[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 13091-13103]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             KEEP THE IRS OFF YOUR HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2013

  Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 322, I call up 
the bill (H.R. 2009) to prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury from 
enforcing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health 
Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, and ask for its 
immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 322, the bill 
is considered read.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2009

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Keep the IRS Off Your Health 
     Care Act of 2013''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) On May 10, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service admitted 
     that it singled out advocacy groups, based on ideology, 
     seeking tax-exempt status.
       (2) This action raises pertinent questions about the 
     agency's ability to implement and oversee Public Law 111-148 
     and Public Law 111-152.
       (3) This action could be an indication of future Internal 
     Revenue Service abuses in relation to Public Law 111-148 and 
     Public Law 111-152 given that it is their responsibility to 
     enforce a key provision, the individual mandate.
       (4) Americans accept the principle that patients, families, 
     and doctors should be making medical decisions, not the 
     Federal Government.

     SEC. 3. PROHIBITING ENFORCEMENT OF PPACA AND HCERA.

       The Secretary of the Treasury, or any delegate of the 
     Secretary, shall not implement or enforce any provisions of 
     or amendments made by Public Law 111-148 or 111-152.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Camp) and 
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Camp).


                             General Leave

  Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 
5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to 
include extraneous material on H.R. 2009.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I come to the floor today in support of H.R. 2009, legislation that 
will prevent the IRS from getting involved in Americans' health care.
  The IRS is already out of control, abusing its power to tax and to 
audit the activities of honest, hardworking Americans. The IRS has 
betrayed the trust of the American people. Yet ObamaCare granted the 
IRS 47 new powers, including giving confidential taxpayer information 
to other departments and applying new taxes and penalties. Well before 
the IRS started getting involved in your health care and sharing your 
information and forcing people to pay even more taxes, let's first look 
at the job the IRS is already doing.

[[Page 13092]]

  Back in 2011, I investigated claims that the IRS was threatening with 
higher taxes donors to conservative causes. It turned out to be true. 
The IRS was abusing its authority, and it was harassing conservatives; 
but that was just the tip of the iceberg. We soon learned of more 
accusations about how the IRS was targeting Americans for their 
political beliefs. What we have found so far--and we just have 3 
percent of the documents from the IRS that we have requested--is that 
the IRS did leak confidential taxpayer information, that they did delay 
applications of groups supporting conservative causes, and that they 
did threaten conservatives with higher taxes.
  And Democrats want to give this agency more power and authority? They 
want this agency involved in Americans' health care? No way.
  Even the agency's own watchdog says the IRS cannot handle the job. 
Less than 2 weeks ago, the independent Treasury Inspector General 
stated that they are not confident about the IRS's ability to protect 
confidential taxpayer information or to prevent fraud. Well, neither am 
I; and by every indication, neither are the American people.
  It has been 3 years since the health care law was passed, and in less 
than 2 months, the administration claims it will be fully ready to 
implement the law; but in the face of all of these failures, of all of 
these breaches of the public trust, more Americans than ever want this 
law to be repealed.
  Why? It's simple: ObamaCare has brought increased health care costs 
to families and individuals; it has stifled businesses from expanding; 
and it has forced American job creators to cut jobs, wages, and hours.
  Just yesterday, at a hearing in the Ways and Means Committee, a key 
official from Health and Human Services could not confirm that the 
health care law would lower the health care costs for hardworking 
families in my home State of Michigan.
  But wasn't this the signature promise of this administration, that 
premiums would be $2,500 lower? And now the administration cannot make 
good on that promise.
  With so little time before the exchanges are set to open and for 
families to plan their health care spending for next year, it is 
extremely concerning that the administration cannot tell the American 
people what their health insurance will look like or what it will cost. 
Simply put, this law is a failure and ought to be repealed, but it 
didn't have to be this way.
  The House Republican alternative to the Democrats' health care law, 
which I authored, was the only legislation scored by the nonpartisan 
Congressional Budget Office as meeting the top health priority of 
American families because it was the only bill that actually lowered 
the cost of health insurance premiums, and it didn't give the IRS a 
single new power. It kept the IRS out of your health care, which is 
exactly what this bill will do--keep the IRS off and out of your health 
care.
  We should be cutting the IRS, not expanding it. We should reduce its 
power and authority and its ability to harass and abuse Americans. 
That's exactly what this bill does. I urge my colleagues to join me in 
voting ``yes'' on this legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  We are now 7 months into this House Republican session. It has been 
nothing more than a bridge to nowhere. Nowhere on jobs. Nowhere on 
immigration reform. Nowhere on a budget agreement. Nowhere on most 
appropriations bills.
  Instead, House Republicans today continue their obsession--so vividly 
embraced by the chairman of our committee in his words--with trying to 
destroy the bridge built by the President and the Democratic Congress 
to somewhere vital--putting all Americans in charge of their own health 
care.
  This bill before us is nothing more than a continuation of the 
Republicans' blind obsession with repealing the Affordable Care Act. 
This is how Republicans have chosen to spend the last day here before 
they recess this House for 5 weeks.
  It's so clear. The Republican mission is to destroy, not implement, 
health care reform. Rather than help leading on the issue, House 
Republicans have spent the last 2-plus years trying to mislead 
Americans about health care rights under the ACA. Now we can expect 
more misinformation, and the statement of our chairman is loaded with 
it.
  Thirteen States, for example, published preliminary premiums for 
marketplace coverage. Within those States, Americans will be able to 
purchase insurance at a price that is, on average, 20 percent below 
what the CBO estimated; and in Michigan, there will be 14 insurance 
carriers in the marketplace--and someone comes up here and says health 
care reform is failing.
  So, to the American people, be prepared for more scare tactics and 
other misguided efforts from Republicans to convince constituents that 
applying for health care coverage will be time-consuming and 
cumbersome, and be prepared for all kinds of misstatements about the 
powers and the role of the IRS.
  This should be said categorically. Neither the IRS nor the Department 
of Health and Human Services will have access to medical records or 
other personal history--no access whatsoever.
  Five weeks of recess await Republicans when they adjourn this House 
today. I hope when they return they will at last turn their attention 
to the pressing economic issues that Americans expect the Congress to 
address.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CAMP. At this time, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Georgia, Dr. Price, a distinguished member of the Ways 
and Means Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from Georgia 
(Mr. Price) control the remainder of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from 
Georgia will control the time.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I want to commend the chairman for his work on 
this and in so many vital areas of the issue of health care on our 
committee, and I want to thank him for the time and the opportunity to 
bring this bill forward.
  Mr. Speaker, the Republicans' goal in health care is to make certain 
that we have the highest quality health care in the world. That's our 
desire. We simply want it to be patient-centered health care, not 
government-centered health care. We believe that patients and families 
and doctors ought to be making medical decisions, not Washington, D.C. 
So this bill, H.R. 2009, grows out of the IRS's activities that have 
come to light in this country over the past number of months. As the 
chairman mentioned, we've been doing a lot of oversight hearings in our 
committee.
  The American people have drawn a conclusion about the IRS at this 
point, and that conclusion is that it cannot be trusted now. The 
chairman mentioned that the IRS has targeted groups that have come to 
the IRS asking for a tax-exempt status. It has targeted groups for 
their political ideology. The IRS has leaked donor information to those 
groups, and many of us believe--and I think it will come out--that the 
IRS has, in fact, targeted donors to those groups for audits to those 
individual Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, this is chilling activity from the Internal Revenue 
Service, so the American people have lost their faith and trust in the 
Internal Revenue Service. That's why this bill is so important.
  This is a very simple piece of legislation--two pages, in fact. All 
it says, simply, is what the American people believe, and that is that 
the IRS should not be charged and have the authority to either 
implement or enforce the Affordable Care Act. I want to commend over 
140 Members from this House of Representatives for being cosponsors, 
and we have hundreds of citizen cosponsors from across the country.
  Some say that this isn't necessary, that it is not going to 
accomplish anything, that there is no reason the IRS would want that 
information anyway. The fact of the matter is that that's

[[Page 13093]]

exactly what they said about what they did for the tax-exempt groups. 
They said, Well, it wasn't necessary for them to get that information 
about political ideology or beliefs or prayers that prayer groups were 
offering. That wasn't necessary either.
  So, if that were not necessary, Mr. Speaker, how can the American 
people have faith and confidence that the IRS won't do something that 
also is unnecessary, and that is to engage in implementing themselves 
into that trusted relationship between patients and physicians?

                              {time}  1045

  Then another piece of evidence, Mr. Speaker, I would suggest is the 
individual who's running the IRS division that is charged with the 
enforcement of the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Speaker, that individual is 
Sarah Hall Ingram. You don't have to look too far back in her biography 
to recognize that she was the individual who was, in fact, in charge of 
the tax exempt group in the IRS at the time when the challenges to the 
IRS had been focused.
  Mr. Speaker, the overwhelming percent of the American people 
understand and appreciate that the IRS should not be involved in the 
health care of this Nation. We believe patients and families and 
doctors ought to be making medical decisions, not Washington, D.C., and 
certainly not the Internal Revenue Service.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LEVIN. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. 
McDermott), another member of the committee.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I would remind my distinguished colleague 
from Georgia of a story in the Bible about a king who was very famous 
and one day noticed on the wall some writing. He had someone come in 
and interpret for him, and the writing said: ``Your days are numbered 
upon the Earth.''
  Your days are numbered on this issue. You have 59 more days. I'm sure 
you can bring up a bill every single day to try and repeal it. The 
Speaker has announced there will be two more, but it will not work. 
This is going to be the law on 1 October, and it's going to go into 
effect. The Supreme Court has spoken. The Speaker has actually said, 
``It's the law of the land.'' Yet we see this hopeless strategy--it's 
worse than hopeless. It's weak and it's mean. What you're saying is you 
want to take away from people what they already have, guaranteed issue, 
coverage for their kids to age 26, and lifetime limits will be gone. 
All of that you want to take away.
  Have a great break, because you're going to go back to your districts 
and explain for 38 days why you will not provide health care coverage 
for the people of America. I hear there's a mythical bill with 141 
signatures. The Republicans have been running the Ways and Means 
Committee for 16 out of the last 18 years, and we have never had a bill 
put in front of us for a vote. It's never been through the Rules 
Committee. It's never been out to the floor.
  You have no plan. You have a piece of paper that you wave around, but 
you won't go out and defend it. The President came and put a bill out 
here, and we passed it, and we're defending it, and it's going to go 
into effect and provide what all Americans want: security if they get 
sick; they want to know they'll be covered; they want to know they 
won't be bankrupted.
  Vote ``no'' again today, and we'll be back after the break for a few 
more ``no'' votes.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are advised to direct their remarks 
to the Chair.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I insert into the Record a letter 
from The Seniors Coalition in support of H.R. 2009.

