous lawsuits that are driving the cost of 
health care up. The American workers, responsible people, hardworking 
taxpayer Americans, they deserve better, and we are going to do it.
  Thank you, and God bless you.
  Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
  I would next like to recognize my good friend, the distinguished 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Stewart).
  Mr. STEWART. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, Mr. Messer.
  I've been blessed to do a lot of fun things in my life, to do a lot 
of interesting jobs. I was an Air Force pilot for 14 years. That was 
maybe the funnest thing I've ever done. I was a writer. I've written 15 
books. That was very satisfying. But the hardest job, without question 
the hardest job I've ever done was to be a small business owner.
  As a small business owner, you fight every day to make ends meet. You 
care about your employees. Your employees become your family.
  One of the funnest things to do is to hire new people, but one of the 
hardest things to do, and one of the most, frankly, discouraging things 
you have to do is when you have to lay people off. But that is exactly 
what has happened in the business that I owned, that is exactly what is 
happening now, and that is what is going to continue to happen.
  Jobs are being killed by the implementation of ObamaCare. And that's 
not a statistic. That isn't some government projection. It isn't some 
estimation from CBO. That is a fact. It is a reality. ObamaCare is 
killing economic activity. ObamaCare is killing jobs. And it's only 
going to get worse.

                              {time}  1940

  There is a reason that the Democrats--and I'm not talking about the 
Republicans; I'm talking about Democratic leaders--are calling 
ObamaCare a train wreck. There is a reason why Nancy Pelosi said, We 
have to pass this bill before we can find out what's in it.
  This is like taking the lid off a garbage can that has been sitting 
out in the sun too long. The longer it's out there and the more we know 
about this legislation, the worse it is. 400 percent--that's how much 
some people's premiums are going to go up because of the implementation 
of ObamaCare. The President promised and, in fact, the entire purpose 
of the Affordable Care Act was to drive premiums down. Instead, we see 
exactly the opposite--30 percent, 80 percent, 400 percent increases in 
health care premiums.
  All of us Americans have become familiar with new words over the last 
year or two. We've learned about sequester, and we've heard a lot about 
the fiscal cliff. The new government phrase of the year is going to be 
``rate shock.'' You're going to hear about that all the time beginning 
this fall because people will be shocked and businesses will be shocked 
and jobs will be lost and people will be hurt because of the 
implementation of ObamaCare.
  Please, let's take the opportunity to repeal it now. We can do 
better. We can write something and design something that is better. 
Let's take the opportunity to do that.
  Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
  I would quote for you broken promise No. 1 of ObamaCare: ``If you 
like your current health care plan, you will be able to keep it.''
  Not true. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nearly 7 
million people will lose their employer-sponsored health care coverage 
under ObamaCare.
  I would next like to yield to my good friend, the gentleman from New 
York, Representative Collins.
  Mr. COLLINS of New York. I want to thank the gentleman for holding 
this special session tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, the American public is often concerned there is not 
enough agreement in the Halls of Congress. Well, I am pleased to report 
there is growing agreement among both parties and in both Houses of 
this Congress that ObamaCare is truly a train wreck, as recently 
described by Democrat Senator Max Baucus. As this massive piece of 
legislation is being implemented, the negative impact it is and will 
have on our economy is becoming clear:
  ObamaCare guts the funding for Medicare Advantage to help cover its 
growing price tag. So, for all those seniors out there, like my 86-
year-old mom, who are happy with the coverage they receive through 
Medicare Advantage, I have news for you: you can't keep your existing 
plan, as promised, because ObamaCare effectively ends it.
  What the administration could not raid from other sources to pay for 
ObamaCare it makes up in new taxes. Just last week, as chairman of the 
Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology, I heard from 
small business owners and advocates about the impact the health 
insurance tax will have on the bottom line of America's small 
businesses. The amount of that tax will be $8 billion in 2014, 
increasing to $14.3 billion in 2018, and will increase based on premium 
trends thereafter.
  Supporters of ObamaCare will say these fees are supposed to be paid 
by the health insurance companies; but common sense, substantiated by 
independent studies, tells you the insurance companies are passing 
these costs directly on to consumers in the form of higher premiums. To 
avoid the taxes and fees, companies are cutting jobs, not hiring, and 
are reducing employee hours to stay under ObamaCare thresholds, all 
this at a time when national unemployment remains embarrassingly high.
  ObamaCare is built on the premise that the young and the healthy will 
pay to insure the old and the sick. Well, guess what? The young and the 
healthy are too smart to have their pockets picked. Knowing they can't 
be denied coverage down the road, the young and the healthy are going 
to drop out of the insurance market and instead pay the $95 penalty and 
their out-of-pocket medical expenses. They know this approach will be 
far, far cheaper in the end than paying thousands of dollars for an 
individual or a family plan under ObamaCare. It's like not buying 
collision insurance on your new car because you know you can get it 
after you've been in a wreck.
  When attempting to defend ObamaCare, its supporters like to tout all 
those ``free'' things that ObamaCare offers the American people. That 
sales pitch crystallizes what is wrong with ObamaCare and the tax-and-
spend policies this town is famous for. Nothing is free in this world. 
For every free service ObamaCare offers, someone out there in America 
is paying for it with his hard-earned money; or, worse yet, we'll just 
add a few more bucks onto our staggering debt to cover this so-called 
``free'' service.
  This country can't afford ObamaCare figuratively or literally. 
ObamaCare must be repealed. It needs to be replaced with commonsense, 
cost-effective ways to improve health care in this country.
  Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
  I would next like to yield to my good friend, the gentlelady from my 
home State of Indiana, for her insights as to this important Special 
Order.
  Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Thank you to the gentleman from Indiana for 
organizing this.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 45, the repeal of 
the Affordable Care Act.
  ObamaCare is bad for the young and for the elderly.
  I recently received a letter from a high school senior in my 
district. She noted that her family's out-of-pocket premium costs have 
risen $7,000 in recent years while their deductible has

