situation to the early 1970's. so much has happened that i don't see the connection. host: anthony, independent in hartford, connecticut, you are on the air. caller: how are you guys doing? my question is, i think, somewhat simple. i think the arguments and discussions that go back and forth skew debates about the american-chinese relationship. i want to ask james mann about this -- what do you think of the policies the chinese government have done to invite businesses into their country, and where maybe have americans lost the battle? guest: well, it is an interesting question. if you go back a couple of decades, china was simply eager to get investment. at some restrictions -- it had some restrictions on american

companies, mostly that they could only operate with china on the chinese venture. as china has grown more and more successful in its trade, as its own level of technology has increased, it has become a lot more protective of its own industries, and has been imposing restrictions on american companies. host: we will have to leave it there. the house of representatives is about to come in. james mann, nancy benec, thank you for being with us this morning. "washington journal" will be back tomorrow morning. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] l day and throughout the night? how long will our oppression last? then, some forget self and readily turn to the lord. look now and answer us o lord

our god. give light to our eye, lest we seem asleep, lest our opponents say, we have overpowered them and laugh at our downfall. still others, like ourselves, will trust in the lord. for our part, we will trust in your faithful love. our hearts will rejoice that you will set us free. we will sing of your goodness to us and bless your holy name most high, both now and forever. amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approve the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from new mexico, congressman hinrich.

mr. hinrich: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, today, the voice of the american people will be heard. the current administration's unconstitutional health care is not the will of the people. mr. wilson: the current bill costs the people over $2.5 billion. it's not workable and the national federation of

independent businesses, nfib, america's largest organization of small businesses, estimates it will eliminate 1.6 million jobs. today's vote on repealing the job-killing health care law act promotes a common sense approach to the health care issues facing our country instead of forcing americans to comply with a big government takeover of health care, repeal will open the discussion providing for affordable care to families, preserving the doctor-patient relationship and protecting jobs. this is what the american people want the new congress to achieve. now is the time to repeal the takeover and form a plan that provides for access and affordability. in conclusion, fw god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terror. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> to address the house for one minute and rhett rith my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without

objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, in his third term, president roosevelt proposed changing the only vehicle capable of eliminating unemployment, the constitution. mr. jackson: he suggested that adding fundamental economic rights to the constitution was the only way to truly address our unemployment program.

67 years later to dramatize the shameful condition that our marketplace and nation tolerates, i've asked the nation's unemployed, underemployed and economically insecure to send their resumes to me at resumesforamerica@mail.house.gov and i would submit those on their behalf as a means to addressing the shameful unemployment problem. i am not promising anyone a job. i believe the most powerful nation in the world should do something about this construct. until we eliminate the fear of unemployment from our freedom and liberty construct i will continue this demonstration at resumesforamerica@mail.house.gov . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i rise today in support of this historic effort to bring

back our health care system from a massive, unprecedented government takeover. overwhelmingly, my constituents in colorado like the majority of americans know that obamacare increased costs, explodes the deficits, raises taxes, hurts job creators and most importantly gives the government control over personal health care decisions. to force every american to buy a private product like health insurance is unconstitutional. mr. lamborn: by using budget gimmicks like counting 10 years of tax hikes against six years of spending, democrats rigged obamacare to get a misleading score from the budget office. realistic number crunching shows this is a budget buster. it creates so much bureaucracy and spending it took 2280,000 pages to create while the bill to repeal it is only two pages. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield

back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. blumenauer: some are spending twice as much per medicaid patient as we spend in oregon but deliver inferior care. this is why the reformat can give better care for less cost. but it's not guaranteed. the republican plan would strip away reforms, protections and cost savings. this is not just an assault on new health care freedoms. it represents the triumph of politics over adult fiscal supervision. the republican leadership doesn't just ignore, they discredit the nonpartisan professionals who for 36 years help keep politicians in both

parties honest. without this impartial referee, the long, difficult road to fiscal health becomes longer, becomes harder, and becomes less likely to be traveled. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. pence: there's a lot of -- >> there's a lot of talk these days about where members are going to sit in the state of the union address. i've learned it doesn't matter where you sit. it matters where you stand. mr. pence: today, house republicans stand with the american people and vote to repeal their government takeover of health care, lock, stock, and barrel. i know the other side and some liberals in the media don't like

us using that term, government takeover of health care but let me break it down for you. when you mandate that every american purchase health insurance whether they want it or need it or not, when you mandate that they buy health insurance or send them to a government-run exchange, and you throw in public funding of abortion against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of people, that's a government takeover of health care and the american people know it. i urge my colleagues in both political parties to join us today as we keep our promise to the american people. we scrap this health care reform bill from last year and start over with health care reform that will lower the cost of health insurance without raising the cost of government. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. kucinich: the for-profit health care is the problem.

every year, $4 billion is spent on advertising, marketing and the cost of paperwork. nearly one of every $3 goes for things not related to health care. if we took that money and spent it on people, we'd have money to cover all needs including dental care, vision care and long-term care. we would not have a situation where 50 million americans don't have health insurance. americans wouldn't have to worry about losing everything they worked a lifetime for because they were sick. medicare for all, quality health care, for all americans. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california, for what purpose do you seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is rebling niced for one minute.

mr. dreier: mr. speaker, one of the brightest lights of a great generation, that's how president obama described sargent shriver. he died yesterday. he was a a member of the diplomatic corps, he and his wife started the great special olympics. i first got to know him in 1997 when i happened to be traveling with president clinton in latin america and we were in buenos aires and it just so happened that that night, sargent shriver was there holding an event to raise funds for the special olympics. he was able to touch lives not just here in the united states but because of his service, because of his service, he was able to touch lives all over the globe. our thoughts and prayers are with his wonderful children and all the members of his family.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from new mexico seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. heinrich: last year, we took a stand against the insurance company we took a stand against insurance company abuses like discrimination against the sibbling, lifetime limit the prescription drug doughnut hole and a resulting trillion-dollar increase to our deficit. we took a stand for hardworking americans like vicky ferrar who moved to albuquerque only to discover that to re-enroll in a health insurance plan, she'll spend a third of her income because of her pre-existing condition, high blood pressure that kind of skyrocketing cost burden has stunted the dreams of american families and small businesses while lining the

pockets of insurance company c.e.o.'s. but thanks to the american affordable care act, vicky and her doctor will be put back in charge of her health care and able to choose an affordable insurance policy. i urge my colleagues to vote against the return to the broken health care system that we spent decades trying to fix. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> i request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. poe: recently, in the border ghost town in texas, a county road crew came under automatic weapon fire. they report at least eight shots were fired at them from across the board for the mexico. the lee rio grand is very narrow in this isolated region and is used by armed drug smugglers to bring drugs into the united states. speculation by the texas rangers is the shooter was trying to protect the drug route from the

workers. this newest attack on the road crew is yet another example of the brazen violence, determination of outlaws to invide the -- invade the united states. the united states protects the borders of other nations, why doesn't the federal government do its constitutional duty and really protect our border from foreign invaders? are border states not only going to have to give road crews shovels but rifles to protect them from drug cartels? it's time to be serious and protect america and put more national guard troops on the border. meanwhile, washington seem tors whistling by the graveyard of indifference. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. . ms. wasserman schultz: pat lives outside two sop and has been hailed as one of the heroes in

the shooting of gabby giffords. she knocked the gun clip out of the shooter's hand, very likely save the lives ever more innocent people. she was in line to talk to her congresswoman, to share she thought the title of the health care repeal bill was disingenuous and because she and her husband own a small business. one of her employees has a pre-existing condition. they have been unable to find affordable coverage. she wanted to tell representative giffords, the health care reform law would help her employees. pat was unable to deliver her message to her representative but she asked me to share it with you now. heed the words of pat. heed the words of millions of americans needing health care. don't repeal vital health care reform. thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

>> mr. speaker, i rise today to speak in favor of repealing the government takeover of health care forced through congress without the input of the american people. this country's currently in the midst of a terrible recession and clear that shouldering small businesses with heavier tax burdens and increased regulation will only prolong our road to recovery. by mandating the small business and carry individuals with new health care, the government has overstepped the boundaries of personal freedom guaranteed by our constitution. it infringes on the rights of the states by penalizing them shooze they choose to opt out of the federal mandate. the american people were misled. a government-run health care plan will limit access and choice and millions of americans will lose their coverage because of mandates from cure rats in washington. mr. denham: i yield my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. butterfield: mr. speaker,

today we continue debate on the republican's most unfortunate effort to repeal health care reform that we passed during the last congress. this repeal will increase the deficit by $230 billion. no one disagree was that, but republicans. that's why the republican majority exempted this legislation from pay-as-you-go budgeting. you know this repeal will increase the deficit. keeping the law in its present form not only decreases the deficit but it will provide 3 it million uninsured americans the opportunity to obtain insurance and provide dependable coverage for their families. it allows children to remain on their families' policies and closes the doughnut hole and does so much more. mr. speaker, i can usually see both sides of an issue, but for the life of me, i can't see what the republicans are trying to achieve but to score political points with their right-wing base. i call on my friends to abandon your efforts and let's concentrate on putting americans

to work. that's what my constituents are demanding and your constituents as well. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. today is a historic day in america. acting on the will of the voters and majority of all americans, today we will vote to repeal obamacare. while the senate appears less interested in following suit, here in the house this vote marks the beginning of round two of a vigorous and spirited national debate on health care. over the coming months and weeks, this debate will go from congress to the kitchen tables all across this country. so as we re-engage in the debate, the party on the left questions why? why do the american people want this policy repealed so bad? so let's revisit some of those areas. number one, the employee

mandate. penalizing and punishing businesses for not having a government-approved health care. the individual mandate, punishing and taxing americans who choose not to have government-approved health care. $569 billion in new taxes on the american people. jobs being lost. a cost of the bill, $2.6 trillion, $700 billion deficit over the first 10 years of its life, and, yes, 222 corporations already -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from maine seek recognition? the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. pingree: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, repealing the historic health care legislation that we passed last year would pull the rug out from under millions of americans and add billions to the deficit. we can and should talk about c.b.o. scores, tax credits, and unemployment numbers, but what this health care reform is really about is improving the

lives of millions of americans. it's about children with pre-existing conditions who can no longer be denied coverage. it's about senior citizens who can now afford to get screened for diabetes or get a mammogram. it's about working families that no longer have to worry that their insurance will be canceled if they get sick. it's about people like jearlyn from maine. she said my son turned 19 in may and promptly lost his coverage. he has high blood pressure and had to go to the doctor a number of times to get his medication right. he works two part-time jobs and it doesn't give him health care. as of december 1 i was able to get him back on my insurance and it is a relief knowing he's covered. if this was repealed, it would hurt my son's health. that's why we need to stick with the health care plan and vote no. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition?

the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> when the congress passed the patient protection and affordable care act last year, it was promised that americans would have better access, more affordable, and higher quality care. instead, obamacare created what we all despise and no won't work. more government bureaucracy at taxpayer expense. $500 billion in new taxes, $500 billion in medicare cuts, more government bureaucracy, thousands of new i.r.s. employees. what we need for the american people is transparency and accountability. do i need to remind our colleagues that the approval rating of congress is at an all-time low? because we are not listening to the folks. we were sent here in november to do a job. and that's exactly what we are going to do. we are going to keep our promises we made to the american people. mr. fincher: we are going to hold true to that. i stand in favor of repealing the health care bill. we have to create jobs and get

our economy moving. and if we allow this health care bill to stay in effect, that will not do. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. defazio: the gentleman spoke before me talked about transparency and accountability. let's talk about the insurance industry prereform. they could cancel your policy if you got sick, even though you had been paying the premiums for years. they could refuse to sell you a policy if they don't like the way you look or a minor health problem. we changed that. people can now get health insurance and keep their health insurance if they have been paying their premium. but now they want to go back to those bad old days and they -- talk about transparency and accountability, how accountable is an industry that is exempt from the antitrust law? health insurance companies can and do collude to exclude people from coverage, to redline, to drive up premiums, to not sell in one state, not compete with

one another. there is no free market and competition and traps and accountability. if the republicans really wanted to do something today, they could at least replace it by making the industry comply with the same competitive rules as every other industry in america except professional sports, and that is they would be subject to antitrust restrictions. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, we all want to increase access to quality, affordable health care. mr. bilirakis: we know in this troubled economy, americans are concerned about making ends meet. and ensuring that they are covered in the event of a health care emergency. however, the misguided health care effort that was pushed through this house during the last congress is doing much more harm than good.

the hardworking families and seniors and small businesses in my district cannot afford this health care overhaul that is costing jobs, increasing red tape, spending trillions of to and acting upon the message this week the house is listening that americans sent to washington this past fall. we will replace the overreaching health care law with commonsense solutions that will lower costs and increase taxes to insurance while keeping americans in charge of their own health care. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from hawaii seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. hanabusa: when the health care reform act was passed it has in it section 1650, that section recognizes the hawaii prepaid health care act. why? because we have the lowest premiums in thna coverages

afforded for that. why is that? because we recognize very early on that you need to do a series of things. one, you need to share risks. two, you need to cover everyone. and three, you need to make things available. health care has to be available. and for that we have a great system. a system that still needs to be tweaked, a system that will benefit from the affordable health care act. what does that tell you? it took us 36 years to get it right. and we are still working on it. and my colleagues across the aisle want to repeal something that hasn't been around for a year. now, the american people does not want that. they want us to learn from when things are done right. look at what we have done, 36 years and we are getting it right. but it's still not perfect. we got to keep listening and we got to hear the people. mr. speaker -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island seek recognition?