                                        The Seniors Coalition,

                                    Washington, DC, July 30, 2013.
     Hon. Dr. Tom Price,
     Cannon House Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman Price: I am writing to you today on behalf 
     of the over four million members and supporters of The 
     Seniors Coalition in support of your bill H.R. 2009, ``The 
     Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act.'' The Seniors 
     Coalition was originally founded as a public advocacy group 
     fighting to repeal the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act. 
     Since 1990, TSC has grown rapidly and expanded its advocacy 
     to include any issue that concerns America's senior citizens. 
     Today the Coalition is one of the largest grassroots advocacy 
     organizations in Washington, D.C. in terms of number of 
     supporters nationwide. TSC currently has over four million 
     supporters representing every state in the union.
       The Obama Administration, including the IRS, has betrayed 
     the trust of the American people. Allowing the IRS to enforce 
     ObamaCare is opening up the door to more abuse, more 
     targeting and more harassment of American citizens. The vast 
     majority of the American people do not support ObamaCare, and 
     President Obama is ignoring the will of the people.
       That is why The Seniors Coalition is writing today to fully 
     support H.R. 2009. Clearly, the IRS has proven itself either 
     unwilling or unable to prudently and impartially enforce the 
     law, and we certainly cannot trust them with our health care.
       Thank you for all your hard work Dr. Price, and please 
     don't hesitate to contact me directly if there is anything 
     that The Seniors Coalition and its over four million members 
     and supporters in all 50 states can do to assist you in your 
     effort to de-fund/repeal ObamaCare.
           Sincerely,
                                                    Sean Ferritor,
                                               Executive Director.

  I'm now pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Carter).
  Mr. CARTER. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for 
bringing this bill forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I'd be willing to bet if you took a poll in any 
household in America and asked, Who do you trust, the IRS or your 
doctor, doctors would overwhelmingly be trusted; the IRS would be 
overwhelmingly distrusted.
  I don't understand when we actually pass laws in this Congress 
restricting the access to health care information and putting severe 
penalties on our health care providers for releasing health care 
information and these HIPAA laws--they've been around a while now, I'd 
say--and then we write a bill that turns the entire health care system 
administration over to the one agency that the American people hate 
more than any other agency.
  Some of the Democrats like it because they like to get other people's 
money and spend it. The reality is the IRS is not trusted, and it 
wasn't trusted before the events that have been described here today. 
Today they're totally distrusted. In fact, they are totally feared 
because of what they can do to the private lives of American citizens. 
This bill speaks for the American people, and they say don't let the 
IRS get their hands on our health care. They will destroy us.
  Remember, they're the one agency that doesn't have to meet a burden 
of proof. They require the public to meet the burden of proof.
  Don't let the IRS get their hands on our health care.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds.
  Saying that the entire administration of health care is turned over 
to the IRS is a big lie. The IRS will not have access to the medical 
records or personal health history of a single American.
  I now yield 2 minutes to a distinguished colleague of mine from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, this is a fitting conclusion to a week 
that has shown the collapse of the Republican legislative agenda. 
Remember, this is the time we were supposed to be voting on budgets, 
but the Republicans cannot even bring themselves to allow a vote on the 
budget that they themselves have mandated. We're not voting on the 
Transportation-HUD; we're not voting on Interior. They refuse to allow 
a conference committee to be appointed so that we can reconcile 
differences on the budget, setting up a showdown over a shutdown of the 
government next month.
  Now we're dealing with health care for arguably the 40th time that 
they are going to ``repeal'' it. The bill is not going anywhere. They 
repeatedly demonstrated at our hearing yesterday in Ways and Means that 
my Republican colleagues don't even understand how the bill that they 
are so adamantly opposed to works.
  We have not seen any attempt to improve, to refine. What we have seen 
is

[[Page 13094]]

an unprecedented effort to sabotage legislation, to make it not work 
for the American people, to confuse, to undercut. This is something 
that is unprecedented, to the best of my knowledge, in what we have had 
in Congress in the past. What more fitting illustration of a group 
that's bankrupt of ideas and bent on simply attempting to force their 
way for an agenda that is so extreme that they cannot agree to bring it 
to the floor to vote on it.
  I urge rejection of this charade.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I now insert into the Record a 
letter from the group Let Freedom Ring that endorses H.R. 2009.

                                             Let Freedom Ring,

                                                       July, 2013.
       Dear Friend: You have no doubt heard by now that senior 
     members of the United States Internal Revenue Service were 
     involved in a politically-motivated effort to blunt the 
     impact of the tea party movement and other organizations not 
     in sync with President Barack Obama's agenda for America.
       We don't yet know all the facts but we do know that some 
     groups had their applications for non-profit status ``slow 
     walked'' through the process, existing groups were subjected 
     to comprehensive audits, many were loaded down with intrusive 
     and inappropriate questions about the prayers of their 
     members and other activities, and that tax returns of major 
     donors and conservative operatives were audited.
       Things are so bad that one senior IRS official who appears 
     to have been involved ``took the fifth'' before a 
     congressional investigating committee.
       If that were not enough, some of the same people that look 
     to have been involved in the effort to politically harass 
     potential opponents of the president's agenda have now been 
     put in charge of expansion of the IRS's role in monitoring 
     individual and corporate compliance with Obamacare.
       Our good friend Dr. Tom Price, who represents Georgia's 6th 
     Congressional District, is taking the bull by the horns--but 
     he needs our help. He has introduced a bill--H.R. 2009--that 
     would prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from implementing 
     or enforcing any provisions of the president's health care 
     law.
       Congress needs to act--now--and they need pressure from you 
     to do so. They need to get behind Dr. Price's bill before the 
     IRS can do even more damage. Will you please take a moment to 
     write to your member of Congress and your two Senators and 
     urge them to support Dr. Price's legislation? Tell them to 
     cut off funding for the expansion of the IRS for Obamacare 
     unless and until the American people have all the answers 
     about how President Obama and his subordinates politicized 
     the IRS to harass their political opponents.
       The whole business is suspicious, especially since the IRS 
     has for the last three years been denying to Congress that 
     any such activity or any activity like it was occurring. 
     Congress is now asking questions and the Obama Administration 
     has become evasive--despite a report by the IRS's own 
     inspector general that the agency had committed wrongdoing.
       The IRS can no longer be trusted to behave in a non-
     partisan manner. It should not be given extra authority until 
     it can prove once again that it will not abuse the public 
     trust.
       Thank you for all you do on behalf of freedom.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Colin Hanna,
                                                        President.

  I'm pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to a Member from the great State 
of Michigan, Dr. Benishek, and a fellow physician.
  Mr. BENISHEK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2009, the 
Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act, and urge my colleagues to 
support this necessary legislation.
  The bill will keep the Internal Revenue Service from implementing any 
aspect of the President's health care law. With the recent revelations 
that employees of the IRS targeted U.S. citizens based on their 
political views, it's imperative that we keep the IRS from being 
further involved than it already is in the lives of the American 
people.
  This legislation would repeal both the individual mandate and the 
employer mandate, while at the same time helping to shrink the IRS.
  As a doctor, I've been taking care of patients for the last 30 years. 
I know that putting the Federal Government between patients and doctors 
will be disastrous. Many families in northern Michigan agree, and they 
want to see this law repealed. This legislation is a good step toward 
rolling back this massive expansion of Federal Government power.
  I am proud to be a cosponsor of this legislation, and I urge all of 
my colleagues to join me in voting in favor of it.
  Mr. LEVIN. It's now a special pleasure for me to yield such time as 
he may consume to the gentleman who presided over the passage of 
Medicare 48 years ago and has worked on health care issues his entire 
historic career, Mr. Dingell from the State of Michigan.
  Mr. DINGELL. I thank my beloved friend for yielding me this time, Mr. 
Speaker.
  I rise to ask: Aren't you embarrassed to go a 40th time in a 
fruitless, hopeless act? This is the 40th time we've tried to kill the 
legislation. It costs us $1.5 million every time, none of which have 
been successful.
  My Republican colleagues have never come forward with a proposal 
which they have presented to this House, but they sit over there 
railing and complaining about what is going on. They're going to take 
the rights of the American people for protection against preexisting 
condition, bans on their insurance. They're going to take away from the 
American people all kinds of protections which we have in the 
Affordable Care Act.
  The Speaker the other day said the Republicans were the party of 
repeal. I think he's right. I suspect we don't want to call them the 
Republicans anymore, but I think we ought to call them the 
``Repealicans'' or perhaps the ``Repealican'ts,'' because they've never 
been able to repeal anything, and they can't enact legislation.
  There have been 12 bills, I think, that this Congress has sent to the 
White House, and there is small prospect of anything more coming from 
here. It's interesting to note they can't move a budget; they can't do 
legislation on jobs; they're incapable of seeing to it that we do the 
other things that are necessary to help the middle class. Yet we keep 
coming over here with nonsense like this.
  The Republican Party is like the Bourbons of France: they forget 
nothing because they never learned anything.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I now insert into the Record a 
letter from the group Americans for Prosperity which endorses H.R. 
2009.

