yesterday on the senate floor, in the afternoon, senator reid came to the floor to try to accelerate the vote timing too yesterday, too yesterday evening, but that was opposed by republican senator cruise and by senator mike lee of utah. we want to show you some of that debate from the senate floor at the houseboat continues. >> the majority leader -- >> as has indicated for the entire week, each day that goes each hour that goes by, each minute that goes by, we're that much closer to a government shutdown. i have been told at the house needs more time to work on this. they are saying that maybe what we need is an extension of the cr. the businessket, roundtable, the american chamber of commerce, all-american, 80%

of the american people, including 75% republicans, thanks what is going on here, not taking care of the finances of this country is absolutely wrong. there is no reason to stall this. so i ask unanimous consent that at 6:30 p.m. today all closed cloture be yielded back without -- with the exception of an hour, with the first 40 minutes of that our be divided between allows 20 minutes for the two leaders, with my having the final 10 minutes, and that senator mcconnell would speak before me if he so chooses. senate proceed a vote on the motion to go cloture. if the cloture is an vote, all close cloture time yielded back, pending recommitment be redrawn, and no other minutes -- a

minutes be in order. they motion to it is agreed to.

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 402.

the nays are zero, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the senate amendments are agreed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the unfinished business is the question on suspend the rules and passing h.r. 3096, which the clerk will report bitle. the clerk: house calendar number 60, h.r. 309 , a bill to atthe building occupied by the federal bureau of investigation located at 801 follin lane, vienna, virginia, as the michael d. resnick terrorist training center. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed -- >> mr. speaker, recorded vote.

the speaker pro tempore: recorded vote's requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. 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 403. the nays are two. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the ouse will be in order. he house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition? mr. hoyer: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute for the purposes of inquiring of the majority leader the schedule or the coming day and weekend.

the speaker pro tempore: the ouse will be in order. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. hoyer: mr. speaker, i take it there's no objection with my unanimous consent. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: thank you. i'd be glad to yield to my friend, the majority leader. mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i thank the gentleman, the democratic whip, and refer him came announcement that out from my office that we intend the senate to act on the continuing resolution sometime today, to receive it here in the house this afternoon or this evening, and as per the announcement that we sent out, the house will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour tomorrow on saturday, at noon for legislative business. members are advised that we could vote at any point tomorrow or sunday until the situation surrounding the c.r.

is resolved. i yield back. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for his comments. would it be safe to tell the members there will be no votes before 1:00 tomorrow, do you think? i yield to my friend. mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i'd respond to the gentleman, yes, that would be correct. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman. and does the gentleman intend to meet on sunday, if we have acted on the c.r. tomorrow? i yield to the gentleman. mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i'd say to the gentleman about sunday's schedule, pending action tomorrow, i'm hesitant to commit that there would be no votes on sunday. i do know, mr. speaker, that we're dealing with a day of worship for many people and would work with that fact as well, if that's the purpose of his question. i yield back. mr. hoyer: i thank the

gentleman for his response and i'd yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute peeches. without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. foxx: mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the ouse will come to order. he house will come to order.

the gentlewoman from north carolina. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. if there's one thing i know that hardworking taxpayers back home in my district need in these -- the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order. please remove your onversations from the floor. the gentlewoman from north carolina is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. if there's one thing i know that hardworking taxpayers back home in my district need in these tough economic times is certainty. it's tough enough putting food on the table and putting gas in the car without worrying that an out-of-control federal government is going to make life harder for you and your family. that's why last week my colleagues and i in the house passed legislation to provide

some of that certainty. we don't want our fellow americans to see their insurance premiums shoot up or lose their insurance altogether because of the president's unworkable health care law. and we want our government to stay open. that's what the american people need and that's what the house has acted to do. now it's time for the senate to act as well. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the distinguished gentleman from maryland seek recognition? mr. hoyer: i ask unanimous consent no speak out of order for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. hoyer: ladies and gentlemen of this house, there are 435 of us that have been asked by our fellow citizens to come to washington, d.c., to have the extraordinary privilege of sitting on this floor and making, they hope, responsible

decisions for their country. i regret that the house is not full at this point in time. i have a reputation for working across the aisle. i cherish that reputation because i believe that all of us have been given an honor and each of us ought to respect that. >> the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order. mr. hoyer: ladies and gentlemen of this house, we are days away from shutting down the government. we are a few more days from defaulting on the credit of the united states of america. i believe there are a small number of this house who are holding us captive and rendering apparently this house unable to reach compromise.

the american people surely will not reward any one of us. there is, in my opinion, mr. speaker, a working majority for responsibility in this house. i choose to believe that, oy choose to believe it, i do believe it, and i pray it is the case. and i ask my colleagues to come together on behalf of the american people and our great country to act responsibly. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the entleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from north carolina seek recognition? ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today it adjourn to meet at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow for morning hour debate and noon for legislative business.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman s recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today in opposition to the united nations arms trade treaty. secretary of state john kerry signed this treaty on behalf of the obama administration this past wednesday. while i support keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of international terrorists, and bad actors, i believe this treaty represents a significant threat to our secretary amendment rights. the state department itself has acknowledged that this treaty is ambiguous, and that any potential obligations imposed by the treaty are difficult to predict. mr. benishek: in addition, once ratified it will be possible to amend this treaty with the support of just 75% of the

signing members. potentially locking the united states into more restrictions down the road. like many people from my district, i grew up around firearms and i'm a lifelong gun owner. the responsible use of guns for sport and hunt something a way of life in northern michigan, and i do not want to see this way of life or our second amendment rights be threatened by a poorly thought out united nations agreement. i urge my colleagues on the house to oppose this treaty and join me in standing up for the millions of law-abidinging gun owners in america. thank you, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today as a member of the safe climate caucus. how much longer will the

republicans deny the science of climate change? today the world's leading climate change scientists said it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of climate change. and in fact just reading last night in the bbc there's an article about a u.n. report that finds that with 95% certainty mankind has contributed mightily to climate change. last week scientists from stanford and purdue universities found that -- purdue universities found the eastern and central united states will likely see more severe weather by the middle of this century due to climate change, and despite this overwhelming evidence, republicans proudly proclaim themselves as science deniers. when will my colleagues take their heads out of the sand and work with democrats to preserve our climate and economy for the

future? i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed s. 1348, to re-authorize the congressional award act in which the concurrence of the ouse is requested. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady rom nevada seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. titus: i rise today to recognize world tourism day. this year's theme is tourism and water, protecting our common future, and i join with the las vegas convention and visitors authority in celebrating this theme. for southern nevada, this combines two of our most prized resources, tourism and water. last year nearly 40 million

visitors came to las vegas. we hosted over 21,000 conventions and meetings which brought in some five million national and international visitors, most of whom spent time in district 1. to continue successfully attracting and serving tourists and residents in the middle of the desert, southern nevada has learned to be consciencious about water usage. in las vegas, we found efficient ways to maximize our water uses to enhance the experience of visitors while safeguarding this critical resource for the long term. every day tens of thousands of tourists take in the majettic beauty of the foundans at the bellagio not realizing it comes from recycled water. there is it is the city center which is the world's largest environmentally sustainable mixed use new construction development to receive leed certification. every year city center saves

nearly 50 million gallons of water and is a tribute to its commitment to sustainability proudly displays an art exhibit of the colorado river. tourism and water, it's a great theme. come and experience it for yourself. only in district 1. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania sook recognition? -- seek recognition? >> i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> house republicans remain committed to defunding, delaying, and dismantling the president's unworkable health care law. and our mission becomes more critical with each passing day. we have already begun to see premiums go up for hardworking americans all across the country. this is bad law that will limit choices in health care and kill american jobs. the house has passed legislation that would defund obamacare, rein in government spending, and prevent a government shutdown.