without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> just yesterday i had a privilege from hearing from a rhode island, who spoke at the one and only hearing congress had to discuss the negative effects of repealing the new health care law. mr. cicilline: he graduated last may with two bachelor degrees, he's able to afford health insurance because he can stay on his parents' policy. repealing this law means alex and millions of americans will lose their coverage. i also recently spoke to beth, a woman who told me she's an insurance agent, she sells insurance every single day but she's denied access to coverage because of her pre-existing condition. repealing this law would mean she would again be denied access to health care. please do not let them take my health care. i was sent here to find practical solutions to solve the problems facing rhode island families. let's work to improve this law not repeal it. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? -- kentucky. yacht is recognized for one you speaker. mr. speaker, over the course of the last year and a half as we looked to pass incredibly important protections for americans, opponents of health care reform continue to try to scare people about what we were doing. and now with this vote today where the republican plan is basically to remove all those protections that we have offered the american public, there are a lot of people out there who think after the vote today that these protections are going to go away. i want to assure the constituents in my district, third district of kentucky, almost 300,000 of them with pre-existing conditions, your protection against discrimination will not go away. those 15,700 small businesses in my district that will now get benefits to provide coverage for their employees, don't worry about that vote. those protections are not going to go away. for these seniors in the doughnut hole, almost 10,000 in

my district who had their prescription drug costs lower because of what we did last year, this vote today will not take them away. and as for those 24,000 individuals in my district who will now have access to insurance for the first time, the vote today will not take them away. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition? the gentleman from new york, for what purpose does? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. tonko: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in opposition to pealing health care reform. the reason is simple. it does not create jobs. it does not protect the middle class and balloons the deficit. since march of 2010, the economy has created a total of 1.1 million new private sector jobs. over 200,000 of these jobs were in the health care sector aloneo create jobs not take them away. health care reform helps the middle class. in my district alone 439,000 individuals who currently have

health insurance now have protectionings and benefits that they did not have before the reform. 113,000 of my senior constituents are able to access preventive care and screening. for free because of reform. tax credits are available for up to 14,500 small businesses in the capital region of new york. these are real changes that benefit real people, repeal would eliminate all of them thoughtlessly and great harm to the middle class of my district. finally, repeal would increase the debt by trillions of dollars. 20 years from now repeal would cost us more than $1.2 severely threatening our nation's debt. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired, for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition? . >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute.

ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. thank you so vermuo woing with you. it's time to bust a number of myths. it's time to really tell the americans the truth as we begin another series of five-hour debates on repealing a life-saving initiative. it's really time to tell the truth. maybe it's time to tell the truth about this senior citizen who had pneumonia and didn't know she had it, but if he had -- if she had not had, in quotes a government-run health system, medicare, she wouldn't be laying up in a sophisticated medical facility, providing her with the opportunity to live. any of you know about pneumonia, walking pneumonia can kill you. it killed my grandfather, who did not have access to this health care because he did not have medicare. it's time to bust the myth. it's time to tell our physicians

that democrats worked hard to build up your reimbursement. this has nothing to do with the patient care and affordable act because as this bill grows with research dollars, we have the opportunity with the president to work on reimbursement. this bill is a bill to save lives and those in texas know it, mr. speaker because the texas insurance agency said it is a good bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. perlmutter: we are here again to begin debate on the repeal of the health care bill passed last year. democrats provided in that bill freedom, freedom from discrimination for pre-existing conditions, freedom to move from

job to job without losing your insurance. those freedoms are part of the legislation of america today. they're all based on the equal protection laws of the 14th amendment. the republicans, in a very radical and extreme move, want to have americans forfeit these freedoms. we can't have that done. this is about saving money, $230 billion. republicans talk about saving money. but they're prepared to repeal an act that saves america $230 billion. we want to make sure that we have manufacturing in this country. we make it in america. we're not competitive with the rest of the world. we can't allow this repeal to take place. urge a no vote. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from delaware seek recognition? >> to -- mr. carney: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

mr. carney: i rise today to oppose this counterproductive effort to repeal the affordable health care act. instead, we ought to focus on how we can move forward together, democrats and republicans, to address the serious challenge of rising health care costs. among developed nation the united states spends twice as much of its shared g.d.p. on health care yet rank near the bottom on health outcomes. insurance premiums more than doubled in the last decade. absent reform, they are on track to double again by 2020. these costs are uh sun stainable for delaware families and for the budget. medicare, medicaid and scommip alone consume one quarter of the federal budget. this will -- the affordable health care act will curb growth but more needs to be done. i came to washington to work on

the affordable health care act and not repeal it. i look forward to working with my colleagues to do just that. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut seek recognition? >> by direction of the democratic caucus, i offer a privilegedres. louis and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of theres. collusion. the clerk: house resolution 39, resolved that the following named members be and are hereby elected to the following standing committees of the house of representatives. mr. larson: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be considered as read. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 1c of rule 19 prork seedings will now resume on h.r. 2, which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: h.r. 2, a bill to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care related provisions in the health care and education reconciliation act of 2010. the speaker pro tempore: when consideration was postponed on tuesday, january 18, 2011, five hours of debate remained on the bill. with 30 minutes equally divided

and controlled by the majority leader and minority leader or their designees. 90 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on education and work force. 90 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the committee on energy and commerce. 90 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the committee on ways and means. the chair recognizes the gentleman from minnesota. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 2 and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for such time as he may consume. >> for 20 consecutive months, 20 million americans have been unemployed. as much as we'd like to solve this problem, the federal government cannot legislate our way to job creation. we can, however, foster economic certainty that will encourage businesses, families and entrepreneurs to spend and hire.

that is what we will try to do today. mr. kline: almost a year ago, the democrats launched a $1 trillion government takeover of health care that increases spending by $500 billion over 10 years. the 2,6700 page law led to more than 4,000 pages of new rules and regulations and the law is only 10 months old. the uncertainty of what this all means for individuals and businesses today and in the months and years to come is having a chilling effect on the country's job creators. a number of provisions of the law will undermine job creation and economic growth but perhaps none is as alarming as the employer mandate. for the first time in the nation's history, employers with more than 50 workers are required, are required, to provide government-approved health care coverage. those who do not or cannot

afford to will be forced to pay a $2,000 penalty for every worker beyond the first 30. if you are a small business owner with 50 workers and you cannot afford to provide government-approved health insurance to your workers, adding one additional employee in the payroll will result in a $42,000 penalty. some refer to the employer mandate as shared sacrifice. they argue that expanding coverage to every individual means everyone must pay. but the cost of this provision will result in more than lost dollars and cents. hiring new workers will be more expensive, creating a disincentive for job creators to put americans back to work. the employer mandate isn't the only challenge facing employers. last year, the administration released a regulation on the grandfather provision, a provision intended to protect the current plans against the law's complex and costly requirements. it is also central to the president's promise that, quote,

you like your current health care plan, you can keep it, close quote. unfortunately the regulation falls far short of the president's promise. by the administration's own estimates, up to 69% of all employer plans and 80% of small business plans will be denied grandfathered status in just two years. one estimate indicates 87 million americans will face changes to their current health care plans. instead of keeping what they have, they will have to pay more for something new and unfamiliar. the more costly it is for employers to provide coverage, the more likely existing health plans will be eliminated and the need for government assistance will grow and as the rolls for government assistance expands, the cost to taxpayers will skyrocket. at a time when every job creator should be encouraged to grow and hire, the government's health care plan forces them to choose between rising health care costs

and government penalties. it is time to end the uncertainty and time to push obama cashe aside so america's job creeyoit -- creators both large and small can move forward with the confidence they need to hire new workers. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> i yield myself four minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. miller: i rise in strong opposition to h.r. 2 the republican patients bill of rights repeal act. the question is fundamental, whether or not people will be able to have control over their health care needs and health insurance needs or whether or not we will go back to the chaos of the previous system that is dictated by the insurance companies where people are thrown off of policies willy nily, where people are not reimbursed for costs willy nilly, giving excuses, paperwork back and forth, where young people are thrown off their

parents' policy at the age when they graduate from high school and whether or not they'll have insurance or not. or whether people will have the freedom to make the choices to have insurance that will cover them, that will get rid of the pre-existing conditions that eliminate their coverage, that will get rid of the lifetime caps so those people who contracted cancer or other chronic diseases find out they've run out of insurance at the exact moment they need it, no longer will that be the case under the current law. the choice is to repeal that law and to make it more difficult for small businesses to provide insurance. since the enactment of the tax credit under this law, we now see that hundreds of thousands of employees have been extended health insurance by small businesses employeing 50 workers or less because of that tax credit. a tax credit that is scheduled to increase. so we already see the hundreds of thousands of employees that did not have access to insurance because they worked for small

businesses today have insurance. that's not the reporting of the government. that's the report 240e6ing health insurance companies where people and businesses are making application for insurance. so what we see now is young people are once again covered and can have the security that they'll have health insurance while they go to school or while they start a new job that may not have health insurance with that coverage. we now see the people who may have had a bout of cancer early on know that will not disqualify them from having insurance as they go out and continue to work to provide for their families. we see that after 2014, when people change their jobs or lose their job, they will have insurance so they will not have to go to the poor house because of the insurance costs that they will not be able to provide for because they're unemployed. they will not be locked into a job they don't want. they will be able to be entrepreneurial and be able to go out and seek a new job, knowing they'll have insurance.

that's the certainty of this legislation. we can now choose the chaos of the current insurance system. we can choose the chaos of people getting a letter saying, you no longer have insurance, getting a letter saying, your child is no longer covered. getting a letter saying, your premiums are 59% as they did in california. we've seen the costs jump and over the last decade we've seen more and more businesses shed coverage for their employees. republicans want to believe there's certainty in that. republicans want to believe that that's a comfort to the american working family. the republicans want to believe that that's a comfort to grandparents who see their grandchildren thrown off their children's policy. that's not a comfort. what is a comfort is the freedom to know that never again will you have to contest the arbitrary ruling of an insurance company about your pre-existing condition, about the coverage of your child's health care. never again will you have to contest whether or not you'll get help paying for your

pharmaceuticals if your senior. never again will you have to pay for preventive medical checkup to try to keep you healthy if you're a senior. that's the certainty that this legislation presents. last night, i had a telephone town hall meeting with over 1,000 seniors in my district and all of them, almost all of them, there were three or four in the call, almost all of them wanted the certainty of knowing they were going to get help with their pharmaceutical payments. they struggled with the doughnut hole and were appreciative of the $250 check they got last year and they're appreciative for the help they'll get paying for their pharmaceuticals this year. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expyred. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. . the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: at this time i'm pleased to yield a minute to a member of the committee, the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. petri. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin is

recognized for one minute. mr. petri: today i rise in support of h.r. 2, legislation which would repeal the health care law passed last year. even it's unlikely this bill will pass the senate, i think it's important for the house majority to state its position in the clearest possible terms to encourage a general re-evaluation of the new law. make no mistake, my colleagues and i support health care reform which would ensure that all americans, including those with pre-existing conditions, have access to affordable coverage. however the health care law that passed last year takes a fundamentally wrong approach to achieving that goal and will only make worse our skyrocketing health care costs and federal deficits. my state of wisconsin is the leader in terms of providing efficient, high quality care, and i have been meeting and will continue to work with medical providers in my state as well as my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to develop proposals which would reward high quality, low cost medical services instead of simply giving government more control over our health care. only by implementing proposals

that rein in out-of-control health care costs will we be able to make affordable coverage available to all americans. i look forward to working with my colleagues on this important issue. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield four minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. andrews. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for four minutes. mr. andrews: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. andrews: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the chairman for yielding. as we sit here this morning there are millions of americans sitting in front of computers or the want ads desperately looking for their next job. 15 million unemployed americans. the question they are asking this congress is, why don't you work together to help small businesses and entrepreneurs create jobs for our country? the answer the majority gives them is, we'll get to that someday. what they are doing today raises some real questions as well.

