the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 75. the nays are 318. the motion is not adopted. with one person voting present.

for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. session: madam speaker, by direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 724 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 144, house resolution 724, resolved, that upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the bill, h.r. 6079, to repeal the patient protection and

affordable care act and health care related provisions in the health care and education reconciliation act of 2010. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. the bill shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one, five hours of debate with 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the majority leader and minority leader or their respective designees. 60 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on education and the work force. 60 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on energy and commerce. 60 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on ways and means. 30 minutes equally divided and

controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on the budget. 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on the judiciary. and 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on small business. and two, one motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: members are advised to take their conversations off the floor. the gentleman from texas is recognized for one hour. mr. session: thank you, madam speaker. for the purposes of debate only i yield the customary 30 minutes to the -- to my friend, the gentlewoman from fairp point, new york, and ranking committee on rules, ms. slaughter, pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sessions: during consideration of this resolution all time is yielded for the purpose of debate only.

madam speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. so the gentleman can be heard. moments are advised to take their conversations off the floor so the gentleman can be heard. the gentleman is recognized. mr. sessions: thank you, madam

speaker. madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sessions: house resolution 724 provides a closed rule for consideration of h.r. 6079. madam speaker, today i rise in support of this rule and underlying bill, h.r. 6079, to repeal obamacare act of 2012, which was introduced by the republican majority leader, eric cantor. the gentleman from virginia. the bill text has been online since last thursday giving members more than the mandatory three days to read and to understand the language. madam speaker, on june 28, juice 12 days ago, the united states supreme court upheld the individual mandate provisions in obamacare, thereby forcing every american to purchase health insurance. while i may disagree with how they ruled, i respect their decision and there is nothing we can do to change that.

obamacare is now the official law of the land. however, there is something this body can do to reverse the course and to prevent the job destroying aspects of this bill from taking effect. a complete repeal of the bill that the president asks this congress to pass under speaker pelosi, and they did. we need to repeal obamacare today. in 2010 republicans were elected all across this country because americans understood the need to stop the tax and spend policies of the other party and h.r. 6079 will do exactly that. last night in the rules committee, my colleague, the gentleman from new jersey, my friend, mr. andrews, urged us to, and i quote, dispassionately examine the facts, end of quote. i agree with just that sentiment and would like to take a moment to do just that. earlier this year, the centers for medicare and medicaid,

c.m.s., reported that health insurance premiums are expected to rise by over 44% over the next nine years as a result of obamacare and since obamacare was signed into law, there's been a steady decline in the number of americans on private health insurance. a report from the mckinsey group found that more than 50% of employers had a high awareness of the law and they said that they would stop offering health insurance, confirming what republicans have been saying nor three years -- for three years, and that is that obamacare is designed to force employers to drop coverage in an attempt to get americans to enter the new health care exchanges. madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to include the "wall street journal" article on this report. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sessions: a kaiser family foundation report found that health insurance premiums have increased by 9% or $1,200 for

the average family, american family following passage of the president's health care bill. madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to place that report in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sessions: according to a 2010 medicare trustees report, as a direct result of obamacare, more than 90% of seniors will lose their retiree prescription drug coverage they have and will see nearly double-digit premium increases. madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to include that article into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sessions: seniors will also seen reduced access to doctors as medicare officials explained, and i quote, that physicians could find it difficult to remain profitable and might end their participation in the program. which possibly could jeopardize access to care for beneficiaries, end of quote. ac0rding to the president's

own--according to the president's own budget, the cost of the owe bamaire care subsidies have jumped $111 billion in just one year. earlier this year during a ways and means committee hearing on february 28, 2012, when asked why this happened, health and human services secretary said, i really couldn't know. -- don't know. finally, earlier this year the nonpartisan congressional budget office adjusted their long-term outlook of the impact of obamacare on our national debt. the revised figure shows obamacare will cost taxpayers $1,800,000,000 twice as much as the president promised in 2010 when the bill was passed. these are just a few of the facts that i believe should be considered dispassionately as we debate whether to repeal obamacare. if you think of the facts i just listed are what the country

needs, vote to keep it. however, if you, like me, find these facts unacceptable for our future, then i urge you to join me in repealing obamacare so that we can focus on patient centered health care solutions which do not increase dramatically insurance premiums, do not restrict access to physicians, and do not mount unsustainable debt to our children and grandchildren as well as harming employers who wish to employ more americans. i urge my colleagues to vote for this rule and the underlying bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: thank you very much, madam speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i guess i better start by saying that one man's facts are another woman's folly. i want everybody who is listening today to clear their

minds of what they just heard. and also remind them when medicare and social security were also before the congress of the united states, the republicans didn't like them, either. and almost all voted against it. so to your people who's praying for medicare is simply do away with it and give vouchers to the medicare recipients no matter what their physical condition or mental condition, to go out into the private market and try to buy insurance, if they can, with the amount of money that may not even cover it, crying about medicare in this bill, is hard to take. this is an incredible milestone today. those of you in the gallery are here on a very important day. over the last two years over 30 votes have been taken on this health care bill alone. today is the 31st. they want to defund and dismantle or do whatever to it. never in the history of this

congress, i feel perfectly secure in saying this, has anybody voted this many times on a single issue. why? because we don't have anything else to do. we are here simply killing time because everybody knows the senate has already done away with this bill for we know it's never going to become law. what it's going to do as i said yesterday at the rules committee, we are not trying to make law here. we are making political points. and that is a shame because it's not that the country doesn't need our attention, it's as though the unemployment rate isn't so high and people's futures aren't so grim they are crying out for us to get something done, but it has been said this is the least productive congress since the beginning of congresses. back to the continental congress. here today no jobs bill to pass here. and over that time while everybody's clamoring for it, we do the 31st vote on this measure which, again, everybody knows is going nowhere. so we have just months left in

the 112th congress, and yet we vote again on this. we voted at least nine times on women's reproductive health which shows you what really issues are here that people care about. sadly we are not going to be able to vote this year, the rest of this term, on creating jobs or rebuilding the infrastructure or even end the war in afghanistan. but we vote for the 31st time on dismantling an historic health care concern. i am sure that while time runs out on this congress to tackle a major issue that face us, to create jobs and rebuild our country, we have failed to answer the call. i'm not going -- i should say we because that's a polite way to do it on the floor of the house, but everybody knows it's wasting time. this year thanks to the affordable health care act, already more than 350,000 small

businesses are expected to receive a tax credit that reduced the cost of health care for their employees. and meanwhile, the newly guarantees, one that ensures that insurance companies will spend 85% of the cost on health care, of your premium dollar for the first time in history, 85 cents of that dollar is going to go to health care not administrative costs, not being put away in something or whatever else. it will go to health care. that in itself is going to reduce the cost. this increased efficiency is very good news not only for small business owners but for all the rest of us who the burden of inefficient care. in addition, more than three million young adults are already insures on their parents' health care and more than five million seniors have cheaper prescription drugs simply thanks to this health care reform and we have not even started. it is not going to go into full effect until 2014, which i

deplore but nonetheless that's where we are. but despite these benefits for the millions of americans, the majority wants to take it all away. now, repeal and replace, with what? we have had no plan of replacement. there is no answer to what's going to happen to the seniors and others who are already benefiting from this plan. they have offered no solution of their own. and 537 days ago the majority passed legislation requiring this congress to craft a proposal that would keep the popular provisions of the affordable health care, such as health care for people with pre-existing conditions. i hope everybody understands that your health care as it is written now has a yearly limit and a lifetime limit. if you cede the -- exkeyed the lifetime limit you cannot insurable in the united states. can you do that fairly easily with a serious head wound.

but we waited for years for this bill. it was promised 537 days ago. i really believe, i don't want to be cynical, but i certainly do believe because i must that no such bill will ever come. so what's going to happen if this bill passes and the affordable care act is repealed? what's going to happen to the millions of women who will once again be charged more money than men for the same health insurance coverage? did you know women pay 40% more? what will happen to the millions of seniors who are once again face the financial threat of the doughnut hole? what's going to happen to the thousands of children who will once again be denied health insurance coverage because they were born with a pre-existing condition? . what will happen to the young people on their parents' health care? unable to find work because congress is not involved with that or at least the majority is not. what will happen to them? today's vote will take away health care from women like nancy o'donnell who is 60 years

old and lives in my district in rochester, new york. she works four jobs to make ends meet and not a single one of them offers health care. her life changed when she was diagnosed with chancer -- cancer . with no insurance to help cover the cost of major surgery, she faced a very real prospect of suffering with cancer. and had no hope of being cured. and if anybody out there believes you can be diagnosed with cancer and not be able to get treatment for it because you have no insurance, you got another thing coming. prior to the affordable care act there would have been no recourse for a woman like nancy. for years millions of women and men in america were denied health insurance because cancer was a pre-existing condition or if they had ever had any and they changed jobs and had to get new health care they probably would not be able to because they had had cancer. even patients like nancy, who had insurance, and she did not, remember, would face lifetime and yearly limits on the health care. they would stop providing treatment because they didn't

want her high-cost disease or affliction. but thanks to the affordable care act these tragic stories are no more. thanks to the affordable health care act, nancy was able to access health insurance at a price she could afford. and with that health insurance in hand she was able to access treatment and found out the surgery was no longer needed. she's now had four clean cat scans and no sign of cancer and we are all delighted for her. women like nancy are the reason i brought the affordable care act from the rules committee to the house floor. women like nancy are the reason i stood up to those who threw a brick through one of my district office windows and who threatened my family because i wanted to provide affordable, life-saving health care to americans in need. and also because health care was costing us $-- 17% of g.d.p. and we could not afford it unless we wanted to become the one industrial nation on earth that was only able to provide health care into war. surely to goodness we would like

to join the community of other nations and in addition to that we have put the burden on our employers to provide the health care for their employees that none of their competitors from overseas are -- or canada have to put up with. this has been really sad. the cost of health care forced him to put about $2,000 more for the cost of each automobile he sold. it was unsupportable. but we're still at it here. the united states as i said is the only one that does not provide its citizens with safe and secure and affordable health care. they do it much cheaper than we do, with much better outcomes. but we put the burden back on the employers, that puts us at a disadvantage with competitors all around the world. despite not providing reliable health care to millions of our citizens, the cost of health care rises. prior to the affordable care act we wanted to -- bankrupt through

the skyrocketing cost of care. since the presidency of president roosevelt, and i'm talking about teddy here, we're going way back beyond, ahead of franklin, numerous presidents have tried to provide health care. president nixon, president truman, president clinton. to the millions of the uninsured, to lower the cost of care. each of us, when we talk about having other people buy health insurance, if they can afford it, and if they can't, we help them, each family is expected and has been for some time paying what is estimated to be between $1,000 and $1,500 more on your own health care to cover for the uncompensated cost of people who don't have it. so, why don't we deal with this in a mature, grown-up way? because somehow or other we can't. but the reason could be this. yesterday morning politico, one of the newspapers that we have here on the hill, reported on

the plan for the majority over the next four weeks. they had been talking to members of the majority. in part they wrote, quote, house republicans have planned a series of hot-button votes over the next four weeks to contrast the party's agenda with that of democrats and put president barack obama and democrat candidates on the defensive as though they are not capable and of standing up and defending votes that we take. the main goal is to boost the party's prospects on election day. madam speaker, the record is clear. today's vote is nothing more than a show. it is political theater and puts political games against -- ahead of the nation's citizens. so on behalf of millions of americans who are already benefiting from the affordable care act, i urge my colleagues to change course and reconsider the legislation before us today. frankly we should dwrop it. there's no point in taking this vote at all. too much needs to be done from creating jobs to investing in schools, rebuilding our broken highways and bridges and we have

only been able in the united states to build one airport from the ground up since 1972 in denver. that tells you how modernized we are. but we are playing politics with health care reform instead. and health care is already saving lives. so i urge my colleagues to oppose today's rule. the underlying legislation. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. >> madam speaker, thank you. at this time i'd like to yield three minutes to the gentleman from spring hill, florida, the gentleman from the rules committee, mr. nugent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. nugent: madam speaker, i want to thank the gentleman from dallas, my rules committee colleague, pete sessions, for yielding me the time. over the past couple of years i met with thousands of people on the floor -- of florida's fifth congressional district. whether it's businessmen, people on medicare, veterans, and they all have the same appeal to me. please, please repeal obamacare. it's clear the american people know what our democratic leaders

still to this day don't want to admit. obamacare eliminates millions of american jobs. it cuts hundreds of billions of dollars from medicare and it puts in place 21 tax hikes going across the american people, more than $800 billion over the next 10 years. and guess what? it only pays for six years of coverage. what a scam. everybody knows the health care system's broken and reform is needed. but obamacare's not the answer. madam speaker, i think a number of my colleagues forget that although the supreme court upheld the individual mandate because it's a tax, it did declare that parts of the bill are unconstitutional. the quote explicitly stated the affordable care act is constitutional in part and unconstitutional in part. an expansion they said of obamacare, unconstitutionally forces states to ex tend or expand medicaid. so the vote we take on this rule, h.r. 6097, gives members

of this body two things. repeal of the law that is in part unconstitutional and repeal of $800 billion tax increase on the american middle class. if the other side knew this was a tax increase back when they first implemented it, that, you know what? they probably would rethink their thought on it. last time my colleagues on the other side said that obamacare reduces the deficit. but it's also a tax cut. only in washington does that work. creating a new trillion-dollar health care program means reducing government spending. only in washington is $800 billion in new taxes a cut. these are numbers i know my colleagues on the other side of the aisle know and more importantly the american people know it. for all these reasons i'm grateful to leader cantor for introducing the repeal of obamacare act and i'm proud to

be a co-sponsor of this legislation. i support the rule, i support the underlying legislation and i encourage all of my colleagues who want real health care reform to do the same. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from texas reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: i'm sorry, madam speaker. i am pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, the ranking member of education and work force subcommittee on health, mr. andrews. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. without objection. mr. andrews: i thank my friend from new york. it's great to be with her on the floor today and my colleagues on the republican side as well. today we could be voting on a bill where we work together to cut taxes for small businesses and put americans back to work. but we are not. today we could be voting on a bill that would help cities and

counties and states around the country rehire police officers and firefighters and teachers they've had to lay off, over 600,000 of them the last few years, but we are not. today we could be voting on a bill that would say that if an american company brings jobs backy overseas, we'll cut their taxes, and we'll pay for it by eliminating tax giveaways and loopholes for companies that outsource their jobs outside of the united states and take them overseas. but we're not voting on that. for the 31st time in the last 18 months we're voting an a bill to repeal the health care law -- on a bill to repeal the health care law. now, i know there are americans who feel strongly for and against the health care law. but i think almost every person i listen to feels very strongly we should be working together to help create an environment where businesses can create jobs for the american people, not voting

for the 31st time on a -- essentially a political argument. i do agree with my friend from texas and i agree with him -- i thank him for mentioning my name, i respect him invest, -- very much, about the needs for facts in this debate and there is one fact that i think we got tooth to right away which is whether or not the law that they are trying to repeal for the 31st time increases or decreases the federal deficit. the congressional budget office, which is our neutral, nonpartisan auditor, said in january of 2011, the first time of the 31, when the other side tried to repeal this law, that repeal of the law would add $220 billion to the deficit. in other words, if you wipe the law off the books, the deficit goes up because of the spending restraints and the new revenues that are in the bill. and i wouldn't want to ask my friend from texas if he can tell us what the effect of the repeal of this bill, in other words, if this bill passes, what will this

bill do to the deficit according to the congressional budget office? and i would yield to him. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey yields to the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: i appreciate the gentleman asking the question. the gentleman also understands that the congressional budget office has not as a result of the supreme court been able to render that decision. mr. andrews: reclaiming my time. reclaiming. i would then respectfully ask my friend, why don't we wait and see what the auditor says the bill will cost before we vote on it? my understanding is that they're going to do that probably by the end of this month. why don't we wait and see what the auditor says it's going to cost before we vote on this bill? i would yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: thank you very much, madam speaker. i appreciate the gentleman engaging me. this really is of substance to the american people. the cost of the bill is twice now we found out a year after it was passed, twice as expensive as it was originally started.