                                     Americans for Prosperity,

                                     Arlington, VA, July 15, 2013.
       Dear Representative Price: On behalf of more than two 
     million Americans for Prosperity activists in all 50 states, 
     I applaud you for introducing the Keep the IRS Off Your 
     Health Care Act (H.R. 2009), which would prohibit the 
     Internal Revenue Service from implementing the President's 
     health care law.
       The health care law grants the IRS an alarming expansion of 
     new power, essentially granting the agency the authority to 
     oversee every American's health insurance decisions. The IRS 
     will be responsible for enforcing the health insurance 
     mandates on individuals and employers, collecting the 21 new 
     taxes created in the law, and cross-referencing individuals' 
     health insurance exchange applications with IRS records.
       AFP is deeply concerned that all Americans will now be 
     asked to turn over the private health insurance information 
     about their children and families to a disgraced organization 
     that has admitted to abusing its power and processing 
     applications in a biased, political manner. How can the 
     American people trust that the IRS won't also target American 
     citizens who disagree with the President when enforcing the 
     health care law?
       Your legislation also affirms the common-sense principle 
     that control over health care decisions should remain between 
     American families and their doctors, not Washington 
     bureaucrats like the IRS. Americans for Prosperity is proud 
     to support H.R. 2009, your legislation to prohibit the IRS 
     from enforcing provisions of the health care law. I urge your 
     colleagues to support its passage, and I look forward to 
     working with you in the future.
           Sincerely,
                                          Christine Harbin Hanson,
                         Policy Analyst, Americans for Prosperity.

  Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Culberson), a gentleman who's a member of the 
Appropriations Committee, a fellow who has led on this issue for his 
entire career.
  Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate very much the gentleman from 
Georgia filing this important legislation. I feel my day is not 
complete if we don't get a chance to vote to cut spending and abolish 
ObamaCare.

[[Page 13095]]

  We were sent here by our constituents to protect the Treasury and do 
everything we can to keep the government out of their lives and out of 
their pockets. Yet ObamaCare contains more than 20 tax increases and 
gives the IRS unprecedented authority to collect personal health 
information from more than 300 million Americans.
  ObamaCare requires all insurance companies to report to the IRS the 
name, address, identification number, and type of insurance policy 
purchased by every customer, along with a determination of whether or 
not the insurance was ``government approved.''
  I'm very proud to be a co-author of Dr. Price's legislation that will 
prohibit the IRS from collecting our personal health care information. 
The IRS has proven they cannot be trusted by targeting organizations 
based on their political affiliation. Since the IRS has admitted this, 
I've heard from so many constituents who are members of patriotic 
organizations. They've stepped up for the first time in their lives to 
get involved in politics and organizations like the Texas Tea Party, 
the Katy Tea Party, and the King Street Patriots. For standing up as 
patriots and trying to do the right thing for the right reasons, they 
were targeted by the IRS and harassed.
  Today the IRS is spending 80 percent of its budget trying to 
implement ObamaCare, and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew recently testified 
the IRS has approximately 700 full-time staff working on ObamaCare 
implementation. Now the IRS wants to hire an additional 2,000 
bureaucrats to continue to implement ObamaCare.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.
  Mr. LEVIN. I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey 
(Mr. Andrews), who has been a leader on this issue.

                              {time}  1100

  Mr. ANDREWS. Colleagues, somewhere in America today a family is going 
to get the devastating news you all dread about your children: they're 
going to hear that that lump in their daughter's stomach is cancer. And 
they're going to go home and they're going to have all the agony and 
they're going to have all of the unthinkable thoughts that parents are 
going to have in that situation, but they are going to be faced with 
another problem because they have no health insurance. Both the mom and 
the dad work. They make about $40,000 a year between the two of them. 
They don't get coverage at work, and they can't afford health 
insurance. So their agony is not just being worried about the health of 
their child, they are worried about the fact that if they give the 
child the care that she needs, they'll lose everything that they have 
and wind up in bankruptcy court.
  The Affordable Care Act says to that couple that starting January 1, 
for about $40 a week, they can have health insurance coverage as good 
as Members of Congress do. That's what the Affordable Care Act says.
  This bill repeals that for that family. Those who are prepared to 
vote for this bill should also be prepared to answer the following 
question: If you want to say to that family that their concern isn't 
important enough, what's your plan? What's your answer to them?
  Now, we'll hear that people have introduced bills and sent around 
letters. Here are the facts. It has been almost 1,000 days that the 
Republican Party has been back in control of the House of 
Representatives. The number of bills they have voted on to replace this 
law is zero. Zero. Forty times to repeal it; zero times to replace it.
  This debate is not about Republicans and Democrats; it's about that 
family with that daughter that has no health insurance if you repeal 
this law and pass this bill. This is no plan, this is no 
responsibility, and this is no way to deal with the concerns of middle 
class Americans.
  Vote ``no.''
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I insert into the Record a letter 
of support for H.R. 2009 from the organization Restore America's Voice.

                                           Restore America's Voice


                                                   Foundation,

                                       Houston, TX, July 12, 2013.
       Dear Representative Price: Our more than two million 
     supporters are grateful for your efforts to strip the IRS of 
     any authority over the Affordable Care Act as embodied in 
     H.R. 2009 which you have introduced. Our organization fully 
     endorses this legislation.
       We note with discomfort that this agency seems not only 
     beyond the control of those tasked with oversight but 
     willfully resists full disclosure of questionable practices 
     and abusive methods in Congressional testimony. We have 
     concluded, based on the evidence at hand, that this agency is 
     being cynically used for political purposes to frustrate and 
     intimidate law-abiding citizens who disagree with 
     Administration policies.
       This distortion of the proper role and functioning of the 
     IRS makes turning over responsibility for the Affordable Care 
     Act subsidies, penalties and, significantly, access to 
     private insurance and medical records, a frightening 
     prospect. We are therefore in complete agreement with the 
     purpose of H.R. 2009 and fully support passage as the only 
     responsible and prudent course of action.
       Thank you for leadership and hard work in developing this 
     legislation and for representing the best interests of not 
     only your constituents but the American people.
           Respectfully and gratefully yours,
                                                     Ken Hoagland,
                                                         Chairman.

  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Cantor), the majority leader of the House of 
Representatives.
  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the Keep the IRS Off Your Health 
Care Act, and I want to congratulate the gentleman from Georgia in his 
leadership in bringing this bill to the floor. I think it is not only a 
timely bill, but a bill that is essential to the health and well-being 
of all Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, in response to the gentleman's assertions, the prior 
gentleman who spoke from New Jersey, I would simply say those scare 
tactics do not have a place in legitimate debate on this floor. Scare 
tactics to say that somehow Republicans on our side of the aisle don't 
care about people's health care are just not true. We don't believe in 
omnibus Washington-engineered health care. That's what's going on 
here--Washington bureaucrats deciding what kind of health care you can 
have, which doctors you can see, how much those doctors and hospitals 
are going to get paid, and how the insurance companies have to act. All 
of that is in the hands of Washington bureaucrats under ObamaCare, 
which is why this bill and this law is suffering so much in the minds 
of the public. This is not the right way to go.
  We believe in patient-centered care. Republicans believe that it 
ought to be about the doctor-patient relationship, not between the 
bureaucrats and the doctor. It ought not be about the bureaucrats and 
the insurance companies. It ought to start with the patients and their 
families.
  So these scare tactics, really, Mr. Speaker, are not relevant to this 
discussion; and they are just that, scare tactics. We care about the 
health and well-being of the American people, which is why this bill is 
coming to the floor.
  Recently, Mr. Speaker, we've learned that the IRS has been abusing 
its power by targeting and punishing American citizens for their 
political beliefs and then recklessly spending taxpayer dollars on 
lavish conferences and bonuses for its employees. This kind of 
government abuse must stop. The last thing we should do now is to allow 
the IRS to play such a central role in our health care.
  The IRS has a role in nearly 50 different aspects of ObamaCare. The 
agency's involvement is so extensive that there is a designated office 
within the IRS just to implement ObamaCare. The IRS will have access to 
the American people's protected health care information. Given that 
this same agency has illegally disclosed protected taxpayer 
information, the privacy concerns raised by many are legitimate. This 
is nothing short of an unwelcome, Big Government overreach into the 
most personal aspect of our lives.
  ObamaCare is bad for the economy and for working middle class 
families. It increases costs, impedes innovation, and we know is now 
turning full-time jobs into part-time jobs, which is why so many on 
both sides of the political spectrum are now beginning to realize, in 
the words of three Democratic union

[[Page 13096]]

leaders, that this law is creating nightmare scenarios in the health 
and well-being of millions of hardworking Americans.
  The legislation before us today will at least prevent the unnecessary 
intrusion of the IRS into our health care. Members of both parties 
should be focused on removing the Federal bureaucracy from the everyday 
lives of the American people, and this act will do just that.
  Again, I'd like to thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price) for 
his hard work on this issue, and I strongly urge my colleagues to 
support this bill.
  Mr. LEVIN. I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Doggett), another distinguished member of our committee.
  Mr. DOGGETT. The majority leader is absolutely right about scare 
tactics. If you are an uninsured American and you get a diagnosis of 
cancer this morning or you are hit in a head-on collision this 
afternoon or you have a child born with a disability, you ought to be 
very scared. He's also absolutely right about the need for patient-
centered health care. We're concerned about that. We're concerned that 
patients without insurance today are centered--they're centered right 
into bankruptcy court. More and more Americans are faced with a health 
care crisis.
  This bill has nothing to do with the Internal Revenue Service or the 
Treasury Department or restricting their rights. It's about restricting 
your rights. Now that we finally have a chance to protect Americans 
from insurance monopoly price gouging, from fine print in the contract 
for those who do have insurance that denies rights at the very time 
that you need them the most, that kind of protection about to go into 
effect, along with the right of so many Americans who are uninsured to 
go to a competitive private insurance marketplace and pick the policy 
that is best for their family, and for many Americans to have a premium 
tax credit, a tax credit that they want to deny to you.
  And what alternative do they offer? Well, the best source is the 
official Republican Web site. I urge you--although you will find plenty 
of misinformation there--to go to GOP.gov because you'll find one very 
revealing fact. When you look there to see what the Republicans have to 
offer as an alternative to ObamaCare, it says two words: ``in 
progress.'' It's been in progress since 2 and a half years ago, when 
they voted the first time to repeal ObamaCare, right up to today, when 
they vote for the 40th time to do it.
  They have only one alternative to ObamaCare, and it's called 
NothingCare. It's called do nothing but allow these insurance 
monopolies to continue to deny rights to our people.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hastings of Washington). The time of the 
gentleman has expired.
  Mr. LEVIN. I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentleman.
  Mr. DOGGETT. The folks that I represent, the working families from 
San Antonio to Austin, they deserve to have some assistance. We have 
provided it to them with guaranteed rights. Some are in effect now, and 
some are about to go into effect. Don't let these Republicans deny 
those rights to our families and replace it with NothingCare.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I include for the Record a letter endorsing and 
supporting H.R. 2009 from the group FreedomWorks.