the law is now in the hands of the senate. the senate must now give the american people what he they deserve, an honest, transparent debate. the american people will know who stands with them in this disastrous health care law. the house is leading the fight to control spending, stop obamacare, and protect hardworking americans, and it is time for the senate to join us as well. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> recognized for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. my colleagues and i are well aware of how important the next few days are for this country and for the work to be done in this house. mr. lamalfa: we have done our job. we have acted to control reckless spending. dismantled the president's unworkable health care law, and

keep our government opened. now our house-passed bill is in the united states senate and we hope they'll listen to the will of the people as we in the house have done. the obama health care takeover is a bad law, it's harmful, and it must be stopped. the american people having had a chance themselves to read it a little bit unlike what happened in this house a few short years ago, they do not want it. we are already beginning to see how it's making insurance premiums go up over the contry. on the average 99% for men, 6 % for women in a report that came out yesterday. it's unworkable. it's unaffordable. we need to get rid of this law, we need to keep our government opened as republicans have work to do, and it's time for the senate to act and protect the need of the american people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

mr. costa: mr. speaker, each year from september 15 through october 15, we celebrate hispanic her taje month when we honor the contributions that latinos have made throughout the communities in our nation. the hispanic community embodies the idea if you work hard, you play by the rules, and dream big, there is no limit to what you can achieve. after all, that is the american dream. and achieve is exactly what we have done throughout our history. from serving in our military to running 3.1 million hispanic-owned businesses, the hispanic community is an important part of moving our country forward. we also know that will to keep our country competitive we must finally fix a broken immigration system. we believe that it's past time to offer hardworking americans a pathway to citizenship. the future of our nation depends largely on the future of all of our communities. together we keep fighting to

give the next generation a meaningful shot at the american dream. that dream is what we celebrate this month in national latino heritage month. my mother used to say, common sense tells us that we ought to always put the country before our politics. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. speaker, the affordable care act is here to stay, sayeth the president. but his legacy landmark law discriminates. the president has arbitrarily granted extensions to big business, to some small businesses, and some state exchanges, but ordinary americans, no extensions for them. i guess special interest groups

just have more clout with the president than normal people do. too bad. everyone should be treated alike, postpone obamacare for everybody for one year. don't discriminate. the second place the president's wander law discriminates is who is subject to this law of the land. the president touts his law as good for america, but why has he granted over 1,200 waivers for special groups? waivers to labor unions, for example. that's not fair. waivers for some but not for others. so delay obamacare for at least a year for all americans, and either grant waivers for all americans or put those 1,200 groups back into this bill. it's unconstitutional for the constitutional law professor to weigh the wanted exemptions and delay for some but not others. that's just not fair. that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition?

mr. burgess: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. burgess: mr. speaker, yesterday the president was again defending his health care law and the health and human services announced more delays this. train wreck of a health care law is quickly derailing, but the president continues to provide delays and exemptions for everyone except ordinary americans. just after the president and administration promised time and time again that the exchanges would be ready, online, october 1, several states have said consumers they are going to have to wait, maybe can you send in a paper application if you're anxious. last week on september 19 i asked the director of the agency charged with implementing the exchanges will the enrollment process be ready october 1 of this year? i actually posed that as a yes or no question. his answer, quote, consumers will be able to go online. they will be able to get a determination of what tax subsidies they are eligible for. they'll be able to look at the plans available, where they

live. they'll be able to see premium net of subsidy that they would have to pay and they will be able to choose a plan and get enrolled. hardly a yes or no answer to a yes or no question. but nevertheless yesterday's actions by h.h. sorks speak -- h.h.s. speak to what really is the case. his answer should have been no, they will not be ready. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, a report released yesterday from the treasury inspector general shows that the i.r.s. failed to track 67 -- $67 million spent in the implementation of obamacare so far. mr. neugebauer: this is before the health exchanges are even opened. my constituents like myself are concerned that this type of waste is what happens -- mr. marchant: when washington takes

over health care. the i.r.s. is consistently demonstrated its inability to function as a responsible agency. despite the scandals and blatant mismanagement by the i.r.s., the agency is also at the forefront of running our health care system. the i.r.s. has little credibility with the american taxpayers right now. the agency must significantly be reformed before we should let them anywhere near our health care system. i encourage my colleagues to join me in repealing obamacare and getting the i.r.s. completely away from our health care. thank you. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cummings: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise today to honor dr. levi watkins, a pioneer in the medical field and civil rights movement. after four decades with johns

hopkins medicine, dr. watkins will retire on december 31, 2013. he's a man of many firsts, the first african-american to attend and graduate from vanderbilt medical school. his first scientific breakthrough was his research into the connection between rhettin n.g.o. system and congestive heart failure that led to the use of the blockers and treatment of heart failure. he also performed the first implementation of the automatic implantable defibrillator in the human heart. dr. watkins fought for african-american civil rights in the 1950's and fought for equal opportunities in education throughout his career. increasing minority enrollment at the johns hopkins university school of medicine by 400% in four years. i thank dr. watkins for all that he has done for our nation and the legacy he leaves to inspire generations yet unborn. . the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from colorado is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i believe the sense of this house and ertainly the american people is that the constitution of the united states is worthy of protecting and the rights that are afforded in that constitution are worthy of protecting. unfortunately the administration has unilaterally decided to try to obligate citizens of the united states to the u.n.'s mandates. when it comes to the small arms treaty. affecting the second amendment rights of every american. i believe we should not be held accountable and submission to the whims of an unelected organization on the world stage. the value of our constitution, the value of our rights must be protected. mr. tipton: we must urge the united states senate to reject the treaty that secretary kerry has just sign, stand up for the rights of american, stand up

for the rights of americans to be able to keep and bear arms and protect the second amendment of the united states. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from minnesota seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. bachmann: mr. speaker, i thank you. i think it's very clear that the president's health care plan is completely unworkable. not only is it unworkable, it's unfair to nearly everyone in the united states. business person and individual alike. hardworking americans know it because their premiums are skyrocketing and even worse they're getting notices in the mail that they're being told that their health insurance is being pulled altogether. small businesses know it. they're having to respond by not hiring the people they want to hire. in some cases even having to fire or reducing the amount of hours to blow -- to below 30 hours a week.