the speaker pro tempore: the time has elapsed for the gentleman from new jersey. mr. andrews: i thank the gentleman. i would ask him on his own time, i'd be happy to engage him. mr. sessions: at this time i'd like to yield to the gentleman from san antonio, texas, from the financial services committee, mr. canseco, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. canseco: thank you, madam speaker. and i thank the gentleman from texas for yielding this time. and i rise in support of the rule and the underlying bill to completely repeal obamacare. though obamacare has been found to be constitutional, it doesn't mean it is good for our health care nor good for our economy. and obamacare is still a government takeover of health care, putting federal bureaucrats in charge of decisions that should be made by you and your doctor, by creating 159 different boards,

bureaucracies and programs that will increase washington's control over health care like the independent payment advisory board which is surprised of 15 unelected bureaucrats that will empower -- that will be empowered to decide what treatments medicare will and will not cover. . obamacare could lead to less access to care and lower quality health care. i recently visited with several physicians last week in my district and they told me that obamacare could lead to a large exodus of physicians from active practice, leaving many americans with health care coverage but without health care access. obamacare also cuts over half a trillion dollars from medicare to pay for other spending which could lead to physicians to cut back on the number of american seniors that will negatively impact their care by leaving

seniors without health care coverage without access to care. besides being bad for health care, it's bad for our economy. i visited with numerous small businesses throughout the 23rd congressional district of texas and almost every one of them has told me that the -- told me that the biggest factor keeping them from expanding their businesses and hiring more employees is the uncertainty about the health care costs due to various taxes and mandates contained in obamacare. given the supreme court's ruling, it's up to the people's elected representatives in the congress to provide american families and small businesses with much needed relief from the burdens of obamacare by repealing it completely only after obamacare is repealed. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from california, a member of the committee on energy and commerce, ms. matsui. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady is recognized for three minutes. ms. matsui: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the gentlelady from new york for yielding me time. madam speaker, i rise today in strong opposition to this rule and the underlying legislation. this bill marks the 31st time that the republicans attempted to repeal the affordable care act, and even though the supreme court of the united states has ruled it constitutional. unfortunately instead of focusing on job creation, here we are again. the underlying legislation exemplifies the majority's continuous drumbeat to abolish the a.c.a., fearful that americans may have a chance to fully realize a tremendous benefit. instead, the majority has only offered vague phrases and anti-rhetoric, such as patient centered health care. while repeatedly attempting to repeal legislation that would expand access to care for millions of americans. clearly their idea of patient

centered health care refers only to those patients who can afford skyrocketing health insurance rates and do not have any pre-existing conditions. what is the point of patient centered health care when only a small portion of the public can access the care? the underlying legislation before us today would deny my constituents and the american people the consumer protections for which they have been asking for years. this legislation would increase costs to families, small business owners, and seniors across the board. it would allow insurance companies to deny coverage to americans with pre-existing conditions, drop coverage when people get sick, reinstitute lifetime limits on coverage, and charge people more based merely on gender. the a.c.a. has already created long lasting benefits for many of my constituents, including paula, who in march of 2010 was

diagnosed with a rare children's bone cancer and given a 15% of survival. initially she was lucky to have health insurance. but an average of $50,000 per chemotherapy treatments, she quickly approached her lifetime benefits cap. she's are not burdens anyone can or should have to bear. because of the a.c.a., she remained covered and was able to complete her full treatment plan. and in the future, because of the law, paula will not have the fear of being denied coverage due to this pre-existing condition. it is time that we move forward and focus our efforts on job creation. i urge my colleagues to vote down this rule and vote against this underlying legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. session: at this time i'd like to yield to the

gentlewoman, a nurse, a health care professional prior to her service in the united states congress, the gentlewoman from from north carolina, mrs. ellmers, for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. ellmers: thank you. i thank my colleague from texas for acknowledging me. thank you, madam speaker. i'm here today to join my colleagues and call on the immediate repeal of obamacare with its massive tax increases. last month as we know the supreme court verified that obamacare is in fact a tax. one that increased the financial burdens of every american by over $500 billion. and will go down in history as the most significant expansion of the federal government and its power. this law has and continues to be bad policy for all americans and future generations. the supreme court's decision has sent a direct message to congress and policymakers that we have to get back to work to repeal this law and replace it with effective, efficient reforms.

i have begun circulating a letter that will be sent to senator harry reid calling on him to allow for his colleagues in the senate to have an up or down vote on the repeal. every american needs to know how his senator feels about this as well. we each have an obligation to vote our conscience and carry out the business of the american people. i'm encouraging all of my colleagues here in the house to sign on to this letter so that each member of congress can decide whether or not they are in favor of raising taxes on millions of hardworking american taxpayers. thank you, madam speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from maryland, ms. edwards. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. edwards: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the gentlelady from new york and join her in opposing the rule and underlying bill. this is the way it's supposed to work. passed by the house, passed by the senate, signed into law by the president. and upheld by the united states supreme court.

the ruling provided certainty for americans and businesses all across the country knowing that the popular provisions they have already enjoyed are going to remain in place and we continue to implement the law of the land. america, here's what republicans want to take away from you today. they want to take away covering seven million children, young adults, who can remain on their parents' health insurance plan until they are 26. they want to ban insurance companies from denying coverage to 17 million children with pre-existing conditions. they want to end tax cuts that benefit 360,000 business that is employ two million workers, all provision that is have popular and bipartisan support. but rather than building on and moving forward from last month's ruling, nope, the republicans not surprisingly decided to spend yet another day in congress considering the repeal of the affordable care act. 31 times that the house will vote on repeal. what a waste of america's time. 30 times that we haven't voted on jobs bills. 30 times we haven't focused on extending tax cuts for the middle class.

when the american people and congressional districts all across the country, this is also the 31st time that the republicans have put in jeopardy their access to quality, affordable, and comprehensive care. so 250 million americans could lose their benefits and protections with the vote today. it's a step backward for marylanders like doug who watched the affordable care act because he couldn't afford to keep paying a third of his income for health care and had started using bags of coins to pay for his medicines. the affordable care act saved americans like him $4 billion. families like the mose byes in my county who suffered three traumatic health events and fell behind on their mortgage almost lost their home but the affordable care act saved 105 million americans who would reach lifetime limits but for the affordable care act that the republicans today want to repeal. it's time to get op with it. it's enough. it's time for republicans to move on. approve the law of the land and

start to implement the law. i urge my colleagues to vote down the rule and vote against this repeal w that i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. session: thank you, madam speaker. at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from rules committee from utah, mr. bishop. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. bishop: thank you, madam speaker. if indeed this will be the 31st time we'll vote to repeal what is commonly called obamacare, that number signifies also the number of job creating bills this house has also passed and sent over to the senate t would be nice if the senate would deal on any of those issues to move us forward on all of these concerns. i do want to speak for just one minute here, though, about the concept of the 10th amendment. one of the task forces which i serve. everything that we are talking about -- there's nothing wrong with helping people provide for themselves. the issue always is where should that decision be made.

there's nothing wrong about that at all but where is it made? the brilliance of our founding fathers in coming up with federalism is simply the idea of choices should be made by people in the areas in which they can affect themselves. massachusetts appears to have a health care system they imposed upon themselves. they like it. that's fine. it won't work in the state of utah because we are different. we have far more kids than massachusetts does. we have a higher percentage of small business. our solution is not their solution. and the brilliance, the brilliance of federalism is that the people who live in the states and the leaders of the states, they care as much as we do they also can decide for themselves as much as we do. the other brilliance of federalism, is states can key side to be wrong if they want to without impacting the entire nation. there are some states that may want to have a robust government involvement and tax themselves to do it. there are other areas that want a less robust government. tax themselves less.

allow them to do it. only the states have the ability of becoming efficient, creating justice, and creativity in their approaches. my state of utah came up a legislative exchange program that better meets the needs of my state's, demographics of my state. it is in my opinion still a boater way of going, but unfortunately -- better way of going, but unfortunately it's stopped by obamacare. that's not what we should be doing. not all great decisions have to emanate from this body. now the supreme court said this is a tax. fine. it must be enforced by the internal revenue service. we need to realize there will be 12,000 to 17,000 new employees to the revenue service to enforce this provision. will they be outsourced as thersers does in the past? does --as the i.r.s. does in the past? or will they be funded in house? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. bishop: i realize there is even greater cost still to come. i appreciate the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized.

ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts who knows health care, the distinguished ranking member of the committee on national resources, mr. markey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. markey: i thank the gentlelady. forwardable -- affordable care act is now part of our nation's fabric of health care laws. right alongside social security and medicare, now stands the affordable care act. and yet the republicans keep trying to take away our take apart the benefits included in this law for the 31st time since they took over the house of representatives. what we have here, mr. speaker, is a severe case of republican reflux. again and again the republicans keep coming up with harmful attempts to destroy all of the

protections americans have gained under this law. al groundhog day, republican -- a groundhog day, republican reflux attempt to repeal this historic piece of legislation that helps every family in our country. again and again, the republicans keep choosing corporations over consumers. the side effects of this republican reflux are serious. if the republicans succeed, insurance companies could once again deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions. kids with asthma, women with breast cancer, all of these protections would just go away. and the republicans will replace it with nothing. americans could wauns again -- once again be forced into bankruptcy just because they got sick.

just because they got sick they could go bankrupt. if the republicans' repeal attempt is successful, this afterknoop on the house floor. -- this afternoon on the house floor. what are they going to put into place of that protection going bankrupt just because you are sick? nothing. they have no proposal. to have something replace those protections for american families. women could once again be discriminated against with higher insurance premiums. just being a woman, unfortunately, under existing law is a condition which has women paying more. what are the republicans going to replace this protection for women that is now in the law? nothing. they have no proposal they are bringing out here today on to the house floor. with this republican reflux, it's the american people who get

burned. all they are doing is bringing out a proposal to repeal protections that ensure for every american family all of these extra protections which the republicans have always denied them. they keep saying, oh, no. we care about pre-existing conditions. oh, no, we care about people going bankrupt. oh, no, we care about women being discriminated against. and then you say to them, where's your proposal, bring it out here, let's have a vote on it. but you know what? this is about insurance companies over the consumers of our country, vote no on this republican reflux bill. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. sessions: thank you, madam speaker. at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from knoxville, tennessee, the gentleman from, mr. duncan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. duncan: i thank the gentleman for yielding. madam speaker, you rise in support of the rule and the underlying legislation.

the so-called affordable care act which should be called the unaffordable care act. even if the president's plan was the best thing since sliced bread we simply cannot afford it. both medicare and medicaid now cost many times more than what was estimated when they were first passed. already the estimate for the president's plan has doubled what it was just one year ago and most of it will not be fully implemented until 2014 and some parts until 2016. much of it is, quote, paid for by placing millions more you understand the medicaid roles this will cost states many -- roles. this will cost states many billions they do not have. the cost is at $627 billion over the next 10 years. in addition, the joint committee on taxation in june estimated that increased taxes over the next 10 years, just to cover the plan, would be from $675 billion up to possibly as much as $804 billion. if these are low ball front had been end estimates -- front-end

estimates which is typical, this will not work unless medicare is restricted each more year and year. considering their vote on this legislation, is this so-called affordable care act, i hope my colleagues will consider these strong words by dr. milton r. wolf, president obama's cousin. he wrote this, he said, for the first time in the history of our republic, our government has demanded that every american upon the condition of breathing be forced to enter a legal contract with the government-approved corporations , not even king george iii dared to impose such control. in truth if a government can force you to pate nies companies of its choosing -- patronize companies of its choosing, the relationship between government and the individual is irrevocably changed. if it is allowed to stand, there will be no part of your life that government cannot control and no yone cannot enrich -- crony cannot enrich with your money. i urge support for this rule and this underlying legislation and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the

balance of his time. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from new york, my colleague, mrs. maloney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized for two minutes. mrs. maloney: i thank the gentlelady for yielding and for her leadership. mr. speaker, today congress must once again spend time in an empty gesture. even as this country waits for real solutions to serious problems. instead of dealing with ways to spread the -- and expand the creation of jobs, once again our colleagues on the other side of the aisle insist that we pretend like we're going to repeal the affordable care act. even though that could drop over 6.6 million young adults under the age of 26 off their parents' health care policies, even though that could throw 17 million children with pre-existing conditions to the

mercy of the marketplace. even though that would drop 5.3 million seniors down the doughnut hole of medicare, even though it would just create new uncertainties for small businesses. even though all of this is true and more, you make congress once again engage in this which is totally without meaning. because if by some dark miracle you were able to pass the bill and the house -- in the house and the senate, do you believe for one second that the president would sign it? so, what are we doing today? taking a vote on repealing the affordable care act for the 31st time? it was a waste of time the first time, the second time, the third time and so on and so on and it's a waste of time today. so i would say, let's just hurry up, vote no on the rule and the underlying bill and let's get back to the business of working

to create jobs for the american people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. sessions: thank you, madam speaker. at this time i'd like to yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from savannah, georgia, mr. kingston. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kingston: thank you, madam speaker. there's five quick reasons why i think this bill should be repealed. number one, it does not decrease the cost of health care. in fact, it is estimated that it will increase costs by 13% per family and is already moving toward $2,100 increase. number two, the loss of health care, the nonpartisan congressional budget office estimates that 20 million people will lose their employer-based health insurance because of the mandates in obamacare. number three, it interferes with the patient-doctor relationship. the law creates 159 new boards, offices and panels within the federal government to be in charge of people's health care decisions. number four, increased government spending.

