gotten us a little bit into the silly season. if you go to the state of massachusetts website and you look at the romney care plan, what they say is that if you're able to afford insurance, but decide not to get it, you will pay a penalty, collected through the tax system. a penalty collected through the tax system. obamacare is modeled on romney care. and as governor romney understood at one time, if you say to people who can afford health insurance, it's ok that you don't get it. just show up at the hospital and everybody else will pay your bill through their higher premiums or taxpayers who have to pay uncompensated care to hospitals. that's free riding on the system. that's free loading on the system. that's saying to every other

person, every other taxpayer, that other people should be responsible for paying for the health care bill of the person who chooses not to get health care coverage. and yes, if you can afford health care coverage but you decide to free ride on other people, then there's a little penalty under this bill, just as there is under governor romney's proposal. a proposal, by the way, that was once widely supported by our republican colleagues when they talked about the importance of personal responsibility and the importance of making sure that people who are going to use the health care system took some responsibility for paying for their health care system. and now i yield one minute to the gentlelady from ohio, ms. captor. -- ms. kaptur. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. kaptur: i would like to

thank ranking member van hollen. i rise again to oppose the republicans' destructive attempt to repeal the accord -- affordable care law. their 31st such attempt. in ohio already the law has been making a difference for hundreds of thousands of people, middle class families, nearly 100,000 young adults have been able to remain on their parents' health insurance plans. in the first five months of this year, over 700 seniors any many hometown of toledo, ohio have collectively saved over half a million dollars in scription drug costs. last year, 1.2 million medicare beneficiaries in highway receive freed preventive care from their doctors like mammograms and colonoscopies. insurance companies are now paying out over 11 million in rebates. to ohio families -- in rebates to ohio families because they did not spend enough on paying for health care. over four million ohioans, including 1.5 million women and

1.1 million children have seen their insurance companies drop the lifetime and annual limits on care they had previously imposed. the republicans here in the house of representatives are wanting to take away all these benefits and what is the republican plan to replace it? nothing. the republicans plan to replace it is nothing. mr. ranking member, i thank you so much for yielding the time and i yield back any remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the chairman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: i yield a minute and a half to mr. rokita from indiana. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. rokita: i thank the chairman and the speaker. my 18 months here, one thing has been clear and that, just like so many bills this bill isn't just about the underlying subject. what this bill is about is controlling the individual. what this bill is about is government oversight, government control, government

decision making by bureaucrats hundreds of miles away from us over something that should be between us and our doctor. i do agree with the gentlewoman from ohio. this bill, this law, has already made a difference. the facts are clear. obamacare will add trillions of dollars in new taxes, increase our $16 trillion national debt by hundreds of billions of dollars, cause millions of americans to lose their health insurance, destroy jobs, increase health premiums and impose new costs on states and penalize american innovation. it's making a difference. in indiana i also agree with the gentlewoman from ohio, in indiana shows just how harmful this law will be to the hoosiers i represent. for fema purchasing insurance in indiana's individual market, premiums are expected to increase 75% to 90% since passage of obamacare my state has seen five insurance carriers withdraw from the individual market, resulting in

less choice and less competition for indiana consumers. it will cost between $10.4 and $18.3 million annually. yes, mr. speaker, this law is making a difference. a bad difference. as the house votes again to repeal president obama's unpopular health care law, the american people must continue to make their voices heard, end of story. personal health care decisions should be made between individuals and their doctors. obamacare passed more than two years ago. in the infamous words of the house leadership at that time, we have now had a chance to see what's in it and the fact remains, we do not like it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. >> i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland reserves the balance of his time. the chairman from wisconsin is recognized. mr. ryan: at them this time i yield one minute to the gentleman from indiana, mr. young.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized for one minute. mr. young: thank you, mr. speaker. my friends on the other side of the aisle keep saying we should focus on jobs so let's look at how obamacare has impacted jobs and economy. a few numbers. 48% of business owners say the potential cost of health care coverage under obamacare is the reason why they're not hiring additional workers. 74% of small businesses said the law will make it harder to hire new employees. states like my home state of indiana would be hit particularly hard. among the 21 new taxes found in obamacare, there is a 2.3% excise tax on the profits from medical device companies. now, indiana and southern indiana in particular is home to dozens of these businesses. it employs over 20,000 hoosier jobs in this medical device sector. because of the negative effect on our economy, we must start over and get health care reform done the right way. in the light of day, with bipartisan support and with due deliberation i hope we can do