people in the president's own party know it. the gentleman that wrote this bill called the bill a nightmare. even the labor unions who support the president know this. they've called this bill a nightmare. and they said it's breaking the back on the american dream. breaking the back on the 40-hour workweek. and in health care benefits. even the president knows it. he's admitted, despite saying the law is working just as it's supposed to, the president just once again had to have yet one more delay in obamacare. in fact, over 19 times. that's why we are asking, mr. speaker, for fairness and a workable health care law and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. it's interesting listening to the parades of horribles on the house today. but in a practical matter, in states like mine in oregon, people are going to get better coverage at lower costs.

in california and new york and colorado, where people are actually working to implement the law rather than sabotage it. but this is a smoke screen, obscuring the fact that when my republican friends talk, for example, about spending and debt, they are actually afraid to allow the house of representatives to vote on their own spending bill. because their own members won't vote for it. that's why it's been two months and we've never finished the liberation on the transportation bill -- deliberation on the transportation bill. they've pulled the interior bill altogether. they even refused to allow to have a conference committee formed to reconcile the differences between the house and the senate. it's a sad chapter when the fractured republicans stand around, when americans deserve better. there's no better the senate could not have its bill before us today and the house republican leadership bring us back into session.

instead, we're going to stall and stumble all weekend up to the brink. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. my colleague from oregon is correct. it's important that the congress get our work done on making sure that our military is fully funded and paid, that our veterans, the military construction, the bases around the world are taken care of, that homeland security's taken care of. but we've done. that it's already been done in the house. the senate has had our homeland security appropriations bills for over three months. the senate has had possession of a military construction and veterans appropriations bill for over three months. and the senate's also had the department of defense appropriations bill for over three months, yet they've irresponsibly chosen to just sit on them, to set us up for this moment. because they know that house republicans are devoted to

delaying and defunding obamacare, one of the most destructive pieces of legislations ever passed by -- legislation ever passed by congress, that will destroy jobs and cripple this economy. and socialize the greatest health care system the world has ever created 679 we are committed as constitution -- has ever created. we are committed as constitutional conservatives to delay and defund obamacare. but at the same time we have already done our job in making sure that our military, our men and women in uniform have everything they need. if the senate will only do their job. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina eek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, the false promises of obamacare are now coming to light. the president promised $2,500 reduction in premiums. the average now is $3,000. i get countless calls every day and emails from my constituents about the increase in their premiums. one emailed me today, that his

$11,000 as 200%, deductible costs him $1,100 a month. that is intolerable. mr. speaker, we have to address this today. mr. pittenger: another one called and said, robert, it's going up 250% on my premiums. this is wrong. we were promised jobs. speaker pelosi said, well, we're going to have four million new jobs. 400,000 almost immediately. what's happened? 71% of all the new business, they're not hiring today. they're certainly not hiring full-time people. we lost 250,000 full-time jobs just in the month of june. this is killing jobs in this country. it's the false promise on keeping your own health care plan. seven million new people now cannot keep the health care plan that they were promised. mr. speaker, it's time we address this today and relieve the american people from obamacare. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired.

for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. gohmert: ask to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. gohmert: mr. speaker, i was sitting back here when a democratic leader came to that microphone and with indignation in his voice demanded the republicans act responsibly. mr. speaker, i would ask you, was it responsible for the democratic party, when they had republicans willing to say, yeah, we'll agree to a bill that lets 26-year-olds be on their insurance with their parents, we'll agree to work something out so insurance companies can't abuse people with pre-existing conditions, they didn't want our help. they said, we don't need your vote, and they didn't want it, they took a massive -- rammed it down america's throats without even having them stick

out their tongue and say ah. that's irresponsible and we're the ones that are acting responsibly and trying to mitigate the damage they've done to the american people, their health care they've lost. they didn't get to keep. their doctors they've lost they didn't get to keep and now the economy's that's been devastated. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one inute. mr. garrett: your privacy, it's under attack. affordable care act, obamacare, is creating a data hub for every american's personal health information and financial information. it's basically a central location for all america, for all of your private and sensitive information. can america really trust this system that is key information -- that has key information on your income, your social security numbers, your email, your family size, your medical records, and the list goes on? the answer is no.

america's personal information will be shared from the department of justice, from the social security administration, the department of homeland security, the i.r.s. will send information, the treasury department, health and human services. look, we have already witnessed many security breaches within numerous government agencies. and the potential for abuse here is staggering. we know a system like this will be attractive to identity thieves. the it's clear that a system that's -- it's clear that a system that's not been tested for security systems, so it cannot protect all of our security information and our personal information. we have even witnessed privacy abuses by other government agencies. by the n.s.a., by the i.r.s., the obama data hub will end privacy as we know it and will grant unprecedented power over citizens to the government. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. -- thompson: mr. speaker,

mr. bishop: mr. speaker, i am reading a book about the members of my church trying to live in postworld war ii east germany -- post-world war ii east germany where all building was restricted. they wished to have a land on which to worship. it was owned by the government. if they wished to possess the building they had to find private land to trade to the government because the official policy of east germany was no net loss of federal land. i mention that because communist east germany has the same policy standard as the department of interior and forest service has today. mr. speaker, either we are wrong or east germany was right. and i sincerely doubt the latter is accurate. i ye yield back -- i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

>> mr. speaker, since obamacare was first passed, we've known that it was would cause premiums to rise and increase the cost of health insurance for millions of americans. one issue that has not been talked about enough is the serious threat to the access of quality care for patients, especially in the rural parts of the country, as i represent. this is a very serious issue in my district and one of the main reasons that i support defunding this bill. as we get closer to the october 1 release date of the individual health insurance plans under obamacare, the threat of reduced access is uickly becoming the reality. one of the largest health insurers of georgia is reducing 30% of contracts with doctors in the state. for my constituents in rural georgia, we already face a shortage of care in small, rural communities. mr. scott: rockering class patients have more -- working-class patients have more difficult time accessing health care. i urge my colleagues and the american people to look at the facts and ask, what gooze good

is a health insurance card when a patient can't find a doctor or hospital that takes it? that's one of the reasons i stand before you in strong support of defunding the destructive law and putting in place commonsense, market-based reforms. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from iowa seek recognition? mr. king: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. king: thank you, mr. speaker. i come to the floor, as many of us do, to speak about the intrusion into god-given american freedom called obamacare. and as i watched the debate go back and forth and listened to my junior senator declare those of us that don't want to fund obamacare to be for anarchy, i would say instead, it's this. that if obamacare is ever implemented and enforced, we will never recover from it. it is an unconstitutional takings of god-given american liberty and what we're saying here in the house is we're not

going to fund any implementation or enforcement of obamacare. if that means that the president would shut the government down this his throwing of a political tantrum, that's not on us, that's on him. we've always recovered from government shutdowns. there were 57 days of government shutdowns under jimmy carter. we don't even remember that. we will never recover from obamacare if it's implemented and i'm going so stand in opposition to funding obamacare. thank you, mr. speaker. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i serve on the budget committee and yesterday we had a hearing with the director of the congressional budget office, that's a nonpartisan group that does the scoring, that talks about what the impact of decisions we make here will have on american, on taxpayers, on future generations. and, mr. speaker, we all know that the largest cost we have in the federal budget are driven by health care.