at a time where we borrow 40 cents on every dollar we spend and our national debt is 100% of the g.d.p., obamacare is expected to cost over $1.8 trillion over the next decade. we don't have the money. and number five, loss of jobs. the nonpartisan congressional budget office estimates that nearly 800,000 jobs will be lost because of obamacare. madam speaker, we need to repeal obamacare and replace it with the best ideas of republicans and democrats which should include expanded health savings accounts, ending frivolous lawsuits, association health plans, across-the-board -- across-state-lines health care purchases and state-run high-risk pools. these ideas will bring america together rather than divide us as a country over this very important issue and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlelady from new york is

recognized. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, a member of the committee on ways and means, mr. doggett, who also served on subcommittee on health during the health care debate. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. doggett: i have lived through a terminal illness while struggling to get well and struggling to get and keep my insurance. ivan been denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition, i have lived this. it is very real for me. today i breathe a little better. life is good because now i have hope. that was the reaction of my constituent, aaron foster, to the approval of the affordable care act by the supreme court. and today's legislation ought to be called the take-away aaron foster hope act because that's what it is. replacing the affordable health care act with only tax breaks for tylenol. in a few days thousands of

texans will be receiving checks of almost $200 each, almost $200 million in rebates from private insurance companies that overcharged and abused them. this bill should be called the return to sender act because it says those abusive health insurance companies get their money back if this act became law. there are seniors today who are trying to make use of the flawed republican prescription drug act that is now law. they left a giant gap sometimes referred to as a doughnut hole in the coverage of that act. our seniors as a result of the affordable health care act have seen their prirpgs costs go down and some of that doughnut hole plugged, eventually to fill it all and provide them the protection that they have earned. this bill, if enacted, would double the cost of prescription drugs for those in the doughnut

hole, about two and a quarter million texas seniors would no longer also receive free preventive services. this act should be called the charge seniors more for their prescription act because that's what it does. you see, the problem is that in the near fanatic determination to see that president obama fails on everything, aaron foster and that senior and that individual that is counting on one of those rebate checks, they're just collateral damage to these republicans. do you have another 20 seconds? ms. slaughter: i'm sorry, i don't have it. mr. doggett: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady reserves and the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. sessions: thank you, madam speaker. at this time i would like to extend to the gentleman from the foreign affairs committee, one of the most influential committees we have here in the house of representatives, the gentleman from south carolina, one minute to mr. duncan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. duncan: thank you, madam

speaker. you know, americans know that the government takeover of health care is wrong. they spoke very loudly when the other side of the aisle forced this on america in the last congress. it was bad policy before the supreme court ruled, it was bad policy in january when we first passed the repeal bill, it's bad policy today and it will be bad policy tomorrow. $500 billion away from medicare, puts government bureaucrats between americans and their doctors, it rations care for the american seniors, it adds exponentially to the nation's debt. it grows government, specifically it grows the internal revenue service to collect the tax which the supreme court of the united states so evidently pointed out that it is a tax and will be assessed if you fail to meet the government's requirement to buy something. socialized medicine is wrong for america and it is time to repeal the bill and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas reserves. and the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: i am pleased to

recognize for 2 1/2 minutes mr. pascrell from new jersey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pascrell: thank you, madam speaker. how are you doing today? albert einstein once said the definition of insanity, and you've heard this before, madam speaker, is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. well, we've already voted over 30 times to repeal or restrict the affordable care act. and here we are again, what i consider wasting time, with politics instead of putting people back to work. we are offering you the opportunity to help your constituents right now, madam speaker. you could defeat the previous question and take up the bring the jobs home act which for the first time makes sure we promote insourcing of jobs and stop the corporate welfare for

outsourcing jobs. in the last decade we have lost 5.5 million manufacturing jobs and 1.3 million back office jobs. however we have seen that the light of our economic recovery is powered by domestic production, not outsourcing of jobs. and we've added almost half a million manufacturing jobs in just the last two years. there are some who think outsourcing is a good policy. and in fact they have made hundreds of millions doing just that. i believe the american dream starts by creating good jobs right here in the united states, we should not outsource the american dream to china or any other country. this bill is very simple here. we're going to end the tax breaks that encourage companies

to ship their jobs overseas and use that to pay for tax credits for patriotic companies that want to bring jobs back home. that's pretty simple. so why are we wasting our time, madam speaker? with all due respect. the supreme court has ruled the affordable care act is the law of the land. if the law is repealed according to a report by "the new jersey public interest research group," employers would see health care costs grow by more than $3,000 a year. premiums would be increased from 14% to 18% per year. higher to those who want to buy insurance. in my home state of new jersey, would have 10,000 fewer jobs by the end of the decade. despite the rhetoric, the majority has yet to propose a replacement that will cover all the people that want to throw

off the health care rolls. can i have 20 seconds? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. ms. slaughter: 10. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 10 seconds. mr. skelton: -- mr. pascrell: they continue to ignore the number one priority of the american people, creating jobs. a week after the fourth of july, madam speaker, i urge my colleaguing 20's -- colleagues to defeat this motion. let the house vote on a patriotic american bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady reserves. and the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. sessions: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, at this time i'd like to yield to the gentleman who before he came to congress was on the frontline of health care from the eastern shore of maryland, i'd like to yield to the gentleman, congressman harris, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. harris: thank you very much. thank you very much, mr. chairman, for yielding the time. madam speaker, my, my, my. former speaker pelosi was so right when she said, congress had to pass this bill so

americans could just find out what's in it. well, americans have learned a lot since we first tried to repeal the president's health care act last january. we learned that it still continues to stifle job growth and we learned more and more about it and that's why we have to attempt to repeal once again. . earlier this year americans discovered that the law creates a new nationwide mandate for coverage that doesn't allow people to opt out when they have a religious or moral objection to those covered services. a violation of the religious freedom restoration act, duly passed by this congress, and more importantly, a violation of their first amendment rights. these inflexible mandates jeopardize the ability of institutions and individuals to exercise their right of conscience. one of the most basic rights. and yet we discovered this since

we voted on the repeal last january. so, mr. speaker, by now americans have learned enough about this bill. they want it repealed. and we should listen to them. we should pass the rule and pass the bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland yields back his time. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves her time. the gentleman from texas, mr. sessions. mr. sellingses o -- mr. session: thank you very much, mr. speaker. at this time i'd like to yield three minutes to the gentleman from california, the chairman of the rules -- rules committee chairman, the gentleman, mr. dreier. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for three minutes. mr. dreier: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. thank you very much, mr. speaker. i'd like to express my appreciation to the distinguished vice chairman of the committee on rules, our friend from dallas, mr.

sessions, for his superb management of this rule. i'd like to say as we look at where we are going, contrary to arguments that have been propounded here on the floor, it's important to note that everybody wants to do everything we possibly can to ensure that our fellow americans have access to the best quality, affordable health care in the world. we have the best health care system in the world. we all know that. we want to make sure that we continue to see that health care system improve. we just come to the conclusion that the massive expansion of government is not the answer to the goal of ensures the people have access to quality health care. the supreme court made the decision. we know what the supreme court's decision was. i think that that decision pointed out a few things. it's a tax. we were told consistently it wasn't a tax. frankly if we had been known what the supreme court told us about being a tax, don't believe we would have had the passage of that measure from the house.

so that decision has been made. also the supreme court by virtue of determining this constitutional does not mean that it's good public policy. in fact, chief justice has made it clear that they are not casting an opinion as to whether or not this is a right measure. i think that most have come down on the side of saying that we should have taken an incremental approach to dealing with this. there are a number of things that if we had done would have, i believe, immediately reduced the cost of health insurance and direct health care costs, mr. speaker. they include things like allowing for the purchase of insurance across state lines. things like say there should be association health plans which interestingly enough passed the house, died because of democrats blocking it in the senate, when my party was last in the majority here. things like allowing for real meaningful lawsuit abuse reform which the president of the

united states said he advocated when he was here. and ack knowledge dealing with pre-existing conditions needs to be done. and the fifth point is expanded medical savings accounts which encourage people to put dollars aside with a tax incentive plan for her health care needs f we had done those five things, mr. speaker, and these are proposals that we as republicans have put forward and again as i said when we were last in the majority, when people on the other side often say we did nothing, we passed association health plans, which again, allows small businesses to pool together, come together and work to get lower rates as large corporations do. so it seems to me, mr. speaker, as we look at the challenges that we have, we can make this happen. the reason that we are casting a vote as we will today to repeal is we need to do that will so we can do this in an open way. i've got to say, someone said this is closed rule. this is simply an up or down

vote on whether or not we should repeal this. when we last considered this measure we are going to be voting to repeal today, mr. speaker, it was done under the most closed process we ever had for any major measure like this. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. dreier: i thank my friend for yielding. let me say when we did this, when we did this here it was done under a process which was unprecedented for an issue of this magnitude. and that closed process, mr. speaker, is one of the things that i believe laid a role in seeing the speaker of the house of representatives, then nancy pelosi, hand the gavel to john boehner. the american people understood the fact that things were so closed around here. i'm very proud and happy that since we have been in the majority our rules committee has reported out bills that have allowed for a structured, has made more amendments considered in the first several months of

this congress than have been considered in the entire last congress. so we've tried to work for more openness. and again real example of that closed process was what took place in the last congress. well, we need to take this measure. we need to repeal it. i hope very much that some of our colleagues in the other body will agree to that. people always say it's a foregone conclusion what's going to happen. well, you know what? i never come to an absolute foregone conclusion. we owe a responsibility as members of the house of representatives to step up to the plate and do what we as a body think is the right thing to do. that's exactly what is going to take place today. so if it doesn't happen, i think that there might be a chance for us next year to do this. and again republicans contrary to what is off said do want to take steps to ensure that all of our fellow americans, we listen to these horror stories, they are terrible stories and the way people have been treated, that's why i'm a proponent of a

structure that will allow for ways to deal with pre-existing conditions. i believe that we can in a bipartisan way, since the president advocated it, deal with meaningful lawsuit abuse reform. and again we need to remember that if we want to keep our nation on the cutting edge of technological development, to find a cure for cancer and alzheimer's and these other ailments, we need to make sure that there's still a incentive for that to take place. mr. speaker, with that, i thank my friend for yielding and i support the rule and our underlying measure and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the republicans today have brought forth the ideas about why we are repealing the obamacare health care bill.

the process that was gone through has been under wide debate, but the results are factually known and understood. mr. speaker, our economy is in shambles. our economy is in shambles because of uncertainty, uncertainty in the marketplace about the rules and regulations not just of health care but about the impact of big government, and this is the big daddy of all of them. the health care bill is the big daddy that invades every single piece part of not just this country and our society, but because of the way it reaches into individuals and to families, it is very destructive. the i.r.s. will be empowered to hire up to 17,000 new i.r.s. agents to make sure that not only are taxes being paid, but to make sure that the government has its way with people who,

even though they may or may not choose to get health care, will be required to by this government. so we well understand what the results are of this bill, and as a result of that, that's why republicans are on the floor of the house of representatives. mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, the gentleman, mr. lobiondo. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for two minutes. mr. lobiondo: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i appreciate the chairman yielding me some time. i'd like to re-emphasize some points i think probably have already been made. that health care is not a partisan issue. whether we are republicans or democrats or independents, we want to see health care more affordable and more accessible. unfortunately president obama's health care bill does not do the job. the supreme court made it completely clear that this is a new tax.

with a very fragile economy, the last thing we need to do is impose a new tax on our businesses. in my district the average unemployment rate is hovering around 13%. i talked to many of the businesses, the uncertainty of this legislation is killing their incentive to hire new people. it's something that we really shouldn't let happen. and maybe more importantly i believe that the sacrosanct doctor-patient relationship is jeopardized by the 111 new boards and commissions that will put cost before care. this is something that we cannot allow to happen. the best way to do it is for a total repeal, to start over with the points that will make sense, that most of america can get their arms around, that the medical community will say will help the doctor-patient relationship, and businesses will have a clear understanding. i yield back.

thank you for the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey, mr. lobiondo, yields back his time. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: may i inquire of my colleague if he has further speakers? mr. sessions: at this time i'd like to inquire upon the speaker how much time remains on both sides? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york has a minute and 50 seconds remaining. the gentleman from texas has three minutes remaining. mr. sessions: thank you very much, mr. speaker. if the gentlewoman would like me to i had i'll go ahead and make our closing statement at this time. ms. slaughter: i am prepared to close. mr. sessions: i have no further speakers at this time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: thank you very much. mr. speaker, both sides of the aisle have tried to reduce health care in the united states for 100 years. finally two years ago we were able to achieve the goal. today we vote on a bill that

would dismantle it for political points only because the 31st time is not going to be a charm here. we have heard again the dire straits of this contry. please ask your member of congress why it is we are voting on this for the 31st time i stead of doing something about jobs for heaven's sake. you have heard -- i have not heard anything in that bill 17,000 i.r.s. agents are going to be hired. i think again that's something we don't know about. but i would like to ask unanimous consent if the previous question is defeated to insert the text of the amendment of mr. pascrell talked about along with the extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. slaughter: i urge my colleagues to vote no and defeat the previous question. urge a vote -- no vote on the rule. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york yields back her time. the gentleman from texas, mr.

sessions, is recognized. mr. sessions: thank you very much. i appreciate the gentlewoman from new york not overwhelm for her indulgence of this issue for the past few days but also for her professional nature today. mr. speaker, we are on the floor because the health care bill that the president and house democrats and house -- senate democrats supported cost twice as much one year later as it was guesstimated the year before. the united states is suffering economically. people are suffering economically. and we are losing our competitiveness with the world. we are here because the biggest driver of what i would consider to be not just lack of jobs in this country but also continued uncertainty for the business community. someone called them corporations, they are employers. employers across this country are saying to members of congress, not just in sworn

testimony, but in media after media, newspaper after newspaper, that it is uncertainty related to the health care bill that is causing them not to move forward on their plans to grow their business. we are here today because we need to make sure that we also understand the cost, the cost that is twice as much in one year as it was guesstimated to be in the year before. this cost of over -- doubling this would mean that this body either needs to come up with a way to pay for it, which would mean following the democrats' proposal, instead of taking $500 billion out of medicare, we would take $1 trillion out of medicare. instead of raising taxes $570 billion. we would have to raise taxes $1 trillion. instead of all these things that the bill does that taxes people, instead of it being exactly the way they said it would be, including $70 billion for a plan

for long-term care that now they cannot sustain, it would have to be $140 billion. mr. speaker, the american people do understand that health care is important and republicans would insist upon us following just as we have in the past, health care bills which would better the marketplace and people who would have the ability to purchase health care at an affordable amount, and to make sure that we have physicians and patients that have a close relationship. . make no mistake about it, tort reform will be at the top of our order for sure. buying insurance across state lines will ensure a marketplace, a healthy marketplace. number three, 26-year-olds being on their parent's insurance, that's a healthy idea. and certainly associated health care plans that are able to

pool their resources so that they could have a bigger team size in which to purchase health care would be important. but more importantly, we need to make sure that every single american gets health care on a pretax basis. we made our case today, mr. speaker. i am very proud of what we're doing. i urge my colleagues to vote for the rule and underlying bill and yield back the balance of my time and move the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all debate has ended. the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 and clause 9 of rule 20, this is a

15-minute vote on ordering the previous question. and it will be followed by five-minute votes on adopting the resolution if ordered and agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote --

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 238. the nays are 184. with zero answering present. the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. le this is a five-minute vote. -- this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the

national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 240. the nays are 182. the resolution is adopted. without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the unfinished business is the question on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 312. the nays are 105 with three answering present. the journal stands approved. the house will come to order. the house will come to order. the house will come to order. members take their conversations off the floor. the luss -- the house will be

in order. members will take their conversations off the floor. for what purpose does the gentleman from idaho seek recognition? mr. simpson: i present a prirged report for filing under the rule. the clerk: report to accompany h.r. 6091, a bill making appropriations for the department of the interior, environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2013, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the union calendar and ordered printed. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 21, points of order are reserved. the house will be in order.

remove conversations from the floor. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? mr. upton: i call up the bill h.r. 6079, the repeal of obamacare act and ask for its immediate consideration. and i would ask for regular order. the speaker pro tempore: members, take your conversations off the floor. the house will be in order. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 6079, a bill to

repeal the patient protection and affordable care act and health care-related provisions in the health care and education reconciliation act of 2010. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 724, the bill is considered as read. the bill shall be debatable for five hours with 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the majority leader and minority leader or their designees. 60 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on education and the work force. 60 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on energy and commerce. 60 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on ways and means. 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee of the budget. 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on the judiciary.