[[Page 6791]]

increased tenfold. She said she is worried about how she is going to 
pay for health care on her own in the future.
  She is right to worry. According to a study published by the American 
Academy of Actuaries' magazine, 80 percent of Americans under the age 
of 30 will face premium increases because of ObamaCare.
  The costs of ObamaCare are more than monetary. Americans will also 
have fewer health care choices because of it. Specifically, the 
Independent Payment Advisory Board will threaten the options available 
today to Medicare recipients. This board of 15 officials will get to 
choose which treatments and which procedures Medicare will reimburse 
and which it will not. What a doctor prescribes or what a patient needs 
will come second, if at all. The IPAB is unelected and won't report to 
Members of Congress or to any elected official. The budget for this 
board is given directly by the executive branch. IPAB doesn't even have 
to justify its finances to the public.
  My friends on the other side of the aisle like to say Republicans 
want to change Medicare as we know it; but, in fact, it is ObamaCare 
that is changing Medicare, putting bureaucrats in charge of decisions 
that should be between senior citizens and their doctors.
  Repealing ObamaCare will right this wrong for the young and for our 
seniors. I urge the adoption of this important bill.
  Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentlelady for her remarks.
  I would next like to yield to my good friend from the State of 
Florida, Representative Yoho.
  Mr. YOHO. I would like to thank my colleague from Indiana.
  Mr. Speaker, I stand here today in support of H.R. 45, the repeal of 
the Affordable Care Act.
  It's not just the House Republicans who want this or House freshmen 
who want to repeal this law; it's the American people. The American 
people don't like this. The people of my district overwhelmingly desire 
the repeal of this legislative debacle.
  Let's face it: in March of 2009, with a Democratic Congress, this 
bill was passed through in the twilight hours. The Speaker said--and I 
think we all remember those infamous words--that we have to pass it to 
see what's in it, that we have to pass it to see how it's going to 
work.
  America deserves better. Americans deserve better, and they demand 
better.
  The Affordable Care Act is the number one job-killing bill in 
America. When the President speaks of job creation and of stimulating 
the economy, the 800-pound gorilla in the room that nobody talks about 
is the Affordable Care Act. It's the number one job-killing bill--bar 
none. Here are a couple of examples:
  I had a person call in today. A young lady, one of my constituents, 
said that even though she doesn't have insurance, it's because she 
doesn't have a job; and the reason she doesn't have a job is due to 
this bill. It's getting in the way of job creation.