that's why we're focused so much on bringing health care costs down. and in the midst of that, we're developing an entirely new federal health care benefit in this country and the congressional budget office, mr. speaker, said this. that of all the federal health care costs that will be paid over the next 10 years, more than half will be brand new costs from obamacare. this is already the biggest expense we have and we're going to double it. mr. speaker, that's why this is a budget issue. that's why we're talking about it, when talking about funding the government and the national dealt, mr. speaker. this bill will bankrupt us -- debt, mr. speaker. this bill will bankrupt us. we must address health care but we must do it in a way that does not bankrupt america and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? . >> unanimous consent to speak for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without

objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the american people sent us here to govern. mr. dent: now is the time to govern. in a few short days the government will shut down unless the house acts. i oppose obamacare, and i oppose shutting down the government. we had a vote in the house. the senate will soon have a vote. they will in all likelihood strip out the obamacare language and send us back a bill. i believe it is time for us to stop playing political games. i believe it's time for us in a bipartisan manner to vote to fund the government and end this brinksmanship, debacle that's been going on the past few days. i feel strongly about this. moreover the morne people expect us to make sure that services are provided. i want to make sure the troops are paid and people who need services receive them. it will be more opportunities to debate these issues going forward. particularly as it relates to debt ceiling, but for now fund the government, do it in a bipartisan way, as he they say r done., git'

the speaker pro tempore: are there any more one-minute speeches request? hearing none, under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013,, the gentlewoman from minnesota, mrs. bachmann, is recognized for 0 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mrs. bachmann: it's a privilege to be able to stand in the greatest deliberative body in the world and in the well of the house of representatives. it's especially poignant that we are here today as members of this body because we are looking at a historic shift in united states history. next week, mr. speaker, not one american will escape the new rules and regulatory burden of obamacare. we are going to face something that's unprecedented in the history of the country. we already know, mr. speaker, what some of those results will be. we have a law that's absolutely unaffordable. our president told us that we had to hurry, hurry, hurry, not even take time to read the bill,

because we were going to be saving $2,500 per american household if we pass this bill. mr. president, we are already told that the average increase is about $3,000 per household, well over a $5,000 difference from what you promised us. it's unaffordable, mr. president. now we also know it's completely unworkable. how do we know that? because, mr. president, we already know that you have granted 19 different waivers, blockages, repeals of obamacare. even your administration, mr. speaker, we would say to the president, has admitted it's completely unworkable. and it's unfair. i think this is what galls the american people, mr. speaker, more than anything. how to we know it's unfair? take a look at the leader of one of the largest unions in the united states, one of the advocates for the unaffordable care act as many have called it, james hoffa, the head of the teamsters union.

calls obamacare a nightmare. and he has begged and pleaded the president of the united states to back off of obamacare because he said in his words, it is taking away the american dream. what unions have worked for to build up a 40-hour workweek, we are now becoming part-time nation. so that employers today are looking for employees that will work no more than 29 1/2 hours a week. that's a 25% reduction in hours for the average american worker, let alone the multiple tens of thousands of employees that have already been thrown off of their health insurance. that's unfair. and finally, it's unpopular. never has obamacare enjoyed any popularity. the president of the united states promised his side of the aisle, don't worry. just pass it. in other words, build it and they will come. well, the bill was passed and

today just literally days before this bill comes into effect, it is more unpopular than ever. if we think it's unpopular now, wait until it's fully implemented. as they say, there's nothing more expensive than something that's supposed to be free. we are going to find out just how expensive that is. we are going to enjoy for the next hour comments from people within this body, what they have heard from the folks back home. what real americans are saying about how this horrific law is going to impact their lives. i'd like to first yield time to the esteemed colleague from the state of north carolina, the honorable virginia foxx, a leader within this body. i yield to the woman from north carolina. ms. foxx: i thank my colleague from minnesota for helping to lead this effort today with our other colleague from tennessee and all of our colleagues who are going to be here today. i think it's really important

that we shed a lot of light on a couple of issues that are going to be discussed. they have been being discussed in the one minutes this morning, and i want to compliment all our colleagues who came down this morning who talked about this problem that we are facing with the implementation of this unaffordable, unworkable, unfair, unpopular bill that was passed in an unprecedented way, as you said. but i also think that it's important that we throw light on the issue of what happens if our government is shut down. as our colleague, congressman dent from pennsylvania, was saying, house republicans want this government to stay open. we have acted to keep the government open. we don't want a government shutdown. we voted a week ago to pass a continuing resolution. in advance of the new fiscal

year that lays out how the government will be funded, how the troops will be paid, how the parks will remain open, and how day-to-day government operations will continue. yes, we oppose this bill, but we want to keep our government running. but the democrats in the senate have yet to pass this legislation to protect the american people from a shutdown or from the unfairness of obamacare. america is waiting for the senate. the tsh-because the clock is running the country's nearing the edge of the 18th government shutdown since 1976, and i want to thank our colleague particularly, michelle bachmann, for calling to our attention the article that ran in the "washington post" this week that pointed out the history of government shutdowns. we don't believe in government shutdowns on the republican side, and contrary to what our colleagues are trying to say and what the president is saying,

this is not an issue that's been brought on only by republicans in the past. government shutdowns have occurred with democrats and republicans in the white house, they have occurred with divided congresses. with a congress of one party and a white house of the other. they have even occurred when democrats have controlled both the congress and the white house. we don't want to add another chapter to that history, so we have asked our colleagues in the senate to do their part. we know that the threat of a shutdown breeds uncertainty and conclusion by american families when too many are already concerned about how obamacare will be making unwelcomed changes to their health care and making health care more expensive as has been pointed out by several of our colleagues today. so we want the senate to act.