a mother of two 4-year-old twins diagnosed with leukemia. the twins are. tries to buy health insurance, the insurance company says we won't sell it to you because your children have leukemia or we'll charge you five times as much. we say, that should be illegal. and the law today the majority tries to repeal says differently. a yes vote for repeal means she's told sorry, no insurance. a person who's faithfully paid his premiums for years and suddenly needs a quadruple bypass heart operation receives a letter from his insurance company, says sorry, we are resippeding your coverage -- rescinding your coverage. we say and the law says that should be illegal but a vote for repeal says sorry, you are on your own. a pregnant woman who has a very

difficult pregnancy and diffs birth to a child with severe impairments that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars each month. the law says and we say that the insurance company should be legally obligated to pay her bills as long as she and her baby needs it. no lifetime policy limits. but a vote for repeal says, she's on her own. a senior citizen who runs out of prescription drug coverage the fourth of july or labor day, the law days and the bill says they should get some help to continue to buy their prescriptions for the rest of the year. a vote for repeal says she's on her own. we are all on our own in paying the debt, our president's meeting with the president of china today, and as we do that the majority is adding over $1 trillion to the national debt with this vote. ladies and gentlemen of the house, this bill doesn't create

jobs for the middle class, it creates pain for the middle class. the right vote is no on this repeal. the right course is get back to the jobs of creating jobs for the american people. vote no. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'm pleased to yield to another member of the committee, the gentleman from south carolina, mr. wilson, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson:thank you, mr. chairman, for your leadership. mr. speaker, one of the many threats of this unconstitutional health care takeover is the unfunded state mandates. in my home state of south carolina newly inaugurated governor has correctly warned that the palmetto state cannot afford the health care mandate. governor haley even went so far as to ask the president to opt out of this unfunded mandate. the reason is because the health care takeover calls for an additional $1 billion in new

state spending. the takeover will take over small businesses. a recent study by the national federation of small businesses, america's largest organization of small businesses, has indicated that the men date will lead to the elimination of 1.6 million jobs. this law imposes burdens on all americans. it's a threat on senior citizens and it will lead to waiting lists, deferral service, and rationing. it's a threat to our nation's youth in that it burdens them with excessive debt. mr. speaker, the liberal health care takeover destroys jobs, limits freedoms, and expands big government. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from california, ms. woolsey, a member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for two minutes. ms. woolsey: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. woolsey: mr. speaker, i rise to speak out in emphatic

opposition to h.r. 2, the repeal of the affordable care act. mr. speaker, one of my sons, the husband of two, and a wonderful father, came home last week from 6 1/2 weeks in the hospital. he has many, many more weeks of recovery ahead of him, but i can tell you that this family that still has a huge challenge ahead of them would not have a chance without health care. the health care coverage that they have. this bill, by the way, goes in precisely the wrong direction. just when we should be strengthening the historic reform we passed last year, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to tear it apart. have you never experienced another person that had the needs that my family has today? even if it wasn't in your

family? repeal we know would leave millions out in the cold, stripping them of access to affordable health coverage. in fact, blue shield of california recently announced a rate increase of as much as 59%, 59%. for some 200,000 policyholders. does the majority not see the problem with run away costs that are passed on to middle class families already burdened by a deep recession? do you not -- do you want to return to the broken health care system that has people crying out for reform in the first place? the claim cutting government spending is the most important of all flies in the face of the c.b.o. that has concluded that their bill would add $230 billion, your bill, the republican bill, $230 billion to

-- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. ms. woolsey: to the debt by 2021. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'm pleased to yield two minutes to my friend and colleague, member of the committee, the gentlewoman from north carolina, ms. foxx. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized for one minute or two minutes? two minutes. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my friend for yielding me time. i rise today in support of h.r. 2 which repeals the job destroying government takeover of health care. voters rejected the government knows best philosophy in november. in contrast republicans believe that american innovation and reduced government control are keys to successful health reform that reduces health care costs. for instance, it's estimated that 1% of the most seriously ill account for more than 25% of all health care expenditures. what if we could improve the care of these patients and at

the same time reduce costs? we can. we can by harnessing the power of innovation in health research in fields like regenerative medicine. it develops technologies to replace or regenerate organs and tissues using the patient's only cells. these treatments could reduce the costs of chronic diseases by $275 billion a year. consider the fact that dr. anthony, the institute for regenerative medicine at wake forest university, has been able to successfully grow bladders for bladder replacement surgeries from the recipient's own cells. despite several successful bladder transplants, the f.d.a. insists he go through additional clinical trials on animals and spend millions of dollars in testing that's clearly unnecessary based on his success with the human transplant surgeries. the federal government's regulatory burden is stifling innovation in america and the government takeover the health care passed by the ruling democrats last year will impose more job and innovation, destroying regulations on health

research. therefore i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of investing in new health technology and research by voting yes on h.r. 2. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yield back. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: yield to the gentleman from texas, mr. hinojosa, a member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: how much time? mr. hinojosa: i ask unanimous consent that the entire statement be made part of the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hinojosa: mr. speaker, i rise today in strong opposition to h.r. 2. over 1/3 of my constituents in the 15th congressional district of texas are currently uninsured. with passage of the affordable care act, that number which has risen year after year is finally coming down. i project that the percentage of uninsured individuals could drop to only 10%. right now thanks to the affordable care act, children who are 26 and under can stay on their parents' policy as they finish school and search for a job. with the passage of health care

reform in 2010, senior citizens who hit the doughnut hole are now going to receive rebates. small businesses have received their taxes cut. all a result of the affordable care act. if the proposed health care act reform repeal were to pass, it will destroy this progress i have seen in my district and in my state. the families and businesses in my district cannot afford more uncertainty. they cannot afford to go back to the old health care system that was not working for millions of americans and whose spiraling costs were driving our federal budget into the abyss. right now the affordable care act is extending affordable health care insurance to millions of americans. however, here in congress the majority party is asking the house to repeal the law we passed without holding hearings and without offering a meaningful alternative to the american people who are working -- who are presently without insurance or who have

pre-existing medical conditions. those americans were struggling to pay for hefty premiums to insurers. if there are some things that need to be fixed in the present law, we can fix them, but throwing out all the progress that's made is not the answer. the focus of this new congress should be reducing the staggeringly high 9 1/2% unemployment rate. instead we have a bill before us today that makes it harder for businesses to provide benefits to the employees that eliminate the hundreds of thousands of new jobs -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. now i'm pleased to yield five minutes to a physician on the committee, the gentleman from tennessee, dr. roe. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for five minutes. mr. roe: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise today in support of h.r. 2, the repeal of obamacare. for the past 30 years i haven't been a politician but physician treating patients and delivering babies in rural east tennessee

and i can say without hesitation we have the finest health care system in the world. health care should not be a partisan issue and i personally have never operated on a democrat or republican canser in my life. you can't spend $1 trillion and have a bill over 2,500 pages long and not have something good come out of it. this bill is not, however, good medicine for our country. the repeal of obamacare doesn't mean we aren't for health care reform. quite the contrary. what i discovered in my own practice was in 30 years health care was becoming more and more unaffordable for our citizens and we had a group of patients, citizens, who didn't have affordable health insurance coverage. this we need to address. this bill does increase the number of people who have insurance but does nothing to control the costs. the other side says that if we repeal obamacare, it will increase the costs and decrease access. let's take a look. decrease costs. let's take a look at three government-run plans.

one is tenncare, my state's medicaid program, the massachusetts care, and medicare. in tenncare we had a plan that are competing interests, compete for your business, supposed to hold costs down. we saw our costs in tennessee from 1993 until 2004 and 2005 go from $2.6 billion to $8 billion. it tripled. what we found was was that half the people who went on the government plan had private health insurance and dropped it and got on the government plan. this plan took up almost every new dollar our state took in. . we balanced this on the backs of college students. we have less highway patrolman now in our state even though we have 20 million more people. it limits the access -- we ended up limiting the access to physicians to eight visits a year.

let's look at massachusetts where there's a mandate. you're required to buy a good or service and the government decides what is the right good or service, what happens, it hasn't helped the cost there either. they have the highest health care premiums in america in massachusetts. emergency room visits are not down, and why is that? same as tenncare. these plans don't pay for care, shifting more and more of the costs. the second thing it does is it empowers lobbyists. you'll see lobbyists come to us, the politicians, say, we want this medicine or this device on our plan. these are the people who write the checks to politicians. you're empowering them. let's look at med care, that started in 1965 as a $3.5 billion program. they said in 10 years' time it

would be a $15 billion program, today it's over $400 billion. we have three examples where costs are out of control in the government-run plans. the senior citizens understand this. when you take $500 billion out of a plan and in the section 10 years we add 36 million seniors, three things are going to happen, you'll have decreased access, you'll have decreased quality, and you'll have increased costs. that's a given. so we have had the president say last year that i will go over this bill line by line, i've read this bill, i wanted to go over it, i wanted to have meaningful health care reform but was denied that privilege. without exception, our states are almost broke. every one of them. we're adding another unfunded federal mandate to require them to pay and implement a plan that's already breaking them, the expansion of medicaid, which is an entitlement. businesses get it also.

if this is such a great plan, why did -- why have, to date, 222 businesses opted out, including mcdonald's and of all people, the seiu, the government employees' union, who fought for this and then opted themselves out. i find that ridiculous when you see that. the doctors get it. the doctor fix, the s.g.r. fix is not in this bill a cost that was hidden and as doctors are squeezed they cannot see patients that cannot pay the cost of the care. malpractice is not in this bill. i can tell you as an ob/gyn doctor, it's over the top, it's almost unaffordable for us. the american people get it, the people of tennessee get it, we as elected represent i haves get it, we got that in the election of november 2. i want to encourage my colleagues to vote to repeal obamacare and i urge my colleagues to do this i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california.

mr. miller: i yield myself 30 seconds. it's universe lally recognized that there is no worse-designed plan than tenncare. there was no pay-fors, it nearly bankrupted the state and it's recognized that nowhere has the cost gone up fagger than in the private sector, much faster than medicare. there's not much in the way of cost containment, you just reimburse for the cost. this legislation has cost containment, that's why c.b.o. says if you repeal it, you'll drive up the short-term deficit $230 billion, the long-term deficiters 12k4r.2 billion. -- deficit $1.2 trillion. >> i rise today in opposition to h.r. 2, a bill that would repeal the affordable care act. the affordable care act signed

into law in march of 2010 is an important first step in reforming our health insurance system. mrs. mccarthy: the affordable care act puts in place important consume brother texts and reduces our country's deficit. this new congress was elected promising a transparent process with input from all members. this repeal bill, however, has not even been considered by a single committee in the house. members are also being shut out of the process. i co-sponsored four amendments submitted to the rules committee, none were accepted. i co-sponsored an amendment to ensure that women continue to receive the protections provide -- provided in the affordable care act. the republicans did not allow the amendment to come to the floor. i co-sponsored an amendment to ensure that all seniors will continue to receive the increased benefit in medicare and the doughnut hull will continue to be closed. the republicans did not allow

this to come up for a vote. i co-sponsored an amendment to ensure that we keep the tax cut, the republicans didn't allow the amendment to come up for a vote. co-sponsored an amendment to prevent this repeal bill from adding to the deficit and the republicans did not allow it to come up for a vote. this republican congress ran on a campaign of reducing the federal deficit. however this would raise taxes on small businesses and individuals and add $1 trillion to the deficit. just to be clear, a vote for this bill will be a vote for higher taxes and increased deficit. though there's an effort to bring this repeal to the floor today what is being proposed in place of affordable care? nothing. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. mrs. mccarthy: please vote no. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: before i yield to the

gentleman from michigan, i yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from tennessee, dr. roe, respond to the gentleman from california's comments. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. roe: just to address my colleague from california, i would argue that tennessee has thought this plan well out. the problem with this plan is that when you have more services chase fugger dollars, you're going to create waste and you're going to create in a situation where we've shifted the cost you talked about that private health insurance costs going up, that's true. inknow ration, -- innovation, a lot of reasons for that. but one of the main reasons is an over-promise by government programs that shifts cost. we saw that in our state and we can do better. when you say that, we look -- i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: now i'm pleased to yield one minute to a member of the committee, the gentleman from michigan, mr. walberg. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one

minute. mr. walberg: i rise today in support of the repeal of the government takeover of health care. we're well aware of how the health care law create hundreds of billions in new taxes while doing littology drive down costs and causing millions to lose access to coverage. even more concerning is our howe the law grows government. when this law was passed the democrats said it would create four million new jobs. instead we got over 2,000 new pages of job-killing new taxes and less choice. this law was clearly an overreach of government control. in place of government run health care, true reform can be achieved through multiple patient-centered alternatives including expanding h.s.a.'s, association health plans and allowing the purchase of health insurance across state lines. americans agree. a gallup/"usa today" poll shows that only 13% of americans support the law. the american people want this law repealed and so do i, as i

promised. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from california, mrs. davis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. mrs. davis: thank you. thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, my mother always told me if you have your health, you have everything. which is why i've always believed every american should have access to the care they need to be healthy. now, my colleagues want to repeal health care without an alternative. it's easy to say you reject something but it's harder to come up with solutions. americans deserve to know how my colleagues' plan protects patients. women should not be denied care based on gender, nor should they need a permission slip to see an on gin.