                                                 FreedomWorks,

                                                   Washington, DC,
       Dear FreedomWorks Member: As one of our millions of 
     FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your 
     representative and urge him or her to co-sponsor H.R. 2009, 
     the ``Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act''. Introduced by 
     Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), this bill would stop the Internal 
     Revenue Service or any other Treasury department from 
     enforcing any part of ObamaCare.
       Currently, the IRS will be the most crucial department for 
     actually enacting and enforcing ObamaCare. The premium 
     subsidies that are supposed to help individuals purchase 
     health insurance through the exchanges are actually tax 
     credits, distributed by the IRS. And most significantly, the 
     IRS is responsible for administering the ``tax'' upon 
     individuals who refuse to purchase a government-approved 
     insurance plan--the individual mandate.
       More ominously, ObamaCare requires the IRS to collect a 
     vast amount of sensitive information about the kind of 
     insurance coverage you have, and will store this information 
     in a massive new database.
       ObamaCare's supporters, of course, claim that the IRS would 
     never share the medical information they collect, and that 
     the agency would only collect the exact data necessary to 
     determine eligibility for premium subsidies. And yet, a 
     lawsuit filed in California alleges that the IRS illegally 
     seized the medical records of 10 million individuals in that 
     state.
       Having the same organization that is both targeting 
     political opponents and stealing people's medical records in 
     charge of people's health care seems like a recipe for 
     disaster. Rep. Price's bill would stop the IRS in its tracks, 
     completely erasing their role in ObamaCare.
       I urge you to contact your representative and urge him or 
     her to co-sponsor H.R. 2009, the Keep the IRS Off Your Health 
     Care Act today.
           Sincerely,

                                                   Matt Kibbe,

                                                President and CEO,
                                                     FreedomWorks.

  Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota 
(Mr. Paulsen), a fellow member of the Ways and Means Committee.
  Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, the health decisions of individual Americans should be 
made between patients and their doctors. The Internal Revenue Service 
should not be a part of that equation.
  We all know, all Americans know now, that the IRS has inappropriately 
used its authority to target and intimidate certain individuals and 
organizations based on their personal beliefs. With 2,000 more IRS 
agents, more Washington bureaucrats, we'll open the door to more abuse 
under ObamaCare--more targeting, more harassment of American citizens.
  Physicians know the best care for their patients, not unelected 
bureaucrats in Washington. We should be encouraging patients to take 
control of their own health care through consumer-directed health care 
plans, not ceding control to the government.
  I would encourage my colleagues to support this legislation, protect 
the doctor-patient relationship, and do what is needed to make sure 
that government overreach is not involved in American health care.
  Mr. LEVIN. It is now my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman 
from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the minority whip, who has devoted so much 
time to health care during his career.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  What a perfect bill this is. Our Republican friends don't like taxes, 
they don't like the collection of taxes, and, of course, none of us do. 
And they don't like affordable care for our citizens, quality care for 
our citizens, accessible care for our citizens. So, with this stroke, 
they can attack both.
  The gentleman who just spoke asserts that the American people know. 
Republicans have made an assertion about the oversight of taxpayers to 
see whether or not they are committing fraud, i.e., claiming to be 
social welfare organizations when everybody in America knows they are 
solely political organizations; and the Republicans never mention it 
was across the board, not targeted. And the Affordable Care Act, they 
don't like that either. They would, as my friend from Texas said, still 
like to have the insurance companies in charge--not the patient, not 
the doctor, but the insurance companies.
  Mr. Speaker, less than 2 weeks ago, Republicans were on this floor 
for the 38th and 39th times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the 
accessible care act, the quality care act. Now we have the 40th time 
we've been at this.
  The American people, of course, want to see us working on jobs. They 
want to see us working on investment and education. They want to see us 
being able to compete with the world. But what do we do? We continue to 
beat this horse. And contrary to my Republican friends' assertion, 
Americans say, overwhelmingly, when asked do you want repeal or do you 
want a fix, make it better, do things better, make it more efficient, 
they opt for the latter overwhelmingly.

[[Page 13097]]

  But as the gentleman from Texas just said, you go to the Web site--
and not 2\1/2\ years; not 2\1/2\ years, I tell my friend from Texas, it 
has been 7 years, since 2006 when we started working on this--but 
there's no fix, no fix on the Web site, no fix on this floor.
  Today, their newfound populism is nowhere to be seen as they vote to 
repeal tax credits and subsidies designed to make health care more 
affordable for those same people--working families and small 
businesses--who haven't been able to get insurance and are left at risk 
without the security of it.
  Suddenly, the party that never met a tax break it didn't like is 
pursuing a tax increase of more than $1 trillion on small businesses 
and the middle class. As a result, they are making health care more 
expensive, and millions of Americans will no longer be able to access 
affordable health care.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. LEVIN. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, this bill makes all those folks pawns in 
Republicans' single-focused quest to undo health care reform at the 
expense of every other pressing challenge we face as a Nation.
  It's shameful, Mr. Speaker, that this House continues to waste the 
American people's times on health care repeal votes that won't go 
anywhere, and they know it. The Senate will not pass this bill and the 
President will not sign it.
  We have pressing business before us that needs immediate attention: 
finishing appropriations bills, completing our work on the budget that 
provides a balanced alternative to the sequester, ensuring America can 
pay its bills, and taking action to create jobs. That's what we ought 
to be doing, not this continued foolishness.

                              {time}  1115

  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time 
remaining on each side?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Georgia has 16 minutes 
remaining, and the gentleman from Michigan has 13\1/2\ minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 1\1/2\ 
minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Bridenstine), a freshman 
Member.
  Mr. BRIDENSTINE. Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the minority 
whip would like Republicans to help in fixing this bill, considering 
that they weren't interested at all in Republican input when they 
passed it in the middle of the night with a pure party-line vote.
  I think everybody understood that the promise of ObamaCare has been 
thoroughly discredited, but the worst is yet to come.
  The authors of the bill promised that it would bring down the cost of 
health care, but premiums have gone up substantially. They promised 
that if you like your health care plan and the doctor you have, you can 
keep it.
  Now, when you go to the President's healthcare.gov Web site, it says 
that ``Depending on the plan you choose in the marketplace, you may be 
able to keep your current doctor.''
  Many supporters promised that the bill would actually create jobs, 
but even Teamsters Union President James Hoffa has now said that the 
bill will ``destroy the foundation of the 40-hour workweek.''
  A small group of Members, in 2010, led by former Congressman Bart 
Stupak, had the chance to inviolably prohibit any funds in ObamaCare 
from being used to pay for abortions or abortion-inducing drugs. 
Unfortunately, they caved.
  And now, companies like Hobby Lobby are being forced into court to 
prevent ObamaCare from requiring that they provide health care services 
which directly violate their conscience and their religious principles, 
values and rights that are enshrined in the First Amendment.
  The IRS, too, has irrefutably proven the political nature and 
intimidation tactics of the work it performs every day, an attitude 
that will, beyond a shadow of a doubt, carry over into its tag-team 
partnership with HHS in enforcing ObamaCare.
  Let's pass H.R. 2009 and start putting a stop to this madness before 
it gets even worse.
  Mr. LEVIN. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Kind), another distinguished member of our committee.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Michigan for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, what turned out to be a silly exercise has suddenly 
turned into an insane exercise. We find ourselves, for the 40th time in 
the House of Representatives, debating repeal of the Affordable Care 
Act.
  We understand they don't like it. But I beseech my colleagues on the 
other side to start working with us to improve a system that's in 
desperate need of reform, and make changes and adjustments along the 
way as we learn what's working and what isn't. That's the only way this 
can work.
  But let me just inject a few facts into this debate, especially for 
the benefit of the previous speaker. Since the passage of the 
Affordable Care Act, U.S. health care spending grew at 3.9 percent for 
the last 3 years, the lowest growth rate in over 50 years.
  Medicare per beneficiary spending rose just 0.4 percent last year, 
the lowest rate since it was created in 1965. Medicaid per beneficiary 
spending dropped by 1.9 percent in 2012. And according to the 
Congressional Budget Office, Medicare and Medicaid will now spend $1 
trillion less over the next 10 years than previously projected.
  Nearly $15 billion in fraudulent Medicare payments have been 
recovered and recaptured under the Affordable Care Act. Hospital 
readmissions under Medicare have fallen for the first time on record, 
resulting in 70,000 fewer readmissions in the second half of last year 
alone.
  And more than 250 new Accountable Care Organizations, under the 
Affordable Care Act, serving over 4 million Medicare beneficiary 
enrollees are getting paid now according to the quality of health care 
being delivered, and no longer the quantity of services being rendered.
  Finally, the growth in private plan premiums has also slowed, Mr. 
Speaker. Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health care 
increased by only 4 percent in 2012, the smallest increase in the last 
13 years.
  We still have more work to do, but this debate and effort to delay 
and to defund and to dismantle and to destroy the Affordable Care Act 
is not where we need to go as a nation.
  I encourage my colleagues to once again vote ``no'' on this ill-
conceived legislation.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments from my 
friend from Wisconsin. His chastising us for voting to repeal or change 
portions of the Affordable Care Act is curious, in light of the fact 
that the gentleman, himself, I believe, supported one of our efforts 
just 2 weeks ago on delaying the employer mandate. But hope springs 
eternal that he'll be able to support our efforts in this endeavor on 
H.R. 2009.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Thompson), another distinguished member of our 
committee.
  Mr. THOMPSON of California. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this misnamed piece of 
legislation. It actually should be called The 40th Time We've Wasted 
the Taxpayers' Time and Money Act.
  This is a bill that's not new to us. We've seen it before. We've seen 
this movie before, 39 times as a matter of fact, and we know how it 
ends.
  This is just another attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, 
and we've wasted too much time and too much money on this already. What 
we should be doing is working to make the ACA better, or spending our 
time trying to help pass some jobs legislation.
  This bill is particularly cruel because it hits the poorest among us 
the hardest, and we've seen that movie before also. And we saw it play 
out--that's why we have this piece of legislation.
  This is in response to a national crisis. This just didn't come about 
by itself. Hospitals and doctors and clinics in all of our districts, 
they provided $100 billion a year in uncompensated