follow the lead of the house and move the country away from shut down and away from obamacare. by the way let's point out again that our bill passed with bipartisan support. the right step to take is to repeal obamacare, at the very least delay obamacare because of the problems that it presents and not shut down the government. that's the message republicans are bringing. unfortunately, it has not been the message that has been out there in the media, but i'm thankful again to my colleague for being here today and leading this special order to make sure at least here we can get that message out. i yield back to the gentlewoman from minnesota. mrs. bachmann: thank you to congresswoman foxx. thank you for your leadership on this area. it's wonderful, i think, to hear from women, and one woman in particular is the gentlelady from tennessee, marcia back black -- blackburn, who has let

our conference know that 80% of all health care decisions in this country are made by women. so women are in particular impacted by this decision because they are at the frontline of understanding how unaffordable the president's new health care plan, how unfair it's going to be to themselves, to their families, to their parents that he they often care for, how unworkable it is, and how they want to see a positive solution. we are not here just to beat up. we are here to make sure that we have a positive solution for american families. and it's women that we are very concerned about today. soith that i would like to yield to the gentlelady from tennessee, ms. marcia blackburn. mrs. blackburn: thank you so much. i thank the gentlelady for her attention on this issue and i think each of us want to thank the leadership for allowing us to have time on the floor to come to the house floor and talk directly to the american people, to be certain that they know exactly what is in this

unaffordable act. and we have talked a lot about why we want to delay it and defund it and repeal it and replace it. and the importance of that. as the gentlelady from minnesota mentioned, one of the problems that we hear from women is, guess what, the cost of insurance is going up. the president had said, it's going to save you $2,500, and we are hearing now that it is going to be going up between $3,000 and $7,500. per family, per year. for the cost of insurance. when you look at the cost of these exchanges, they are not saving money. it's costing them more. we are hearing reports of how out-of-pocket expenses are expected to escalate. it may be $5,000 or $6,000 per family. the costs are escalating in what

families are going to be using to pay for health care. because of that, they are looking at -- you have to get the costs down. the impact of obamacare on jobs. the 40-hour workweek, which has been such, such a cornerstone of the american dream, such a cornerstone for hardworking families, to be able to support their family, to have their children dream big dreams, to educate those children, to send them forward in the world, to do their part in adding to the greatness of america, that, that is being attacked by this legislation. it is indeed a law that the american people do not want. because they can't afford it. go back and remember where we started with this. and i think that this is one thing i hear from women

regularly. and i had a constituent ask me recently, and it reminded me, he said, what was the purpose of obamacare? well, supposedly when all of this great debate started, it was to find a pathway for somewhere between 30 million and 45 million americans who did not have access to health insurance to have health insurance. what it has become is a federalizing and a nationalizing of 17% of the u.s. economy. it is turning health care on its head. in order to pay for it mr. woodall mentioned the hearing that we had in budget committee yesterday, they have taken money out of medicare. money that our seniors have earned. they have earned that money. they have put it into the medicare trust fund.

obamacare pulls it out and puts it over here in the obamacare pot. $600 billion worth. that money was to be there for seniors, for hardworking taxpayers. this administration picks it up and they move it over. they are implementing 20 new taxes, insurance policies, home sales, equity, you name it. medical devices. all subject to attack. why? they have to find a way to pay for this expensive program that no one can afford. and all of the while we continue to stay near 8% unemployment. % unemployment. we have -- 8% unemployment. we have millions of americans, 23 million americans who are either on or underemployed. and the federal government seeking to take more of their

paycheck. this is one of the reasons that about 130 of our colleagues, including the gentlelady from minnesota, have joined me on h.r. 2809, which is the legislation that is the one-year delay of all things obamacare, all the taxes, the penalties, the medicaid expansion that our states don't want, the exchanges that are not ready to open? indeed, the "wall street journal" today front page, another article about another glitch in these exchanges is not ready for frime time. the smart thing to do is -- prime time. the smart thing to do is delay it so we can defund it, repeal it, and replace it. in our republican study committee we have introduced great replacement language. the american health care reform act. and i know that others who are waiting to speak are going to talk about this act and the

ideas we have. . to give individuals and patients and moms and dads more control over their health care. that's what we want. individuals able to make their own decisions. not a bunch of bureaucrats sitting in a building down on independence avenue in washington, d.c. we do not trust those decisions to nameless, faceless, unknown, unaccountable bureaucrats. those decisions should be made by patients and doctors. and that is what we are fighting for. we are fighting for the future of this nation. we are fighting to make certain that our children know the america that we have known. an america that is robust and accepting and is welcoming to

those that want to dream big dreams, welcoming to our children's ideas and concepts, to build companies, to innovate, to create jobs. that is what we come to the floor to fight for. we know an important component of that is to prevent the establishment of this program. that is going to be difficult to get off the books. ronald reagan told us regularly , there is nothing so close to eternal life on earth as a federal government program. day have to stand here and night in order to stop this program, let's stop it. we continue to invite the , we ent, with open hands invite him to come and meet with us and work with us.

we're willing to work with you. let's delay this. let's do things right. let's not force among the american people, force on top of them a program they have repeatedly said, we do not want it, we do not like it, we want it repealed, we want it replaced. and i yield back to the gentlelady from minnesota. mrs. bachmann: i want to say thank you to the gentlewoman from tennessee. with all her passion and vigor and also for the wonderful piece of legislation. because i think a good compromise at this point on obamacare, and if the truth be told, i think a lot of democrats seek relately hope that the gentlelady's bill -- secretly hope that the gentlelady's bill passes. they know this is unworkable. i think they'd like to see -- yes, i will. mrs. blackburn: encouraged when we had bipartisan agreement and support for delaying both the employer and the individual

mandate. a vote that we took a month earlier this year. and we were encouraged with that. and i agree that there is -- and that's such an interesting thing. there has never been republican upport for this law. or the 20,000 pages of regulation that is springing up out of this law. because it is costing us jobs. it's costing us money. it's costing our hospitals to close. and we do have bipartisan agreement that the law is not ready for primetime. and i yield back. mrs. bachmann: i thank the gentlelady. that's exactly right. and that's why i say that i think if the truth be told, a lot of democrats are secretly hoping that we can get this one-year delay. that's a minimum compromise that we're looking at, defunding and delaying for at least one year. we want to save the american people from the economic misery that's just around the corner.

we have another gentleman from the state of florida, florida's third congressional district, mr. ted yoho. i'd like to yield to him at this time. mr. yoho: i'd like to thank the gentlelady from minnesota, my home state, for putting this together. when i was a lot younger, i remember watching president reagan in the debates with jimmy carter. and it said, as president reagan once said, now jimmy, there you go again. and here we are today, another day, another delay by the administration, another example why the affordable care act, or as the president likes to talk about, obamacare is not ready for primetime. mr. speaker, if fully implemented -- implemented, this law was predicted to and is crippling our economy. businesses would cut hours and they are. employees would lose benefits and they are. and families would be forced into government-run health care exchanges.

it was said by the president that if you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan. well, tell that to my constituents who have been told by their insurance companies that due to the affordable care act, obamacare, their current plans will not exist in 2014. just yesterday we had a member of this congress say that his plan, which he kept his private plan, paid for by himself, that was canceled within the last month. so, i don't believe he feels that he can keep his same insurance nowadays. with all these delays, even supporters of obamacare know and now realize that this law should have been read before it was passed. and if we go back to that infamous day, when the then speaker at the time said, we have to read it to see what's in it, we have to read it to see how it's going to work, well that day's here. and we see what's in it. and we see how it's not going to work. and get this, america.