the 22 million americans without insurance need access to coverage. insurers shouldn't deny children coverage because they've been sick. medicare should be kept solvent over the long-term and seniors should have access to affordable prescriptions. americans shouldn't face outrageous annual premium hikes such as the 59% increase many of my own constituents are looking at today. the health care reform bill addresses each of these problems and many more. it's irresponsible to repeal without a plan to fix the issues in our health care system. further, thanks to governor schwarzenegger's efforts before leaving office, california is leading the way in implementing reform. already authorizing health insurance exchange marketplaces to buy affordable insurance. repeal will cripple health reform efforts in my state and

leave it without direction going forward. i can't support legislation that does not offer solutions and goes backwards. so let's focus on creating jobs and not taking away health care from patients. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm pleased to yield one minute to a new member of the committee, the gentleman from new york, mr. hanna. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. hanna: i rise in support of h.r. 2 to repeal the health care law from last year. we know that the current law raises premiums, we know that it cuts medicare by more than $500 billion. that's unacceptable to the over 120,000 seniors in my district who rely on medicare benefits. we know it raises taxes, imposes costs on small businesses, and will substantially burden new

york. tomorrow, i will vote to instruct committees including the education and work force committee to produce a thoughtful and improved legislation. i look forward to support regular forms that lower premiums through competition, allow feeks with pre-existing condition access to affordable health care, reform the medical liability system, preserve a patient's ability to keep their own plan and expand incentives to encourage personal responsibility for health care coverage and costs. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. holt, a member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. holt: mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to the budget-busting legislation that fails to create one new job and returns our health decisions to insurance companies rather than

doctors. repealing the health reform law would be a big mistake. instead of focusing on job creation or retirement security or fair taxes, we're debating repealing a law that protects americans from insurance company abuses prorkvidse fairer and more acceptable health reform for children, for veterans, for seen orrs for employees, for employers. the law saves the average taxpayer money and saves the insured money. on monday, we celebrated dr. martin luther king jr. day. dr. king fought for an america where everyone, regardless of race or class background, had access to the american opportunity. he said, of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane. today, the new majority is trying to repeal the health reform law that we enacted just one year ago. that historic law provides secure health insurance coverage to almost all americans and

lowers the deficit. the days of, you're on your own, are past now. the law ensured that health insurance companies actually have to provide health insurance. not just in name but it requires that they spend your premium dollars on actually providing health care. if this reform law were repealed and -- anna's 24-year-old son in kendall park, new jersey, would become unsured. todd in eatontown would not be able to get insurance because of a pre-existing condition. thousands of seniors would not be able to afford life-saving prescriptions. mathew from windsor wrote me, i just graduated from college, i'm working in a job with no health care. he's grateful he can be on his parents' health plan. he said shockingly, i would be

without coverage for a pre-existing condition if this law were reversed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: i'm pleased to yield one minute to another member of the committee, mr. aki ta. the speaker pro tempore: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. -- the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. achy ta: -- the people of jinn sent me to washington, d.c. with very specific instructions, get the government out of our lives. . every person in this kuwait knows it doesn't solve the problems. it wants to replace it with more government controls, loss of prnl freedom, and trillions of new cost to taxpayers will fail. let's not forget there are programs already in place that are supposed to do many of the

things that the president has talked about his law doing. we should start with reforming those. also health savings accounts, insurance across state lines, covering pre-existing conditions, and subsidizes the private policy should be implemented. health care is not a right. and if we are not careful, the feel good, empty promises made in this law will bankrupt our country and leave our grandkids to pay for it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, a member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona is recognized for two minutes. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. miller. i rise today in opposition to a regressive and unfair piece of legislation, h.r. 2. we must protect the american people from the republican no-care agenda. their agenda for america is simple. no care if you lose your job. no care if you or your child has a pre-existing condition.

no care if you are a senior in the doughnut hole. no care if you are under 26 and on your parents' plan. no care if you get sick and your insurer drops your coverage. no care if your insurer hikes your premiums higher than you can afford. no care for indian health care services re-authorization. no care for community health centers. no care for closing the disparity gaps in america's health care delivery system. i urge my colleagues to vote against this repeal, to take away the -- that would take away the progress that we are making to protect our constituents. i urge my colleagues to stop protecting insurance companies and finally, finally take a step toward empowering the american people. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. now i'm very pleased to yield one minute to another new member of the committee, a physician,

the gentleman from indiana, dr. bucshon. mr. bucshon: i rise today in support of h.r. 2, the repeal of the affordable care act. i consider this one of the most crucial votes in this congress. as a surgeon i can speak on the perfect spective of a physician who has dealt with the growing needs for health care reform in our country. we all know there are too many uninsured, too many underinsured. but a government solution is the wrong approach. this law does nothing to address the critical issue in health care today and that's the rising cost of health care. now, let's touch with my patients, 60% to 70% of my patients are in medicare. a $500 billion cut in the funding of medicare and decreasing reimbursement for physicians, for hospitals, and other providers over the course of time will lead to what it's led to in every other country

that has a government health care system, rationing of health care for some of the most vulnerable people in our society, our american seniors. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: thank you. i yield two minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. scott, a member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for two minutes. mr. scott: thank you, mr. speaker. it's important that we focus attention on the substance of the debate on health care. not just calling repealing health care reform, obamacare, or calling it job killer, it will actually create jobs, or even calling it government takeover when it doesn't even include a public option constitutes discussion. but we need to talk about what's actually in the bill and what's actually going to be repealed because we need to talk about what's going to happen to those under 26 that are now able to stay on their parents' policies.

repeal will kick those off those policies. we need to talk about what's going to happen to those with pre-existing conditions. what's happening to those who can now get checkups and -- annual checkups and preventive care with no co-pays and deductibles. we need to talk about the fact we are digging senior citizens out of the doughnut hole and repeal will keep them in the doughnut hole. insurance reform, no rescission, no cutting off insurance in the middle of a treatment. we need to talk about what we are doing for -- for unreasonable increases. that's what you are going to be repealing if you repeal health care reform. affordability. all americans under health care reform in 2014 will be able to afoord health care -- afford health care, be giving tax credits to businesses, to encourage them to provide health care. this bill will create jobs, you'll be destroying jobs. and you say nothing about the deficit. the c.b.o. has already calculated that you will

significantly increase the deficit if this bill passes. mr. speaker, health care reform is a matter of life and death. the republicans want to repeal health care they ought to be clear and tell the public what will actually happen to young adults. those with pre-existing conditions, senior citizens, what's going to happen to the doughnut hole or insurance abuses or the future of affordability of health care. we should not just be resorting to labels and slogans. we have to be clear of what we are doing to the public. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm pleased to yield one minute to another member of the committee, the gentleman from south carolina, mr. gowdy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized for one min. mr. gowdy: thank you, mr. speaker, mr. chairman. the constitution of the united states has limits and surely one of those limits must be that congress cannot compel a private citizen to engage in a private commercial transaction. surely the congress of the united states cannot compel a person to purchase life

insurance because generational debt is a bad thing. surely the congress of the united states cannot compel someone to purchase vision i -- insurance or dental insurance. the constitution of the united states places limits on congress and it is time that this body honored those limits envisioned by our forefathers and to ask for self-restraint or respect for the constitution should not invite challenges to our humanity or accusations of moral aqui essence. i'm from the upstate of south carolina and every time i go home, i hear about the need for health reform and the fear the people have with respect to pre-existing conditions. but i support a solution that is patient centered and not government centered. i support a solution that's affordable and not generational. and i support a solution -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. tierney, a member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. tierney: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

mr. tierney: mr. speaker, it is deeply disappointing that following last week's near universal call for unity and cooperation, we saw the calls to lower the temperature of political discourse and move to working together to solving america's pressing issues, the new republican majority is moving full steam ahead with an attempt to repeal the anordable care act. the health care -- affordable care act. the health care law will not be perfect. that prospect will certainly be open to debate and suggestions on how it might be improved might also be open to debate. instead of working together and building on the work that's been done and progress made, we find ourselves here today debating and voting on a bill which while it may pass the house most certainly will never become law nor should it. some call it political catharsis, some pure theater, plain and simple, let's be clear. the positive impact of the existing health care lee form law is having on millions of residents and families in all of our districts is very real. and the the common sense consumer protection are popular. this misguided legislation will spell the end of one meaningful

consumer protection which i fought to get into law. this protection holds insurance companies accountable and ensures consumers are receiving health services which they are paying for. in 1993 many private companies routinely spent $95 -- 95 cents of every dollar on health services. by 2008, many reduced the spending on health services to below 75%. some less to 60% of those dollars. that meant that companies could spend up to 43 cents of your premium dollar on executive salaries, advertising, lobbyists, bonuses, dividends, and other administrative costs instead of using it for what you contracted for, health care. to keep their excessive profits up, you may have been charged ever higher premiums or denied care through a number of anti-consumer gimmicks. you might have been denied coverage because you or your family member had a pre-existing condition or coverage capped annually or lifetime, stopping coverage when it was most needed. as a parent you were refused

coverage for your children under 26 even if they were still unemployed and were working someplace -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. tierney: would reverse that. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: may i inquire, mr. speaker, how much time is remaining on each side? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota has 26 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from california has 22 minutes. mr. kline: i thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'm very pleased to yield one minute to another new member of the committee, the gentlelady from alabama, mrs. roby. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from alabama is recognized for one minute. mrs. roby: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, i rise today to stand with my colleagues in support of h.r. 2 that will repeal the health care reform act. sadly this law is about providing health care for all citizens and the law is less about providing health care for

all citizens and more about expanding federal government. it translates into substantial costs over $500 billion that must be paid by hardworking tax paying americans. in economic hard times it is our responsibility to ensure that this does not occur. if we do not repeal this law, our inaction will be nothing less than gross irresponsibility. this must not happen. i want to tell you about the owner of the pizza hut who will be forced to close his doors due to the costs associated with this law. then there is the gentleman that owns pharmacies throughout the southeast who told me he has the ability to create two jobs but cannot do so because he doesn't know what the federal government's going to do to him next. just like our forefathers answered the call to right wrongs, we, too, must answer the call. the citizens in our district have spoken and in their words we must repeal this law. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. bishop. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. mr. bishop: i believe it is time

this congress does what president obama called on americans to do last week, approach our debates and differences with civility and honesty. we appear to be doing reasonably well with regard to civility, but less so with honesty. once again we tackle health care and the debate is fighting back to one line attacks and misrepresentations instead of the new health care law's parents or impact on real americans. the affordable care act has been referred to as a job crushing law. this is simply not honest. as my colleagues across the aisle disregard the fact that since it was signed into law last march, over one million private sector jobs have been added to the economy with 207,000 of those jobs coming from the health care sector. some speak of the repeal would have no meaningful fiscal consequences. this, too, is not honest. the congressional budget office has estimated full repeal would increase the deficit by $230 billion offer 10 years and another $1.2 trillion in the following decade. some argue repeal will reduce the deficit. if this is true, why have we yet

to see a positive score that affirms such a point? repeal does nothing. absolutely nothing other than leaving families with real health insurance -- real health issues no place to go for help. what do i tell the parents of the 9,000 children in my district with pre-existing conditions who will be unable to access coverage because of the ban on discrimination against children with pre-existing conditions is repealed? when insurance companies can claim cancer or pregnancy as a pre-existing condition, what will survivors and mothers do for health coverage? what will the 126,000 so affected individuals on eastern long island do? what will the 2,400 young adults who have been able to stay on do if repeal is successful? what do the 112,000 medicare beneficiaries who can now receive free cancer screenings and other preventive care do? what about the 8,500 prescription drug plan recipients who can no longer count on the doughnut hole being closed and will once again pay higher drug cost it is repeal is

successful? simply replacing the positive impact it has had on families -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. kline: at this time i'm very pleased to yield two minutes to another new member of the committee, a physician, the gentleman from nevada, dr. heck. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from nevada is recognized for one minute. mr. heck: mr. speaker. increasing access to high quality health care while reducing costs. that was the goal of the recently enacted health care law. but no matter how well-intentioned, very few now stand by that law in its entirety. the new health care law will cost money that taxpayers don't have and will cost jobs we can't afford to lose. now is the time to re-examine this misguided law before young families are forced to buy something they can't afford or face fines from their government. before seniors are forced to find a new doctor or lose the kind of insurance plan they

enjoy now. before small businesses shed jobs or are forced to close its doors due to budget busting regulations. more access, lower cost. it's safe to say that every american supports that idea. as an emergency medicine doctor, i know that i do. and working on the frontlines of health care, i have seen what works and what doesn't. forcing people to buy insurance or fining them, eliminating seniors' access to medicare advantage, burdening small businesses with onerous taxes, don't work. what the american people want are solutions that don't cost more taxpayer money and don't prevent small businesses from hiring new employees. . making sure people don't lose their coverage once thaw get sick. letting dependent children stay on their parent's coverage until they're 26. making sure anyone who wants to buy insurance can purchase a policy, regardless of

pre-existing conditions, and allowing consumers choice while creating incentives to purchase insurance that fits their needs works. some of these solutions are there but there's more wrong with this bill than right. let's repeal this law that doesn't work. let's repair those pieces that could work. let's replace it with patient-centered solutions that will work. and let's give the american people the health care they deserve. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from hawaii, ms. hirono, a member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. hirono: i ask unanimous consent to place my full statement into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. hirono: democrats' top priority is creating jobs, we want to work with republicans to achieve this goal. but instead of focusing on jobs and growing the economy, the new leadership has decided to start

by debating h l. 2, which will repeal patient rights, put insurance companies back in charge and add to the deficit. yesterday, the democratic steering and policy committee held the only hearing congress will have on this bill. we heard for from families from maine to florida, real people, real stories. freedom was a common thread in their stories. because of health care reform, these families are free from worrying abbeing denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition, free from worrying about escalating debts because of lifetime caps on their insurance plan. these companies have security and peace of mind. through the landmark health care act, our families have largely been protected from some of the most insurance company plaquetieses but health care reform is still helping thousands of people across my state.

