[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7043]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
                   REPEAL PRESIDENT'S HEALTH CARE LAW

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Madam Speaker, I rise this morning to speak about an 
issue that is of great concern to my constituents back home in 
Pennsylvania, and it's the matter of the implementation of the 
President's Affordable Care Act, the implementation which some members 
of the President's party have described as a coming train wreck. Madam 
Speaker, that train wreck has arrived. This massive undertaking of 
enacting such a broad, confusing law has only highlighted the concerns 
that I and many of my constituents back home have had with this law and 
what it means for our small businesses and families in Pennsylvania.
  However, a new concern--possibly greater than the idea of government-
run health care--has presented itself over the last several days with 
the revelation that the Internal Revenue Service has been targeting 
law-abiding Americans simply because of their beliefs. The IRS now 
wants to know what we think and what books we read.
  Madam Speaker, the President's health care law is largely a tax bill. 
It contains at least 20 new or higher taxes on American families and 
businesses. That makes it the biggest change to an already-confusing 
Tax Code in over two decades. And with the implementation of this 
massive tax bill comes the IRS' new role in running it.
  By putting politics ahead of fairness, the IRS has violated the trust 
of the American people at a time when the administration is loading it 
up with more responsibility and more power. Under health care reform, 
the IRS will gather extensive information about the financial resources 
and health insurance status of all Americans. The expansion of the IRS' 
power will include hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes, the 
hiring of thousands of enforcement agents, and a tower of new rules and 
regulations. I'm deeply concerned with the ability of the agency and 
the resolve of the agency to lawfully manage this significant 
undertaking with discretion and with accountability.
  While the agency reported that new rules are in place to ensure that 
this type of situation never happens again, like many Americans, I 
question why this disturbing trend was ever allowed to happen in the 
first place. The President's health care law does too much to infringe 
on the rights of the American people and swells the size and scope of 
an already bloated Federal Government, which has once again proven 
incapable of acting responsibly.
  Today, I urge Members of Congress to fully repeal the health care law 
and, in doing so, take the first step to replacing it with commonsense 
solutions for all Americans--like allowing people to purchase health 
coverage across State lines; stopping frivolous lawsuits against our 
doctors; clearing individuals to receive tax credits just like large 
businesses; and letting Americans keep control of the health care that 
works best for them.

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