understand this. that the people that we have, our government has to sign people up on this, they're unskilled in the insurance industry. they're unlicensed, they don't have insurance to cover errors and omissions and they're unbonded and we're going to give them our private information. i want you to think about that as this law changes and goes into effect. but with your help, we can change it. we changed the dynamics in this congress on the intervention in syria. the american people stood up and your representatives listened to that and we can do it again, if you're willing to do that same kind of commitment. we need to get rid of this law and it's now time for our colleagues in the senate to act. it's in the best interest -- they need to act in the best interests of america and not for preserving a legacy. i yield back. mrs. bachmann: i thank the gentleman from florida. another tireless stalwart

during the time when we were trying to fight and say, this is what's going to happen, exactly what we're about to see transpire before our face, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. scott garret from new jersey's dict -- garrett from new jersey's dict five, made it a-- district five, made it abundantly clear what was going to happen. i yield now to the gentleman from new jersey's fifth congressional district, mr. scott garrett. mr. garrett: i thank the gentlelady and i guess i'llen speaking for a minute or -- i'll be speaking for a minute or two on the unworkability. i'd like to remind all of us here that for years now republicans have come to this floor with one main point when it comes to health care. that it is our goal, it is our desire, it is our effort to make sure that americans can have affordable health care coverage and health care delivery in this country. and to that end, i'm not going to go into all the details now, in this house, republicans have offered numerous pieces of

legislation that would help facilitate that, help americans be able to get health insurance that they're able to afford, that would provide them and their families the type and quality of health insurance that they need. and we passed bills like that and we sent those bills over to the senate, where as i always say, the senate is where all good bills go to die. so those bills never became law. but what did of course become law is the affordable care act, also known as obamacare. i'll speak just for a moment on the issue of its unwork county when it comes to -- unworkability when it comes to the issue of the data hub. it's not really talked about much. but it is a crucial element if the obamacare is going to go forward. and there's also one that affects every american's lives and their privacy, whether you're in an exchange or not. why is that? because obamacare is creating a data hub on every american.

it will look at and collect and gather together in one place all of your personal information. all of your personal health information. all of your personal financial information. a central location, if you will, for every american's, every american's private and sensitive information will be right here in washington, d.c. for the bureaucrats and whoever else may be able to get to it. can americans really trust this system? that has key information about your income, about your social security number, about your email addresses? about your family, about your family's size, about your medical records, about what you said, how you checked boxes off at the doctor's, at your veteran status? the list goes on and on. the answer is an emphatic no. but with the obamacare data hub, americans' personal information will be shared from a myriad of distinct federal

agencies. whether it's over at the department of justice, over at social security with all of your social security information, department of homeland security, and also with your veterans information, down the street at the i.r.s. and we know how secure they are. over at the treasury department with all their information. health and human services with your medical information. it's all going to be sent from october 1 right here to washington, d.c., and collected through this central data hub. as i said, we have already witnessed many, many security breaches over the years with numerous government agencies. and pot tension now is even greater -- and the potential now is even greater now. it's magnified for the abuse. we know the abuses by the people themselves who are going to be operating is a problem. just look at n.s.a. but we also know this system will attract outside identity thieves and hackers and it's clear that the system really

doesn't do an adequate job in that regard. the system has not been fully tested for security and so therefore how can it protect americans' personal records? to that end, let me just bring up here a little bit of information. a little bit ago, kay daley, she's with a health and human services department, an assistant spector general told lawmakers that the system security plan and risk assessment filed way back on july 16 was not made available to the inspector general and to her office. which is -- and for a system that's supposed to be opening up in just a few days. former social security admission commissioner noted that the review was done back in july and the a.g. audit was due on august 2 and he said, quote, there must be have been a draft that they could have gotten at some point -- no, the quote is, there must have been a draft at that point, end quote. he also observed that the hub's development until he had left

office and testified during that same hearing, quote, i am just not used to the idea that an inspector general comes in and asks an agency for a thing and they're told no. end quote. well, that is the situation here. and that is why many of us have real questions about the security and the testing of it. we have witnessed privacy abuses by a myriad of government agencies, by the n.s.a., by the i.r.s., the list goes on. now, that same agency that targeted various groups, conservative groups, christian groups, pro-israel groups, will now be the same ones greatly involved in administering this data hub. this obamacare data hub will end privacy in this country as we know it. and will grant unprecedented power over all u.s. citizens by the government and bureaucrats right here in washington. the obama administration has said that they are delaying the employers' responsibility provisions of obamacare, it was

the right and responsible thing to do. they should delay every part of obamacare. because it is fundamentaly clear that the responsible thing to do is to stop and delay obamacare entirely and stop most importantly this unprecedented untrution -- intrusion into everyone american's private life. i yield back to the gentlelady. mrs. bachmann: i thank the gentleman from new jersey, mr. scott garrett, he has given a brilliant case on why obamacare enjoys a 57% disapproval rate by the american people. the prifpkesy security breach is one that i think we can't underscore enough. people have been very nervous about disclosures that have come out about our government. they're worried about surveillance. what we would say is, baby, you ain't seen nothing yet. because we are about to see the largest federal data hub get under way. because what will this contain? not only every single americans' most sensitive --

american's most sensitive, private health information, about whether or not you've gone to see a psychiatrist or counselor or what's happened between you and your doctor, we don't know yet if even chart notes will be a part of this federal data hub, that the doctor writes down about what you told them during the private dr.-patient visit. we know that -- doctor-patient visit. we know that somehow this will have to be connected to data that's connected to your employment history. where you've worked, for how long, how much money you make, whether you're full-time, whether you're part-time. this will also somehow have to be connected to your tax returns, your most personal, private information that no one's supposed to have access to. all of that will have to come together, together with your family relationships. if you're married, if you're not married, who it is that's considered a dependent. we have never before seen in the history of the united ates a conflagration and a

centralizing of all of this personal data in one hub. . how can the miles per hour people have any level of assurance that this data will be secured? in my own home state of minnesota, in the last several weeks, we had a state federal employee working in the new obamacare health care exchanges hit a button and just like that 1,600 minnesotans' private information, including their social security numbers, were sent out in a terrible flagrant security breach. not only that, we found out that the information when it was sent from the government health insurance site wasn't even encrypted. it was unsecured. it was an old-fashioned excel spread sheet. in my home state of minnesota we were early on jumping on the bandwagon of supporting obamacarement so my state has been fully onboard working to

implement this as one of the earliest states, and this is the lack of security for privacy breaches that we see even in my home state. that's why we are pleading with the president of the united states, have mercy. have feeling for people across america who don't want their security breached. because once it's done, it can't be undone. once your social security number is out there, what do you do? once people know what your income is, what some of your health problems have been, what some of your family members' health issues have been, how do you reel that back in? as they say in courtrooms how do you unring a bell? that's all we are trying to say today. before it's too late please look at these problems that have already happened, mr. president. you say you won't negotiate with us?