that. that's why i'm proud to co-sponsor this first step, the repeal obamacare act. i urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it, too. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from maryland. mr. van hollen: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. ryan: i'd like to yield one minute to the distinguished lady from wyoming, mrs. lummis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from wyoming is recognized for one minute. mrs. lummis: thank you, mr. speaker. let's review the top 10 reasons why obamacare is wrong for women. higher insurance costs. that's already happening. 20 new taxes. that's coming. the likely loss of your current insurance. we know that's coming. losing dependent coverage, that's already happening. employers losing rights of conscience over morally offensive procedures, already in litigation. the overwhelming of the medicaid programs that are in states that participate in the

extension. lots of control over family health care decisions. doctors' shortages. a real concern in my state of wyoming. and employers cutting back work hours for their employees to 25 a week, 25 hours a week to avoid the costly mandate. loss of child-only health insurance policies. and now $210 billion added to the deficit over 10 years. mr. speaker, congress passed a bad law. the president signed a bad law. the supreme court upheld a bad law. let's repeal it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentlelady from maryland. mr. van hollen: may i inquire how much time is remaining? the speaker pro tempore: 3 1/2 minutes. mr. van hollen: i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. mr. van hollen: mr. speaker,

during the debate over passage of the health care bill, obamacare, we heard a campaign of massive distortions. we heard it was going to create death panels. not true. we heard it was going to be a government takeover of health care. the independent plit fact called that the 2010 lie of the year. now we hear it's going to wreak havoc on the economy when the head of the congressional budget office, our nonpartisan referee, just said two weeks ago that they don't think this bill's having any significant impact on the economy. and on and on -- and on. we heard from our republican colleagues they were going to repeal and replace. we've now repealed this 31 times in the house. no replacement. and what does that mean? that's the status quo.

our colleagues make it sound like the status quo is just great. in the health care system. when the insurance companies got to run the show when they got to deny kids coverage, even if they had asthma or diabetes and pre-existing conditions, when they got to say, you're not covered if you're 22 years old, you can't stay on your parents health care bill, when premiums doubled between 2000 and 2006, while insurance company profits quadrupled, that's what the republicans are proposing. to go to -- are proposing to go back to. we continue to hear this distortion about medicare. the reality is that we reduced some of the big taxpayer subsidies to the private medicare plan. some of them were being subsidized 140% of fee per service. average subsidy, 114%. we used some of those savings to eliminate the prescription drug doughnut hole that seniors fell into. to eliminate many of the co-pays preventive care

services. now the republican budget that every republican in this house has voted for, that mitt romney has endorsed, they took all that $500 billion in savings, every penny. but you know what? they didn't plow one penny back into strengthening medicare benefits. they would reopen the prescription drug doughnut hole . so that's what this debate is all about. trying to make sure that we provide the best health care we can at the best price. and to witness this effort, to deny patients across this country the same kind of patient protections that members of this congress have, i think is something that the american people, when they focus on this, as they clearly are, will clearly reject. what we should be doing, instead of taking away from millions of americans the kind of patient protections that members of congress have, what we should be doing is focusing

on jobs and the economy. and it is a shame that as we're going to vote tomorrow for the 31st time to repeal obamacare, we haven't had a single vote on the president's jobs initiative. an initiative that he brought before this body last september . he was at the podium with a presiding officer -- where the presiding officer stands now. he asked this congress to pass this jobs initiative. not a single vote on that. and yet here we are, our 31st vote to repeal the kind of patient protections that members of congress enjoy. repeal them for the american people. so, mr. speaker, i hope that our colleagues will reject this effort. i know the american people have already made it clear through their voices and their response

to surveys that they want to move on. they want to move on, they want to deal with jobs and they want to deal with the economy and they want to end the political charades. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the chairman from wisconsin is recognized. mr. ryan: may i inquire to how much time remains? the speaker pro tempore: four minutes. mr. ryan: i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, here's why we're doing this. if the facts that we now know today about this law were available when this law was being debated, there's no way this would have become law. this is effectively a government takeover of 17% of our economy, the health care sector. it was sold on a number of promises by the president that are now broken promises. taxes? there are 21 tax increases in this law, 12 of which hit people who are low and middle