                              {time}  1950

  Another business owner I know, he's got 350 employees. I asked him 
how the effects of this bill were going to affect his business. He 
said, Let me tell you about this bill. I could expand my business right 
now and I could add 100 new employees, but I'm not doing anything 
because of the estimated cost of this bill.
  Think about that. That's one man's business in one town in America. 
How many businesses in America, throughout this country, are not 
expanding because of this bill and the uncertainty? It's got to stop.
  There's a county in our district, Clay County. I was talking to one 
of the municipal people there that was in charge of the health care. He 
said that the estimated costs coming up because of the Affordable Care 
Act were going to cost $15 million. Then they figured out if they 
didn't comply with the Affordable Care Act what that cost would be. It 
would be $5 million. What choice do you think they're going to make? 
They're either going to lay off people or they're not going to cover 
people. They'll pay the fine.
  In my own town in Alachua County, there's a contractor, and he's got 
51 employees. He's bidding on a job against another contractor that has 
49 employees. The estimated cost to him is $2,000 per employee. So this 
contractor with the 51 employees is starting at the same line with this 
guy who has 49 employees, and he's going to owe $102,000 more in his 
opening bid. I asked him what he was going to do. He said, The most 
commonsense thing to do is lay off some people so I don't have to pay 
for that. Again, I hear this story over and over and over again.
  Mr. Speaker, it seems the President himself doesn't really like his 
plan that much either. In spite of all the glowing speeches he gives, 
the President himself has signed into law repeals of certain ObamaCare 
provisions on seven different occasions. When the President claimed 
that his plan would lower the cost of health care for Americans, he 
left out the fact that about 7 million Americans would just lose their 
health care altogether.
  Estimated insurance costs for the younger generation: they can expect 
their insurance premiums to increase from what they are today 150 
percent to 175 percent. When the President claimed that under his plan 
no family making less than $250,000 a year would see taxes increase, he 
completely left out the fact that there are 21 new taxes in this bill; 
and these are taxes that are on not just the wealthy, but all Americans 
at all income levels. It's a bad bill, and this is not what America 
wants.
  The whole point of the Affordable Care Act was to create health 
reform, which implies not just health care, but health prevention. 
After 3\1/2\ years of this bill being out there, the Supreme Court said 
in reviewing it that it's not health care; it's a health tax. The 
bottom line is it's going to create people who have less insurance.
  Then we have to think about who will collect these taxes: the IRS. 
That's the very same IRS we found out that's under a criminal 
investigation today. Americans don't want this.
  Americans are a caring, generous, and a charitable people. We will 
always make sure that the least fortunate among us are cared for. The 
President's plan doesn't care for the less fortunate. In fact, it makes 
us all less fortunate. Our vote this week is not about politics; it's 
about being responsive to the people and adhering to the Constitution.
  We represent the people who are being hurt the most by the ObamaCare 
bill, and we owe it to them to relieve them of this burden. If we truly 
want to create jobs, the full repeal of ObamaCare is the first step in 
jump-starting our economy, and I'm proud and thankful to be able to be 
a part of the process of repealing this legislative disaster and 
replacing it with a commonsense health care reform.
  Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his comments, and I thank my 
colleagues for their stamina and patience.
  I would next like to recognize my good friend, the straight-talking 
Member from Oklahoma (Mr. Bridenstine).
  Mr. BRIDENSTINE. I'd like to thank the gentleman from Indiana for 
allowing me to speak on this issue on behalf of my constituents. I can 
say very clearly that I support H.R. 45, ObamaCare repeal, and I can 
tell you why.
  Under ObamaCare, we're looking at a minimum of about $500 billion in 
new taxes. We're talking about taxes on pharmaceuticals and taxes on 
medical devices. We're also talking about taxes on payroll, things that 
have nothing to do with medicine; taxes on the sale of real estate; 
taxes on other capital gains. There will be 21 new taxes, and $500 
billion is the conservative estimate. Some people say it's going to be 
$1.1 trillion in new tax revenue.
  Guess what? It's not enough. There's also going to be $500 billion in 
new borrowing over the first 10 years of ObamaCare. And it's still not 
enough. So we're going to rob $716 billion from Medicare at a time when 
seniors are finding it hard to find providers who are willing to accept 
Medicare as it is. This is hugely problematic for the people in my 
district.
  Let's talk about the employers. Employers are seeking ways to reduce

[[Page 6792]]

their staffs below 50 people. They're laying people off. No kidding. I 
talked to an employer just a few weeks ago in my district. He's got 57 
employees. He's now trying to get down to 49. He's also trying to 
figure out ways to make his staff part-time. He's trying to get his 
staff under 29 hours so he has less than 50 full-time equivalents, as 
they refer to them now. This is going to be a disaster for the 
employment prospects of the people in my district.
  Let's talk about how this is administered. It's going to be 
administered by the IRS. So everyone has to have the health insurance 
that perfectly conforms to what the President wants them to have. It 
used to be that there was a time when my wife and I had insurance, 
where we had a high deductible and a low premium. We had a little bit 
of savings. We wanted to save money on our premium, and so we were 
willing to accept the high deductible. We were willing to accept a 
little bit of risk upon ourselves to save money. That's not available 
anymore under ObamaCare. All that will be enforced by the IRS.
  So if you have that high-deductible, low-premium policy, or if you 
have a policy that they call a ``Cadillac plan,'' you're going to be 
penalized. These penalties have been ruled by the Supreme Court to be 
taxes, but let's be clear that they are penalties for not conforming to 
what the President wants you to have in insurance.
  That penalty, if you don't have the right health insurance, is going 
to be 2\1/2\ percent of your income, eventually. So if you make $50,000 
a year, your penalty is $1,250, assessed by the IRS when you do your 
taxes. Or you could pay the premium. If you want the comprehensive 
health care that ObamaCare requires you to have, that premium is likely 
to be around $7,000, or you can pay the penalty of $1,250. What are 
most people going to pay? They're going to pay the penalty. Why? 
Because under ObamaCare, they can't exempt you for a preexisting 
condition. So you can pay the penalty, and then when you get sick you 
can go to the doctor and get the health insurance you need and then get 
healthy; and then when you're healthy, you can drop your health 
insurance again.
  This creates an adverse selection. This is a big problem. If you want 
to see health insurance premiums skyrocket, let's only insure the 
people who are sick; and that's exactly what this bill does.
  Let's talk for a second about the expansion of Medicaid under 
ObamaCare. I'm very proud of the State of Oklahoma for not expanding 
Medicaid under ObamaCare. This is a teaser rate. This is a time when 
the Federal Government comes in and they say, We're going to fully 
expand your Medicaid expansion up to 138 percent of the poverty line 
for the first 3 years, then we're going to pull the rug out from under 
you.
  The State of Oklahoma is going to be faced with challenges. What are 
we going to cut? Maybe we'll cut education, maybe we'll cut the 
Department of Transportation in the State of Oklahoma, or maybe we'll 
raise taxes. This is just another way for the Federal Government to 
addict States to a program that ultimately they're going to pull the 
rug out from under the program and the State of Oklahoma is going to be 
forced to carry this load. I'm very proud of Governor Mary Fallin for 
not expanding Medicaid under ObamaCare.
  I'd like to thank the gentleman from Indiana for allowing me to 
express my views. I fully support H.R. 45, the repeal of ObamaCare.
  Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, I'd like to inquire as to the amount of time we have 
left.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has approximately 30 minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. MESSER. Great. We're right on pace.
  I would next like to recognize my good friend, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus).
  Mr. ROTHFUS. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for organizing 
this important discussion with our freshman colleagues.
  President Obama made big promises while pushing his health care law 
through the House and Senate. He promised the American people that it 
could create jobs, that it could increase access to health care, that 
it would promote economic growth, that it wouldn't add to the deficit, 
that it would not raise taxes on the middle class. He promised that if 
you like your health care plan, you could keep it. He said that it 
would lower the cost of premiums. He said that it would strengthen 
Medicare.