you'll negotiate with the president of iran who is flagrantly producing a nuclear bomb to use against our ally israel and against us? you will negotiate with the former head of the k.g.b. and soviet union with the communist party putin, and you won't negotiate with us? we are here. it's friday. it ain't quitting time. we want to talk to you, mr. president. we are here. and with that i would yield to the gentleman from the great state of mon tan, steve daines, who is a fabulous new member of congress who has been working for the citizens of montana to render to them an affordable, popular, fair health insurance system. with that i yield to the gentleman who is the at-large representative of montana. mr. daines: i want to thank the gentlelady from minnesota. in fact, my family lives in montana -- roots in montana began in minnesota. my great great grandmother was

born in norway. she continued west and homesteaded out there with seven children north of great falls, montana. every day it seems we hear about yet another aspect of obamacare that's getting delayed or exempted or ignored. two months ago it was the employer mandate. a few weeks later it was announced that the administration had delayed a significant consumer protection in the law that limits how much people may have to spend on their own health care. a "washington post" headline for monday read this, and i quote, one week away obamacare's small business insurance exchanges are not already for launch. and a recent politico story summarizes perfectly what a disaster obamacare has become. and i quote. the obamacare that consumers will finally be able to sign up for next week is a long way from

the health care plan president barack obama first pitched to the nation. millions of low-income americans won't receive coverage. many workers at small businesses won't get a choice of insurance plans right away. large employers won't need to provide insurance for another year. far more states than expected won't run their own insurance marketplaces. and a growing number of workers won't get to keep their employer provided coverage. end quote. with key parts of the president's health care overhaul set to start on october 1, one thing is certain to supporters and opponents alike. obamacare is not ready for prime time. rather than fulfilling the president's promise of, if you like your coverage you can keep it, obamacare has become a tangled web of broken promises, backroom deals with no relief for american families and hardworking taxpayers in sight.

this is no more apparent than the office of personnel management decision to grant members of congress and their staff with a special exemption from a provision in obamacare. this decision demonstrates how deeply broken washington is and is unmistakenly suggest that is congress is focused more on their self-interests than the interests of the american people. that's why it's signed on to the no special deal for d.c. insiders act, and the james madison congressional accountability act. both of which would reverse the o.p.m. rule. it's absolutely unacceptable for washington to impose new burdens, new costs upon the american people and then carve out special loopholes for itself. until this failed law is fully repealed, washington must live by the same rules that have been forced upon the american people.

this train wreck of a law will race health care costs -- raise health care costs, force businesses to close their doors, and hurt montanans access to quality health care. in fact, obamacare could increase underlying insurance rates by up to 158% for the average 27-year-old montanan and 149% for 40-year-old montanans according to a recent analysis by the u.s. department of health and human services. and in august a news station in billings, montana, reported that accord to a montana health expert, quote, it's entirely possible there will be business that is go out of business solely because of this law. i was in ms. sewella, montana, this summer meeting with local business owners who were concerned about how obamacare will affect not only their businesses but their employees' benefits and access to affordable care.

we don't know what to do, opportunity resources told me. she shared how their employees are at risk of having their health benefits decrease and premiums increase next year as opportunities' own protection joe an $800,000 increase in insurance cost for 2014 alone. unsurprisingly a recent poll shows that 2/3 of montanans believe that the president's health care law should either be delayed or stop all together. i was elected to represent the people, the people of montana, 2/3 of montanans say the law should either be delayed or stopped all together. that is why i'm on the floor here today because this is the house of the people where the voice of the people, and we are standing up against the president's law. as montana's soul member in the house of representatives, it is my job to ensure that montana voice is heard and montanans are

speaking loud and clear. mr. president, why don't we allow individuals to opt out for the first year? you cut a deal with businesses to push the mandate out for a year. let the american people opt out if they so choose for their first year. if they like their health care coverage today let them keep it as you promised to be the case when you pushed for this law a few years ago. obamacare is deeply flawed. it's a law that hurts montana and must be stopped. i will continue fighting to repeal it, delay it, take it apart piece by piece so montanans never have to face the full consequences of the president's failed health care overhaul. i yield back the balance of my time. mrs. bachmann: i thank the gentleman from montana. we also have roger williams from texas, 25th congressional district. mr. williams. mr. williams: thank you. mr. speaker, pressure is mounting on president obama and harry reid to get rid of obamacare. even senate democrats like joe

manchin are starting to listen to the people who sent them to congress. americans don't want the law. texans don't want the law. my district doesn't want the law. it's easy to he see why. this week reported by the man tanian institute revealed that the president was lying when he said americans will see a $2,500 decrease in their premiums. the average health care premium in 2013 for a 27-year-old male was $91. under obamacare it's $139, a 53% increase. that's frightening. this study shows 12 states will see an approximate 100% increase in their premiums, many higher. this is one of the worst pieces of legislation in my lifetime. it hurts families, it cripples businesses, and does very little to ensure those who are uninsured. we can do better. the president's so-called signature piece of legislation is crumbling and it's time for a permanent repeal. today, tomorrow, and for all generations to follow.

in god we trust. i yield back. mrs. bachmann: i thank the gentleman from texas. 25th district. thank you, mr. williams. we also have representative rothfus. thank you for joining us today. mr. rothfus: i thank the gentlelady from minnesota for yielding and organizing this important discussion. i have been hearing a lot back home. robert from pittsburgh wrote to us and said when congress debated the health care law under health care reform, we thought this meant roll and reduction in health care costs. we were wrong. stephanie from the north hills, said add us to the statistics of those who can't keep our insurance plans or doctors. our family's being kicked off our health care plan and being forced into the exchanges. mark from somerset county said obamacare is the great first step, but the next step is repeal. because his preums are going up 43%. francis from beaver county, pennsylvania, told me her hours were reduced to 29 hours per

week, and she's been informed by her employer she can't participate in the corporate health insurance plan because obamacare prohibits it. paul works in an auto parts store. his annual costs are going up 16%. these problems weren't supposed to happen. yet the president guarantees if you like your health care plan you can keep it. when you buy a product, when you buy a product with a guarantee, that doesn't work, we take it back to the store and get a refund. the good news is there is a new product we can shop for. last week we introduced the american health care reform act. it's the new product. this proposal would lower health care costs by allowing americans to purchase coverage across state lines and enable small businesses to pool together to increase their pige power. it provide tax fairness for people who purchase their own insurance and provides the same tax benefit as those who get insurance through their employer. it provides tax credits for people who purchase their

insurance and importantly, and if there is one thing you have to remember, unlike obamacare which penalizes you with taxes, it gives you a tax benefit. you're rewarded if you buy insurance, not penalized. also importantly the american health care reform act provides significant funding for state-based risk pools, a place where individuals with pre-existing conditions can obtain health coverage. when doing so would otherwise have been unaffordable. it does so without increasing costs on those who currently have insurance. it is time for a new beginning. it's time for bipartisan health care reform, and for that discussion to begin. it's time to bring republicans and democrats together for real solutions. as president kennedy once said, let's not seek the republican answer, let's not seek the democrat answer, but let's seek the right answer. we know that obamacare is the wrong answer. i thank the gentlelady. i yield back.