income earners. remember the line, if you like the health care plan you have, you can keep it? ha. completely not true. what about the idea that this is going to lower health care premiums, they've been going up ever since the law passed. they're going up next year, they're going up even more. here's the fear. what we worry is going to happen, what is happening, is you're going to have what we call about five health insurers left. blue cross, united. that's the big joke in washington. you'll have about five big massive health insurers who are de facto public, providing government extension companies like your utility company. except they're going to be controlling your health care. people say, we should focus on jobs instead of this bill. this is about jobs. the c.b.o. is selling -- telling us it could cost us

800,000 jobs. i remember talking to an employer in southern wisconsin not too long ago, family business, a big family business, a private business. the woman who runs this business, whose grandfather founded it, had tears coming down her face. because she provides health insurance for her employees, about $17,000 for a family plan, she's proud to do it. her competitors notified her at one of her trade association meetings, they're publicly traded, that they are going to have to dump everybody in obamacare and just pay the $2,000 per person fine. $15,000 difference per person between herself and her competitors. she was tell meg that she felt she had no choice. when the time came to dump her people into obamacare. that's what's going to happen in this country.

people get dumped into obamacare, obamacare will underpay providers, providers will go out of business, they'll overcharge the private sector and we'll get a vicious cycle. here is the awful irony about this. we can have affordable access to a health insurance for everybody in america including people with pre-existing conditions without this government takeover. that's why we do believe in replace. that's why we advocated then and we continue to advocate today for patient-centered heament care reforms -- health care reforms. deal with the discriminatory tax treatment on health care. get transparency and price, quality and outcomes so people can really shop. have pooling mechanisms so people can buy health insurance, help those with pre-existing conditions. save medicare and medicaid by harnessing the power of choice and competition. have the providers compete against each other for our business as patients instead of hoping that the winds of some

government bureaucrat will favor us when they make their next price-controlling and rationing decision. we can do better than this. here's the reason why we're doing this. a few weeks ago we had two chances to repeal and therefore replace this law. now we have one. the supreme court upheld this law. that doesn't make it good policy. the one chance left and yes this is the 31st time and i fear we're going to have to do it the 32nd time because the one chance left is that the american people, through their elected representatives, through the house of representatives, the senate and the president has one more chance before this law is fully implemented in 2014 to repeal this law and replace it with true patient-centered health care reform and that is why we're doing this today. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chairman yields back. with regard to remarks of our previous speaker in the debate, the chair would remind members

it is not in order to suggest dishonesty on the part of the president such as stating that he was not being straight with us.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for 15 minutes. >> mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: i support this legislation to repeal the new health care law which will shrink jobs, increase taxes and limit americans' freedoms. although the supreme court has delivered its decision on obamacare, it is the people whose verdict counts the most.

the american people have consistently rejected this costly and ineffective government takeover of the health care sector. they realize the law fail ours families, drives up the cost of health care, undermines the doctor-patient relationship, tramples on the religious liberty of millions of americans, and vastly expands the role of the federal government. after the supreme court decision, we now know that obamacare is a massive tax hike on the middle class. while the supreme court may have declared the law constitutional, that does not mean it is good policy for the american people. obamacare forces millions of americans to abandon their current health care plans and give up the physician of their choice. a recent "reuters" poll found that 56% of respondents oppose obamacare and 61% obeas the

individual man tate. with the cost in massive middle class tax increase this imposes, these poll numbers, frankly, are not a surprise. this massive tax hike on the middle class must be repealed. only when obamacare is fully repealed can we enact real reforms that reduce health care costs without restricting the rights of americans. one reform congress should consider to lower costs is medical liability reform. medical liability reform will reduce the cost of health care by decreasing the waste in our system caused by defensive medicine. this practice occurs when doctors are forced by the threat of laults to conduct tests and prescribe drugs that are not medically required. according to a harvard university study, 40 noveget medical malpractice lawsuits in

the united states lack evidence of medical error or any actual patient injury. many of these suits amount to legalized extortion of doctors and hospitals. the congressional budget office estimates that lawsuit abuse reform would save taxpayers $48 billion over the next 10 years. the american people do not want obamacare. as their representatives, we must repeal obamacare and enact real health care reforms that lower costs, increase access to health care and preserve the fundamental freedoms of all americans. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 15 minutes. >> i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