[[Page 13098]]

care. Families were one layoff away from not having access to health 
care. People with preexisting conditions that occurred through no fault 
of their own, maybe they had bad luck with having cancer, or gave birth 
through a C-section, a preexisting condition, and they could not get 
coverage. People in all of our districts were hitting the lifetime cap 
on their health care.
  This was no accident. It was in response to a crisis.
  Let's get to work. Let's get this thing improved. Let's put people 
back to work and stop messing around with this foolishness.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I will insert a letter in support 
of H.R. 2009 from the Americans for Tax Reform into the Record.
  I reserve the balance of my time.

             [From Americans for Tax Reform, June 20, 2013]

ATR Supports H.R. 2009, the ``Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act of 
                                 2013''

                            (By Ryan Ellis)

       ATR supports H.R. 2009, the ``Keep the IRS Off Your Health 
     Care Act of 2013,'' sponsored by Cong. Tom Price (R-Ga.)
       ATR is pleased to announce its support for H.R. 2009, the 
     ``Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act of 2013.'' The bill 
     is sponsored by medical doctor and Congressman Tom Price (R-
     Ga.) We would urge all Congressmen to co-sponsor and support 
     the bill.
       GAO has reported that there are 47 new powers the IRS has 
     acquired under the Obamacare law. We here at ATR have pointed 
     out time and again the 20 new or higher taxes that are 
     contained in Obamacare. With a new scandal coming out of the 
     IRS seemingly every day, the last thing that agency should be 
     doing is snooping into the personal health care lives of over 
     300 million Americans.
       Yet that's just what the IRS is about to do. They will be 
     the agency tasked with implementing the individual mandate 
     and the employer mandate. They will force all of us to 
     disclose our personal health identification information to 
     them when we file our 1040s every April. They will be talking 
     to our insurance companies and the Department of Health and 
     Human Services about our health insurance packages.
       This is outrageous. The IRS should have nothing to do with 
     our health care. Passage of H.R. 2009 would ensure that the 
     agency which gave us Star Trek videos and Tea Party 
     harassment keeps its hands off our health care.

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Crowley), another member of our committee.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of America's working 
families, and against this bill.
  I'm just baffled as to why we would take away tax credits that help 
working families, for the first time in many instances, afford 
insurance, particularly as this majority seems to have never met a tax 
break they didn't like. Well, at least not until today.
  Time after time, the Republican majority defends special interest tax 
breaks, tax breaks provided to owners of corporate jets, subsidies for 
Big Oil, tax writeoffs for big corporations, even as they're laying off 
American workers, and moving more of their operations overseas.
  But where is that same zeal today in defending middle class tax cuts 
for middle class Americans?
  Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. After all, this majority has 
repeatedly tried to undermine this tax credit since its inception. 
They've even sought to require hardworking Americans to pay the entire 
credit back if they get a slight increase in pay or a bonus for good 
work.
  My colleagues, the majority has crossed some bizarre threshold today, 
going from principled opposition to dangerous obsession.
  Now, I know some Republicans will say they're doing this because they 
have issues with the IRS. Should we expect a bill on the floor when we 
come back after the August break to stop the IRS from sending people 
their income tax refunds?
  No, because this is just an excuse they're using.
  This bill is 100 percent about denying Americans access to affordable 
health care.
  In New York 1.5 million people will be denied tax credits if this 
bill is enacted.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. LEVIN. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.
  Mr. CROWLEY. My colleagues, I am tired of this dog-and-pony-show. 
Yes, Members return to their districts for a few weeks, but political 
red meat is not what this country needs.
  We need a Congress with a vision for tomorrow, a vision focused on 
creating jobs and strengthening our economy, not a 40th vote on a new, 
even more dangerous way to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I will include into the Record a 
letter endorsing H.R. 2009 from a group of six taxpayer advocate 
organizations.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                                                   August 2, 2013.
     Hon. Tom Price,
     Cannon House Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Representative Price, We the undersigned groups, 
     representing millions of Americans, strongly support your 
     legislation, H.R. 2009, the Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care 
     Act of 2013. This bill would prohibit the U.S. Treasury 
     Department from enforcing any provision of the Affordable 
     Care Act (aka Obamacare), ensuring that the Internal Revenue 
     Service (IRS) would be removed from implementing or enforcing 
     any component of Obamacare.
       The last several months have proven to be an eye opening 
     experience for those who are concerned with the growing power 
     of the federal government, especially the IRS. Repeated and 
     systemic encroachment into the lives of American citizens by 
     targeting the very thing they cherish the most, the freedom 
     of speech, is a cause of great concern among many people from 
     all sides of the political spectrum. It is imperative to take 
     steps to ensure we rein in the power of an organization that 
     has proven to be incapable of handling the authority they 
     have right now with the responsibility and dignity the 
     American people expect. New developments on the unnerving 
     offenses have been uncovered on a regular basis for the last 
     few months and it is time to make certain that the IRS is 
     unable to extend these offenses into the lives of citizens 
     when it comes to their health care.
       This legislation makes explicitly clear that the neither 
     the Treasury Department, nor ``any delegate'' shall have the 
     power to enforce any provision or amendment from Obamacare at 
     anytime going forward as the Administration moves to 
     implement the law. It is paramount that this legislation 
     passes, with overwhelming support, as it is clear that the 
     American people have no desire to have the IRS involved in 
     the decisions they and their families are making when it 
     comes to their health care. We have already seen the 
     consequences of the President's health care law on premiums 
     and job creation and it would be catastrophic to allow the 
     IRS to contribute to the chaos, considering their recent 
     record of abuses and mismanagement.
       The American people deserve to be trusted with their own 
     decision making when it comes to their lives, including their 
     health care choices. The last thing anyone wants is to have 
     an agency they are already afraid of to be granted more.
       We thank you for offering this commonsense language and we 
     urge all members of Congress to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 2009.
           Sincerely,
     David Williams,
       President, Taxpayers Protection Alliance.
     Grover Norquist,
       President, Americans for Tax Reform.
     Jeff Mazzella,
       President, Center for Individual Freedom.
     Carrie Lukas,
       Managing Director, Independent Women's Forum.
     Seton Motley,
       President, Less Government.
     Pete Sepp,
       Executive Vice President, National Taxpayers Union.

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, could I ask for the amount of time on both 
sides, please?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan has 8 minutes 
remaining. The gentleman from Georgia has 14 minutes remaining.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I would tell the gentleman that I 
have other speakers that may be coming, but at this point, I have no 
other speakers on the floor. I am prepared to close at any point.
  Mr. LEVIN. Okay. We have other speakers. Thank you.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. 
Velazquez), who is the ranking member on the Small Business Committee.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

[[Page 13099]]

  Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the bill before us today. Sadly, 
we find ourselves in another redundant and unproductive debate over the 
Affordable Care Act. The estimated cost of today's vote is over $1 
million, paid by hardworking taxpayers. But instead of focusing on jobs 
and economic growth, we're wasting time and money on denying health 
coverage to small businesses and their employees.
  Not even half of the appropriations bills have been passed, and yet, 
Republicans continue their attempt to undermine health reform. This 
obsession must end. It is time to move on and start tackling the 
challenges the American people care about--jobs, jobs, jobs, the 
economy.
  Blocking the IRS from implementing provisions of the Affordable Care 
Act does nothing to help our Nation's small businesses. Rather, today's 
bill will keep small employers from taking advantage of the small 
business health care tax credit, which has already helped over 360,000 
small employers and 2 million workers.
  This bill prevents these businesses from utilizing the 50 percent tax 
credit in the new SHOP exchanges next year. That is why today's vote is 
irresponsible and out of touch with American firms.
  We must continue to ensure quality health coverage is available and 
utilized by the businesses that are the cornerstone of the American 
economy.
  I urge Members to vote ``no.''
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, it's now my special privilege to yield 1 
minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the person who 
led our efforts, and the health care reform is a testimony to her 
career, our leader.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and for 
his leadership of importance to the American people, the creation of 
jobs, growing our economy and, in the case of what is on the floor 
today, the 40th attempt--the 40th attempt--to harm the health and 
financial well-being of the American people.
  Forty is a number that is fraught with meaning in the Bible: 40 
hours, 40 days, 40 years in the desert, but it's fraught with nothing 
when it comes to overturning the Affordable Care Act, as they're trying 
to do for the 40th time today.
  When our Republican colleagues vote for this bill, they will vote to 
put insurance companies back in charge of people's health. When they 
vote for this bill, they will be voting for an initiative that deprives 
patients of their rights, of making a preexisting condition a reason 
for discrimination. That's what a vote for this does.
  That's the joy of the Affordable Care Act. No longer will being a 
woman be a preexisting condition. People with preexisting conditions 
can no longer be denied coverage. Annual or lifetime limits are 
eliminated.