a mother in my state contacted me to say she can add her 21-year-old son and 24-year-old daughter to her work-sponsored plan. she used to pay $900 a month for just her daughter's health insurance and prescription drugs. now she pays $300 a month to cover both of her under her company's plan. they used to spend $10,800 a year for one child. now they spend $3,600 a year for the entire family. i recently heard from a senior who referred to her $250 medicare doughnut hole rebate check as a blessing in these tough economic times. let's be clear, the patients' rights repile act will hurt, not help middle class families and small businesses in hawaii and across our nation. i urge my colleagues to join me in voting against h.r. 2. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: i'm pleased to yield one minute to another new member

of the committee, the gentleman from florida, mr. ross. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. ross: today i rise in support of replacing the recently enacted health care law that nationalizes nearly 1/6 of our country's gross domestic product this past november, the american people sent a resounding message to congress and this administration, that they do not want to pay higher taxes for one-sides-fits-all health care system that replaces doctors with bureaucrats. instead the american people want complete control of their health care dollars and health care decisions and they want to be able to take their policies with them from job to job without being penalized by the federal government. americans need privatized health care that forces competition in order to achieve affordability, choice and innovation. as a small business owner, i understand that adding $104 billion in taxes and compliance

costs for unstable job market creates a massive burden on our taxpayers and is not the best way to encourage economic growth. imposing new regulations on small businesses -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman' expired. mr. ross: -- mr. kline: the i yield the gentleman 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. ross: one common sense reform is to allow for interstate sale of health insurance policies ascross state lines. allow consumers choice, allow the market to determine the affordability and availability of policies. mr. speaker, i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from connecticut, mr. courtney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. chairman. in 1986, over 66% of america's employers provided retiree health insurance. in twine, that number has

collapsed 29% -- in 2009, that number had collapsed 29%. we set up a tried and true method of insurance we use for flood insurance, terrorism insurance to ensure -- to insure the nuclear industry. this will cost share and cost spread the high claims of older 5rk5-plus americans, is a program that employers have stampeded into. over 4,700 employers have spored this measure. some of these companies are here. they are voting with their feet. s that program that works. mr. speaker, public employers are also taking advantage. this map shows yellow states who have not entered the program. no yellow states have not entered the program. all 50 states with republican governors, democratic governors have entered this program. states who are suing the federal government to overturn the

health care bill, they know a program that's going to work to make sure that their health care costs are going to be controlled and spread. this means that police officers, teachers, people working at corporations who were 55 and uh up can retire with confidence, opening up opportunities for young americans which the clearly the prior system was not going to allow. mr. speaker, this bill will blow up this program which employers are voting with their feet says will work. that is not creating jobs. this program creates jobs. it lowers costs for employers and provides an avenue for young people to have a future in this country. we should vote no on this legislation, let's grow america's economy, let's preserve the early retiree insurance. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: at this time i'm pleased to yield one minute to another fission, the gentleman from louisiana, dr. fleming. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. fleming: repealing obamacare is an imperative for four reasons. one, while it increases numbers under coverage, it will sharply reduce access to care. like canada and britain, socialized medicine will mean carrying an insurance card that will entitle you only to less choice, longer waits and rationing. second, while the health care system is now hard to navigate, under obamacare it will be a nightmare. with over 150 new mandates and agencies controlled by unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats and i.r.s. agents, to whom will we turn when the system fails us? third is yet another entitlement program financed through a disney fantasy of accounting, it will add to the current entitlement fiasco in washington, exploding the budget for many generations to come. finally, with higher taxes and more constrictions on businesses, employed -- employed

americans will continue to decline or become an endangered species altogether. let's repeal the worst legislation in a generation, obamacare. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i think i'm starting to understand the physician shortage in the country, most of them are in the congress apparently. i yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, mr. tonko. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. tonko: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i have committed to working with my colleagues to create jobs but here we are debating repeal of health care reform instead of focusing on job creation. health care reform was a good start. its enactment in march of 2010, private sector job growth has grown by some 1.1 million jobs. among those, other 200,000 jobs were created in the health care sector alone. that is why my top priority remains job creation and growing

our economy, not obsessing on repealing a bill that is working. if my friend on the other side of the aisle are successful, then seniors, young people, and small businesses in the capital region of new york would be hurt. take my state tim, from albany, new york, for example. he is forced to dig into his pocket to pay for prescription drugs even though she a retired pharmacist on medicare. however, health care reform prosides tim extra stens in paying for his prescription and ensuring this -- ensures the so-called doughnut hole payment will be no more in the near future. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. i am really pleased, following the comments of the gentleman from california, to yield one minute to another physician, a new member of the committee, the gentleman from tennessee, dr. dejar lay.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. desjarlais: as a practicing physicians for two decades in tennessee, i stand before you as a witness to failures of a government-run model. obamacare takes the problems i've seen in my home state and expands them to a national level this bill raises taxes, increases spending and will add $701 billion to the federal deficit. most importantly, obamacare will ultimately end up restricting patients' access to quality health care by placing washington bureaucrats between patients and their doctors. moving forward, we do offer solutions. we must work toward reducing waste, fraud, and abuse in medicare. instituting meaningful tort reform, thus reducing the practice of defensive medicine. we can accomplish these -- we can't accomplish these goals without -- we can accomplish these goals without a giant new bureaucracy. by voting to repeal this

unnecessary health care bill, we'll effectively put a stop to the creation of a massive entitlement program that we did not want, do not need and can't afford. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mrs. miller: i yield one minute to the gentlelady from california, ms. bass. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. bass: i rise in opposition to h.r. 2. in survey after survey, the number one issue facing our country is jobs. last year, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle said the number one issue we should be working on is jobs. well the health care reform act is a jobs bill. in the 1970's and 1980's, i worked in several hospitals in the los angeles area. during those years, there was such a shortage of health care prociders that hospitals recruited nurses from canada and the philippines. right now, there's an estimated shortage of 400,000 nurses nationally. right now, there's an estimated shortage of 50,000 doctors.

right now, there are waiting lists of several years to get a slot in nursing schools and other allied health professions. so if there's a shortage of medical personnel right now and health care reform expands coverage to 30 million people, then can someone explain to me how health care reform is not a jobs bill? thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: at this time i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from indiana, mr. pence. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. pence: i thank the gentleman for yielding and ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pence: i rise in strong support of h.r. 2, repealing the government takeover of health care passed by the 111th congress. now, i know my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and many of their supporters in the mainstream press don't like us to use that term but let me defend it for a moment. when you order every american to

buy health insurance whether they want it or need it or not, that's a government takeover of health care. when you order almost every business to order government-approved health care or pay higher taxes and send their employees through government -run health insurance programs, that's a government-takeover of health care. when you pass legislation that makes it all run with higher taxes, mandates, burach sis and public funding of abortions against the will of the overwhelming majority of the american people, that's a government takeover of health care and the american people know it. last year, house republicans pledged that the american people gave us a second chance to lead this congress, we would repeal and replace their health care reform with health care reform that focuses on lowering the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government. we're keeping that promise today. now, some in the cynical, political class are saying this is a gimmick. it's an empty gesture. we have another term for it on

our side of the aisle. it's a promise kept. house republicans are here to stand with the american people and say with one voice, we can do better. we can do better than their government takeover of health care. we can pass legislation that will be market-based, patient-centered but it all begins with today. i urge my colleagues to join us in repealing this government takeover of health care before it ever takes effect and then work with us as we build health care reform that is worthy of the american people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield 30 seconds to the sgrelt from new jersey. . mr. andrews: thus far there are hundreds ever thousands of seniors who got $250 rebate checks for prescription drugs. i would ask anyone on the other side, what does the legislation say about whether or not the seniors will have to repay those checks to the government?

i would yield to anyone who could answer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. payne. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. payne: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to the pasheents right to repeal act. proponents of this bill contend that the current health law will destroy jobs, but c.b.o. estimates that $230 billion support the fact that it is the repeal being debated today not the health care law that would harm jobs and drain funds from potential job building appropriations. potentially that is being repealed and the protections afforded to taxpayers through the recently enacted health care legislation, the relief given to the american taxpayers who were for so long paying the bills for

uncompensated health care which we never hear mentioned over there, and the progress our country made last year to come out of the dark ages as one of the only three developed countries in the world that do not provide universal health care. 4,800 seniors in my district and over one million seniors in the country were relieved last year by the daunted hole repate. nearly 44% of elderly constituents in new jersey, 134 million americans nationwide, have pre-existing conditions. repeal would reintroduce the hopelessness that americans found in the past had coverage denied and stalled their ability to access quality health care repeal. would remove nearly 1.2 million adults from their parents' health care, including my grandson, who is 23 and on his mother's plan. and remove their ability to take preventive medicine now to avoid becoming a burden. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman's time has expired. mr. payne: i urge defeat of this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. before i yield to the gentleman from pennsylvania, i take about 10 seconds to respond to my friend, the gentleman from new jersey, about the $250. it's not contemplated in the legislation nor is it our understanding the scoring that there is any intention of that $250 being -- mr. andrews: would the gentleman yield? mr. kline: i yield now two minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania venged for two minutes. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, ask permission to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. thompson: as a health care professional for almost 30 years, i sat and read 2,000 pages of the bill, as i read it i became alarmed at the level of control over an individual's health that would be vested in the federal government. i spent my life working with those facing life altering disabilities and diseasings. i have been quick to point out while we have the best health system in the world there must be improvements. that is why i'm supporting the repeal. patient protection and

affordable care act. i believe there are pent of reasons for my -- plenty of reasons for my colleagues to join me. a mandate that the president opposed on several occasions when running for office, as a result on failing to live up to this promise, the justice department is now attempting to defend the mandate on the grounds it is a tax. according to the nonpartisan medicare actuary, because of the law national spending will increase by more than $310 billion over the first 10 years. the law will not lower health care costs despite numerous claims that we have heard. according to the congressional budget office analysis, it will increase for family. this comes tea spite promises of lower premiums. if this law remains in place up to 35 million people could lose health care access. according to the former c.b.o. budget director, the health care law provides strong incentives for employers with the agreement of their employees to drop employ year sponsored health insurance for as many as 35 million americans.

the national taxpayer advocate issued a report that bugs 40 million businesses will be impacted by the new i.r.s. 1099 filing requirements. this will require vendors and small businesses to do paperwork on any transaction over $600. in addition, the taxpayer advocate does not believe this will result in improved tax compliance. this provide is so unrealistic that even the president's small business administrators call for its repeal. mr. speaker, we must repeal and replace this law and continue together as the entire congress not just two parties and move forward with the commonsense ideas that will include better access, affordability, quality, and promote patient choice. enqurge my colleagues to join me. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield one minute to the gentleman, mr. cohen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cohen: thank you, sir. i'm going to cite two republicans to give two reasons to oppose this legislation and keep health care reform. one of the new republicans when he didn't think he was going to get his insurance immediately

said, what am i? not supposed to have health care? if the practicality. i'm not going to become a burden for the state because i don't have health care and god forbid i get into an accident and i can't afford the operation. that can happen to anyone. he succinctly summed up the reason why everyone should have the same opportunities as members of congress have to have health care. but more importantly and more intentional way, one of the most revered doctors in the world, former republican majority leader, senator bill frist, said yesterday that he urged the republicans to drop the charade and build on the legislation. he said, if he would have been here he would have voted for the bill and it was important to consider the bill the law of the land and move from there. it is the platform, the fundamental platform upon which all future efforts to make the system better for the patient and family will be based and that is a fact. if has strong -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. cohen: i support dr. frist, thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr.

speaker. i'm pleased now to yield one minute to a member of the committee, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. platts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. mr. platts: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate the gentleman yielding. i rise today in support of house bill 2. this simple two-page bill seeks to repeal the new unconstitutional health care law that will create a massive new entitlement program, cost taxpayers more than $2 trillion per decade. increase taxes, and impose job destroying mandates on businesses, cut medicare by hundreds of billions of dollars, and further increase health care premiums for individuals by more than 10%. the goal is not only to repeal the new health care law but also to replace it with real reforms debated openly through the ordinary legislative process that are truly about reducing health care costs. reforms such as allowing small businesses and individuals to join together in national group plans to cut premium costs. allowing individuals to purchase health insurance across state lines thereby increasing competition for the businesses.