mr. conyers: this has been an unusual debate in congress over an extremely important matter. what we have witnessed and listened to today for the 31st time is something that i would like to spare our conservative friends the heavy responsibility of trying to go back to their district to explain why they voted to allow insurance companies to theny coverage for 17 million children with pre-existing conditions. i would like them not to have to explain why they voted to kick over 6.5 million youngsters up to age 26 off

their families' insurance policies. i do not want my dear friends on the other side of the aisle to explain why their community hospitals will again have to provide free care to people without insurance to pay for the medical costs of the uninsured, medical providers, of course, pass these costs on to private insurance, private insurers, which pass them on to families. increasing premiums, on average, about $1,000. you can tell families paying this hidden tax why they want to impose it. i don't want them to have to try to explain that. i don't want my conservative friends in this body to explain

to the 13 million americans who won't receive $1.1 billion in rebate this is summer from health insurance companies that have overcharged them. and so it goes on and on. we don't want anyone here to have to explain to the 105 million americans who will have to face a lifetime limit on their coverage why they would want to allow insurance companies to deny them coverage once they got sick, and then of course there's the pre-existing conditions that are an excuse to first of all not insure for health insurance, but in addition, to deny insurance once they have it. if they feel that it is a

long-term illness. we don't want any of our conservative friends to leave the house, to have to go home to explain to the 360,000 small business employers who use small business health care tax credit to help them afford health insurance for two million workers that they will not get it any longer. finally, this bill will not -- they will not have to explain why this bill promotes the fiction that repealing the affordable health care act won't increase the deficit. we can't keep doing this. i hope nobody's thinking about 32 or 33 times. there has been no comparable

debate over major legislation that has been through this kind of tortured process in recent memory. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from section is reck -- from texas is recognized. mr. smith: i yield one minute to the gentleman from california, mr. lungren, a distinguished member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lungren: thank you for yielding. the chairman of the budget committee, mr. ryan, has outlined very -- in very much detail how the current law, some call it obamacare, some call it the patient protection affordable care act of 20 10, does not do what it claims to. it in fact does not protect the patient and it does not provide affordable care. he also pointed out that when

this bill was argued on this floor and in the other body, it was denied time and time again that it was a tax. we recall the president of the united states on several public occasions denied it was a tax. and yet, he had his administration argue before the u.s. supreme court on the question of constitutionality that it was a tax. the american people view the federal government as an entity. and what have they seen with respect to this as it went from the executive brampling to the legislative branch to the judiciary? they find that they were played. they find that what they were told at one point was not that which it was at the other point. if you look at the supreme court's decision, they had to first consider whether this was a tax under what's known as the

anti-injunction act. the anti-injunction act essentially says you can't content a tax until it has been visited upon you. and the question was, since the individual mandate conceived as a tax, doesn't come into effect for some time, how could it be before the court? so the court said, for purposes of standing, it is not a tax. and then they went and analyzed the individual mandate and said is it constitutional under the commerce clause? no. is it constitutional under the necessary and proper clause or the spending clause? no. but then they said, we will interpret this mandate, this penalty, as a tax for purposes of constitutionality, as argued by the administration, which had denied it when it was arguing that case here in the house of representatives and the united states senate. is it any wonder people are cynical about this? is it any wonder that people begin to lose their confidence

in a government that will not present facts consistently to them? i will not say there were any intentional lies made, but i will say that the american people have to question, do they have confidence in their government when they say one thing at one time and say another thing at another. in fact, now, by virtue of the supreme court decision, is the largest single tax on the middle class of america in history. that's what we're talking about. can we do bet her we believe we can. we believe that you can provide affordable health care for the american people without the largest single middle class tax in the history of the nation, which puts the federal government in the position of being between the patient and the doctor. it is the antithesis of

patient-centered health care. that's why we're here. not because we believe the present system is perfect. we think it is broke . the status quo is not acceptable. but we believe that this bill, because macare that is before this congress right now, is unacceptable to the american people because it exacerbates the problems that we find in our health care delivery system. that's why we're here. the fact of the matter is, we have voted several times to repeal it and have yet to be successful is no reason for us to give up. we are standing here for the american people against the largest middle class tax increase in the history of the united states and we will not stop until we are ultimately successful. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. conyers: i yield myself 15 seconds to assure my dear friend from california, former