                              {time}  2000

  Three years later, President Obama's health care law has proven to be 
a string of empty and broken promises. We are seeing premiums rise. One 
business in my district that employs 13 workers expects a 26 percent 
increase in its premiums, totaling more than $30,000. That's $30,000 
that cannot go to increasing wages for workers. Another company in my 
district with 17 employees expects a 19 percent premium increase with 
an annual cost of more than $20,000. Companies are being forced to 
change their health plans and pay more for them. Some companies may 
even drop their plans and put their employees in the ObamaCare 
exchanges. That means they're not keeping their plans. That's a broken 
promise.
  ObamaCare is also raising taxes on the middle class. The Supreme 
Court made that clear.
  One little known tax in ObamaCare is a medical device tax. This is a 
tax on the middle class because it is going to be passed directly to 
the consumers. Pennsylvania has the fourth largest medical device 
industry in the Nation. The medical device tax threatens health care 
businesses and innovators, like ZOLL Medical Corporation in my 
district, that supports 600 good-paying jobs.
  ObamaCare does not strengthen Medicare. It cuts $716 billion from the 
program and creates the Independent Payment Advisory Board, also known 
as IPAB, which puts unelected bureaucrats in between seniors and their 
doctors.
  President Obama's health care law is causing folks to lose their 
health plans; it's raising taxes; it's hurting Medicare; it's 
increasing the deficit; and it won't bring universal coverage. More 
than 30 million people will still be uninsured in 10 years. The fact 
remains that 3 years later, President Obama's health care law is a 
trillion-dollar string of broken promises. It's damaging our families, 
seniors, hardworking Americans and their health care. It's killing 
jobs, and it's violating the First Amendment rights of people of faith.
  It's a small wonder that even some of the authors of this misguided 
health care law are now calling it a train wreck. The American people 
deserve better. This law should be repealed. Then all Members of 
Congress should sit down and do their jobs to craft commonsense, 
patient-centered reforms that reduce costs, preserve Medicare, and 
increase access to all Americans.
  Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his comments.
  I would like to talk right now about ObamaCare broken promise number 
two. The President promised:

       I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits, 
     either now or in the future.

  The truth: ObamaCare will end up adding, according to a GAO report, 
more than $6.2 trillion to the debt over the long run.
  I would next like to yield to my good friend, the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Bentivolio).
  Mr. BENTIVOLIO. I thank the gentleman from Indiana very much.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the unaffordable health care 
act. I'll admit it: I'm standing here because of it. The unaffordable 
health care act is what made me realize that Washington was out of 
control and run amuck. It made me realize that the people of this great 
country needed a voice. Whenever I think of the proceedings that gave 
us this massive health care law, the words ``we must pass the bill to 
find out what's in the bill'' ring in my ear. It makes me cringe.
  My friends on the other side of the aisle are good people. They 
passed the bill because their leadership assured them that it was good 
law. I don't