30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on small business. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. upton. mr. upton: mr. speaker, i would ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 6079. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. upton: mr. speaker, i would yield myself three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. upton, is recognized for three minutes. mr. upton: mr. speaker, house republicans promised the american people that if granted the majority we would vote to repeal the patient protection and affordable care act, better known as obamacare. let's face it, obamacare is nothing like what was promised. former speaker pelosi said we would have to pass the bill to find out what was in it and she assured we found out. rather than reform health care, this law epitomizes washington at its very worst.

intrusive mandates, higher costs, red tape, taxes on employers and families in control of personal health care decisions by boards, bureaus and agencies in washington. let's just consider the many broken promises. president obama promised that his reforms would lower family premiums by $2,500 by the end of the first term, yet the cost of an employee-sponsored family plan is increased by $15,000 in 2011. and c.b.o. projects that if we allow the rest of obamacare's mandates to kick in, premiums rise further. the president told us over and over if you liked your health care plan you could keep it. yet, the law pushes employers to drop coverage. c.b.o. estimates up to 20 million american workers will lose their plan under obamacare. the president said his law would cost a mere $900 billion as if spending nearly $1 trillion on a new program was thrifty.

yet, when it's fully implemented, obamacare is estimated to cost taxpayers $2.6 trillion over a decade. the president promised to make medicare stronger. instead, obamacare raided $575 billion from medicare to pay for new programs and entitlement expansions. the president pledged he would not raise taxes for households with incomes under $250,000. yet, obamacare includes 21 new tax increases that will cost taxpayers roughly $800 billion over the decade. prescription drugs, health care coverage, high premium health plans, the agency will place new restrictions on health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts. employers will face a tax for failing to provide health plans approved by h.h.s. and a new surtax on investment. the president promised american taxpayers they would not be forced to fund abortions.

and our conscience rights will be protected. yet, h.h.s. is moving forward with a mandate that requires religious institutions to violate their principles or pay a steep fine. just like the individual mandate. the supreme court made clear that the mandate is a massive new tax, one that will primarily be levied on middle class households. repeal is also the only way to honor and restore the promises the president wisely made but foolishly broke. the supreme court rendered its diagnosis but the american people will be offering a second opinion. for now we promise the american people that we would work to repeal this terrible law and that is a promise we are keeping. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves his time. the gentleman from california, mr. waxman, is recognized. mr. waxman: mr. speaker, i yield myself three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. waxman: this bill, mr. speaker, and my colleagues, would take away the health

security and cause over 30 million people to lose health coverage over the next decade. that's more people than the entire population of new york and ohio. yet here we go again. wasting time that should be spent on improving the economy and putting people to work. instead we're rehashing the same old arguments. americans deserve health security. what's in the bill? the law that the republicans would seek to take off the books prevents people with pre-existing conditions, like pregnant women, not to be denied insurance or charged so much that they can't get coverage. the law says women should not pay higher premiums just because they are women. people should have an easy, transparent marketplace to shop for quality insurance and the

hardworking middle class should receive subsidies to help them afford it. people should not be worried about losing health coverage if they lose their job. people should be encouraged to get preventive health services and not be charged for it. small businesses should be helped if they want to offer health insurance. america should no longer be a contract with millions of people un-- country with millions of people uninsured and unable to get health insurance. that's what the republicans want us to go back to. they argue that they want to repeal and replace obamacare. well, what's their replacement? romneycare? they have no replacement. they offer nothing. nothing to the american people. there's no proposal on how they would keep these 30 million people insured and end insurance company abuses by pre-existing

condition discrimination. let's move beyond this vote and show the american people this institution is about more than just politics. it's about doing what's right for american families. let's affirm our commitment to bringing health security to all americans. let us reject this republican bill that would again have the house go on record repealing the law which has not yet been fully put into place. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent before i yield back whatever time i have to empower our health subcommittee chair, mr. frank pallone from the state of new jersey, to be able to control the rest of the time for the energy and commerce committee. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman will control the remainder of the time. mr. waxman: mr. speaker, i'll reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from michigan. mr. upton: he said the chair of the subcommittee, but i yield at

this point three minutes to the chair of the health subcommittee , the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. pitts, three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for three minutes. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, in march , to mark the two-year anniversary of the signing of obamacare, i invited local doctors and business owners and elected officials to talk about how the law will change the practice of health care on every level. we heard from dr. joe about the law's failure to reform medical liability reform. and how young doctors don't even realize they're practicing defensive medicine, ordersing unnecessary tests and driving up costs. we heard from gary alexander, president of pennsylvania's secretary of welfare, about how the law will cause state spending to explode in the coming years. while medicaid consumes 30% of the state budget now, if the law's fully implemented it will consume over 60%. pennsylvania won't be a state government, it will be a health plan that paves roads and funds

schools on the side. we also heard from the owner of a local roofing company, he spoke about the difficult choice he will have to make in coming years about whether to keep providing insurance for his workers or to pay the penalty and cast them into the health care exchanges. we all know how much health care reform was needed. we've all heard the stories about individuals denied care that they desperately needed. we heard about the families who struggled to pay the bills when a child got sick. we all know someone who went without insurance because of the high cost of premiums. but this law did not fix what was broken. it didn't deliver the reform the american people really wanted. the savings, both for the government and for families, are an illusion. don't pat yourselves on the back for gaining the c.b.o. -- gaming the c.b.o. there won't be a single dime saved by the law. indeed, government spending will explode because of the law. obamacare's new entitlement program and massive medicaid

expansion is estimated to cost taxpayers $1.8 trillion over the next decade. things aren't much better for families under obamacare. in 2011 alone annual premiums for employer-sponsored family plans soared past $15,000. sharp 9% increase from 2010. 20 new taxes impose additional costs on everything from flexible spending accounts to pace makers. 20 new taxes in obamacare not yet implemented. taxing medical devices, drug manufacturers, insurers, drives up the cost of care. it's a farce to think that government subsidies will bral out the increased cost -- balance out the increased cost imposed by the new taxes and regulations. finally the reach of the federal government has extended even to the conscience of religious charities and educational institutions. when the government takes over health care, it takes over basic decisions of morality that should be left up to individuals. it's far past time we ended the destruction of our health care

system by a poorly designed and administered law, full repeal is the only way to get to real reform. i urge support for the bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania yields back his time. the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield myself three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. today reminds me of the movie "groundhog day." for those of you who aren't familiar with the movie, it's about a tv weatherman who finds himself repeating the same day over and over again. no matter what he does, he's stuck on the same day. do that soundfamiliar? , i think it ds. today we will take yet another show vote repealing the affordable care act which will never become law. in fact, we're wasting two days debating its repeal when congress should be focusing on jobs and reducing the deficit. this exercise in futility does nothing but attempt to turn the clock back on all the many benefits already in place for americans across this country.

meanwhile it increases the deficit, puts insurance companies back in charge of americans' health care, increases costs and cuts benefits for medicare seniors and eliminates $40 billion in tax credits to help make insurance more affordable for small businesses. mr. speaker, the affordable care act ensures that hardworking, middle class families will get the security they deserve and protects every american from the worst insurance company abuses. the law includes numerous provisions to keep health care costs low, promote prevention and hold insurance companies accountable. for those americans who already have health care, whether it's through private insurance, medicare or medicaid, the affordable care act is already making your coverage more secure. for example, insurance companies no longer have unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny your child coverage due to a pre-existing condition or charge women more than men. over 80 million americans have gained coverage of preventive

care free of charge like mammograms for women and wellness visits for seniors. nearly 13 million americans will receive a rebate this summer because their insurance company spent too much of their premium dollars on administrative costs or c.e.o. bonuses. and 5.3 million seniors and people with disabilities have saved an average of over $600 on prescription drugs in the doughnut hole in medicare coverage. 6.6 million young adults have been able to stay on their parents' plans until the age of 26. including 3.1 million young people who were newly insured. and i hear about this all the time when i'm home in my district. for those americans who don't yet have health insurance, help is really on the way. starting in 2014, the affordable care act will offer an array of quality, affordable private health insurance plans to choose from. if someone can't afford insurance or for a small business that wants to provide affordable insurance to their employees, tax credits are available that make coverage

affordable. the result of this repeal that the republicans are putting forth today is to basically say that millions of middle class americans will lose out on new health freedoms and new health coverage that make a positive difference in their lives. rather than refight these old partisan battles by starting over on health care and repealing basic protections that provide security for the middle class, congress needs to work together to focus on the economy and create jobs. the house republican leadership would do well to seek bipartisan solutions to jobs and the economy instead of seeking this repeal. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. upton: mr. speaker, i would yield two minutes to the chairman emeritus of the energy and commerce committee, the gentleman from texas, mr. barton two, minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas voice for two minutes. mr. barton: i thank -- is recognized for two minutes. mr. barton: i thank the distinguished chairman and would ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered.

mr. barton: i thank the speaker. mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of the bill before us this afternoon and in opposition to what is called obamacare. all of the comments of the proponents of the bill that have been made in the past in support have generally turned out to either not be true at all or to be only partially true. they said that they were having the individual mandate under the commerce clause, supreme court said that's unconstitutional, you couldn't do it. so even though you said that's what you were doing, you're really not. the proponents said that the penalties in the bill were not taxes. well, the supreme court in a 5-4 majority several weeks ago said, well, really you're not regulating the mandate and the penalties under the commerce clause because that would be unconstitutional, you're actually doing it under the taxation clause. so we're kind of in an alice in

wonderland situation here. what is true is that if this bill does become -- if this law sent forced, millions of americans are going to pay much more for health care and we're not going to get better quality care. people like myself oppose the bill not because we don't want every american to have health care but because we want americans to have choices and to make individual choices about their health care. this law, if enforced, mandates things. it mandates the coverage, it mandates what you have to have, it mandates what can be paid for . this independent payment advisory board over time will probably mandate how doctors practice medicine. i personally think that's wrong. that's why i believe, since the supreme court has ruled 5-4 that we ought to have another repeal vote, even though admittedly we had one over a year ago, we should repeal it, we should put

everybody on record right now where they stand, send the bill to the other body and see if we can't get the majority leader over there to also have a vote so as people go into the election we know where the congress stands on this issue. i thank the gentleman for his time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from california, ms. eshoo. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one minute and 30 seconds. ms. eshoo: i thank the speaker and i thank the gentleman from new jersey. my colleagues, i think that today is really a sad day. it's a sad day for the house and i can't help but think of shakespeare, thou doth protest too much. now, it is very clear that my republican friends have been opposed to any kind of national

health care for as long as i can remember. but today is really quite extraordinary. because the congress not only voted, passed, the president signed into law, it was challenged, it went to the supreme court, the chief justice and four other justices of the supreme court of our land have upheld the law for health care accessibility for every single american, all god's children. and what do the republicans do but come to repeal. my question is, what are you for? where is your plan? i have been in the minority party. you've had time. this is the energy and commerce committee.

where is your plan? you talk about markets. you talk about cost. you talk about whatever, but you have no plan for the american people. so now you placed yourself in a position of a takeaway, and i think that's what is sad. it's sad for the american people, but it's not going to happen because the supreme court upheld the law. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. upton: mr. speaker, i'd yield one minute to the gentleman from florida, a member of the energy and commerce committee, mr. stearns, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. stearns: i ask to revise and extend. the gentlelady from california knows full well. she serves on the energy and commerce committee. all during the markup of obamacare, we had an alternative energy plan. i'm proud to co-sponsor of this bill to repeal the affordable care act, obamacare, because the act is not affordable. cutting half a trillion dollars from medicare to pay for new spending is wrong. savings in medicare should stay

in medicare. how severe are these cuts to medicare? the chief actuary for c.m.s. reports that 15% of hospitals will be unprofitable within 10 years. these cuts can endanger the viability of a hospital system and jeopardize the health care available for seniors. now, we have a whole alphabet soup of new agencies that are created by this monstrosity of law. let me tell you, the independent payment advisory board, we all know what that's going to do. research outcomes, cciio, oversight insurance customers, set up all the exchanges. the preventive health care commissions, these are all new government agencies. we need to repeal this law and start anew with commonsense solutions that encourage innovation without punishing businesses, individuals. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and a half to

the gentleman from new york, mr. engel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. engel: i thank my friend for yielding to me, and i rise in strong opposition to the legislation before us, to repeal the affordable care act. i won't support legislation which would allow health insurance companies to deny children access to care which would cause americans to lose their health care insurance, which would reopen the dreaded medicare prescription drug doughnut hole and throw young adults off their parent's insurance policies. the republicans have proudly stated this is the 31st repeal vote the house has taken. while the economy struggles to recover, it pains me we have wasted so much time on these symbolic and political votes that are going nowhere. the republicans wanted the supreme court to decide on health care and now the supreme court has spoken and they are still fighting it. it's time that everyone accepts the result of the supreme court. this has been a long fight and now it's over. if there were changes that need to be made to the affordable

care act, we should work together to make them. but partisan efforts to repeal the entirety of the law isn't what we should be doing. i don't want insurance companies getting between patients and their doctors. i don't like the current system where the insurance companies deny you coverage or say you have a pre-existing condition or say you have a cap and they won't pay any more. this bill attempts to get health insurance companies -- health insurance away from the insurance companies who try to control everything and back into the hands of the consumers, so i urge my colleagues to vote against this bill and i implore the republican leadership to turn their focus instead on the economy and on jobs. this health care bill, there have been so many lies spun about it is unbelievable. the fact of the matter it's is good bill. it will take the 50 million americans that don't have health care and reduce it to nothing. it's a good bill for the american people. we shouldn't be wasting our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is

recognized. mr. upton: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield one minute to the gentleman from kentucky, a member of the energy and commerce committee, mr. whitfield, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. whitfield: they helped write the president's health care bill, and two years ago when the discussion was on the floor about this bill, our friends on the other side of the aisle never talked about tax increases in the bill. i assume they didn't talk about it because they didn't know about it because the speaker at that time said we'll find out what's in the bill after we pass the bill. well, when the supreme court upheld this law, they did so because of the taxing power of the congress and they said certain things were taxes and that brought up the issue of taxes. so when we went through this will, we found 21 new taxes on the american people. that will amount to about $800 billion over 10 years.