and enacting medical malpractice liability reform legislation. i will continue to push for commonsense reforms that are focused on truly reducing health care costs for all americans. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 2. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield one minute to the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. peters. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for one minute. mr. peters: mr. speaker, with unemployment in michigan at over 12%, i'm not going to support a bill that raises taxes on small businesses. let us be clear, voting for the patient rights repeal act will eliminate the small business health care tax credit. small businesses have faced outrageous increases in their health care costs over the past decade. this tax credit helps reduce that burden and is already making a real difference. the "l.a. times" reported that small businesses are signing up for health care coverage for their employees despite the bad economy since the tax credit took effect. among firms with three to nine

employees there has been a 46% increase in the number offering health benefits, but this bill would put a stop to that. "the detroit news" reported that last week more than $126 small businesses in michigan would lose the tax credit under this bill. the last thing that small businesses in michigan and across the country need right now is higher taxes. but that's exactly what this bill would deliver. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to vote no and join me in standing up for our small businesses. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'm pleased to yield one minute to a new member of the committee, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. barletta. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. barlet: i rise today in support of refeeling -- mr. barletta: i rise today in support of repealing the health care act. the law passed last year makes health care less affordable. it diminishes the quality of care. it forces seniors out of their

medicare drug coverage, and prevents small businesses from getting americans back to work. in my district, we have the highest number of seniors in pennsylvania. and 206 billion in cuts in medicare advantage will cost 7.5 million seniors to lose their retiree drug coverage by 2016. small businesses face a $2,000 fine per employee if their plans do not meet a bureaucrat-approved standard. at a time when the unemployment level in my district is over 9%, congress must not discourage job creation by placing mandates and levying penalties on those who will get us back on track towards a more prosperous nation. i urge my colleagues to vote yes on h.r. 2. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield 1 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from oregon, mr. wu. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. wu: thank you, mr. speaker. while america desperately wants

more and better jobs, washington republicans want to waste time today debating a health care repeal charade. but let's look at what health care reform repeal would actually do. in my congressional district alone, repealing this law would allow insurance companies to deny coverage for up to 350,000 individuals with pre-existing conditions, including up to 45,000 children. let's mend this act. don't end it. a repeal would eliminate health care tax credits for up to 19,000 small businesses and 164,000 families. mend it, don't end it. a repeal would eliminate new health care coverage options for 3 sks 100 uninsured young adults. it is time to mend it and not end it. in 50 years, mr. speaker, health care reform will stand beside social security, the g.i. bill,

and medicare as a pillar of american health care and humane values. the people of that time will not understand why it was hard to pass in the first place or why we are spending time today rehashing old business. it's time to fix health care reform's remaining deficits and mend it and not end it. i yield back the balance of my time. mr. miller: how much time is available on both sides? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california has 8 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from minnesota has 15 minutes. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'm pleased to yield one minute to another new member of the committee, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. keller. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. keller: i thank the gentleman for yielding time. mr. speaker, last week the federal reserve chairman said the economy cannot begin to recover until small businesses

has pros ferd. with the overreaching and burdensome requirements of obamacare will hurt 1345u8 businesses and their benefits are not certain. small companies which account for half the private sector economy are more likely to struggle. if i followed the plan described at my dealership, i would have lost the business my father started 57 years ago. we need to address the years of hard work and spirit of entrepreneurship that will be destroyed under this law. small employers have limited autonomy over obamacare. they punish him for expanding their operations or paying their people more. the choices for small businesses under obamacare are provide government mandated health care and face ruinous costs or drop the coverage and pay fines to keep those folks employed. if we burden small business requirements set forth in this law, we hamper the recovery of the u.s. economy and damage the spirit of free enterprise that has made america great for over

two centuries. obamacare should be replaced. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. i understand an effort to balance the time here we have an embarrassment of riches and numbers of speakers, what happens in november, so at this time i'm pleased to yield one minute to a member of the committee, the gentlelady from illinois, mrs. biggert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from illinois is recognized for one minute. mrs. biggert: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise today to voice my support for h.r. 2, repealing last year's misguided health care law. whether it's dropped coverage, higher costs, lost jobs the unintended consequences of the administration's plan has piled up. i don't think the law is salvageable. we must craft a bipartisan replacement that actually lowers costs and expands access to care without raising taxes and

slashing medicararararare. americans want consensus minded reforms to expand coverage for pre-existing conditions and prevent insurers from imposing unfair caps and canceling policies. they want reforms that provide more choice over how to spend their health care dollars like purchasing health insurance across state lines and expanded health savings accounts. and they want commonsense legislation to curb junk lawsuits and to stop costly practices of defensive medicine. i urge my colleagues to join me in fulfilling the wishes of voters and repealing obamacare. we can work together on reforms that deliver the high quality, low cost care the american people deserve. i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: mr. speaker, at -- >> mr. speaker, at this time i'm pleased to yield one minute to the chairman of the financial services committee, the gentleman from alabama, mr. bachus. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bachus: thank you, mr. speaker.

the first rule of a physician is do no harm. the government takeover of health care does a lot of harm and the damage will get worse. just on pure economics it's a bitter appeal. small businesses are facing tax increases, higher costs, they're dropping coverage, they're holding off on new hires. the federal government is taking on a new open-ended entitlement it can't afford and that at a time of historically high deficits, annual deficits, and a national debt. washington yet again is building a new bureaucracy to tell people what to do. the federal government has no business making private medical decisions that ought to be between you and the doctor. it violates the principles on which this country was established, american exceptionalism.

america is not europe. our system is based on the individual, on choice, on freedom, on individual initiative and competition. the mandate asking individuals to buy health insurance is an intrusion on our personal liberty and a violation of our constitutional privilege. and finally -- the speaker pro tempore: yielded an additional 30 seconds. mr. bachus: thank you. mr. miller: i yield to the gentleman from california, mr. mcnerney. mr. mcnerney: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of the health care law in opposition to its repeal. the health care reform which was signed into law last year is clearly not perfect and could be improved. however, the law as enacted will have significant benefits to millions of american citizens, businesses to local governments and to the country as a whole. the benefits to individuals in need of health care with

pre-existing conditions, to seniors, to young adults under 26 years of age and many other groups are well known and will be missed if the law is repealed. but most significantly the law will drive down the cost of health care by encouraging and incentivizing quality care and good outcomes in health care treatments instead of encouraging potentially unnecessary procedures. it rewards quality rather than quality of health care. this will ultimately reduce the cost of both public and private of health care in this country. because of these reasons, i strongly oppose repeal of health care reform. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. klein: thank you -- mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from california, mr. royce. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. royce: thank you, mr. speaker. the claim that this new health care law will somehow cut our budget deficits is proof that logic does not always prevail

here in washington, d.c. this is a $2 trillion additional entitlement and just like past entitlement programs, this one will be far more costly than projected. as a result our budget deficit is going to increase unless we repeal this. it's going to increase our dependence on china and japan to finance our debt. the credit rating agencies say we are on the verge of losing our triple a credit rating that debt, you see it, it's continuing to spread across europe. let us take this important step, repeal this $2 trillion fiscal train wreck and begin work on market-based solutions that will actually lower health care costs. this will give us some hope in the future of bringing that budget into balance and not

speeding that fiscal train wreck. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: mr. speaker, now i am pleased to yield to a new member of this body, the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. duffy, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized for one minute. mr. duffy: mr. speaker, americans have wanted health care reform for some time now. but they don't want what passed last spring. this is a 2,000-page bill that gives us more mandates and more regulation, it doesn't accomplish the goal of reducing cost and increasing access. and it puts our health care decisions in the hands of bureaucrats. not in the hands of patients and family members where it belongs. there is a better way. with today's repeal, this is the first step. tomorrow we begin the process of replacement. with commonsense, market-based solutions that are going to bring costs down. solutions like competition across state lines, portability,

price transparency, tax parity and allowing folks who have pre-existing conditions to obtain coverage. i look forward, starting tomorrow, to working not only with my friends here on the right but also my colleagues on the left to craft a bill that's going to work for the american people. thank you very much. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. who seeks recognition? mr. miller: i yield one minute to the gentleman from washington, mr. larsen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington has one minute. mr. larson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to speak in opposition to this patients rights repeal and deficit explosion act. the bill before us today according to a nonpartisan c.b.o. is going to add $230 billion to our national debt. we should not stand for that. the bill before us today is going to repeal efforts that we put in place to be sure that young adults can get onto their parents' insurance plans. if we repeal this it's going to knock 20,000 adults in washington state alone off their parents' plans. if we repeal this bill today

it's going to take away help from 45,000 seniors in washington state who are rely on the efforts that we have done over the last couple of years to be sure we're closing the medicare doughnut hole. repeal of this health care reform law is going to put those folks back into the doughnut hole. and finally, we ought to oppose repeal of this bill because of a simple fact that there's a young woman in my district who has severe mental health illnesses and her family was able to take her onto their health care plan because of the provisions we put in there about pre-existing conditions and that family is saving $10,000 a year out of pocket. i'm asking folks to oppose the repeal of this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: mr. speaker, could i inquire again as to the time remaining on each side, please. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota has 10 minutes. the gentleman from california has 6 1/2. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker.

then at this time i'm pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from missouri, mr. long. mr. long: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 2. in this country we have the finest doctors, the finest nurses, the finest protocols, the finest facilities in the world. that's not a government-run system. i swore to uphold the constitution two weeks ago today in this, the people's house. the people have spoken and they don't want washington bureaucrats coming between them and their doctor. they'd like to make their own decisions. you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear but that's exactly what the majority tried to do last year by using 10 years of taxes to pay for a six-year program. increasing spending by $2.6 trillion and that's not what i'd call affordable when it's 1/6 of this nation's economy. when i think of the 2,000-page

bill, i think of a big block of cheese out there, pretty tempting looking. while the americans i hear from, they don't want that cheese them. want out of the trap of government-run health care. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield one minute to the gentleman from virginia, mr. moran. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for one minute. mr. moran: thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate the leadership of the gentleman from california. so, we have several dozen new republican members of this house and as a result the first thing we're going to do is to attempt to repeal health care. let me review what has happened. these new members came into office and they were all given the opportunity to sign up for coverage for their own families. and unless they had better coverage, most of them took that opportunity. but now in the very first legislative act of this new

congress they're going to deny that opportunity for coverage for their own constituents. so their children are covered, their children are covered, but what about the children of their constituents? what about their loved ones? what about their businesses? now they have full employment now, but what about their constituents whose employers will not be able to provide coverage for their own constituents because they repeal this law? i think it's the height of hypocrisy. do unto others as you would do unto yourselves. treat your constituents as you would treat yourself. thank you, mr. chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. now i'm pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from illinois, mr. dold. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for one minute. mr. dold: thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise in support of h.r. 2. and what we've heard today on

both sides of the aisle is how this is going to affect small business. well i run a small business. that's where i came from. and let me tell you that this is going to have a devastating impact for small business. what this law did is it addressed access to insurance. it does not address cost or quality. these are the things that we need to address. my health insurance rates for the people that i work with each and every day last year went up 44%. 44%. there is no question that we need reform. we need a healthy debate. we need openness in this body to actually discuss what needs to be going forward in health care. what we had last year was anything but. there was no bipartisanship in what happened last year. the only bipartisanship in last year's bill was the opposition to it. i welcome the opportunity to reach across the aisle to members on the other side, to work with ne them to craft a bill.

one that will talk about malpractice reform, one where the government will not come between a decision you make with your physician. and one that -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. kline: i yield an additional 15 seconds. mr. dold: i appreciate that, mr. chairman. we have an opportunity here, an opportunity for real reform. we want that, we need that, the american people have demanded it. from american businesses and people all across the united states, they demand it. and from the other side that said, we came in and had health care reform, i did not take the congressional plan. we know we can do better and i ask -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. who seeks recognition? mr. miller: we have two remaining speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you. we're in that time of trying to balance here. at this time i will yield one minute to the gentlelady from

florida, mrs. adams. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida voiced for one minute. ms. adams: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of repealing the government takeover of health care and replacing it with commonsense reforms that will reduce the cost and increase the access to put quality, affordable health care, especially for my constituents in florida. the american people have soundly, soundly rejected the developments' flawed takeover of health care and it's time to show them that their voices have been heard. the existing health care law moveountry in the wrong direction, raising taxes, cutting medicare, restricting private sector jobs from creation and putting power into the hands of washington bureaucrats rather than into the individuals themselves. individuals want to make their own health care decisions. they don't want government making them for them. repealing the current health care law is the first step towards keeping our pledge to the american people that we are

serious about cutting spending, creating jobs and limiting, limiting the government's role in our everyday lives. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. now i am pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from florida, mr. southerland. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for one minute. without objection, so ordered. mr. southerland: i thank the gentleman from california for yielding my time. i rise in support of this legislation. as a third generation small business owner following in the footsteps of my father and grandfather, i understand how crushing the tax burden is going to be upon small business. the nfib estimates that $1.-- 1.6 million jobs will be lost by 2014 due to the insurance mandate. 66% of those job losses will

occur in small business. like james eden, the owner of eden's heating and cooling in tallahassee stated to me that he will not hire, he cannot hire additional staff due to the uncertainty. repealing this legislation will provide much-needed certainty to small businesses around this country, allowing them to hire and invest into their employees. thank you, mr. chair, and i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from -- who seeks recognition? mr. kline: i think we are getting down to twos on each side. at this time i'd be pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. runyan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. mr. runyan: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 2, to repeal the 2010 health care legislation.

the law that we seek to repeal today has not -- is not the best way to provide effective, quality health care for all americans. i support enacting incremental reforms such as enabling individuals to purchase coverage across state lines, allowing small businesses to pull together to purchase more affordable coverage, and providing insurance companies -- prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 2, let's work together on reforms that truly reduce costs and provide quality health care. i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: how much time do i have remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the time remaining is the gentleman from minnesota has five. the gentleman from california has 5 1/2. mr. miller: i yield three

minutes to the gentleman from new jersey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for three minutes. without objection, so ordered. mr. andrews: thank you, mr. speaker. so in the hours that we spent thus far during this debate, we could have been debating ways to help small businesses and entrepreneurs create jobs for the american people, but we did not. instead we have gotten the slogan, job-killing health care bill. slogan vest very much -- slogan's very much at odds with the facts. the private sector has generated 1.1 million new jobs. the fact is that the chief economist for bar clays -- barclays says he believes the economy is on track to add many, many jobs this year, probably 200,000 or so per month is his projection. we have heard about protecting the children and grandchildren

of the country against mounting debt. you know for years there's been an understanding here that the referee in budget disputes is the congressional budget office. through republican and democratic majorities, republican and democratic, independent, they are the referees who decides what the rules are. so the congressional budget office was asked by speaker boehner to score this repeal and it came back and said, well, mr. speaker, this is going to add over $1 trillion to the national debt over the next 20 years. so the majority didn't like what they said so they chose to ignore it. make up the rules as you go along. but what they haven't done as they have gone along is still answer the fundamental answer we started with this morning. when a mother of two 4-year-old twins goes to buy health insurance and the health insurer says i'm sorry, we won't insure your family because your 4-year-olds have leukemia, should that be legal or not? that's the question.

