[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7051]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRIES

  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his parliamentary 
inquiry.
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, the underlying bill's constitutional 
authority statement cites the Tenth Amendment, and as such fails to 
live up to the rule of the House, and tries to perpetuate the false 
myth that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional.
  Mr. Speaker, the Supreme Court has heard the case. They have made 
their decision. The Affordable Care Act is constitutional. And Speaker 
Boehner has said, it is the law of the land. The constitutional 
authority statement for this bill is completely inaccurate.
  It is the 37th time we are voting to repeal or defund the Affordable 
Care Act, but apparently we still can't get the paperwork right. How 
does a Member correct the statement of constitutional authority?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has not been recognized to 
engage in debate.
  Does the gentleman have a parliamentary inquiry?
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, further parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his parliamentary 
inquiry.
  Mr. POLIS. Has the House ever voted to repeal in whole or in part 
another piece of legislation 37 times, like we are doing here today--in 
this case, a piece of legislation that makes it illegal for insurance 
companies to discriminate against a woman if she becomes pregnant and 
makes sure that children under the age of 26 can stay on their parents' 
health care plan?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has not stated a proper 
parliamentary inquiry, and the Chair does not place proceedings in a 
historical context.
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, further parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his parliamentary 
inquiry.
  Mr. POLIS. Is it correct that the House Republican budget maintains 
$1.2 trillion of tax increases included in the Affordable Care Act and 
$716 billion in cuts of Medicare; and, in fact, this very budget that 
we operate under would not have balanced without including these 
savings in taxes from ObamaCare?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman's parliamentary inquiry is not 
relevant to any business pending before the House.
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, further parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his parliamentary 
inquiry.
  Mr. POLIS. Is the House here this week spending millions of dollars 
of taxpayer money to repeal the Affordable Care Act because it actually 
believes that that will occur while Barack Obama is in the White House 
or because freshman Republicans want to score political points back 
home?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair does not respond to political 
commentary under the guise of parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. POLIS. I trust the American people will respond to these 
questions.

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