[[Page 6793]]

think they purposely wanted to harm the country. We now know what's in 
the bill, and it's not good. I'm confident that my friends wouldn't 
have voted in favor of ObamaCare had they known that the bill empowered 
the IRS to bully people about their health insurance or that the new 
law created a rationing board to decide who gets treatment and who 
doesn't. Had the bill been read, I don't think it would have passed.
  On top of repealing this law, we must reform how business gets done 
in the Capitol. That's why I've introduced the Read the Bills Act. The 
law is easy to understand: before we pass laws which will impact 
millions of hardworking Americans, Congress must read the bill. This is 
the kind of bill that will help restore the faith in Congress of those 
who send us here to represent them. Let's get rid of the notion that we 
have to pass bills to find out what's in them. Please join me in 
repealing ObamaCare and supporting the Read the Bills Act.
  Mr. MESSER. I thank the good gentleman for his comments.
  Next I yield to my very good friend from the great State of Georgia 
(Mr. Collins).
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I appreciate the gentleman yielding to me.
  This has been a great time tonight. It is a great time in the sense 
that we get to stand here and explain to the American people what they 
were not explained to a few years ago. It's a good time to explain to 
them what they were sold as being something good and something that was 
going to help in health care, and remember this bill says ``health 
care'' in its title. But the truth of the matter is it's not about 
health care, Mr. Speaker; it's about control. It's about who's going to 
control health care, who's going to control what our government is 
getting into and what our government should stay out of.
  I fully support voting this week to repeal ObamaCare and moving 
forward with an agenda that promotes jobs, that creates better 
opportunities, because you see what is happening tonight, as my good 
colleagues have stood here: they've talked about the problems with 
business; they've talked about the problems with taxes; they've talked 
about the broken promises. My colleague has spoken of the broken 
promise of keeping your own health care, of it not adding to the debt, 
all of which are lies, things that are not true that were not talked 
about on this House floor just a few years ago.
  So my problem is let's be honest. Let's talk about what it does do. 
It begins to make a regulatory framework that is amazing. It wasn't a 
matter if you read the bill. It didn't matter if you read the bill in 
2009 because you wouldn't have known what's in it because at the end of 
almost every paragraph it would say, oh, by the way, we're going to let 
this agency promulgate the rules and regulations. You could have read 
every page and you'd have just known that more bureaucrats were going 
to tell you what health care was going to be like. Twenty thousand 
pages of regulations are already on the books, 828 pages in one day. 
We're paying a lot of folks to do a lot of regulation writing. We're 
paying a lot of folks to take away the basic rights that we're looking 
at.
  You see, you can make an argument this is not about health care, this 
is about broadening regulatory authority at HHS and at IRS. Oh, wait, 
IRS. Any thoughts this week about letting them be the regulators of 
who's paying and who's not paying in our health care system? Excuse me, 
we're having trouble dealing with what their job is. We don't need them 
in health care. We've got bigger problems here.
  But when broken promises come about, we have to remember--what has 
disturbed me the most about this whole debate tonight is we've heard 
about businesses; we've heard about taxes; we've heard about some 
broken promises; but what we've not heard about is health care. We've 
not really heard about health care in a doctor and patient. As a doctor 
told me the other day, he said, Just let me practice medicine, which is 
all I want to do.
  You see, it's time we talked about health care because this law, 
instead of helping those who need help, it kicks them off insurance and 
makes people pay more and does all of the things that it was promised 
not to do.
  Doctors are getting out, and new doctors are not going in. And you 
know who's lost? I can see it right now. The picture I have in my mind 
is those waiting in the waiting room waiting to see a doctor who need 
health care, and this law simply leaves them waiting.
  Let's don't do that. Let's repeal this law. Let's get on with the 
real business of this House.
  I appreciate the gentleman yielding me this time.
  Mr. MESSER. I appreciate the gentleman's remarks.
  I yield to my good friend from Montana (Mr. Daines).
  Mr. DAINES. I thank my good friend from Indiana, Congressman Luke 
Messer, for organizing this Special Order in preparation for Thursday's 
vote to repeal the President's health care law.
  Earlier today I emailed my constituents a quick survey back home in 
Montana with one simple question: Do you support efforts to repeal 
President Obama's health care law?
  We've seen already overwhelming response to our office here tonight 
from Montanans across our State, combined with letters, emails, the 
phone calls we've received, by three to one, Montanans want to repeal 
ObamaCare.