the law the president signed in march said it should be illegal. this repeal says let's go back to the good old days where the insurance companies made that decision. we are not going back. we should go forward as a country to create jobs for our people and end the charade we have seen on the house floor here this morning. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. i have two more speakers en route. they are not here. i plan to close and i'll reserve the balance of my time. mr. miller: i want to thank all of our colleagues who -- i yield myself whatever time is left. i want to thank all of our colleagues who participated in this debate today. i think it's shown fundamental disagreements and fundamental differences. first of all there's a strong suggestion here from an nfib study done before this law was ever written that has nothing to do with this law saying you might lose jobs.

but what do we see since the law has passed? we see for employers for under 10 employees, health care coverage has risen by 10%. because we have made it less expensive for small businesses to offer that health insurance. that's not a self-interested study. what you see from united health care, the largest health insurer in the country, 75,000 new customers to their health plan from employees of small businesses because the small businesses find it affordable to extend health insurance as a benefit of working for that small business. blue cross-blue shield of kansas city says the number of small businesses buying insurance since april for the first month after the legislation was signed has jumped 358%. -- 58%. small business employers are for the first time able to extend insurance, affordable insurance to their employees. and that's why the job creation that mr. andrews referred to of

$1 million jobs since the passage of this bill has continued and expected to continue. that's why it's different than the history prior to the obama administration when over eight years, almost 800,000 jobs were lost during those years of the bush administration. but there's something more important in this legislation. and that is whether or not families will have the control of their health insurance destiny. whether they will have the freedom to make these choices. many on the other side of the aisle says this is a bureaucratic system. has anybody, any family in america, any single mother, any spouse, any child, any grandparent met a more bureaucratic system than the american health insurance system? there is no more bureaucratic system. when you send in your premium they tell you you sent it to the wrong place. when you send in your person you send it to the wrong person. when you send it to the right person they say that person's left their job. when you say i went to the

doctor, they said you should have called us first. when you say i had emergency surgery, you should have called us first. you want to talk about bureaucracy, ladies and gentlemen. that's why this legislation is growing in popularity because small businesses see, senior citizens see, parents with children under 26 they see a chance to liberate themselves from the most arbitrary, the most capricious, the most bureaucratic system in our entire free economy. and that's the insurance company. everybody has been run around the block by their insurance companies. it's something they all share. it's almost the problems they share with their cable company. not quite. but it's not as dramatic here because this is life and death. this is the security of your family. this is whether or not you can change jobs. this is whether or not your children will be protected. this is whether or not your parents will be able to afford their drug because that's what this legislation enables and gives the freedom to american families to have.

repeal. we go back into the clutches, the clutches of these bureaucrats spread across the world in the insurance company, you call for help, and you reach somebody in another country, another time zone, with know understanding of the emergency that your family, your child, your grandparent, your parent faces. nobody wants to go back there, lidge. -- ladies and gentlemen. nobody. they have been there for 50 years and health care cost vs. gone up faster than anything in our economy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. miller: faster than anything you can imagine. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. miller: faster than superman health care cost vs. gone up because of the insurance bureaucracy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you. thank you, mr. speaker. i actually don't know anybody who is supporting the red tape of the insurance company. what i find interesting is we think it's a better solution to

add thousands of pages of new government regulation and thousands of new government bureaucrats on top of that system and think somehow it's going to be better. let me address a couple of things that have come up in this debate and some things we discussed in the past. one of them is the cost of this bill. other committees have talked about it and will again. there's been claims today that repeal will cost the taxpayers variously $230 billion or $1 trillion. based on what the c.b.o. has said. and we find that incredible that repealing this job-killing legislation is actually going to cost us money. so the question comes, why are these things different? it turns out there is a wonderful piece in "wall street journal" today that addresses that specifically and i'll just quote it. how, then, does the affordable care act magically convert $1 trillion in new spending into

painless deficit reduction? it's all about budget gimmicks, deceptive accounting, and implausible assumptions used to create the false impression of fiscal discipline. we heard some words today addressing that fact, some of our physicians pointed out that in order to get the numbers to add up, you have to assume that we are going to continue to punish physicians who are providing medicare services. there is nobody in this body that believes we are going to do that. nor do think believe we are going to do it when that sort of gimmicky accounting was used to justify the cost in the first place. we heard discussions about how this is a very good deal for businesses large and small. and yet if you look at associations, organizations that represent businesses across america, they are saying today not just six months ago or a year ago, but saying today that they support repeal of this job-killing legislation and a short list, the national

federation of independent businesses, national retail federation, national restaurant association, u.s. chamber of commerce, international franchise association, america hotel and lodging association, and on and on. businesses do not like this government takeover of health care and they support repeal. this is not a good deal for businesses. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle chose to focus their remarks on a handful of provisions, including the law that are more attractive than tax hikes. penalties imposed on employers and higher health care costs. and no one is disputing that such provisions exist, but it is wrong to suggest that the only way to reform health care is to bankrupt our nation with this albatross. i believe we can improve health care without orchestrating a government takeover. that is why i look forward to casting my vote to repeal this law so we can move forward to carry out the wishes of our constituents. repeal is the first step toward the right kind of reform.

thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield back and request unanimous consent that any minute or two i have left be granted to the chairman of the energy and commerce committee during that portion of debate. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from michigan will control the time. the chair will remind all persons in the gallery that they are here as guests of the house and that any manifestation of approval or disapproval of proceedings is in violation of the rules of the house. the gentleman from michigan. mr. upton: i might just ask how much extra time we might have been given by mr. kline from minnesota? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has 1 1/2 minutes. mr. upton: great. mr. speaker, i would yield myself two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. upton: mr. speaker, today we take a step towards compassionate, innovative, and job creating health care. it's ironic we must end

something to realize a new beginning. but that's exactly what obamacare has compelled us to do and that's precisely what we will do today. it's time to be honest with the american people. remember the hypocratic oath? first do no more. -- do no harm. obamacare produces the opposite of growth, compassion, and innovation in health care. it destroys jobs, busts budgets, creates an unsustainable set of mandates on individuals, employers, and states. it will stifle innovation and the development of lifesaving medicines t will make health care more expensive not more affordable. mr. speaker, that's not compassionate. that won't produce innovation and that's why repeal is the first step towards a better beginning. what's compassionate about forcing employers to provide insurance that they cannot afford to employees who will lose their jobs due to obamacare? what's compassionate about creating a ridged new

entitlement that states are commend -- commanded to fund with money that they simply do not have? what's compassionate about cutting over $200 billion from the medicare advantage program leaving seniors with fewer services, higher co-pays, and more out-of-pocket expenses? what's compassionate about shackling more americans with greater government dependence? obamacare was created -- erected on a foundation of false promises. if you like your health insurance, you can keep it. health care premiums will go down. employers will not drop coverage. seniors won't see any changes in their medicare benefits. today we know that those were only slogans. sound bites in the cynical sales pitch and certainly not promises kept. yes, today repeal will pass in the house. we will then embark on reform that i believe can be supported by both republicans and democrats. i yield myself an additional

minute. insuring those with preex-ising conditions have access to affordable coverage. we'll do that. allowing their families to include children up to 26. we'll do that. medical liability reform to reduce the unneeded cost of defensive medicine. we'll do that. provide incentives for employers rather than penalties and mandates that will cost jobs and depress wages. we'll provide those incentives. yes, we will. those are just some of the principles i believe we can agree on with both sides of the aisle. so first is repeal, then replace. i'm ready for the challenge to put real health reform back together that is bipartisan rather than partisan and achieves the goal of lower health care costs for every american family. reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. waxman: i strongly oppose this effort to repeal the health care bill.

millions of americans are already benefiting from this legislation. insurers have stopped discriminating against sick children. seniors are saving money on prescription drugs and small businesses are receiving billions of dollars in tax credits to provide health care coverage. appeal will roll back these benefits. the repeal bill reminds me of the story of robin hood but in reverse. repeal will take essential health benefits from millions of struggling americans and give new powers and profits to insurance companies. if we repeal health reform there will be no prohibition on discrimination against over 100 million americans with pre-existing conditions. no prohibition on insurance companies canceling your coverage when you get sick. no prohibition on lifetime caps and annual limits, no required coverage for young adults on their parents' policy.

no assistance to seniors struggling to afford the cost of drugs in the doughnut hole. no free annual checkups and preventative care in medicare. no tax credits for families and small businesses to pay for health insurance. these changes will effect every congressional district in the country and my staff has been analyzing what the impacts of repeal will be in each district. these are now available on our website. they tell a compelling story. we have a new member on our committee from west virginia in his district repeal will mean increasing prescription drug costs for 12,000 seniors and taking new preventative care benefits from over 100,000 medicare beneficiaries. we have another new member on our committee from new hampshire in his district repeal will mean eliminating tax credits for nearly 17,000 small businesses. in my own district repeal would mean over 50,000 constituents

would lose protections against rescissions. and these aren't just statistics. behind every number is a real person with real problems like diabetes or breast cancer or a child with special needs. repeal is a boone for the insurance companies but an enormous setback for american families. if we pass this bill the insurance companies can raise their rates, discriminate against millions of americans with pre-existing conditions and cut off coverage when someone becomes sick. there are many reasons to oppose repeal. the health care bill is creating thousands of new jobs, it will cut the deficit by curbing the growth of health care costs, saving taxpayers over $1 trillion. this is why i urge members to vote no on this legislation. if there's a change the republicans want to make, let them propose it. but don't throw it all out the window and say they're going to do all these things we've

already done. i urge members to oppose this legislation and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. upton: mr. speaker, i would yield two minutes to the chairman emeritus of the energy and commerce committee, joe barton, whose state could lose perhaps 64 hospitals that would close with then continues of obamacare. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. barton: i thank the gentleman and look forward to working with him as the chairman of the committee. mr. speaker, i would ask unanimous couldn't sent to revise and extend -- consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. barton: mr. speaker, before i begin to discuss health care, i would like to say that our prayers continue to go out to congresswoman giffords in arizona. we are very grat feud to learn of her continuing -- gratified to learn of her continuing progress. we hope that sometime in this congress she does come back to the house floor and give her voice to the voice for her constituency. we all miss her and we wish her the very best.

mr. speaker, we are here today because the existing law of the land on health care is fatally flawed. most of us think it is unconstitutional. we think it is overreaching, we think the federal government is intervening more and more into the daily practice of health care between the doctor-patient relationship and we think it needs to be repealed before it does irreparable harm to our health care system which is the best in the world. we think that on basic principles it's unconstitutional. we believe that you shouldn't have the federal government mandate that an individual has to have health insurance whether he or she wants it. that particular constitutional question is working its way through the courts and we hope soon to have an answer to that question. we want to repeal today so that we can begin to replace tomorrow. we want to deliver on our pledge to america, that we meant it when we said, if the american voters gave us the majority we would repeal this existing law.

and that is step one. but step two is to replace it. i see that my good friend from california, congresswoman eshoo, is on the floor. she and i have an amendment in the new law that passed with a huge bipartisan majority and we hope that's one of the things that will be kept. we do believe that we should be able to do something on pre-existing conditions. we do believe that children should be allowed to stay on their parents' plans until the age of 26. so there are some things in the new law that we think are worth keeping. but until you sweep away the bad things we cannot begin to work on the good things. so, mr. speaker, with all due respect, we hope that we can repeal it on a bipartisan basis in the house and then in the leadership of mr. upton and mr. camp and others begin to replace it tomorrow. please vote to repeal this law today. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california.