taxes on high cost health plans. taxes on health insurance providers. taxes on brand-name drugs. taxes on medical devices. taxes on flexible spending accounts. and others. i could go and on and on and i would urge the repeal of this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, again, i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from texas, mr. green. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas, mr. green, is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. green: i rise in strong opposition to the repeal of the patient protection and affordable care act. this congress has spent most of our time voting on messaging bills and very little on legislating. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and i agree on so many issues. no bill is perfect and we should be spending our time improving, not abolishing, it.

repealing this bill is a vote to drop students from their parent's health insurance plans. and it would stop 13 million americans from receiving rebates on their health care premiums. a repeal would mean children and families and working americans are denied health insurance. in our district in houston and harris county, texas, we have one of the highest uninsured rates in the country. the bill denies the hardworking constituents a chance to qualify and purchase health insurance. there's no question that repeal is a bad policy. this is all politics. mr. speaker, i ask the majority to put bipartisan aside and reach across the aisle to improve this law and not expose our most vulnerable to more pain and suffering. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey reserves his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. upton: mr. speaker, at this point i'd yield one minute to

the gentleman from oregon, mr. walden, a member of the energy and commerce committee, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for one minute. mr. walden: i thank you very much, mr. chairman. let's face it, the law that's on the books takes $500 billion out of medicare and spends it on a new entitlement program. i don't think taking money away from seniors' health care to create a new government-run program is right and neither do the american people. i was a small business owner since 1986. we provided health insurance for the people who worked for us. as a small business owner what i wanted was the ability to group up and have more effect in negotiating lower insurance rates for the people we covered. this law doesn't really help in any regard to that. in fact, this is a jobs vote we're having today because if you're a small business and you are like at 49 employees. if you go to 51 then all of a sudden the government comes on top of you with all kinds of penalties and fees so a lot of small business owners in my district say, why would i grow

this business? why would i take on this risk? i can tell you how eastern oregon university -- i met with the university president. they used to have a student health plan that cost $66 a term. because of this law and that implementation, that went up to $2,000 a year. they had to walk away from it. this law is hurting people today. it needs to be repealed and replaced. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield a minute and a half, again, to the gentlewoman from colorado, ms. degette. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from colorado is recognized for a minute and a half. ms. degette: mr. speaker, we get the message. the republican majority wants to repeal the affordable care act. we got that message the last 30 times they tried to repeal it. and after this week the 30 million americans who have lived in fear of bankruptcy because they didn't have health insurance before the affordable care act are left to ask the same question that i've been asking for the last 30 votes --

what would you replace it with? what would the republicans tell the millions of americans with kids with pre-existing conditions like asthma and diabetes who would lose their insurance after this vote? what would they tell the millions of seniors who have lower prescription drug prices and prevention care which would evaporate if this bill passed? what would they tell women who under the affordable care act won't have to pay higher insurance rates simply because they're women? what would they tell the millions of young adults who are able to stay on their parent's insurance plans who would be thrown off if this bill passed? all of those benefits and more would evaporate with this vote, and the republican majority has nothing to say. i have an idea. let's put this sillyness aside. while these benefits continue to roll out, let's stop the political grandstanding and instead come together to make sure the law is implemented in the best possible way.

that's governing and that's what the american public sent us here to do. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from colorado yields back her time. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. upton: mr. speaker, i'd yield one minute to the gentleman from nebraska, mr. terry, a member of the energy and commerce committee, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from nebraska is recognized for one minute. mr. terry: mr. speaker, the affordable care act is just the opposite, unaffordable. it's chalk full of new taxes, increased government spending and provisions that are going to make health care more expensive. c.b.o. found that this new law, insurance mandates will raise premiums on individual market by an additional $2,100 per person. the kaiser foundation found that individual premiums have already, because of this, gone up 8% for families and 9% for individuals. and this law isn't fully implemented yet. to add insult to injury,

there's 159 new boards, offices and panels like ipab that give unelected bureaucrats the authority to ration health care. it raises taxes by $607 billion on middle-class families and employers. at a time when we have federal deficit and prolonged unemployment, increases, total federal government health spending by about $478 billion from 2014 to 2021. i have voted to repeal this 30 times and i will keep doing it until we get it right. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from california, mrs. capps. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one minute. mrs. capps: i thank my colleague -- the speaker pro tempore: a minute and a half. mrs. capps: i rise in strong opposition to this bill that would take away insurance protections and new access to health care from tens of thousands on the central coast

of california. thanks to this law, families are telling me they no longer need to worry that their children will be denied insurance due to a pre-existing condition condition. in my district, 9,095 students have insurance through their parent's plan. a new college graduate came up to me thanking me for the peace of mind as he's looking for a job. in my community, 59,000 seniors now will receive free preventative care and thousands of seniors in the dreaded doughnut hole have received discounts for prescription drugs, saving an average of $610. now, some folks around here may not think of savings of $600, but for so many this makes a world of difference. indeed, one of my constituents wrote to me saying that thanks to this law, quote, i won't be impoverished again by the cost of my medicines. but this house majority set up another vote, yet another one, to take away these benefits

from my constituent and the nation. mr. speaker, we should be working to stimulate growth in this economy and spur job creation, not voting for a 31st time on repealing this law. i urge my colleagues to reject this bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. upton: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd yield at this point one minute to the gentleman from pennsylvania, a member of the energy and commerce committee, dr. murphy, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. speaker. i never doubted my friends on the other side of the aisle's compassion or certainty. we need to make sure we get the health care we need and the doctor we choose at a price we can afford. here's some ways to do this. allow people to buy across state lines. university of minnesota study said it would drop the uninsured by 12 million. ability to join groups.

coordinated care. decreases hospitalizations and avoidable readmissions and complications sometimes by 0% to 40%. making sure that they are personal, affordable and permanent. the plan you need, take it across jobs and can't be cut for being sick. make sure there are tax deductions to buy insurance just like employers have. to have the chroniclely ill to be part of high-risk pools. to maintain their own health and have better use of prescription drugs, generic and nongeneric, because some $250 billion is wasted in drug problems. we need this instead of a $570 billion in new taxes and $1.76 trillion bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan reserves his time. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, can i inquire about how much time is left on both sides? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey has 16 3/4 minutes left. and the gentleman from michigan

has 17 minutes remaining. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i ask -- i yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from illinois, ms. schakowsky. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from illinois is recognized for a minute and a half. ms. schakowsky: i know that many americans have heard over and over again that obamacare is a bad thing. but now that the supreme court has declared it the law of the land i hope that everyone will take another look and see what's actually in the law and how it can help you. right now, because of obamacare, if you're a woman you have free preventive services like mammograms. i hope you'll take advantage of that. and no longer will being a woman be a pre-existing condition, because insurance companies charge women up to 48% more for their health insurance. and because of obamacare right now if you're a parent and you have a sick child, a child with

a disability, that child may not be denied health coverage. and no one has to worry about lifetime caps anymore because of obamacare. my son -- a small businessman said, thanks, mom. because of obamacare, 35% of the cost of coverage for my employees is paid for. and when fully implemented, no one will have to worry about having a pre-existing condition. no one will be excluded. and if you're an unemployed person and you lost your job and your health care, obamacare will make sure that you can get coverage. for the first time in the united states of america we say that health care is a right and not just a privilege for those people who can afford it. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back her time. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from michigan. mr. upton: mr. speaker, at this point i would yield two minutes

to the vice chair of the health subcommittee, dr. burgess, for two minutes. and when he concludes speaking, i would ask unanimous consent that the rest of my time be controlled by mr. pitts from pennsylvania. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. burgess: i thank the gentleman for the recognition. you know, mr. speaker, from the very inception this law was bad and remains bad for america. it was written in secret down at the white house. now we have -- our committee has exposed all the secret deals that went on literally three years ago this month that led to the formation and the writing of the legislation behind closed doors. the very doors that the president, when he was running for office, said would always remain open. this would be an open and transparent process. but when it came time to actually write the law, they invited the lobbyists in, they closed the doors and they wrote the law. we all remember the travesty of december of 2009, when the senate passed a bill out the day before christmas, right before a

snow storm, and this bill that was hastily drafted, full of errors, full of problems was passed out of the senate and that's what was signed into law. it wasn't eastbound a good rough -- it wasn't even a good rough draft. it never came to the house, it never came to a conference committee. the dog ate our homework on the way to the president's office and we just passed the rough draft and sent it on to the american people and, by golf bally, they'll just have to live -- and by golly, they'll just have to live with it. there were promises made by the president four years ago. one was if you like what you have, you can keep it. turns out what he should have been saying was, you know what? it's going to cost you a lot more to get a lot less. there were promises made to seniors, that their care would not be harmed in the passage of this law but we all know now that's anything but true. what about our provider communities? they were promised relief. they were promised medical liability reform. they were promised that if we expect doctors to hold down costs, we're going to at least

let them get together and talk about price. but none of those things came into being and instead what did we get? a bill that contains 23 new taxes, albeit one has been repealed and one postponed under the class act. but still 21 taxes that remain out there for the american people. it was not necessary for it to be like this. there were republican ideas that were sometime idea at the committee level and that of course ultimately every house idea was stymied because the house simply took up and passed a very bad senate bill. kids on until 26 this was part of the republican plan from three years ago. it could have been part of a bipartisan plan had the democrats chosen to do so. they rejected that notion. i urge you to repeal this law. let's get back to work and do it right for the american people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. members are reminded to heed the gavel of the chair. the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. pitts, will control the time for the majority. he reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and a half to the

gentleman from texas, mr. gonzalez. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. gonzalez: mr. speaker, thank you very much. today the republican majority's actually telling the american people that they're better off, better off not getting rebates from insurance companies for not covering their health care expenses. better off not getting -- preventing services under medicare. that the american people are better off getting coverage from comprehensive women's prevention services that they never had before, that they're getting now, but cure going to be better off not getting them -- but you're going to be better off not getting them. that's what people have today in america because of the affordable care act. the majority's telling the american people they're betting off not getting frex, from getting cut off from -- they're better off not getting protection. they're telling the american people, you're better off by not getting restrictions removed so that children get coverage

despite a pre-existing condition. that you're betting off -- better off not getting health coverage for children up to the age of 26 on a parent's health insurance policy. and that you're better off for not getting health for medicare recipients that fall into the doughnut hole. the truth is they had over 10 years to come up with an idea, with a proposal, and nothing was ever done to help the american people gain access to affordable, quality health care through the private market. because this is what this bill is all about. 11 years, actually. and you keep saying that you have an alternative. you're going to repeal and replace. but you haven't come up with one proposal. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this

time i yield one minute to another member of the energy and commerce committee, the gentlelady from tennessee, mrs. blackburn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from tennessee is recognized for one minute. mrs. blackburn: i thank the speaker and i thank the chairman for yielding and i stand here today to support the repeal of obamacare. some of you were asking, how many times are we going to do this? we're going to keep at it until we get this legislation off the books. it was a bad bill, it has become a bad law and quite frankly if you are satisfied with a tax-based government-controlled, limited access, bureaucrat-sent rick health care program, then this is for you. that is what obamacare is. that is not what the american people want. and repeatedly they have said to us, look, congress should have

met, obama -- admit obamacare is a bad idea. let's start fresh with a clean slate. let's focus on increasing choice and options. decreasing cost. and mandates. simplifying the system for both patients and providers. making certain that we restore the $500 billion of cuts that were made to medicare and make the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from pennsylvania are reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from north carolina, mr. butter field. the speaker pro tempore: -- butterfield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. butterfield: if you don't succeed, try and try again. republicans are taking this phrase to a whole new level. house republicans will vote for the second time to overturn essential provisions in the affordable care act and, yes, for the 32nd time to dismant it will altogether -- dismantle it altogether. this repeal vote is a waste of

time and tax dollars. we all know that this bill will never pass the senate and the president would assuredly veto it. this is purely and act of political posturing. and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle should stop their obstruction. mr. speaker, if the republican majority was just as concerned with introducing a comprehensive jobs package as they've been with repealing this constitutional law that was, yes, upheld by the u.s. supreme court, americans and our economy would be in a much better condition. stop wasting our time with political theater and try passing some beneficial landmark bills of your own. my friends on the other side, you have a wrecking ball. where is your plan? i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina yields back his time. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this time i'm happy to yield two minutes to another distinguished member of the health

subcommittee, dr. gingrey of georgia. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes. mr. gingrey: mr. speaker, i thank the chairman for yielding. i would like to introduce you to sole commissioner, boss hog. boss hog uses his position of authority to terrorize the citizens of his community with the help of henchmen like sheriff roscoe in the 1970's' television show, "the dukes of hazard." mr. speaker, today life imitates art. we now have another boss in our midst. i call this boss obamacare. the only health care that citizens of this country can access are those approved by the boss. if you like what you currently have, you can't keep it. let me repeat. if you like what you currently have, you can't keep it.

according to the boss. the boss and his henchmen, who help fund this tyranny, they include the biggest permanent tax increase on americans. born in large part by middle class families -- borne in large part by the middle class families and the employers who give them jobs. it enacts a $500-plus billion cut to the medicare program. all while the program is going bankrupt. and finally new rules that allow the boss to dictate how doctors actually practice medicine. no longer will my colleagues in the medical profession be able to put the needs of their patients first. mr. speaker, our forefathers rejected tyranny and so should we. support h.r. 67 -- 6079, a bill that would repeal obamacare. let's get rid of the boss once and for all. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia yields back his time. the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves his time. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized.

mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from florida, ms. castor. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida is recognized for a minute and a half. ms. castor: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to thank chairman pallone for yielding the time. he started off the debate by saying this debate reminded him of the move request "groundhog day." i think he's right. it reminds me of a summer rerun. republicans are forcing another political debate on the affordable care act, a tired rerun when the republicans should be joining us in focusing on creating jobs and boosting the economy. that is our number one priority this summer. and it's a real shame. in fact, it's disheartening to hear my republican colleagues urge repeal of vital consumer protections for american families. my republican colleagues are undermining the economic security of middle class families, in doing so they are urging the elimination of

important improvements to medicare like closing the doughnut hole, putting cash back into the pockets of seniors who need it at this time. and what they're saying is that it's ok that people don't take personal responsibility for their health and their health care. i think that's wrong. it is not fair that if you pay those health insurance premiums time after time and those co-pays that you end up picking up the tab for those who do not. that's not fair or right. and the affordable care act targets that for replacement and encourages personal responsibility. i urge my republican colleagues not to waste our time here. but let's come together. let's work on foe -- work and focus on improving the economy, creating jobs. that really is our number one priority. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this time i'm happy to yield one minute to the gentleman from mississippi, mr. harper. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. harper: thank you, mr. speaker. the policies and regulations resulting from the president's health care law are among the most overreaching added to the u.s. code in modern history. further the president himself has said that his law's individual mandate is not a tax. yet he's now rallying behind the supreme court ruling that defined this requirement as just that. a tax. look, i have little confidence that this far-reaching law would have ever advanced had the white house and congressional democrats united behind a tax mandate on every single american citizen. let's be clear. the supreme court ruled that this law is allowable, not that it's good policy, nor that it will improve the delivery of care. this law is bad for patients and providers. it's bad for individuals and employers. and it's bad for states and jobs. this repeal will allow americans to receive the care they need from the doctors they choose at a cost they can afford. it's that simple. thank you and i yield the

balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi yields back his time. the gentleman from pb reserve -- pennsylvania reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i would yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from new mexico, mr. lujan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new mexico is recognized for a minute and a what -- half. -- half. mr. lujan: mr. speaker, this republican majority's effort to repeal the affordable care act is bad legislation that would undermine significant advancements to the delivery of health care services to all americans. but let me be clear. this bill would repeal the single most important federal law that governs the delivery of health care to our first americans, native americans. it's an assault on our federal responsibility to tribal communities who without the indian health care system would not have meaningful access to health care services. our republican majority swept the rug out of native american women and took them out of the act to protect them from

domestic violence. this act the republicans put before us would hurt people in a very serious way. the act makes possible long-awaited improvements to the indian health care delivery system by providing authority to provide cancer screenings, dialysis as well as all hospice and elder care, recruit more qualified health care professionals, modernize health facilities and establish comprehensive behavioral health initiatives. mr. speaker, we need to reject this health plan, we need to reject this effort by republicans which is causing harm to may tif americans across america. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this time i'm pleased to yield one minute to another valued of the health subcommittee, dr. cassidy from louisiana. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for one minute. mr. cassidy: thank you, mr. speaker. as a practicing physician who still sees patients in a safety net hospital, i fully support

the repeal of obamacare. let's look at medicaid, a program which is broken and which is bankrupting states and driving federal indebtedness. obamacare, it has increased spending by $100 billion, further driving indebtedness to our state and federal government. more importantly to me as a physician, medicaid is associated to terrible patient outcomes. we need alternatives to these poor outcomes and indebtedness. one reform i support is the mac act. it incentivizes quality care. helps federal funding, following the patients with other needed reform. chief justice roberts said it's not the duty of the supreme court to rescue the american people from bad public policy. that is up to us. republicans seek to rescue americans from bad public policy. we offer positive alternatives for states, for taxpayers and most importantly for patients. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from connecticut, mr. murphy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from connecticut is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. murphy: thank you very much, mr. speaker. you ever see the movie "fatal attraction"? it's a great film. the glenn close film character is so obsessed with michael douglas that she does everything in her power to win him over. at the end of the movie boiling the douglas bunny. now having 30 different debates on this floor over repeal of the health care bill that house republicans have finally hit their boil the bunny moment. enough is enough. the american people want us to move on. and what they would suggest is instead of listening to their inner glenn close that maybe house republicans should start listening to people like

khalid, a retired teacher from dan burry. she's got diabetes. she's got sleep apnea. what she wants is not more politics on the floor of the house of representatives. she wants relief. she doesn't want another five-hour debate on top of the other 29. she wants this bill implemented. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from connecticut yields back his time. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this time i yield one minute to the gentleman from texas, mr. olson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. olson: i rise in support of repealing obamacare. unconstitutional under the commerce clause, it is, but unfortunately the supreme court allowed it to continue as a

tax, a tax. but the supreme court does not have the final say. the american people will be at the ballot box in november and the house has our say today. taxpayers face tight budgets and a weak economy. with the largest tax increase happening on january 1 of next year while the president plays political games, the last thing our taxpayers need is another tax. especially one that will insert the federal government between patients and their doctors. we must repeal this intrusive bill with thoughtful legislation that protects all americans' access to quality care, from the doctors they chose to the price they can afford. i want you to join me in taking the next step to repealing obamacare. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from georgia, mr.

scott. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. scott: thank you very much, mr. pallone. let me first of all respond to what -- my previous speaker on the other side said, because it's very important that we straighten the record out. this is not a tax for people to get health care insurance. what this is, the supreme court ruled -- and, again, chaired by a republican chairman -- chief supreme court chief of justice. and he said that in order for the mandate to stand, congress could only do it through their taxing authority. and that was to take care of the penalty. this is not a tax for individuals to get their health insurance. c.b.o. says it will only affect 1% of the american people, and that is the choice that they will make. it's not a tax penalty for you to get insurance.

it's a penalty for those who can afford the insurance who choose not to buy the insurance. now, let me also make another point that is very clear. in addition to this being a program in which the vast majority of the american people approve. they do not want you to repeal their opportunity to have individuals in these tough economic times, their children to be able to stay on their insurance until 26. they want that there. they do not want you to repeal them having to be denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition. and our hospitals need this very much in order to vf the medicaid expansion. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this time i yield one minute to another minute of the energy and commerce committee, mr. kinzinger from illinois.

mr. kinzinger: yesterday the supreme court made one thing very clear -- or the other day -- they made one thing very clear, the individual mandate is nothing more than a tax. the overall tax burden that this puts on our economy is staggering. the overall tax burden this puts on the middle class is staggering. and along with those unprecedented personal tax that this implements -- let me point out two other major ones. a $0 billion device tax. ok. -- $20 billion device tax. ok. a small business health insurance tax. this bill clearly places a huge tax burden on the american people as said by the supreme court. and by the way, yesterday the administration asked for a tax increase on the majority of small businesses. but don't worry. that's only for a year. in a year taxes will increase on all levels of income if the tax cuts are allowed to expire. in 2010, the american people

sent a message to washington when they sent one of the largest, boldest freshmen classes they have ever sent to washington, d.c. we were here with the mandate -- stop the tax hike, repeal this health care law and we'll do that and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, may i inquire again about the time on both sides that remains? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey has 6 minutes and 3/4, and the gentleman from pennsylvania has 8 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. pallone: i will yield now a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from california, ms. lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for a minute and a half. ms. lee: thank you. i thank the gentleman for yielding and also for your unwavering and unrelentless leadership on so many important issues. i rise in strong opposition to the g.o.p. patients rights repeal act. here we go, mr. speaker, wasting the american people's time on voting for this -- on

this bill -- i think it's for the 31st. this tea party majority is so disconnected from reality that this house takes vote after meaningless vote on bills that have no chance of ever becoming law. one of the most conservative cores in the generation found the health care law constitutional and tea party representatives immediately took to the steps of the supreme court to blast the court as activists and promised a full repeal. let's call this what it is, mr. speaker. it's a politically motivated waste of time because republicans have no serious job plan. i will say, though, that the only silver lining in this incredibly sad process is that the tea party has finally named a bill honestly -- patient's rights repeal act, because this bill does exactly that, repeals the millions of patients their right to access to health care.

republicans want to repeal this right staying on parent's health care until they're 26 years old. and pre-existing conditions, republicans want to repeal this right. and may i have an additional 30 seconds. thank you. mr. pallone: i yield the gentlewoman another 30 seconds or would you like a minute? a minute. ms. lee: thank you very much. let me say people will not have under this bill a right and responsibility to see a primary care doctor rather than have taxpayers pay for their primary care emergency -- in emergency rooms. this patient's bills of rights -- or patient's rights repeal act were passed. seniors now have a right to have a reduction in their prescription drugs. this right would be repealed under this g.o.p. patient's

rights bill. this is downright outrageous. health care finally is becoming a right. people in our country deserve health care. they deserve to have the benefits that our society has provided for so many years and helping achieve the american dream. finally they will not have to go bankrupt due to high health care costs. time finally, yes, they will -- finally, yes, they will have a right to health care which the tea party is calling for the repeal as it's called the g.o.p. patient's rights repeal act. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this time i'm pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from montana, mr. rayburg. -- mr. rehberg. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from montana is recognized for one minute. mr. rehberg: at a time when we need to support job creation, raising taxes is the last thing we need to be doing. it makes the problem worse.

couple weeks ago supreme court confirmed that the president's health care law imposes the single largest permanent tax increase in history. worse, nearly half of this regressive tax will hit the struggling middle class. add more than 13,000 pages of new health care regulations so far, and it's easy to see why president obama's economy doesn't create jobs. it's too busy creating government. we need a new direction, but every step the senate stands in the way. the solution,ry peel this harmful law -- repeal this harmful law so we can get to work putting america back to work. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i have no additional speakers at this time so i'll reserve and let my colleague from pennsylvania -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves his time. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this time i'm pleased to yield one minute to the distinguished member from wisconsin, mr. sensenbrenner. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized for one minute.

mr. sensenbrenner: thank you mr. speaker. we heard an awful lot about taxes and the supreme court decision. i would like to talk about a tax that was labeled tax in the affordable care act when it was passed in 2010. the act amended internal revenue section 4980-d and it imposed a tax of $100 per employee per day on any employer that did not follow any mandate of the secretary of health and human services. there was no conscience exemption. there was no religious employer exemption. and $100 per employee per day is $3,6 -- $36,500 per year. that means that a parochial school with 50 employees has to pay a tax of $1,825,000 each year.

the only way to repeal this tax today is to pass this bill. and if this bill is defeated and does not become law we have put all religious employers out of business. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey continues to reserve? mr. pallone: yes, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, i'm pleased at this time to yield one minute to the distinguished member from nebraska, mr. fortenberry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from nebraska is recognized for one minute. mr. fortenberry: i thank the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. speaker, this weekend back home in lincoln, nebraska, at a small business, the shops owner named mary and another woman were engaged in conversation and she saw me and said, oh, i can ask you this question who is going to pay for this health care -- question, who is going to pay for this health care bill? and i answered, yes, that's the right question. right now we are seeing some benefits from some reasonable reforms like being able to keep children on health care policies until they're 26, such as

allowing people with pre-existing conditions on insurance, but there are other hard realities that must be faced here. this bill shifts costs to more unsustainable government spending. it cuts medicare and it erodes health care libertyies. the total cost is now projected to be $1.7 trillion, 21 new taxes in it and many small businesses are going to actually drop coverage or cut jobs. as this moves forward. mr. speaker, there is a better way to move forward. we need the right type of reform that will actually improve outcomes while reducing costs and protecting vulnerable persons. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. does he continue to reserve? mr. pallone: yes, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this time i'm pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, mr. grimm. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. grimm: thank you, mr. speaker. when i was elected to congress i made a promise to the people of stanton island and to brooklyn to repeal obamacare.

tomorrow i will vote again to uphold that promise. we must repeal this overwhelmingly burdensome and costly law which is hurting our economy and impeding job growth to small businesses. it will reduce the american work force by as much as 800,000 and impose $813 billion in -- and 21 new taxes. -- in 21 new taxes. 12 of those taxes impact families making less than $250,000 a year. one of the most devastating provisions within obamacare cuts over a half a trillion dollars from medicare. primarily medicare advantage. i have 107,000 seniors in my district. 38,000 of whom are enrolled in medicare advantage. this is simply reprehensible. and we must repeal this law to protect our seniors and our economy. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new jersey continues to reserve? mr. pallone: yes, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this

time i yield one minute to the gentlelady from new york, ms. buerkle. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. herrera beutler: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise this afternoon -- ms. buerkle: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise as a nurse. i ran for congress because i was opposed to the affordable care act and i stand here today after 18 months of listening to the people in my district, that this law is the wrong law for health care reform in the united states of america. when i hear from my hospitals, my skilled nursing facilities, my physicians, i hear from small businesses and i hear from my seniors, they're all in fear of what this health care law is going to do to them. so i think it is incumbent upon this body, we have a responsibility to the people who live in the united states of america to provide them with true health care reform. reform that truly reduces the cost of health care and improves access to care. and this affordable care act that was just declared

constitution albie the supreme court is not, is not the way to do that. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this time i'm pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from south carolina, mr. mulvaney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized for one minute. mr. mulvaney: thank you, mr. speaker. ivan heard a lot of good reasons to pass this bill and -- i've heard a lot of good reasons to pass this bill and repeal the law. what i haven't heard is we have an opportunity here to help the president keep what of his campaign promises. it's here in bright white letters on a wonderful orange background. i can make a firm pledge under my plan that no family makes less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes. by the way politicians usually speak in language that allows some wiggle room. there's no wiggle room in that particular promise. there's a list here of all the times that that promise has already been broken.