                              {time}  1130

  Insurance companies must spend their money on insurance, and they 
must do it in a way that focuses on health care, not on CEO pay, 
advertising, and the rest. It's an 80-20 ratio. Many people in our 
country have received some of the money insurance companies have had to 
refund because they were spending too much on themselves and not enough 
on policyholders.
  So here we are for the 40th time. What is really sad about it is the 
violence that it does to the health of the American people and to a 
policy that enables them to have prevention and wellness. It's about 
the health of America, not just the health care. What's sad about it is 
that for those 40 times we've lost the opportunity to bring a jobs bill 
to this floor--a jobs bill that is very needed--a jobs bill that says, 
Let's make it in America, manufacture in America, build the 
infrastructure of America, strengthen our communities with education 
and public safety.
  Instead of even passing appropriations bills, the Republicans are on 
this aimless path of taking us into chaos as we go into August. In 
September, the moment of truth will be here. The fiscal year will end 
on September 30. Instead of preparing for that, the Republicans are, 
once again, on this fools' errand of making matters worse for the 
American people, putting insurance companies in charge of people's 
health, and depriving patients of their rights.
  This budget challenge that we have is a very serious one. We 
shouldn't even be leaving here today because we haven't done the work 
necessary to prepare us for the end of the fiscal year. Instead, we are 
wasting the taxpayers' time and money.
  I urge our colleagues to vote ``no'' on this legislation. I urge the 
America people to insist that we get down to the people's business of 
job creation and to find a budget that will not destroy and question 
the full faith and credit of the United States of America; to find a 
budget that will create jobs, grow the economy, and reduce the deficit.
  If we shut down government, as some on the Republican side have said, 
unless we repeal the Affordable Care Act, what does that mean to you? 
It means to you that the success of your 401(k) is in jeopardy. It 
means if you have mortgage interest payments, you will probably pay 
more. Your credit card bills will probably go up because of the 
increase in interest.
  It's just not right for what it does. It does not understand the 
economic challenges faced by America's families who want jobs, want to 
educate their children, want to maintain their homes, and want to have 
secure pensions for the future. It's just silliness, and it does not 
deserve even the time we're taking on the floor, much less rise to the 
dignity of deserving a vote by Members of Congress.
  I urge a ``no'' vote.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, as I think everybody knows, the two 
committees, Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means, work closely 
together, and as chairs, Mr. Waxman and I were able to, with others, 
work so closely.
  I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), the 
ranking member on Energy and Commerce.
  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, this is a do-nothing Congress. It is 
absolutely pathetic. There are millions of people unemployed. Are we 
working to create jobs for them? No. If they don't have jobs, we're not 
trying to help them. But what we're doing today for the 40th time is to 
make sure they can't get health insurance.
  This is an obsession on the part of the Republicans. I was commenting 
on it the other day in committee, and I said there's such opposition 
that the law has become the Republicans' great white whale. They'll 
stop at nothing to kill it.
  And so here we are with their 40th attempt to repeal the Affordable 
Care Act. I think it's a disgrace. Is this all we have to do--spend 40 
separate times trying to repeal a law that is going to bring health 
care to millions of Americans who have been denied health care 
opportunities because of preexisting conditions, because their employer 
doesn't provide it to them, or because they otherwise couldn't afford 
it? It will give people in the middle class choices. And with 
competition between choices of health insurance, the prices will drop, 
the quality will improve.
  This whole health care bill was based on Republican ideas, including 
a requirement that everybody get health insurance. That was endorsed by 
The Heritage Foundation.
  So I'm astounded that we're back here today and this is the last 
thing we're going to do before we go take our recess, our vacation, and 
go home and tell people, Sorry, we can't help you. We're trying again 
in the House of Representatives to repeal one bill that has been passed 
that can mean so much to so many.
  I urge that we defeat this legislation.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LEVIN. I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. 
McDermott), the ranking member on the Health Subcommittee of our 
committee.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, as I listened to Mr. Waxman, it's clear 
he was talking about obsession. And you

[[Page 13100]]

might ask, Well, why is this happening here and what's going on?
  This has happened before. This is the worst nightmare for the 
Republican Party. In 1964, the American Medical Association was flat 
out against the institution of Medicare. When I was in medical school, 
the president said, Boys, there isn't going to be any medicine in this 
country. We're having that socialized medicine come in. It's a terrible 
thing.
  And you know what happened? They made the people so afraid that when 
they went out to enroll people in Medicare, people said, Well, I don't 
want any of that government medicine in my house. Look at Medicare 
today. Nobody on that side would dare take out Medicare because the 
American people found out that what they were told in the advertising 
campaign leading up to it was not true. And that's what you are getting 
here today--untruths.
  Vote ``no'' on this.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I will submit a letter from 22 
organizations from around the country endorsing H.R. 2009, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.

                                                   August 1, 2013.
       Dear Congressmen: We, the undersigned organizations and 
     free market leaders write in united support of House efforts 
     this week to get the IRS out of Obamacare.
       The House will consider a measure on Friday sponsored by 
     Congressman Tom Price (R-Ga.) to remove the IRS from any role 
     in the implementation of the Obamacare law.
       It's a basic belief of most Americans that patients, 
     families, and doctors--not IRS bureaucrats--should be making 
     health care decisions. While this has always been the case, 
     its importance has been heightened in recent months by the 
     uncovered political targeting by the IRS of Tea Party and 
     other free market groups. The IRS should not be anywhere near 
     people's medical decisions until this black cloud of 
     political scandal has been lifted.
       Unfortunately, the GAO reports that the IRS has no fewer 
     than 47 powers to implement Obamacare. That's 47 too many. 
     Allowing the IRS to enforce Obamacare is opening up the door 
     to more abuse, more targeting, and more harassment of 
     American citizens. The myriad of new taxes the IRS will 
     impose under the guise of health care reform will destroy 
     jobs, stifle economic growth, and impede medical innovation 
     in this country.
       With Obamacare coming fully online in 2014, now is the time 
     to stop the IRS from becoming a full partner in our families' 
     healthcare decisions. House efforts to prevent this from 
     happening are welcome and all Members of Congress should 
     support these efforts.
           Sincerely,
         Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform; Dean Clancy, 
           Freedom Works; Al Cardenas, American Conservative 
           Union; Amy Kremer, Tea Party Express; Jenny Beth 
           Martin, Tea Party Patriots; Heather Higgins, 
           Independent Womens' Voice; Steven J. Duffield, 
           Crossroads GPS; Brandon Arnold, National Taxpayers 
           Union; Colin Hanna, Let Freedom Ring; Jim Martin, 60 
           Plus Association; Grace-Marie Turner, Galen Institute; 
           Phil Kerpen, American Commitment; Penny Nance, 
           Concerned Women for America; Ken Hoagland, Restore 
           America's Voice; John Tate, Campaign for Liberty; Peter 
           Ferrara, National Center for Policy Analysis; Ari 
           Winkour, Harbour League; Gregory T. Angelo, Log Cabin 
           Republicans; Mark Schiller, MD, Doctor-Patient Medical 
           Association; Betsy McCaughey, Ph.D, author of Beating 
           Obamacare; Brian Baker, Ending Spending; David Wallace, 
           Restore America's Mission.

       (Signatures are for information purposes only).

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin) has 
2 minutes remaining. The gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price) has 14 
minutes remaining.
  Mr. LEVIN. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Andrews).
  Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Speaker, I've sat and listened to the debate this 
morning and heard a lot of the slogans that we hear on this repeated 
again and again and again. I would simply return to the point that I 
made earlier: for a family that makes $40,000 a year, has two adults 
working, and two children, that doesn't get coverage at work, which is 
true for many, many Americans--maybe 35 million Americans have a 
situation something like that--the Affordable Care Act says that 
starting January 1, for about $40 a week they can buy health insurance 
from a private insurance company as good as the Members of Congress 
have.
  What is the plan from the other side, since they're repealing this? 
This bill takes that away. What is the plan from the other side to 
provide for that family?
  Now, they'll talk about bills they have introduced and letters they 
have written. There's not been one bill, one vote, one day that would 
answer that question. After a thousand days of the Republican majority, 
the American people eagerly await that answer.
  Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself the balance of my time.
  From the outset, I made clear my reaction to IRS mismanagement that 
called for relieving of duties of two people. But what the Republicans 
today are doing is using the IRS as a bootstrap to express their hatred 
of health care reform.
  I want to say this and challenge anybody to refute it: assertions 
that the IRS will have access to personal health information are wrong 
and are deliberately misleading. The IRS will only receive routine 
information--name, address, family size, incomes, coverage status--
needed to provide tax credits. That's it. The rest are falsehoods.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Again, it's important for folks to appreciate that the Republican 
goal in health care is to make certain that every single American has 
the highest quality health care. We simply believe it ought to be 
patient-centered health care. And my friends on the other side of the 
aisle talk about patient-centered health care, but what they support is 
health care with Washington making decisions. We believe patients and 
families and doctors ought to be making medical decisions.
  Now, what have we heard in opposition to this piece of legislation 
today? We've heard that Republicans have no plan. Well, on the 
contrary, Mr. Speaker, we have multiple pieces of legislation. I, in 
fact, have H.R. 2300, which is a patient-centered bill that makes 
certain that everybody has affordable coverage; that they are able to 
have the financial feasibility to purchase the coverage that they want, 
not that the government forces them to buy. And portability is solved. 
You don't lose your insurance if you change your job or you lose your 
job. We solve the whole challenge of preexisting illnesses and 
injuries, but in a patient-centered way, not a way that the government 
forces you to purchase what they want you to purchase. And it would 
provide insurance for every single American.
  Second, we've heard this isn't a responsible piece of legislation. 
Mr. Speaker, let me suggest that the American people think this is a 
responsible piece of legislation, where over 80 percent don't think the 
IRS ought to have a thing to do with their health care.
  We've heard that this bill isn't going anywhere at all. Why do it? 
It's a futile attempt. Well, I'll remind my colleagues of seven pieces 
of legislation--bills passed in this House, bills passed by the United 
States Senate, and signed into law by President Obama--that either 
repealed or defunded portions of his own health care law.
  H.R. 4 repealed the small business paperwork mandate; H.R. 1473 cut 
$2.2 billion from the ``stealth public plan'' and froze the IRS budget; 
H.R. 674 saved taxpayers $13 billion by adjusting eligibility for 
ObamaCare programs; H.R. 2055 made more reductions to the Independent 
Payment Advisory Board and the IRS; H.R. 3630 slashed billions of 
dollars from ObamaCare slush funds; H.R. 4348 saved another $670 
million from the boondoggle, ``the Louisiana Purchase,'' that was 
included in the original bill; and H.R. 8 repealed the unsustainable 
CLASS programs.
  All of those repealed or changed portions of the Affordable Care Act 
signed into law by the President of the United States.
  We've heard heart-wrenching stories from our friends on the other 
side about health challenges and illnesses. And, yes, Mr. Speaker, 
there are real challenges out there. As a physician, I can attest to 
that, having spent over 20