attorney general of his state, that the supreme court has made more decisions that i don't like than that he doesn't like and the chief justice of the supreme court, rather than get into the commerce clause, ruled it a tax. i'm sorry he did that, i wish he had done it my way, and you don't like the way he did it. i yield now to the gentleman from new york, the constitutional, former chairman of the constitutional subcommittee, the house judiciary committee, jerry nadler, three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for three minutes. mr. nadler: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to the republicans' 31st attempt to repeal the affordable care act. mr. speaker, you don't have to be a policy hog to know the u.s. economy is still

struggling to rebound. millions of americans are still unployed -- unemployed or underemployed. congress has not spent every day of the last year -- that this congress has not spent every day of the last year and a half trying to put people back to work is uncon shon -- unconscionable. and now, rather than working on job the republicans have the 31st attempt to repeal the affordable care act. they said it was unconstitutional, the supreme court said they were wrong. they said it was too expensive, the budget office said they're wrong. now they say it raises taxes on middle class families. the you are pan -- urban institute says they're wrong, estimating that a near 3% of those under 65 will face the choice of purchasing the insurance or paying the penalty. let's review what the affordable care act does. it extends health insurance to 32 million unemployed americans, preventing the deaths of 45,000 people who die

etch year -- each year because they lack health insurance. we know it will enable millions of americans with pre-existing medical conditions to get insurance. this has gotten publicity. but also every middle class family today is one cancer diagnosis away from bankruptcy. 55% of all personnel -- personal bankruptcies are caused by health insurance -- by health care emergencies and 75% of these bankruptcies are of people who had health insurance but health insurance that proved inadequate to cover an expensive disease like cancer. but by preventing insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and eliminating the annual and lifetime caps on coverage found in most current policy, the affordable care act will guarantee that middle class families no longer have to fear going broke because of an expensive illness. despite the benefits of this law, the republicans decided this whole law -- must go.

they want to repeal and replace. replace with what? what's their plan to stem the ever-rising cost of health care in this country? what's their plan to help millions more americans gain access to health insurance? what's their plan to end discrimination in the insurance market for women, for those with pre-existing conditions, for those who are sick and going broke because of medical bills, for those who die because of lack of care? there is no none. the simple truth is, republicans have no plan. i urge my republican colleagues to do something new, to try something novel. instead of going to that particular well of election year politics and a steady stream of no, let's try to work together. let's not turn a blind eye on the problem and hope it goes away, let's not be inch doincht 45,000 unnecessary deaths of americans every single year. i urge my colleagues to vote no on this repeal bile bill so we can move on to fighting for american jobs and we can move on to ensuring the middle class they won't go broke because of expensive illness and ensuring

americans they can get murns when they need it. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: i yield to mr. king from iowa. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. king: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the esteemed chair of the judiciary committee for yielding time to me and i appreciate bringing this issue to the floor. i would announce, mr. speaker, that this is a subject matter, the full 100 re-- 100% repeal of obamacare. when we saw this passed it passed on november 7, 2009, and that was a long and difficult day here in this house of representatives. and it came back through for a final passage by legislative shenanigan, by packaging up the reconciliation along with a earlier piece that went through over the -- requiring a 60 vote filibuster proof majority that

took place for a time in the senate. and came to this house under unprecedented terms, mr. speaker. and we saw the american people rise up. they didn't just jam this capital. it wasn't just 10,000-plus or tens of thousands of people that came here to say, keep your hands off of our individual american freedom and liberty and health care. it was tens of thousands of people that came here that said, let's respect the constitution, let's respect fiscal responsibility, let's respect individual rights and let's respect the american people. well, through that period of time over this last two-plus years, i couldn't sleep after this finally passed on about march 21 or so, two-plus years ago, i got up and wrote a repeal. and that language for that is in this bill. most of it in tact. i'm glad we're at this point, mr. speaker. because it says that this house of representatives has reflected the will of the american people. they've reflected the will of the american people and the elections a year ago last