already been broken. we got the last one, the most reeble recent addition to that list last week with the supreme court decision that told us what we've been saying from the very beginning which is that this is yet another tax on families that make less than $250,000. what a great opportunity we have, all of us, both sides of the aisle, we have the opportunity to keep a politician to his promise and we can do exactly that by passing this bill and repealing this law. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i yield myself one minute, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. you know, i'm amazed by the comments that the previous speaker made on the republican side. the fact of the matter is that the affordable care act amounts to a tax cut. right now in the state of new jersey, for people that are paying for their health insurance, we estimate that about $1,000 or $1,500 annually

from their premium is actually going to pay for those who are uninsured. people that, you know, don't have insurance and have to go to the emergency room and then don't pay their bill. once the affordable care act fully kicks in, because of the fact that everyone will be insured and all those people who now go to the emergency room and have no insurance will in fact have coverage, for the people that are paying their premium right now, they're actually going to be paying less. it will be a tax cut because they won't be paying for those people that now are uninsured. and i think it's really incredible because if you think about it, the republicans always talk about responsibility. personal responsibility. how is this fair that people don't have themselves covered, don't carry health insurance and they make other people pay for it? i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this time i'm pleased to yield one minute to the gentlelady from kansas, ms. jenkins. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from kansas is recognized for one minute. ms. jenkins: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. chairman, our current health care insurance system is badly broken. but the president's affordable

care act will only make it worse. it will lead to fewer jobs, more debt and reduced access to quality care. but most importantly, it doesn't even deal with our primary problem. affordability. how can a more affordable solution result in an $800 billion tax hike? of the 21 new tax provisions in this law, 12 will target the middle class. instead of supporting the largest set of tax law changes in more than 20 years under the guise of health reform, we must repeal the law and take the time necessary to replace it with more patient-focused solutions. consumer-driven reforms will allow americans the flexibility to take ownership of their health care costs and the freedom to choose what plan works best for them and their families. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i ask if the gentleman has any additional

speakers? mr. pitts: no. i'm prepared to close. mr. pallone: ok. can i just ask how much time i have, mr. speaker? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey has 31 fourts minutes remaining -- 3 1/4 minutes remaining. mr. pallone: i'll close at this time. mr. speaker, let me say over again, and i know, you know, we've had this debate so many times, that it just really sounds like we just keep repeating the same thing. but this is a very important day at some level because the fact of the matter is the republicans continue with this effort to try to repeal what is probably one of the most important pieces of legislation that has ever passed in the last two years. and in the congress, and has been signed by the president. and the reason for that is because for the first time most americans, probably 98%, 99% of americans, when the affordable care act fully kicks in, will have health insurance. we estimate maybe 30 million, 40 million, perhaps more americans don't have health insurance. there are probably as many who are what we call underinsured.

in other words, they can't buy a good benefit package. the fact of the matter is by 2014 when this bill fully kicks in, when the affordable care act fully kicks in, you'll be able to go on an exchange, either in your state, anywhere in the country, and find a good benefit package, one that's as good probably as what you would get now under blue cross, blue shield, good benefits at an affordable price. that is an amazing thing because what we've been here for 200 years in this country and we were never able to say that that would actually happen. now, you know, i heard my colleagues last night in the rules committee say, well, we have, on the republican side say, we'll just repeal this and come up with a better plan. but they haven't come up with a better plan. they talk about health savings accounts and, you know, malpractice and all these different things that are basically around the edges. they would not pretty much guarantee most americans as they do under the affordable care act, that they would be able to access health insurance. the peace of mind that goes with that.

and all the things, all the benefits that have already kicked in that would be repealed under this bill, the fact that seniors eventually won't have to worry about the doughnut hole and will have the prescription drug coverage no matter how much they actually spend, they'll only have to pay a co-pay, the fact that so many seniors now have preventative care, the fact that kids up to 26 years old can go on their parents' health insurance policies, so many people talk to me about that. the fact that pre-existing conditions for women and others no longer are a factor in terms of your ability to buy health insurance. the fact there are no more lifetime caps, rescissions, all these discriminatory practices that we've had in the past, when you're trying to buy health insurance. the fact of the matter is already over the last two years most of these discriminatory practices have been eliminated and many people may not even realize that it's a result of the affordable care act but the fact that -- is that it is. that's why these discriminatory practices are going away. when i hear the republicans talk about the repeal, you know, last

night the chairman of the rules committee said, well, you know, we'll repeal this and we'll do something and the insurance companies will continue not to have these discriminatory practices. that's simply not true. the insurance companies will go back to the discriminatory practices if you repeal this bill. they'll almost be forced to because the way that this is set up, when everybody has health insurance then the insurance companies can make enough money, if you will so, they don't have to discriminate. but they'll go back to it if this is repealed. so i ask my colleagues, don't keep bringing this up. this is a bad bill. let's defeat it now and let's continue the way we should with the affordable care act in the light of the supreme court's decision. i yield back, mr. chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, if this new law is so outstanding, i wonder why the administration has granted over 1,000 waivers to their friends so they don't have to meet the requirements of

the law. the president promised not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000. he has broken that pledge 20 times with this new law. many of them impacting the middle class that he promised not to raise taxes on. $800 billion in new taxes. my friends, the american people have a clear choice. keep this law, pay the new taxes or take the law off the books. let's start over again with some real free market reforms. i urge support for the bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp is recognized. mr. camp: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. camp: we are here to repeal a law that's fundamentally

flawed and overwhelmingly unpopular. the problem with the law, among its many faults, it puts government at the center of health care decision, not doctors and patients. instead of families and employers deciding what coverage is best for them, the secretary of health and human services makes that choice. instead of families and employers deciding what to spend on insurance, the i.r.s. makes that decision. instead of families and employers deciding if they need or want health insurance in the first place, the government mandates they purchase it. this is all about the government. it is washington knows best and it's wrong. by virtually every measure, this law is a failure. the price tag of the law has doubled, health care premiums are going up. americans are losing the insurance they have and like, taxes are being raised by over one-half trillion dollars and 12 of the 21 new taxes in the law will hit the middle class.

it's paid for with budget gimmicks that the government's own actuaries admit are not workable and according to the congressional budget office, the law hinders job creation, something we can hardly afford after 41 consecutive months of the unemployment rate above 8%. to put it bluntly, this law is bad for workers, seniors, families, patients, doctors, and employers. as the supreme court ruled, the cornerstone of the democrats' health care law, the individual mandate, is a massive tax. the congressional budget office predibblingts that 20 million americans will either pay the tax or be forced to buy insurance they otherwise wouldn't have purchased. 20 million people. only two states in the u.s. have more than 20 million people, california and texas. clearly, this is a major tax with major implications. democrats have argued that the individual mandate was necessary to improve the

nation's health. so what's next? will they require you to purchase low fat or low salt foods or pay a tax because they think it's good for you? house republicans have heard the american people loud and clear. and we will not let government, let alone the i.r.s., dictate your health care. we will repeal this law so you're again tree to choose -- free to choose your health insurance plan, to choose your doctor and to choose the medical treatment that best meet yours needs. most important of all, we will ensure you have the freedom to choose what's best for you and your family. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserve the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: after seven decades of frustrated effort, the congress and president acted on health reform. seven decades this institution wrestled with health reform,

finally it happened. the republican answer, repeal. first it was repeal social security. then repeal medicare. then repeal medicaid. by block granting it to the states. and now the same old song, repeal health care reform. this republican party, the party of repeal, captured by the radical right, will now put insurance companies back in charge of health care and repeal, coverage for 17 million children with pre-existing conditions, repeal coverage for 6.6 million adults now covered you should their parents' insurance plan. repeal tax credits for 360,000 small employers covering two million workers. repeal ending lifetime caps on

insurance for 105 million. and repeal closing of the burdensome doughnut hole for seniors' scription medicines. the republican party of repeal says, repeal and replace. there has not been a single comprehensive bill proposed by the republicans at any point in this session or before. indeed, the only comprehensive health plan presented by the republicans was put forward by mitt romney when governor. and this is how he described his plan as recently as 2010, and i quote. right now, in parts of the country if individuals do not have insurance they can arrive at the hospital and be given free care, paid for by government. our current system is a big government system. a conservative approach is one

that relies on individual responsibility, but in my view, and others are free to disagree, expecting people who can afford to buy insurance to do so is consistent with personal responsibility, and that's a cornerstone of conservatism, end of quote. the one whors free to disagree are his fellow republicans. the massachusetts plan with an individual mandate reflected an original conservative heritage foundation proposal. indeed, bills with an individual responsibility provision have been co-sponsored by republicans for two decades. for two decades. and now, however, they have been captured by the radical right and have taken a 180-degree turn. this repeal bill only deepens and widens the gulf handcuffing

this congress. it's as if we live in two different universes. this is the universe that's lived in by people who have sent letters to -- letters to me. i quote one, for example, from warren, i'm 41 years, diagnose wt a form of arthritis about three years ago. because the supreme court upheld obamacare i don't have to worry anymore, i know that i can't be dropped from my insurance carrier a letter from pamela of madison heights, talking about the premiums that she has had to engage with, this is a nurse, she's seen how many people have been engaged with these costly premiums and she said, i have watched those who have to undergo painful procedures or those who have been given a poor prognosis because they have not had act stose preventive or even standard medical treatment due to the cost. she says, the affordable care

act is right and just. from david in st. clair shores who says, honestly, i'm a republican, but i don't believe the health insurance bill should be repealed. i would look forward to see compromise toward improving the legislation rather than destroying it entirely. then from nancy of clinton township, who write this is, the part of the care act that is most important to my family, even my republican husband, is the provision for our cliege-age -- college-age daughter. our insurance dropped her at the age of 19 and we had to buy a separate policy that was very expensive and had poor coverage. now we can save several thousands of dollars a year, which helps her with education. and it makes me sad that more don't understand how wonderful this is. i would like the message to get out to more people. it makes me sad, she says, that

more people don't understand how wonderful this is. you know, families have had lots to worry about since trying to recover from the worst recession in decades. so instead of making it harder for them putting insurance companies back in the driver's seat, we should be doing this. i'm on the ways and means committee, the ranking member, the chairman is here, we've had jobs bills thrown into the hopper that never come forth. so today, we're going through the motions of repealing for the 32nd time. what we need, for the first time, is to get the bills that are lodged in ways and means on jobs, get them out on the floor and work together instead of against each other and against the interests of the american people.

i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: i would note our health care bill is the only bill scored by the congressional budget office that reduces premiums. i yield two and a half minutes to the distinguished chairman of the health subcommittee, the gentleman from california, mr. herger. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two and a half minutes. mr. herger: thank you. we have heard many perspectives on what the supreme court did in its health care ruling. i want to focus on what the court's decision did not change. the supreme court's ruling did not change the fact that the democrats' health law makes it more expensive for employers to hire workers. businesses in my district have put their expansion plans on hold because they are worried about higher costs. this law was bad for jobs when it was passed, and it is still bad for jobs now. the court's ruling did not

change the perverse incentives in the president's law that will encourage some employers to drop their health benefits. millions of americans will lose the coverage they have and like. that was true when this law was passed and it's still true now. the court's ruling did not change the failure of the president's law to reduce health care costs. the administration's own medicare actuaries concluded that this law will actually increase the overall cost of health care and c.b.o. found it will raise health care insurance premiums as well. this was a serious failure when the law was passed and it's still a serious failure today. the court's rulings did not change the 21 new taxes in the democrats' health care law. in fact, the ruling highlights

how the president's law raises americans' taxes to pay for an unsustainable new program at a time when unemployment remains far too high. these tax hikes hurt our economy when they were passed and they're still hurting our economy today. that's why i began advocating for repeal of this bad law as soon as it was passed and why i still support repeal today. vote yes for repeal. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i yield myself 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: if are-peel occurred in california, it would mean the loss of coverage for 435,000 young adults. it also would mean over 12 million californians would lose the ability to be sure that their lifetime limits would not

kick in. i now yield three minutes to the chairman from new york -- the gentleman from new york, mr. rangel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. rangel: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. rangel: i know that history will reflect that this presidential election started much earlier than most of them do. as a matter of fact, it starred the very day that president obama was sworn in. and the honesty of this republican party was for them to say that the strategy for getting back the white house was to make certain that their primary job was to get rid of obama. the destruction of the president of the united states and everything he stood for, every piece of legislation, every idea, had to be destroyed.

as their strategy. not for america, but for their party. well, i assumed that this was just political rhetoric. i didn't put too much importance attached to it. but when the debt ceiling came, i felt it was just a little republican ploy of playing chick ton see how much they could get. but when i saw they were prepared to allow the fiscal integrity of the united states of america and what it represented to go down the drain just to embarrass the president, then i had to take another look to see just how far would they go. then comes recently the attorney general, where we just didn't seem to care what kind of bad history we're making for this great republic. we were going to, for the first time in history, hold him in contempt and turn it over to the justice department to see what they could do to the president. and then of course comes the tax cut for 98% of the american

people. i never heard in political science 101 how you tell 98% of the american people that they're going to be held hostage for a tax cut or continuation of the tax cut that they have. but i think when it gets to health care, you don't have to be religious to understand that you're talking about a right to live, a life to improve the quality of your life, to give children, not necessarily your children, but any child, a better way of life. the ability to be able to say that even if you had a precondition, you are entitled to health care. and when someone comes up with this great idea, the whole thing that it is the person who thought about it, that decides whether you're going to either support it, repair it, make it better, perfect it, or to repeal it. to leave nothing out there

except that, trust us, we're going to replace it, it is so unfair to the american people. they could only dream that one day health care would be something that as an american, as a human being, they would be entitled. the things that are happening now by the majority party in this house is very contagious. because a lot of young democrats think this is the way to govern. a lot of democrats are coming here thinking that the more mean you get, the more successful. it's bad for this congress, and it's bad for our great country. mr. camp: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the select revenue subcommittee, the gentleman from ohio, mr. tiberi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for two minutes. mr. tiberi: thank you, mr. chairman, thank you, mr. speaker. the president said throughout the debate of health care, if you like what you have, you can keep it. employers have told us that's simply not true. the president said throughout

the debate and since on the health care bill, the mandate is not a tax. a couple of weeks ago the supreme court disdisagreed and said the mandate was a -- disagreed and said the mandate was a tax. today in this capitol, an executive of white castle, a company headquartered in columbus, ohio, a family-owned, family-run business with almost 10,000 employees, they've been providing health insurance to their full time employees since 1924 and he testified today that the bill is a tax and that it will impact their ability to provide health care to their employees. their health care may be too generous and they'll be taxed. their health care may not be generous enough and they'll be taxed. furthermore he testified that white castle will not expand. they've put on hold expansion of 400 to 500 jobs that would be

created with their expansion beyond the 12 states they're in. one day i got a call from another employer in my district with 48 individuals. he'd just come from his tax preparer who told him not to expand his business. not to expand his business. he provides health care to his employees. but he was told not to go over 50 because he'd have to comply with the federal government and the federal bureaucracy, new rules, new taxes, new regulations. and we're supposed to grow our economy, he said to me, pat, we're supposed to grow our economy, the private sector? ladies and gentlemen, crob estimated that this bill -- c.b.o. estimated that this bill will cost 800,000 jobs by 2021. this is not a commonsense bill that became law. let's repeal the bill and replace it with provisions that will expand access and affordability. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition?

mr. bishop: mr. speaker, i send to the desk a privileged report for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: report to accompany house resolution 726, resolution providing for consideration of the bill, h.r. 4402, to require the secretary of the interior and the secretary of agriculture to more efficiently develop domestic sources of the minerals and mineral materials of strategic and critical importance to the united states national security and manufacturing competitiveness. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i now yield two minutes to the distinguished member from washington, a member of our committee, mr. mcdermott. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized for two minutes. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, i love this cartoon.