                              {time}  2010

  Last week I had a tele-townhall meeting so I could hear from the 
people of Montana about the issues that matter most to them. The last 
question I was asked at the very end of this hour-long tele-townhall 
was from a woman from Florence, Montana, a small town on the western 
side of our State.
  She shared her heartfelt concerns about the health care law and how 
it was going to affect her small business. Between the costly new rules 
and regulations and rising health insurance premiums, she didn't know 
how she would be able to follow the law and keep her business afloat.
  And these challenges aren't unique to this one small business owner 
from Montana. Families and small businesses across America are 
struggling under President Obama's health care overhaul.
  Rather than providing real solutions to increase access to affordable 
care, ObamaCare is driving costs up, it's hurting small businesses, 
it's raising taxes on Americans by more than $1 trillion over the next 
decade and, ultimately, puts the government directly between patients 
and their doctors.
  This law also hurts our seniors and their access to health care. The 
President's health care law took more than $700 billion out of Medicare 
to pay for new ObamaCare spending, and establishes IPAB, this 
unaccountable, unelected board of bureaucrats empowered to further 
undermine seniors' access to medical care.
  And following this week's troubling news from the IRS, it makes it 
very clear that the IRS should not be in charge of enforcing 
ObamaCare's core provisions. We need to repeal ObamaCare to strip them 
of this authority.
  Furthermore, the President's health care overhaul sets in motion 
serious violations of America's religious freedoms. Under ObamaCare, 
the Department of Health and Human Services has mandated health care 
coverage of products and services to which some Americans are morally 
opposed. Under this mandate, religious institutions and employers, as 
well as health care providers who hold religious and moral convictions, 
are stripped of their religious freedoms.
  This is a clear violation of Americans' First Amendment rights, and 
it is of critical importance that the religious and moral convictions 
held by many Americans are protected.
  That's why I recently joined more than 90 of my colleagues here in 
the House in calling for the upcoming House appropriations proposals to 
contain full protections for Americans' religious liberties and 
conscience rights by including provisions found in the Health Care 
Conscience Rights Act, which I helped introduce in March.
  But we must continue fighting to repeal this failed law in its 
entirety. We

[[Page 6794]]

know that our health care system is complex; it has major problems that 
need to be addressed. But ObamaCare only makes the matters worse.
  The President's health care law takes us in the wrong direction. At 
the end of the day, it will result in higher costs, higher premiums, 
and force millions of Americans to lose the coverage they currently 
have.
  And let's just remember something from 3 years ago. Remember in March 
of 2010, when ObamaCare passed the House, there was nothing bipartisan 
about ObamaCare. There was bipartisan opposition. In fact, 34 Democrats 
joined 178 Republicans in opposing ObamaCare, but not one single 
Republican voted for this. There's nothing bipartisan about it, other 
than bipartisan opposition.
  I will vote to repeal this law on Thursday. I will continue to work 
with my colleagues in support of better, more effective solutions that 
give Americans the quality, affordable care they deserve.
  Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
  I'll talk to you briefly about broken promise number three. The 
President promised that ``coupled with comprehensive reform, our bill 
could save families $2,500 in the coming years.''
  The truth? Just the opposite has happened. The average family premium 
has grown by more than $3,000 since 2008. In Indiana, residents are 
expected to face some of the highest health care insurance cost 
increases in the Nation, amounting to more than 60 percent for many and 
as high as 100 percent for some.
  I next would like to recognize my good colleague, a man who's shown 
the patience of Job this evening as he's waited with great stamina, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Holding).
  Mr. HOLDING. Thank you to my friend from Evansville, Indiana (Mr. 
Messer) for the time.
  Mr. Speaker, few things in life are more personal than health care, 
the care we receive as individuals, the treatment our children receive, 
the treatment our friends and our loved ones receive.
  And beginning next year, Mr. Speaker, the government will dominate 
this personal arena. Dismantling this failed attempt at health care 
reform needs to be a priority of this Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, time and time again I hear from the medical 