november when we saw 87 new freshmen republicans come here to this house of representatives and every single one of them ran on the full 100% repeal of obamacare. every single one of them voted for the full 100% repeal of obamacare and every single republican senator, 47 of them, voted for the full 100% repeal of obamacare. and, mr. speaker, the next step is this next november, when there will be a changeout in the united states senate, i believe, that reflect what is happened here in the house so that the full will of the american people can be worked in this body that's to be responsive to the american people. while that's gone on this terminology that began, the patient protection and affordable care act, always understood to be obamacare, referred to himself as obamacare by president obama february 25 in the blair house, in the health care discussion that took place, when the president interrupted republicans 72 times, not that that's an issue, mr. speaker, but just for the record. he referred to it as obamacare. many of the democrats that

believe that it's pejorative so they changed the name of it because nobody knew what the patient protection and affordable care act was. they changed it to the affordable care act. well, we know it is the unaffordable care act. it's a couple of trillion dollars stacked on this heavy burden the taxpayers have today of nearly $16 trillion altogether. it's the unaffordable care act and what it does is it reduces care. and it reduces american freedom and liberty. and when you think about the american people, how distinct and unique it is to be in america -- an american, what makes us different? we come from a lot of places on the planet. we have the vigor of the american people here and it's totally unsuitable to be saddled by this unconstitutional takings of american liberty and i thank the speaker and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i'm please to recognize a senior member of the judiciary committee from texas, the honorable sheila jackson lee, and we yield her two minutes.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for two minutes. ms. jackson lee: i am glad, i thank the gentleman from michigan, and i thank this house, reminded of the declaration of independence that calls upon this great nation to pursue life and liberty with certain inalienable rights. as i paraphrase it. i don't know what the answer is to my friends on the other side . i don't know what the answer is to those who are languishing in the state of texas, when we have our governor rejecting medicaid and politicizing it by in fact, in the obamacare plan the federal government fought to expand medicaid. he says in repeating that the gun to our head has been removed. certainly a personal statement by this governor. i ask him whether or not he has

asked 357,000 young people in the state of texas who actually are on insurance plans because of this bill, i wonder has he asked the three million children that have benefited in the state of texas since 2010? boys and girls like these little ones who are seeing doctors now for the first time. what next is the question? maybe this little one who needs to have doctors' appointments. i'd like to know, has he responded to the fact that our plan, the affordable care act, reduces the deficit by $143 billion? has he responded to the fact that 5.3 million seniors have saved $3.7 billion in part d? or does he realize that health care costs has been halfed to 3.9%? now after this legislation was passed, the affordable care act, because before it was 6% and over. i call obamacare leroycair,

mariacair, senior citizens sick care, nursing homecare, that's what it is. does he realize that the american cancer society said they are concerned that the decision may limit the expansion of quality coverage to some of our nation's most vulnerable citizens? that is what the governor of the state of texas has done and many others. finally, mr. speaker, these soldiers who are coming home, who lose tricare, are the very people in the state of texas -- do you have 15 seconds? 30 seconds? the speaker pro tempore: recognized for 15 seconds. ms. jackson lee: very people in the state of texas of who we want to absolute and honor, they will -- salute and honor, they will come home, their families will need the affordable care act. 13% in the 18th congressional district in houston. we will lose this. 1.74 trillion dollars in costs, in health disparities. health disparities. death and disease because we are losing the affordable care

act. what is next? what is your answer? i yield back. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield 1 1/2 minutes to the gentlewoman from florida, mrs. adams, a distinguished member of the judiciary committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. damsdams thank you, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, i -- mrs. adams: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of the ree repeal of the obamacare act. i was disappointed that the supreme court did not strike down the law. but the court did rule that obamacare is a tax. a tax on all hardworking taxpayers. including middle income taxpayers. let's go back for a moment to when this bill was passed. in 2010 president obama said, if you like what you have, you can keep it. we now know that isn't true. he also said, health care costs will go down. and again not true. because health care costs are rising. they have gone up. he also said numerous occasions that this is not a tax. it's a penalty. well, the supreme court has spoken and there is no denying now that it is a tax on all