according to the republicans, we're out here raising the biggest tax on people ever. now, in this cartoon you'll see the woman got into her car, she didn't put her seatbelt on. it was a choice, right? she's now being fined. but she says, no, it's the biggest tax increase in history. that's what's going on here today. it is a joke, there is with the individual mandate everybody gets a choice. whether you're going to put your safety belt, your health care safety belt on or not. the principle of personal responsibility, if you can buy health insurance and can afford it, you have to buy it. or pay a penalty. now, otherwise you're passing the cost on to us. you're a freeloader. the republicans are glorifying freeloaders. people who say they don't want

to pay if they can. now, the speaker said, don't spike the football if we win in the supreme court. what you should have said was, don't kick the water cooler. what's going on in the floor today is another pointless time-wasting exercise. it's the 31st time the republicans have tried to repeal the bill. now, as a psychiatrist i'm qualified to say this. one definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. the game is over. the referee, john roberts, blew the whistle. it's over, guys. why don't we have the speaker call us when we're ready to get down here and talk about real things like jobs and the economy and stop giving people the idea that they're going to be scared to death. less than 1% of americans will choose to be irresponsible and

not buy health insurance if they can. vote no on this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield two minutes to a distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentleman from louisiana, dr. boustany. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for two minutes. mr. boustany: thank you, mr. speaker. i as a physician of over 30 years of experience taking care of patients, i'm certainly family with the problems -- familiar with the problems in our health care system. mr. speaker, this law has not created the kind of reforms that are needed for our health care system. let's talk about seniors for a moment. this law cuts over $500 billion out of medicare program. it's going to hurt seniors. i know this from my own personal experience having dealt with seniors and seniors' health care. we have not fixed the mismatch between cost and reimbursement. this is leading to accelerating access problems for seniors and

others to good, high-quality health care and a good doctor-patient relationship. it's going to force seniors to travel further, to wait longer, depriving them of regular access to a physician that they know and trust. we haven't solved the problem of affordability. portability is something americans cared about. owning your own health insurance and carrying it wherever you go. we have ways of dealing with that. that has not been solved with this law. taxes. nearly 800 -- $800 billion in new taxes and the total keeps growing. 21 new taxes on every aspect of the american economy. there's no wonder this economy's in the doldrums. it's no wonder we have 41 quarters of unemployment exceeding 8%. this is unacceptable. another 800,000 jobs at risk as my colleague mentioned earlier. plus c.b.o. reports that the health insurance tax, something that hasn't been talked about much, on small businesses will be passed, will be passed through to the consumers in the form of higher premiums for

private coverage. experts also warn it will cause massive disruptions in how medicine's practiced. it will accelerate the demise of the independent practice of medicine which is a threat to the doctor-patient relationship, creating all kinds of conflicts of interest from a bureaucratic board telling physicians what to do to all these other bureaucratic entities between the doctor and patient. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional 30 seconds. mr. boustany: this is a distancer and that's why we must repeal this bill in the name of quality, in the name of cost and in the name of getting this economy back on track. i yield back. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i yield myself 10 seconds. the gentleman from louisiana voted for the $500 billion in medicare savings twice. you've come here and criticized it. i guess -- criticized i guess yourself. i now yield two minutes to the

gentleman from georgia, distinguished member of our committee, mr. lewis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, we have been down this road before. we've been here 31 times before. voting to repeal the affordable care act, we're wasting time. the american people are suffering. they've lost their jobs, their home and more than 50 million uninsured are worried about whether their one -- they're one illness away from disaster. the affordable care act was a historic and necessary step to cover all americans. and all the republicans can say is repeal. these are the same people that fought against medicare and social security. people get it.

if not for medicare, where would our seniors be? where would they turn? health care is a right and it is not a privilege. not just for some people, but for all people. we cannot and we will not go back. do you want to go back? do you want people to be afraid to have a checkup? do you want the only doctor people see to be in an emergency room? the affordable care act is moving us away from this tragic and toward insurance coverage for all americans. we have come too far, suffered too long to go back. too much progress has been made with the affordable care act to go back.

the american people will not be fooled this time. vote no on repeal and get to work putting the american people back to work. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i yield two minutes to a distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. black. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from tennessee is recognized for two minutes. mrs. black: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, i'm incredibly disappointed by the supreme court's ruling to uphold the president's health care law. but one thing the supreme court's decision does not change is the need for obamacare to be repealed immediately. the fact is the president -- that president obama's signature achievement, obamacare, is a tax hike on the middle income class. since i took office in 2010, ivan been fighting -- ivan been fighting every day -- i've been fighting every day to repeal obamacare and i will not rest until this goal is achieved.

as a small businesswoman and a nurse for over 40 years, i know that obamacare is not only the wrong medicine for our health care system, it's also a disaster for our economy. obamacare's new regulations, taxes and mandates are crushing our already weak economy. now, 3/4 of the small businesses say that the law is preventing them from hiring people. and that has left millions of middle class americans jobless and without a way to provide for their family. i look forward to voting tomorrow once again to fully repeal obamacare. and i hope this time that the senate gets the message loud and clear. it's long past time for the senate to follow the house's lead and strike down this disastrous law. thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i yield myself 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: in tennessee, as of

december, 2011, 59,000 young adults in tennessee gained insurance coverage because of a.c.a. and almost 800,000 with medicare received free preventive services. almost 800,000. i now yield two minutes to the very distinguished colleague of mine from massachusetts, a member of our committee, mr. neal. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for two minutes. mr. neal: thank you, mr. levin. i hope this debate ensues, what we can perhaps call this for the next hour. instead of obamacare, why don't we call it romneycare? this is based upon the massachusetts model that governor romney signed with ted kennedy standing next to him. anybody who knows anything about insurance markets, you know the following. you can't say as our republican friends are saying by the way in print and in televised

appearances, they're all saying, oh, i like the idea of ending pre-existing condition. oh, i like the idea of keeping 26-year-olds on their parents' health insurance. oh, i very much like the idea of ending lifetime caps. oh, i very much like the idea of preventive service. well, that's what's in the legislation that we passed. those numbers polled very well with the american people and by the way the trend line continues in this direction. but if you know something about automobile insurance, it's not just on friday night you driving along knowing you have insurance, that you need to be concerned about. it's the man or woman driving the other way towards you you hope has automobile insurance as well. the massachusetts plan polls very well. not everybody in massachusetts,

contrary to what some might think, is a democrat. although 64% of the people in massachusetts are republicans and independents. 70% north approve of the health care plan that was duly negotiated with hospitals, the business community, organized labor, everybody had a seat at the table. remember this as we proceed through this vote today -- tomorrow. this is the offering that bob dole suggested the bill -- suggested to bill clinton. this is the offering that senator chafee from rhode island offered to bill clinton. the mandate was a republican proposal and came from the heritage foundation and it's the only vote of -- bone of contention in this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: thank you, i yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the human resources subcommittee, mr. davis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized for two minutes.

mr. davis: i rise in support of the repeal of obamacare act. though the supreme court's decision is disappointing, it does not change the truth of the president's health care law. it outsources medicare decisions to an unelected board, interferes with the doctor-patient relationship and threatens consumers with fewer options and higher premiums. the health care law is paid for with more than $800 billion in taxes and another $500 billion or more in medicare cuts. all told, we're left with 21 tax increetses, including the individual mandate which imposes a federal tax for inaction. imagine what a future congress could tax you on for not doing. not eating frutes and vegetables, not buying a car, not exercising daily to their standards. it's seemingly endless and frightening. on top of that the internal revenue service is the official

enforcement cop for the health care service, a powerful role requiring the hiring of thousands of new i.r.s. employees. the takeaway, it does little to bring affordable care for americans. we can't mistake the supreme court's ruling for an evaluation of good policy. at the of justice robert's majority opinion, he writes, and i quote, the court does not express an opinion on the wisdom of the affordable care act. under the constitution that is left to the people and they have judged it. we must repeal it and redouble our efforts to start anew on reforls to start patient access and quality of care. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i yield myself 20 second. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

mr. levin: there's a reference to disaster in kentucky, 45,000 young adults in kentucky gained insurance coverage. since it was enacted, kentucky residents with medicare saved a total of $68 million. 58 bush 538,000 people with medicare in kentucky received free preventive service. that isn't disaster, that's progress. i now yield to mr. thompson, two minutes, our distinguished colleague on the ways and means committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. thompson spb i thank the gentleman for queeleding. i rise in opposition to this legislation that represents the 31st time that we have voted or will vote to repeal parts or all of the affordable care act. instead of staging these political games, we should be spending our time strengthening the reforms that were made in

the affordable care act and working together to put people back to work. the affordable care act was passed in response to a national crisis. businesses and individuals could not afford to buy health insurance. hospitals, doctors, and clinics provided more than $100 billion a year in uncompensated care. $50 million in my district alone. the good fairy doesn't come and reimburse them for this care. these costs are passed on to all of us who have health insurance in higher taxes and higher premiums. to the tune of $1,000 a year in higher health insurance premiums. people with pre-existing conditions could not bet coverage. people in my district were hitting their lifetime caps or even annual caps and being dropped by their insurance company. others were self-employed and simply couldn't afford to buy

private insurance on the open market. this was the national crisis that we worked to try to fix. this is the national crisis that the majority party would like to go back to. it's not right and it's not good for america and it's not good for americans. so on behalf of the millions of americans who are already benefiting from the affordable care act, i urge a no vote on this legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from illinois, mr. schock. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. schock: thank you, mr. chairman. i want to rise and offer a few facts. there's been a lot of opinion going around here today, we're all entitled to our own opinion, but we're not entitled to our own facts. president obama famously said, and i quote if you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care

plan, period, end quote. the congressional budget office released a fact that 20 million people are expected to lose their health insurance coverage if this law stands. 20 million americans who currently have health insurance will lose it under this plan. fact. why? because of bad provisions of the bill. 71 out of the fortune 100 companies will save $422 billion by eliminating their employer-providing insurance and opt instead to pay the $2,000 per employee penalty instead. it incentivizes pad behavior, precisely the opposite of the stated goal. another claim the president repeated was, quote, under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of any tax increase period. end quote. yet only after much reason obamacare was found

constitutional, yet the primary reason the justices upheld the individual mandate is under congress' taxing authority. the truth is, 76% of those paying this new individual mandate tax in 2016 will in fact be individuals who make only $59,000 or a family of four who makes $120,000, far below the threshold, the promise, and the guarantee of president obama's $250,000. timely, my friends on the other side of the aisle claim the health care spending would risely bia mere bargain of only $938 billion. there was much to do, i remember, about then-speaker announcing it was below $1 trillion yet the congressional budget office updated their number to cost $1.8 trillion just this next decade. for those reasons and more, we need to repeal this bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i yield myself 30

seconds. there's a reference from the gentleman fromi about facts. let me mention the facts. as of december, 2011, 125,000 young adults in illinois gained insurance coverage. since it was enacted, illinois residents with medicare have saved a teal of $155 million on scription drugs and 1,350,000 people in illinois with medicare have received free preventive services. those are the facts about health care reform. i now yield two minutes to the gentleman from oregon, another very distinguished member of our committee, mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you. i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in permitting me to speak on this bill and i appreciate him framing the difference that the legislation makes. that's why in a sense i welcome the 31st running of this soap

opera here on the floor of the house where our republican colleagues have attempted to repeal the affordable care act. it will have a little more credibility if they actually had a meaningful alternative that would take the place, that would do the things that this legislation is in the process of doing. bear in mind that this legislation over the course of the next 20 years is going to reduce overall government spending by over $1 trillion. it reforms medicare, not by slashing benefits to senior citizens, but by changing the priorities and the overpayment for medicare advantage, which does shift, as my colleagues say, a half trillion dollars. but it uses it to reform

medicare and pay for medical benefits for the american public. what my friends on the other side of the aisle don't say is that they take the half trillion dollars, but they don't invest it in strengthening medicare. they use it in their budget, the same $500 billion to finance tax cuts for americans who need them the least. the wealthiest, most well off americans use this $500 billion for additional tax cuts. what we have done is to move forward, and it has nothing to do with broccoli, because if you don't happen to like broccoli, you don't have to eat it. but what's different is that under this system, -- may i have an additional minute? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional one minute. mr. blumenauer: that no one can force the rest of us to buy

their broccoli. unfortunately, the american health care system now is forcing many of us to pay for the uninsured, 60% of whom go to an emergency room or doctor's office every year. that's why go go -- governor romney had a mandate of tax or whatever you call it, to be able to move this forward. that's what the legislation is modeled on. it's making a difference already for americans in terms of young people on their parents' coverage, small businesses, more than a third of a million who have been able to have tax credits to extend health care, and there's more along the way. the more we debate this, the more the american public understands the benefits of the legislation and the more the support grows. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: i yield two minutes

to a distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentleman from new york, mr. reed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. reed: thank you, mr. speaker, thank you, mr. chairman, for yielding two minutes to me to address this important topic. i rise to stand in strong support for the repeal of obamacare. i think it's only right and just that we be open and honest with the hardworking taxpayers of america and that's why it's important we have the vote on the floor tomorrow so the american people with the back drop of the supreme court decision clearly articulating what obamacare is, it is clear, an expansion of 130-plus agencies, a significant tax increase with 20-plus tax increases that are now clearly delineated and described by the supreme court as such. so when we vote tomorrow, we vote on a clear record, and i gladly came here to washington,

d.c., stand up to downsize the federal government, to cut taxes, not increase them. and also, as we stand in regards to this repeal, we must be cognizant of the fact that under obamacare, medicare is cut $500 billion. there can be no mistake about it. let us be clear with the american people as we go through this upcoming debate that will be ultimately decided in november. that we need to protect medicare, preserve it, reform it, not cut it like this bill does. so when the votes are cast tomorrow, i think ultimately the record will be clear. -- will be clear, where each and every one of us stands, and i stand, and i hope all my colleagues stand with me to repeal this legislation, which increases taxes, expands government, threatens the job creators of today and tomorrow with a burden that scares them from making the hiring decisions that are going to put people back to work today, which is the number one issue that we face in america and

that we are here in washington standing firm to stand for. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i yield myself 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: the gentleman voted on that $500 million medicare provision twice. as of 2011, 160,000 young adults in new york gained insurance coverage because of health care reform. since it was enacted, new yorkers with medicare have saved a teal of $270 million on the scription drugs. in 2011, two million people with medicare in new york received free preventive services. since 2010, over three million new yorkers with private health insurance gained preventive insurance. can i ask the gentleman from michigan how many speakers he has -- first, let me ask, how much time is there on each side? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, has 7