mr. waxman: mr. speaker, i yield the control of the balance of our time on the energy and commerce committee to the distinguished gentleman from new jersey who chaired the health subcommittee in the last congress and who has done a great deal to advance this legislation, mr. frank pallone. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from new jersey will control the balance of the time. mr. pallone: thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: at this time, mr. speaker, i'd like to yield two minutes to the dean of the house of representatives and the house sponsor of the health reform ladies and gentlemen sligs -- legislation, mr. dingell. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for two minutes. mr. dingell: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. dingell: well, so much for openness and transparency. we're going to do all this without any hearings, without knowing what's going on. but i'm going to tell you a little bit on my republican side of the aisle here about what this is really going to do. insurance companies will be able

to deny 292,000 individuals in my district including 33,000 children an opportunity to have health insurance. and pre-existing -- and this will be because of pre-existing conditions. they're going to increase the number of uninsured in my district to -- by 20,000. they will increase the cost of hospitals for providing uncompensated care in the 15th district alone by $182 million. they're going to cost each american $1,000 more because they're not going to -- because the uninsured are going to go in and get health care anyhow. i will tell you what's going to happen to one young lady who has a terrible condition. she's going to receive now health insurance through the legislation passed because her father -- because that insurance will flow to her until she's 26 through her father's insurance. they're going to take that away

from her. and they're going to see to it that the doughnut hole doesn't close because of the fact that you are saying, no longer is this law going to be in effect. we want to see to it that the american people benefit of this. and the repeal that you're talking about today will see to it that they do not. what this is going to do to the deficit, add $1.4 trillion to the deficit. it's going to do more than that. it's going to add $230 billion to the annual deficit. and it's going to see to it that americans can no longer be assured that they are going to not have their health insurance canceled because of a sickness which occurs to them. it is going to hurt small business because it's going to take billions in tax benefits away from small business who would do this. i urge the house to vote down

this outrageous piece of legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan. mr. upton: mr. speaker, at this point i would yield a minute to the chairman of the oversight, investigation subcommittee from florida, mr. stearns. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for one minute. mr. stearns: ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. stearns: mr. speaker, let me give you some important reasons why we need to repeal this law. yes it will create jobs, but in an ever-expanding federal bureaucracy the joint economic council committee reported this bill creates over 150 new federal offices. with that, of course, small businesses must comply or mandated to comply to all the new and many regulations. now if this bill is so good, why is the obama administration giving a pass to over 220 organizations and corporations that have received an exemption from this law, including many, many unions? with the proposed $500 billion

cut in medicare, the increase in taxes that are already occurring, this law is simply not credible. with record unemployment this law will hurt small businesses, prevent job creation, adding burdensome taxes and it will not increase growth in this country. now, republicans will replace this bill with a health care law based upon choice, competition and traditional american exceptional value system. which is compassion. the compassion with accountability. we need to repeal this law. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i wanted to thank my colleague from florida who just spoke for saying and admitting that the health care reform does create jobs. because if you listen to the republicans they've been saying over and over again that that's not the case. that he finally said, yes, it does create jobs.

and that's what we really should be doing here. we should be creating jobs, improving the economy, not talking about repealing the health reform which already is providing so many benefits to many americans. now yesterday i saw a statement from our former republican majority leader, senator fritz from tennessee, who said that we shouldn't do the repeal. he recognized the fact that this is legislation that this health care reform is making a difference in people's lives and that we should build upon it, as senator fritz said, a republican, rather than just trying to do an outright repeal which is a complete waste of time. now what i'm hearing from my constituents is they like the benefits that already are coming out from the health care reform. whether it's eliminating all the discriminatory practices like lifetime caps or pre-existing conditions or annual caps or being able to put your children up to 26 on your policy. these benefits have already kicked in and americans are actually -- they actually like the benefits. they understand why they're helpful to them.

the only group that i can think of that actually would benefit from repeal are the big insurance companies. and unfortunately that is the bidding, if you will, that the republicans are doing on the other side of the aisle. the insurance companies want to continue to increase premiums by more tchan double digits. they don't -- by more than double digits. one of the things that kicked in january 1 is a provision that says that 80% of your premiums have to go to provide benefits. can't go to the shareholders or for the profits of the insurance companies. the insurance companies are the only ones who benefit from repeal because they can raise premiums, they it have discriminatory practices -- they can have discriminatory practices. i used an example, i think the gentlewoman from new york, ms. slaughter, used this example before, about someone who has breast cancer. and now because of the policies -- i just yield myself another 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 15 seconds. mr. pallone: now because of the policies of the health insurance

reform, if somebody has breast cancer and they have a recurrence, they will not experience a lifetime cap or an annual cap, they'll be able to go back and have keep they are by or whatever is necessary. those are the types of benefits that have kicked in and they should continue. we should oppose repeal. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan. mr. upton: before i yield a minute to the gentleman from kentucky, i'd like to yield 30 seconds to mr. stearns. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is likewised for 30 seconds. mr. stearns: i thank my colleague. perhaps the gentleman from new jersey didn't listen to me when i just spoke. it's creating 150 new government agencies and these are all government jobs. if you're talking about increasing jobs, it's government jobs. it also includes $500 million in taxes. burdensome 1099 paperwork requirements according to a study by the nation's largest small business association, the nfib. i'd like you to talk about that 1099. so these employer mandates that are in the health care bill, they're terrible. and it's estimated, it's estimated it will wipe out 1.6 million jobs over just five

years. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. stearns: i caution the gentleman from new jersey, listen carefully to my speech. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. upton: i yield a minute to the gentleman from kentucky, mr. whitfield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized for one minute. mr. wittman: i'm delighted we have the opportunity -- mr. whitfield: i'm delighted we have the opportunity to do this. i'm delighted because first of all when the bill came to the floor last year this bill affects every aspect of health care in america and we did not have the opportunity to offer one amendment on the floor. . in addition this bill takes $500 billion out of medicare which means less money to nursing homes, hospitals, and medicare beneficiaries, and the claim this would reduce the deficit by $138 billion was calculated by including 10 years of tax revenues under this bill but only six years of expenditures. then how can you claim that we are supporting insurance

companies by repealing this bill when the insurance companies supported the bill and they supported the bill because it mandates that small businesses and individuals buy health insurance. so i would urge the repeal of this legislation and then we can fix health care the way it should be fixed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from nming new jersey. mr. pallone: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. markey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for two minutes. mr. markey: i thank the gentleman. this republican bill is the wrong prescription for our country. it isn't just a repeal, it's a bad deal. it's a bad deal for middle class families and small businesses who would lose tax credits included in the new law to help them pay for health insurance. it's a bad deal for grandma who will face higher costs for the lifesaving medication she needs. it's a bad deal for pregnant

women who could be denied coverage when they need it the most. lydia swan, my constituent, shared her story with me during the health care debate last year. lydia was pregnant when her husband switched jobs. her new insurance company said, her pregnancy was a pre-existing condition and they wouldn't pay any expenses. so lydia was insured but she wasn't covered. that is wrong. it is just plain wrong. mr. speaker, a new-born child should be -- newborn child should be a pleasure and not a pre-existing condition. new parents expect some sleepless nights. they don't expect their insurance company to deny coverage for the pregnancy. new parents should worry about the baby and not about the medical bills. the new health care law closes the book on these kinds of

insurance company abuses. let us not, today, reopen it once again. say no to this republican bad deal that takes away patients' rights and freedoms and say yes to a health care system that protects americans. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. upton: mr. speaker, before i yield a minute to the gentleman from illinois, mr. shimkus, it' like to yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from georgia, dr. gingrey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. gingrey: mr. speaker, i thank the gentleman for yielding. the gentleman from massachusetts must not be familiar with a waiver under the medicaid program called katie beckett, the poster he showed us with a young child with pre-existing conditions. this program, katie beckett, still exists. it's an opportunity for children with pre-existing conditions to get coverage. the democrats are also disingenuous when they claim credit for immediately covering children with pre-existing conditions. obamacare got it wrong.

they did not guarantee the children would have their pre-existing coverage covered. it's ironic the legislation was crafted incorrectly. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan. mr. upton: minute to the gentleman from illinois, mr. shimkus. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for one minute. mr. shimkus: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. shimkus: thank you, mr. speaker. my friends on the democrat side, they are supporting this bill based upon 10 pages of the legislation. immediate access to insurance for the uninsured, extension of dependent coverage, no lifetime annual. 10 pages. this health care law was 2,990. this is only volume one. what do you find when you go through the entire bill? this is what they are defending their bill on.

this is only volume one of four. what's in here? $500 billion cut to medicare. $500 billion cut to medicare for our seniors. what else is in here? $500 billion of tax increases. what else is in here, six years of benefits for 10-years of cost. what else is in here? a new entitlement program. our nation is broke. it is broke because of our entitlement programs and this law added a new entitlement. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from california, ms. eshoo. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for two minutes. ms. eshoo: i thank the chairman. mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to what i think is really an unwise, unwarranted, and unfair effort to repeal the historic health care law which has brought much needed insurance reform to the american

people. for the first time in our nation's history, congress passed legislation to ensure that every american has a comprehensive health insurance plan just as members of congress have. we reduce the deficit by $143 billion over 10 years. and $1.2 trillion over 20. i want to tell an important story which i think underscores why repeal is wrong. roanet bryant in my district was battling stage four breast cancer. that's the worst. when her h.m.o. decided to stop paying for her treatment. in the middle of her treacherous ordeal through a masectomy, chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant, and radiation she was also battling her insurance company in federal court where she had to listen to lawyers

argue over whether her life was worth saving or not. a woman of less strength would never have made it through this. i'm proud to say that she made a full recovery. she watched her children grow, and she went on to become the mayor of one of the major cities in my district, mountain view, california. so a 50% discount on prescription drugs for seniors makes sense. prohibiting rescission, what was done to her, eliminating that, makes sense. allowing children to stay on their parents' insurance policy until the age of 26 makes sense. 35% tax credit for small businesses makes sense. what the republicans are doing today does not make sense. it's wrong for america. it's bad for americans. and i urge my colleagues to reject it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired.

the gentleman from michigan. mr. upton: mr. speaker, at this time i yield two minutes to the chairman of the health subcommittee, mr. pitts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. mr. pitts: thank you, mr. speaker. i might just respond obamacare spends over $1 trillion but leaves 23 million people uninsured. mr. speaker, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have been arguing we can't afford to repeal obamacare. i would argue the opposite. our country cannot bear the true cost of obamacare. it must be repealed. a repeal would mean that americans with employer-provided health coverage will keep their current plan. yet the administration estimates that seven out of 10 individuals will lose their current coverage under obamacare. a repeal means that half of all employers, as many as 80% of small businesses, will be able to keep their current plan rather than lose it over the next two years.

the administration estimates reveal that their own onerous regulations will force most businesses to give up their current plan, subjecting them to costly new mandates that will increase premiums. a repeal that -- means that more seniors will participate in medicare advantage plans. a repeal also means that the medicare advantage beneficiaries will not face an average increase of $873 per year in out-of-pocket costs between now and 2018. a repeal means that individual insurance premiums will not increase by $2,100. a repeal means that taxpayers will not face $569 billion in tax increases. that will take effect. it would keep $750,000 jobs that will be lost because incentives included in obamacare discourage individuals from working according to the c.b.o.

a repeal means that national health spending will go down by $310 billion according to the medicare actuary. a repeal means that seniors' pleemums won't increase by 4% in 2011. or rise up to 9% in 2019 as c.b.o. estimates would happen under this current law. without repeal, employer retiree drug coverage will drop from 20% of retirees to 2% by 2016 according to the medicare trustees' report. finally, repeal means that states will avoid a massive forced expansion of their medicaid programs at the cost of $20 million to the states at a time when they cannot sustain medicaid. the cost of leaving this job-killing health care law in effect are much too high. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i yield two minutes 2340u to the gentleman from new york, mr. engel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. mr. engel: i thank the gentleman

for yielding to me. i'm very, very sorry that my republican friends have chosen this repeal bill through. in light of the event in tucson, we all say we are going to work together, the mesh people want us to work -- american people want us to work together, this is not the way to do it. if there is a problem with the bill we should tweak it or change it. we shouldn't repeal it. if is a problem and things need to be changed, we should put our heads together and try to do it. this repeal bill, the republicans say that they want to cut costs in government, the c.b.o. says that this bill will save us $230 billion over 10 years and $1.2 trillion over 20 years. and the first thing the republicans bring up is to repeal this bill which will add to the deficit. this is political theater. it's a cha raid. it isn't going to be repealed. let us put our heads together and figure out what makes sense.

all important bills that were put in in the past 50 or 60 years from medicare to medicaid to social security to the civil rights bill of the 1960's, they need to be tweaked as we saw what the problems are. i'm willing to change the bill, but repealing it is the absolutely wrong way to do it. i'm delighted to revisit this issue because we can finally get the truth out. the american people understand that right now if they have a pre-existing condition they cannot be denied coverage. insurance company right now with this bill cannot say sorry, you have a lifetime cap or annual cap and we are not going to insure you. they can't deny your 24, 25, 26-year-old child insurance to be on your plan. we are finally closing the doughnut hole to put more money in the hands of senior citizens. this is what the republicans would appear -- would repeal. they say that this is a government takeover of health care. no, it isn't. if they had better plans for

health care, they were in power for six years with the president and both houses of congress and they did nothing to make health care affordable for the american people. let's work together to exchange the bill. tweak the bill. don't repeal it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from m michigan. mr. upton: at this time i yield one minute to the vice chair of the full committee, the gentlelady from north carolina, sue myrick. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized for one minute. mrs. myrick: thank you, mr. speaker. we oppose this health care law for many reasons and i'm especially concerned about the negative effect it may have on the ability of our doctors to care for their patients as they see fit. increase well over 156 bureaucracy, programs, regulatory systems which will further regulate, control, the way medicine's practiced, paid for, and allocated. doctors who practice medicine and small business owners are already forced to dedicate significant resources to

manpower to keep up with the bureaucracy of reimbursement alone. this law does nothing to slow the growth of medicare and medicaid programs. we know those are two huge problems we have to deal with. it will surely add to the regulatory burdens faced by doctors, patients, and most importantly the american people who are going to have to foot the bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. palon: -- mr. pallone: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. green. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. green: thank you, mr. speaker. as a member of congress from texas, i supported the health care reform law proudly. texas has some of the highest rates of uninsured in the united states. 26% of our texans are uninsured, 6.4 million residents compared with the national average of only 16.7%. only 16.7%. over the past eight