[[Page 13101]]

years taking care of patients. But the American people don't want 
Washington deciding what kind of health care they must have or can't 
have. We need patients and families and doctors making those medical 
decisions.
  And then there's the preposterous assertion from the other side that 
Republicans don't like affordable care, quality care, accessible care. 
Nonsense, Mr. Speaker. Nonsense. What we want is the highest quality of 
care that respects the principles of affordability and accessibility 
and quality and choices and responsiveness and innovation. We simply 
want patients and families and doctors to be in charge of health care, 
not Washington, D.C., and not the IRS.
  I urge support of H.R. 2009, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 
2009, the Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act of 2013. The IRS was 
granted 46 new powers in Obamacare including the collection of 21 new 
taxes, the distribution of 13 new subsidies, 6 new information 
collection responsibilities, and an additional 6 new powers to enforce 
compliance. As the Treasury Inspector General said earlier this year, 
``It is unprecedented in recent history, the amount of responsibility 
the IRS is being given in an area that most people don't think of as an 
IRS function.''
  Mr. Speaker, the bill before us today will seek to rectify this 
situation and force this Congress to think of better options to reform 
our health system. Obamacare has given the American people the largest 
tax increase in our country's history and will take over 80 million 
hours annually to follow the law. This bill will get the IRS out of 
health care, thereby allow businesses to focus on creating jobs and 
succeeding as opposed to trying to comply with overreaching regulatory 
enforcement by the federal government, and stop the implementation of 
the misguided health care bill.
  I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 2009.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
  Pursuant to House Resolution 322, the previous question is ordered.
  The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.

                              {time}  1145


                           Motion to Recommit

  Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the bill?
  Mr. NOLAN. I am opposed.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to 
recommit.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Nolan moves to recommit the bill H.R. 2009 to the 
     Committee on Ways and Means with instructions to report the 
     same back to the House forthwith with the following 
     amendment:

     SEC. 4. PROTECTING MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES AND SMALL BUSINESSES 
                   FROM TAX INCREASES.

       Nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter, impact, 
     delay, or weaken--
       (1) section 1401 of the Patient Protection and Affordable 
     Care Act that provides tax credits for middle class families 
     (earning up to $94,200 for a family of four) for the purchase 
     of health insurance coverage in Exchanges; and
       (2) section 1421 of the Patient Protection and Affordable 
     Care Act that provides tax credits to small businesses (up to 
     50 percent of the cost of coverage for two years beginning in 
     2014; up to 35 percent for prior years) for the purchase of 
     health insurance coverage for employees.

  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I reserve a point of order against 
the motion to recommit.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. A point of order is reserved.
  The gentleman from Minnesota is recognized for 5 minutes on his 
motion to recommit.
  Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker, my final amendment would protect important 
tax credits and tax breaks for middle-income families and for small 
businesses. It will not kill or send this bill back to committee. It 
will allow us to proceed with final passage, should it pass.
  Now, to the heart of what this is really all about, I thought our 
colleague from California (Mr. Thompson) here a few minutes ago 
characterized it quite well when he said this should be called the 
``40th Waste of Taxpayers Time and Money Act,'' not an alternative to 
the Affordable Care Act.
  The fact is that the Republican opposition here is engaged in their 
40th political attempt to undo the Affordable Care Act and offering us 
no alternatives to the time when 46 million Americans have no 
insurance, when health care and insurance rates were rising at a rate 
of 20 percent per year.
  Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, ``no'' is not a plan; ``no'' is not an 
answer.
  President Harry Truman was fond of saying--and forgive me for quoting 
him directly, but he used to like to say, ``Any jackass can tear down a 
barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.'' I'm challenging my 
colleagues: Are you here to tear down the barn or are you here to build 
one?
  Mr. Speaker, I feel compelled to ask, are you really serious when you 
come before us here and you say you really, truly want to increase 
taxes on families and small businesses, as this bill would do? Are you 
really serious when you say you want to take away from students the 
right to stay on their parents' insurance policy while they're 
struggling with the difficulties of the increased cost of education? 
The American people don't want that. What is your plan?
  Mr. Speaker, are you really serious when you say you want to deny 
people with preexisting conditions the right to have health insurance? 
The American public doesn't want that. What is your plan?
  Are you really serious when you want to continue this de facto notion 
that women somehow, by definition, are living with preexisting 
conditions and are charged more for the exact same policies as men 
would pay for? The American people are not. What is your plan?
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues, are you really serious when you 
want to vote to eliminate free prevention care, which saves lives, 
which helps save costs in our medical system? The American people are 
not. What is your plan?
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues, are you really serious when you say 
you want to remove the cap on insurance companies' liabilities, the 
very cap that forces people with serious accidents and illnesses into 
bankruptcy? The American people don't want that. What is your plan?
  Last but not least, Mr. Speaker, are you prepared to vote to deny 
senior citizens the relief from the increased costs in pharmaceuticals 
as a result of that doughnut hole? The seniors in this country are not. 
Again I ask you, what is your plan?
  Mr. Speaker, that's what's at heart here. We have had 40 attempts to 
repeal this bill, and we haven't seen one single plan offered forward 
here.
  This is a waste of time. Let us get serious. Let us start to show 
some bipartisanship. And let's start with it here today by passing my 
amendment.
  Mr. Speaker, it's no secret; the public has weighed in on this. This 
Congress is acknowledged by all parties and all spectrums as the most 
unproductive Congress in the history of this country. That's shameful. 
Polls show us 25 points behind cockroaches in popularity, 23 percentage 
points behind--what was the last one?--oh, root canals. We're just 
slightly ahead of Genghis Khan and the Communist Party in popularity.
  It's time that we put an end to this nonsense, put this Congress to 
work, postpone/cancel this recess. Let's put an end to this nonsense, 
get America working again, and get this country working again.
  Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my point of order and seek time in 
opposition to the motion.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The point of order is withdrawn.
  The gentleman from Michigan is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CAMP. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would just say there's nothing in this bill that 
prevents middle class families or individuals from receiving subsidies 
to which they're entitled. So I think it's just important to understand 
what the facts are. But what we want to do is keep the IRS out of 
control of your health care. Talk about unpopular items.

[[Page 13102]]

  Look, businesses have gotten a waiver from the mandate--1,300 
organizations, businesses, unions have gotten waivers from this law. 
What about individuals? What about American families?
  If you want to keep the IRS out of control of your health care, vote 
``no'' on this motion to recommit.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion to recommit.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XX, the Chair 
will reduce to 5 minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on 
the question of passage.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 186, 
noes 230, not voting 17, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 446]

                               AYES--186

     Andrews
     Barber
     Barrow (GA)
     Bass
     Beatty
     Becerra
     Bera (CA)
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Bonamici
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown (FL)
     Brownley (CA)
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardenas
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Cartwright
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu
     Cicilline
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cohen
     Connolly
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (CA)
     Davis, Danny
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delaney
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Deutch
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Duckworth
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Engel
     Enyart
     Eshoo
     Esty
     Farr
     Fattah
     Foster
     Frankel (FL)
     Gabbard
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hahn
     Hanabusa
     Hastings (FL)
     Heck (WA)
     Higgins
     Himes
     Hinojosa
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Huffman
     Israel
     Jackson Lee
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kind
     Kirkpatrick
     Kuster
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lewis
     Lipinski
     Loebsack
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Lowey
     Lujan Grisham (NM)
     Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
     Lynch
     Maffei
     Maloney, Carolyn
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Meng
     Michaud
     Moore
     Moran
     Murphy (FL)
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Negrete McLeod
     Nolan
     O'Rourke
     Owens
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Payne
     Peters (CA)
     Peters (MI)
     Peterson
     Pingree (ME)
     Pocan
     Polis
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruiz
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Serrano
     Sewell (AL)
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Sinema
     Sires
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Speier
     Swalwell (CA)
     Takano
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Tsongas
     Van Hollen
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watt
     Waxman
     Welch
     Wilson (FL)
     Yarmuth