hardworking taxpayers. we all remember former speaker of the house nancy pelosi's famously saying, we have to pass a bill so you can find out what is in it. the 111th congress passed the bill, ignoring the will of the american people, and after the bill was signed into law, americans across this great nation did find out what was in the bill an guess what? they didn't like it. across the country americans showed their displeasure with congress at the ballot box. with their votes they demanded congress listen to them and repeal obamacare. even today obamacare is less popular than it was the day my democratic colleagues passed it. it's not hard to figure out why american people -- why the american people don't like obamacare. this is a law that takes $500 billion from medicare, a law that will lead to the rationing of care of our seniors, and a law that has job-killing taxes on individuals and small businesses when our economy is hurting.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i -- mr. smith: i yield the gentlewoman from florida an additional 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for 15 seconds. mrs. adams: furthermore the individual mandate is the largest tax increase on americans in american history. largest tax increase. so it is time, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, rejoin us, repeal obamacare and its taxes. i may not have been here when congress passed obamacare but i was sent here to repeal it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i yield myself 15 seconds. to remind my distinguished friend from florida on judiciary committee that obamacare extends medicaid and does not cause anybody to lose any insurance if they already have it. and i now turn to the distinguished the gentlelady from los angeles, california,

who has worked with us on so many progressive causes. i yield maxine waters of los angeles two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for two minutes. ms. waters: thank you very much. i thank the gentleman from michigan for the time. i rise to oppose h.r. 6079, the republicans' 31st attempt to repeal the affordable care act. this bill is ridiculous. it is as ridiculous as the previous 30 votes to repeal health care reform. it is ridiculous because this bill is going nowhere. it will not be taken up by the senate and even if it were to pass the senate, the president would veto it. every day people die from preventable and treatable diseases. every day our most -- almost 50 people die of hiv-aids. more than 1,600 people die of heart disease and more than 5,000 people are newly diagnosed with diabetes. yet the republicans are trying for the 31st time to deny

americans access to preventable health services and treatment for these conditions. because of the affordable care act, more than six million young adults under the age of 26 now have health insurance through their parents' plan. many of these young people just graduated from college. they were worried about finding jobs and paying off their student loans. yet the republicans are trying for the 31st time to take away their right to health insurance coverage. because of the affordable care act, up to 17 million children with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied coverage by the insurers. yet republicans are trying for the 31st time to return to the days when these children cannot get health insurance. the bill on the floor today is a political charade. it is not going anywhere and it is wasting our time when we should be focusing on jobs and our economy. i urge republicans to stop this charade, withdraw this bill and move on to the pressing issues facing this country. as a matter of fact, republicans are forever talking

about saving the taxpayers money. you're wasting the taxpayers' money. look at the energy costs, look at all the man hours and the personnel time that's being spent on this floor. look at all these young people who should be at home with their families. look at the costs that you are incurring with this charade. stop it. it is ridiculous. it's not going anywhere. mr. lungren said you'd made a few attempts. no. that let he remind you again. 31 attempts. it is ridiculous, it is outrageous. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. ms. waters: you should stop it and i yield back the balance of my time. i don't even know why i came here. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chairman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert, who is a distinguished jurist before he became a member of congress and then a distinguished member of the judiciary committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. i can verify that there are people who have already lost their insurance because of obamacare. .

it is not true that if you like your insurance, you can keep it. people have lost doctors who were assured if you like your doctor you can keep them. that is not true. we were told there would be no tax. and that's not true. in fact, in the bill itself, one of the most devastating things, if you are a single individual and making 133% of the poverty level, you are making $14,000 and can't afford $12,000 insurance policy, you are going to be fined at 2 1/2%. it is a tax. it will devastate. you make $40,000, a family of four, five, six, $1,000 fine because you can't afford a $12,000 policy, that on top of

the government running everything, that's why we got to repeal it for the good of the people. mr. conyers: i yield myself 15 seconds. to tell judge gohmert that there isn't one american in this country that has lost their insurance because of obamacare, not one. and now i turn to the gentleman from tennessee, distinguished member of the judiciary committee, mr. cohen, i yield him two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. cohen: i appreciate the time. i was a history major in college. and oftentimes i'm in this hall and think about the history. we have been in this hall for nearly 250 years. and when there was an attempt to pass social security, the