professionals in my district, those who have dedicated their lives to 
serving others, about the uncertainty ObamaCare is causing them. What 
regulations and rules are going to come down from HHS and step in 
between the care that these medical professionals provide their 
patients?
  What treatments will they be able to provide?
  How many hoops are they going to have to jump through to get the 
procedures and tests that their patients need?
  How many hoops will they have to go through to get approved?
  Mr. Speaker, ObamaCare has also harmed small business in all sorts of 
unimaginable ways. Small businesses are what drive this Nation's 
economy, through innovation and good old-fashioned sweat equity. They 
are a testament to what built this country and made it great.
  But this law, Mr. Speaker, is causing many of them to make tough 
decisions, tough decisions about whether they can go out and hire that 
additional worker or employee; tough decisions on if they can invest in 
growth as they try to grow their company, and what other long-term 
impacts ObamaCare is going to have on their business.
  Many small businesses are struggling, and this law will only make 
things worse. We have heard here tonight about employers considering 
dropping coverage altogether because of the uncertainty.
  Providing health care benefits has served as a sense of pride for 
small business owners, and has always been a means by which small 
business owners have been able to recruit and retain the best talent. 
This talent is what helps them be successful but, unfortunately, under 
ObamaCare, providing health care is not going to be something that many 
small businesses do.
  Two years ago, Mr. Speaker, the Congress repealed the misguided 1099 
reporting requirement that was included in ObamaCare. It was there to 
gin up revenue. In this Congress I'm hopeful we can repeal the medical 
device tax, and I've cosponsored a bill to do just that, one that 
enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support, bipartisan support that is 
similar to the support shared for many of the misguided provisions of 
ObamaCare and the wish to get in there and repeal them and rein them 
back in.
  Anyone who reads or watches the news knows that the Affordable Care 
Act, which, Mr. Speaker, probably should have been named the 
Unaffordable Care Act, as Mr. Bentivolio said earlier this evening, is 
costing more and more money just to get it up and running. Costs have 
ballooned, and the law hasn't even been fully implemented yet or nearly 
implemented yet.
  State exchanges are requesting more and more Federal dollars, which 
has sent the administration scrambling to pull dollars out of the so-
called Prevention Fund.
  Mr. Speaker, the CBO estimates that ObamaCare may now cost twice as 
much as originally promised, at a pricetag of $1.88 trillion through 
2022.
  Mr. Speaker, we haven't even touched on what will, without a doubt, 
impact individuals and families the most: the cost of their premiums. 
This is what American families are the most concerned about. Since 
2008, families have seen their premiums grow by over $3,000, and the 
new report by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, based upon 
actual industry numbers, suggests that rates may go up anywhere from 47 
percent to 400 percent.
  Mr. Speaker, this law needs to be repealed immediately so patient-
oriented reforms can be enacted that protect American jobs and actually 
deliver on the promise of affordable health care to individuals and 
families.
  Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
  I would like to speak briefly about broken ObamaCare promise number 
four. The President promised ``Under my plan, no family making less 
than $250,000 a year will see their taxes increase.'' The truth? Taxes 
have gone up for many, and not just the well-off.
  The Joint Committee on Taxation has issued a report detailing 21 new 
or higher taxes that will cost taxpayers more than $1 trillion. 
Indiana, which has a medical device industry that employs 20,000 
Hoosiers, with a payroll exceeding $1 billion, would be devastated by 
ObamaCare's $20 billion tax on medical devices.
  I would next like to recognize my good friend from Indiana--I 
appreciate her leadership on this topic--Mrs. Walorski.
  Mrs. WALORSKI. Thank you to my good friend and my colleague from 
Indiana, Representative Messer, for organizing this Special Order 
tonight.
  It has been, Representative Messer, over 3 years since ObamaCare was 
signed into law. In a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing, Senator 
Max Baucus told Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius 
that he now sees this bill as ``a huge train wreck.'' I couldn't agree 
more. ObamaCare is a huge train wreck.
  A few weeks ago I held roundtable discussions in many of the Chambers 
of Commerce in my area, in each county in my district. I sat down with 
a wide spectrum of industries, ranging from agriculture to 
manufacturing.