                               NOES--230

     Aderholt
     Alexander
     Amash
     Amodei
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barletta
     Barr
     Barton
     Benishek
     Bentivolio
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Black
     Blackburn
     Bonner
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Bridenstine
     Brooks (AL)
     Brooks (IN)
     Broun (GA)
     Buchanan
     Bucshon
     Burgess
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cantor
     Capito
     Carter
     Cassidy
     Chabot
     Chaffetz
     Coble
     Coffman
     Cole
     Collins (NY)
     Conaway
     Cook
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Daines
     Davis, Rodney
     Denham
     Dent
     DeSantis
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Duffy
     Duncan (SC)
     Duncan (TN)
     Ellmers
     Farenthold
     Fincher
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Fleming
     Flores
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gardner
     Garrett
     Gerlach
     Gibbs
     Gibson
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Gosar
     Gowdy
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (MO)
     Griffin (AR)
     Griffith (VA)
     Grimm
     Guthrie
     Hall
     Hanna
     Harper
     Harris
     Hartzler
     Hastings (WA)
     Heck (NV)
     Hensarling
     Holding
     Hudson
     Huelskamp
     Huizenga (MI)
     Hultgren
     Hunter
     Hurt
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Jordan
     Joyce
     Kelly (PA)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kinzinger (IL)
     Kline
     Labrador
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Lankford
     Latham
     Latta
     LoBiondo
     Long
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lummis
     Maloney, Sean
     Marchant
     Marino
     Massie
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McHenry
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McKinley
     McMorris Rodgers
     Meadows
     Meehan
     Messer
     Mica
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Mullin
     Mulvaney
     Murphy (PA)
     Neugebauer
     Noem
     Nugent
     Nunes
     Nunnelee
     Olson
     Palazzo
     Paulsen
     Pearce
     Perry
     Petri
     Pittenger
     Pitts
     Poe (TX)
     Pompeo
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Radel
     Reed
     Reichert
     Renacci
     Ribble
     Rice (SC)
     Rigell
     Roby
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rokita
     Rooney
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothfus
     Royce
     Runyan
     Ryan (WI)
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Scalise
     Schock
     Schweikert
     Scott, Austin
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Southerland
     Stewart
     Stivers
     Stockman
     Stutzman
     Terry
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiberi
     Tipton
     Turner
     Upton
     Valadao
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walden
     Walorski
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Williams
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Womack
     Woodall
     Yoder
     Yoho
     Young (AK)
     Young (IN)

                             NOT VOTING--17

     Campbell
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Collins (GA)
     Doyle
     Fudge
     Herrera Beutler
     Holt
     Horsford
     McCarthy (NY)
     Miller (FL)
     Miller, George
     Pallone
     Pelosi
     Perlmutter
     Richmond
     Young (FL)

                              {time}  1216

  Messrs. NUGENT, DENHAM, SANFORD, and BISHOP of Utah changed their 
vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  Messrs. VISCLOSKY and HUFFMAN changed their vote from ``no'' to 
``aye.''
  So the motion to recommit was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. This is a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 232, 
noes 185, not voting 16, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 447]

                               AYES--232

     Aderholt
     Alexander
     Amash
     Amodei
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barletta
     Barr
     Barrow (GA)
     Barton
     Benishek
     Bentivolio
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Black
     Blackburn
     Bonner
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Bridenstine
     Brooks (AL)
     Brooks (IN)
     Broun (GA)
     Buchanan
     Bucshon
     Burgess
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cantor
     Capito
     Carter
     Cassidy
     Chabot
     Chaffetz
     Coble
     Coffman
     Cole
     Collins (NY)
     Conaway
     Cook
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Daines
     Davis, Rodney
     Denham
     Dent
     DeSantis
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Duffy
     Duncan (SC)
     Duncan (TN)
     Ellmers
     Farenthold
     Fincher
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Fleming
     Flores
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gardner
     Garrett
     Gerlach
     Gibbs
     Gibson
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Gosar
     Gowdy
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (MO)
     Griffin (AR)
     Griffith (VA)
     Grimm
     Guthrie
     Hall
     Hanna
     Harper
     Harris
     Hartzler
     Hastings (WA)
     Heck (NV)
     Hensarling
     Holding
     Hudson
     Huelskamp
     Huizenga (MI)
     Hultgren
     Hunter
     Hurt
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Jordan
     Joyce
     Kelly (PA)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kinzinger (IL)
     Kline
     Labrador
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Lankford
     Latham
     Latta
     LoBiondo
     Long
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lummis
     Marchant
     Marino
     Massie
     Matheson
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McHenry
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McKinley
     McMorris Rodgers
     Meadows
     Meehan
     Messer
     Mica
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Mullin
     Mulvaney
     Murphy (PA)
     Neugebauer
     Noem
     Nugent
     Nunes
     Nunnelee
     Olson
     Palazzo
     Paulsen
     Pearce
     Perry
     Peterson
     Petri
     Pittenger
     Pitts
     Poe (TX)
     Pompeo
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Radel
     Reed
     Reichert
     Renacci

[[Page 13103]]


     Ribble
     Rice (SC)
     Rigell
     Roby
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rokita
     Rooney
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothfus
     Royce
     Runyan
     Ryan (WI)
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Scalise
     Schock
     Schweikert
     Scott, Austin
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Southerland
     Stewart
     Stivers
     Stockman
     Stutzman
     Terry
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiberi
     Tipton
     Turner
     Upton
     Valadao
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walden
     Walorski
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Williams
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Womack
     Woodall
     Yoder
     Yoho
     Young (AK)
     Young (IN)

                               NOES--185

     Andrews
     Barber
     Bass
     Beatty
     Becerra
     Bera (CA)
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Bonamici
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown (FL)
     Brownley (CA)
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardenas
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Cartwright
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu
     Cicilline
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cohen
     Connolly
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (CA)
     Davis, Danny
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delaney
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Deutch
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Duckworth
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Engel
     Enyart
     Eshoo
     Esty
     Farr
     Fattah
     Foster
     Frankel (FL)
     Gabbard
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hahn
     Hanabusa
     Hastings (FL)
     Heck (WA)
     Higgins
     Himes
     Hinojosa
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Huffman
     Israel
     Jackson Lee
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kind
     Kirkpatrick
     Kuster
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lewis
     Lipinski
     Loebsack
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Lowey
     Lujan Grisham (NM)
     Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
     Lynch
     Maffei
     Maloney, Carolyn
     Maloney, Sean
     Matsui
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Meng
     Michaud
     Moore
     Moran
     Murphy (FL)
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Negrete McLeod
     Nolan
     O'Rourke
     Owens
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Peters (CA)
     Peters (MI)
     Pingree (ME)
     Pocan
     Polis
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruiz
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Serrano
     Sewell (AL)
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Sinema
     Sires
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Speier
     Swalwell (CA)
     Takano
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Tsongas
     Van Hollen
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watt
     Waxman
     Welch
     Wilson (FL)
     Yarmuth

                             NOT VOTING--16

     Campbell
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Collins (GA)
     Doyle
     Fudge
     Herrera Beutler
     Holt
     Horsford
     McCarthy (NY)
     Miller (FL)
     Miller, George
     Pallone
     Perlmutter
     Richmond
     Young (FL)

                              {time}  1224

  So the bill was passed.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.


                          Personal Explanation

  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker: I was unavoidably absent 
during the week of July 29, 2013. If! were present, I would have voted 
on the following:
  Rollcall No. 419: Gallego of Texas Amendment, ``aye'';
  Rollcall No. 420: Young of Alaska Amendment, ``aye'';
  Rollcall No. 421: Grayson of Florida Amendment, ``no'';
  Rollcall No. 422: McClintock of California Amendment No. 4, ``no'';
  Rollcall No. 423: First Hastings of Florida Amendment, ``aye'';
  Rollcall No. 424: Second Hastings of Florida Amendment, ``no'';
  Rollcall No. 425: Third Hastings of Florida Amendment, ``no'';
  Rollcall No. 426: Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 
1911--Smarter Solutions for Students Act, ``yea'';
  Rollcall No. 427: H.R. 850 Nuclear Iran Prevention Act, ``yea'';
  Rollcall No. 428: Waxman of California Amendment No. 1, ``yea'';
  Rollcall No. 429: Connolly of Virginia Amendment No. 3, ``yea'';
  Rollcall No. 430: Murphy of Pennsylvania Amendment No. 6, ``nay'';
  Rollcall No. 431: Motion to Recommit with Instructions for H.R. 1582, 
``yea'';
  Rollcall No. 432: Final Passage H.R. 1582--Energy Consumers Relief 
Act, ``nay'';
  Rollcall No. 433: Motion on Ordering the Previous Question on the 
Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 2879, H.R. 367, and H.R. 2009, 
``nay'';
  Rollcall No. 434: H. Res. 322--Rule Providing for consideration of 
H.R. 367, H.R. 2009, and H.R. 2879, ``nay'';
  Rollcall No. 435: H.R. 1897--Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2013, 
``yea'';
  Rollcall No. 436: H.R. 2879--Stop Government Abuse Act, ``nay'';
  Rollcall No. 437: Scalise of Louisiana Amendment, ``no'';
  Rollcall No. 438: Smith of Missouri Amendment, ``no'';
  Rollcall No. 439: Latham of Iowa Amendment, ``no'';
  Rollcall No. 440: Nadler of New York Amendment, ``aye'';
  Rollcall No. 441: Johnson of Georgia Amendment, ``aye'';
  Rollcall No. 442: Jackson-Lee of Texas Amendment, ``aye'';
  Rollcall No. 443: Moore of Wisconsin Amendment, ``aye'';
  Rollcall No. 444: Motion to Recommit With Instructions for H.R. 367, 
``aye'';
  Rollcall No. 445: Final Passage of H.R. 367, ``no'';
  Rollcall No. 446: Motion to Recommit with Instructions for H.R. 2009, 
``aye'';
  Rollcall No. 447: Final Passage of H.R. 2009, ``no'';

                          ____________________