republicans were against it. and they're still against it. they want to give it to wall street and let it be invested. and the next great historical advance in our history was medicare. and the republicans were against it. and now they're against the affordable care act and patient protection act. every republican who voted against it and they line up and talk about speaker pelosi and lined up like ducks at the peabody hotel and democrats are concerned about children, women and life and the deficits in the long run and there is a continuing battle in this house between people who look out for the haves and those who have nots. and i was taught by my parents and that was to look out for

people who needed help. daniel webster's words are inscribed in this capitol right in this hall worthy about something to be remembered. that's what we're here for. the affordable care act and patient protection act is to care for and help people survive. it's provided -- and next month it will provide $1.1 billion for over 12 million people who have been overcharged by their insurance companies. president obama said this was insurance reform on steroids. it is. you want the insurance companies to run your life? for you people, they will get $1.1 billion back and this is the beginning of something great when you have some control over the insurance company. i yield back the balance of my time and i'm appreciative of doing something worthy to be

remembered. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: we are prepared to close on this side, so i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: i'm pleased to yield to representative garamendi, the balance of our time on this side, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. garamendi: thank you, mr. speaker. and i thank the members of this house for what is an extraordinary debate, a debate of which there is a lot of false information. i was the insurance commissioner in california and i can talk about these insurance issues forever, but what i would like to focus on is the fact that the law that is in the land today really helps people. it helps people like my deceased -- it would help people like my

deceased sister-in-law, juvenile diabetic and spent the last 20 years of her life struggling to get insurance. that won't be the case in the future for those who are juvenile diabetics. they will get insurance and get it through an exchange in their states and at an affordable cost. and if they don't have the income, they will have a subsidy to buy the insurance. it will help people like the son of my chief of staff, who was born with kidney failure. he had insurance from conception to hours after he was born, but the insurance company dropped him. that won't happen him anymore because children throughout this nation will be able to stay on their parents' policy because of this law. it will help people like my

daughter, who turned 21, and the insurance company who had covered her for 21 years dumped her. because of this law, she is now on my policy. and 17 million other young adults who have insurance as a result of this law. i could talk forever about the way the insurance companies discriminate based upon age, sex and pre-existing conditions and there are millions upon millions of americans who are denied, who were denied coverage, but are no longer because of the patients' bill of rights. this is insurance reform on steroids. and i wish i had this law available to me when i was insurance commissioner in california. this is a good law. this is a very, very good thing

for americans. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: we are prepared to close on this side. reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas has remaining time of 2 1/2 minutes. mr. smith: i yield the balance of my time to mrs. bachmann, a member of the financial services committee and the intelligence committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized. mrs. bachmann: i thank the gentleman from texas for yielding. if there is anything we have learned is we have debated the president's health care plan. it has been a mirage and built on a series of one broken promise after another. the president told us we would be saving $2,500 per household if we passed this health care

bill. the americans' health insurance premiums have increased by almost that amount, which means the president was off by a stunning $5,000 per household. and americans are pulling their pockets inside out saying, mr. president, i don't have the money to pay $5,000 more per year on my health insurance policy and of course they don't. because this has to be the crown jewel of socialism. that's what government health care is. and senior citizens realized early on, they have the most to lose by the president's health insurance policy because what they found from this bill which has been commonly called obamacare is that $575 billion will be stolen away from them out of medicare. and not only will they have $575 billion less in medicare, still

looking to having to spend, senior citizens out of their pockets $200 billion more in increased taxes for medicare. that's a big loss for america's senior citizens. but it doesn't stop there, mr. speaker. millions of americans across the united states are now going to find out that the promise the president made that if you like your health insurance, you can keep it. that's a sham, too. not only will you not keep it, millions of americans are looking at being thrown off their current health care policy that they have from their employers. millions. millions of americans that will no longer even have the option of their employer' health insurance plan. how do i know that? i talked to a job provider today. 400 employees. he told me he can no longer afford to provide health

insurance because of the new increased costs. he isn't the only one. i talked to another employer today, mr. speaker, a woman. she has 250 employees. now she is down to 90 and told me if we can't repeal this bill she will have to let them go. we have to repeal this bill. and with that, i yiel >> in a few moments, today's headline and your calls live on "washington journal." on the house returns this morning for general speeches at 10:00 eastern with legislative business at noon. today's agenda includes final debate and a vote to repeal the 2010 health care law. in about 45 minutes, we will look at the tax provisions of the he