                              {time}  2020

  The prominent topic of each discussion was ObamaCare and the 
uncertainty it creates for Hoosier businesses that cannot afford the 
overwhelming taxes and employer mandates. From longtime small 
businessowners to aspiring start-up companies, employers agree that 
ObamaCare is largely responsible for smothering economic development. 
If the President and Members of Congress were truly listening to the 
American people's opinion of this law, they would see the writing on 
the wall: we must repeal ObamaCare.
  The State of Indiana is proud to be a global leader in the medical 
device industry that my colleague just spoke of. However, ObamaCare is 
forcing a 2.3

[[Page 6795]]

percent tax on medical device manufacturing. This tax affects the 
orthopedic industry, causing rises in costs for seniors, veterans, and 
patients in need.
  On the 3-year anniversary of ObamaCare, I met with Complexus Medical 
in Mishawaka, an emerging leader in orthopedic instrument manufacturing 
in the Second District. I was told that this tax will stifle innovation 
and could force companies to consider overseas supply chains.
  The medical device tax is of great concern also for our veterans. 
That's why I sent a letter, along with my colleagues from Indiana, to 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs asking how this tax will impact 
veterans care. After the sacrifice and fearless bravery demonstrated by 
our troops and our veterans, it is unacceptable for them to worry about 
their access to quality care.
  And it gets worse. Just this week, we learned more shocking news when 
the IRS admitted they're targeting certain groups of people, a practice 
that is completely unlawful, unethical, and downright shameful. Their 
willful actions to defy transparency have already qualified the IRS for 
a comprehensive congressional investigation, with at least two hearings 
scheduled in the House in the coming weeks.
  But let's not forget, the IRS is set to play a major role in 
ObamaCare from enforcing the individual mandate to distributing tax 
credits. If the IRS cannot operate under the light of transparency 
today with their current duties, I am deeply concerned that further 
responsibilities with sensitive information and controversial policies 
are a recipe for disaster.
  This bill, ladies and gentlemen, is spiraling out of control. It's 
time for Washington to heed the overwhelming evidence and wipe the 
slate clean to show the American people that we are listening. Now, 
more than ever, the President and the Congress must restore 
transparency at the Federal level. I support the full repeal of 
ObamaCare and urge my colleagues to do the same.
  Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentlelady for her remarks. As many other 
speakers have said tonight, ObamaCare is Big Government at its worst.
  Federal agencies have recently reported that it will take them almost 
190 million additional man hours per year for employers, families, and 
health care providers to comply with its onerous implementation 
regulations. That's nearly 95,000 new, full-time employees just to do 
ObamaCare paperwork.
  Now I'd like to recognize our final speaker of the night, one of the 
hardest working Members I know in this Chamber. I appreciate your 
stamina and persistence for being here, the gentleman from Kentucky 
(Mr. Barr).
  Mr. BARR. Well, I want to thank the gentleman, my friend from 
Indiana, for his courtesy and for his leadership on this very important 
issue. I join my colleague in supporting H.R. 45, the full repeal of 
ObamaCare.
  Mr. Speaker, it is true, you've heard from the other Members here 
this evening, you've heard about the importance of repealing ObamaCare 
because it is legislation that is full of broken promises. We know that 
the signature promise of this legislation was that if you like your 
current health insurance, you can keep it. We know now that 7 million 
people will lose their employer-sponsored health insurance at least, 
which is nearly double the previous estimate of 4 million.
  We heard about savings. Remember, this was titled the ``Affordable 
Care Act,'' but in 2013, the Congressional Budget Office projection 
tags the total cost at $1.88 trillion. Premiums--premiums are not 
decreasing; premiums are going up. The average family premium has grown 
over $3,000 since the passage of ObamaCare. Individuals earning as 
little as $25,000 will pay more for insurance because of ObamaCare. And 
1.1 trillion in new taxes and jobs. This legislation was supposed to 
create 400,000 jobs immediately. Speaker Pelosi promised that ObamaCare 
would create 4 million jobs. Well, Mr. Speaker, small employers in 
Kentucky and central Kentucky tell me that ObamaCare is the principal 
reason that they're not hiring.
  According to a study by the National Federation of Independent 
Business, the employer mandate like the one included in ObamaCare could 
eliminate an additional 1.6 million jobs by 2014. ObamaCare is creating 
an environment in which employers are incentivized to reduce hours for 
their employees to go to part-time work. The supporters of ObamaCare 
are supporting a part-time work economy. We need a full-time work 
economy, and that's why we need to repeal ObamaCare.
  It increases the Federal deficit. According to a January GAO report, 
ObamaCare will add 6.2 trillion to the deficit over the next 75 years. 
But, Mr. Speaker, I want to conclude with the story that illustrates 
why this really matters.
  There's a lot of statistics about jobs and the economy and increased 
premiums and costs, but the real signature failure of this legislation 
is that it hurts patients, that it deprives the American people of the 
benefits of medical innovation. A hospital administrator told me in 
central Kentucky that we used to take care of patients, but we now take 
care of paper. Medical innovation is central to America's future 
economic growth and to delivering new lifesaving medical devices to 
patients. But the new medical device tax included in ObamaCare, which 
imposes a 2.3 percent tax on medical device manufacturers, punishes 
medical innovation and prevents quality health care.
  Families around the country know this all too well. In my own family, 
we saw this up close. Christmas Day 2012 could have been one of the 
worst days of our lives. Fortunately, it was the best day of our lives.
  It happened when my mother called me that morning on Christmas 
morning and said, Andy, your father has had a fainting spell. I said, 
can I talk to him? So she got him on the phone. I said, Dad, how are 
you doing? He said, I need to drink a glass of water. I said, Well, 
stop drinking any more coffee. Calm down and give me a call if anything 
happens.
  I got another call an hour later. This time, it was from my mother 
again. She said they were in the emergency room. My father had passed 
out a second time. So I rushed to the emergency room. I was greeted by 
the ER doctor. I said, What's going on, Doctor? He said, Well, we did 
an EKG, and here are the results. He showed me a flat line. He said, 
your father's heart is slowing down. I said, Doctor, what are we going 
to do about that? He said, Well, fortunately, we can put a pacemaker in 
your father.
  An electrophysiologist came down to the ER, and he reassured us. He 
said, We can put a pacemaker in your father, and we can make him 
better. So he went in to get that pacemaker surgery. When he came out, 
he was recovering, and his life was saved because of that pacemaker 
technology.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people, American families depend on the 
innovative, unbelievable technology that American entrepreneurship has 
created. But ObamaCare punishes that. And if it wasn't for that kind of 
medical innovation and technology, my father wouldn't be here today.
  So I stand opposed to ObamaCare for all the reasons we've talked 
about here tonight, but, most importantly, because I credit the 
American free enterprise system for saving lives, and ObamaCare rolls 
that back. I certainly appreciate the leadership of the gentleman from 
Indiana for discussing the importance of this issue and the future of 
high-quality, innovative health care in America in the future.
  Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for his moving remarks. I thank all 
my colleagues for their remarks today. We're going to vote this week on 
repealing ObamaCare. That vote is more than symbolism. ObamaCare is 
wrecking this economy. ObamaCare is terrible for patient outcomes, and 
it needs to be repealed.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

[[Page 6796]]



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