mrs. bachmann: i thank the gentleman for doing so. we have with us the chairman of the republican study committee, mr. steve scalise from the great state of louisiana. mr. scalise: i thank the gentlelady from minnesota for her leadership on this, claiming this time, but also while she's pointing out, and i think, mr. speaker, more and more as every day goes by, more americans are finding out just how devastating the president's health care law is to their families. if you look across the spectrum, the president likes mocking republicans who have said we want to stand up and find a better way, we don't think this law is workable, we have 41 laws the presidents bragged and mocked. 41 laws to repeal or defund portions of the law. you know, mr. speaker, president obama himself has signed seven of those bills into law. president obama has recognized his bill is so unworkable he issued 1,00 waivers to his friends who could find access to the white house. then he said ok the employer mandate is so bad i'll give a break to big businesses because

it's unworkable. a few weeks ago, president obama himself, mr. speaker, said he was going to give a big break to insurance companies. you know who he hasn't given a break to yet? american families. hardworking american families deserve the same relief from the president's health care law that he's granted time and time and time again to the privileged few who can get access to the white house. that's not how democracy is supposed to work. that's not how health policy is supposed to work. this law is so unworkable that the heads of labor unions, including james hoffa of all people, have said that this bill, the president's health care law, will be a disaster to middle class working families and will destroy the 40-hour workweek that's a foundation of our nation's economy. we want to give that same break to him. we want to give that same break to all american families, that's what this fight is about. it's a fight to ensure government continues to get funded while also providing the same relief from the president's health care law that he already has said he wants to give but just to the chosen few who can get access to the white house. .

if it's so good to everybody it should apply to everybody. but if it's so bad, it shouldn't be swiss cheese holes that you carve out to exempt your friends, it should be an exemption for all american families. that's what we're fighting for. again, i thank the gentlelady from minnesota and yield back the balance of my time. mrs. bachmann: that's a wonderful rendition and i appreciate the gentleman from louisiana. we now have representative lamalfa from california's first congressional district. mr. lamalfa: i greatly appreciate the gentlelady from minnesota for her efforts here and for the great lady she is. mr. speaker, again, here we are discussing an issue where this is taking away choices from the american people. now, as promised, we saw the president himself say, if you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period. no one will take it away. one of my colleagues on this floor yesterday said how he had had his plan canceled as of the

end of this year. people now across the country are getting cancellations on their health care insurance plans that they've chosen with their families, around their kitchen table, probably agonized over, how they can afford it, what level of deductible, what kind of coverage they'll have. that's being swept away by what really feels to a lot of people, a lot of my constituents are telling me it feels like a repressive plan that's being pushed upon them. it's unbelievable in the united states of america that you can be forced into being a part of this system. it blows my mind that the supreme court would agree and rule that people should be forced into purchasing something that's a personal choice. we talked a little bit earlier about how people's privacy is going to be so greatly feakted by all this information being -- affected by all this information being dumped into a pool and government bureaucrats being in charge of that. look at other people's information being leaked by the n.s.a. or things accidentally

being put on the internet by different agencies involved. manage is going to our economy, a very personal thing. i'm really, really shouldered to think if this measure can't be slowed down or efforts by what we're doing in the house the next few days around here, it's going to be devastating to people's personal choices, to their economy, jobs. look at the part-time jobs that are being made out of full-time jobs because people have to react. there are true costs to what the obama health care takeover is going to do to the people of this country, their families, their livelihood. so that's why we dig in -- so that's why we're digging in on this. this isn't about politics. it's about doing the right thing for the american people. a document that was really not well-read or well-vetted, done here just about three or four short years ago here, now is coming home to roost in its ineptness, in its completeness,

and the overall oppression it's causing for americans who are feeling that they're out of choices. in my own home area, for example, people who had approximately 130 different choices of health care plans through eight to 10 different providers, they'll be limited to two in my part of northern california, with maybe eight to 10 total plans that they can choose from. and the way this is rolling out right now, you might get only one plan if you're in certain sectors, for perhaps a full year. how is this improving anything? how is this making health care more affordable, more options, more anything? we've got to repeal this. but in the meantime, at the very least, we ask our colleagues in the senate to not strip out the provision we put in place that would allow for a one-year delay, which is the least we would need as a country to see something made better than what it is right now. exemptions, one after the other, are being dropped on us.

why do people want exemptions that work in the public sect father this is such a great plan? pretty soon there will be nobody left in it expect for the taxpayers themselves. so i thank you for the time, i thank my colleague, mrs. bachmann, for allowing this time here today, and let's do the right thing here the next few days in this congress. i yield back. mrs. bachmann: thank you, representative amal that -- lamalfa, for all of your hard work. we have next, mr. culberson from texas' seventh congressional district, who has been tireless, especially in the area of keeping government fully funded. i yield to the gentleman for two minutes. mr. culberson: thank you very much. mr. speaker, i think it's important for the country to know that the house of representatives has done its job in passing the most important appropriations bills to make sure that our military is fully funded, that our veterans are taken care of, that the essential functions of homeland security are taken care of. in fact, we passed those bills, the defense bill out of the house on july 24, the homeland security bill was passed on

june 6, and the military construction and veterans appropriations bill was passed on june 4. we've also passed out of the house the energy and water appropriations bill. and the snass has been sitting on these -- and the senate has been sitting on these bills for over 90 days. the president has very few responsibilities set out in the constitution. one of those specific responsibilities is commander in chief. and it's been reported that the president recently said that the troops in the field might not be paid unless the c.r. was passed. well, the senate has had these bills for over 90 days. and i think it does not -- you know, how does that reflect on the office of the president, for the commander in chief to say that the troops are not going to be paid when in fact we've already passed legislation out of the house and the senate's been sitting on it for over 90 days to make sure the troops are paid? we in the house of representatives, the constitutional conservative majority in the house, are keeping our word to the nation and to our constituents to do everything in our power to

defund, repeal, delay, whatever it takes, to stop the most destructive piece of legislation ever passed by this congress. and i don't think it should be called obamacare, it should be called democratcare because it was done with 100% democrat support. not a single republican voted for it because we recognized the damage it would do to the economy and to our magnificent health care system. the democrats passed this bill on their own and all of a sudden they're discovering, as the astroid enters the atmosphere, they've got a big problem. because it is causing doctors to leave the profession, it's driving up the cost of health insurance premiums, it's raising deductibles, people are losing their health insurance and being dropped into these nonexistent exchanges. one other problem that i just discovered and that no one i think is aware of yet are nonprofit organizations who have been lifting people out of homelessness or addiction and giving them job skills and training them and they find local employers that are willing to take these folks and give them a clean slate, a

fresh start, and a new job, and would wipe out any convictions they've had, they wipe out any history they've got of drug addiction. these nonprofit organizations have suddenly discovered that the employers are pulling up the draw bridge. because all of a sudden the employer could be faced with -- he has to decide as an employer, do i have to provide health care coverage for this essentially volunteer, this worker who was previously homeless, and had no job skills, and could be fined for every employee in the company. so the disasters continue to unfold. it's urgent the house of representatives, we will all, i know, stand together and working in doing everything we can to repeal, delay, defund democratcare, and using every legislative tool at our disposal. i thank the gentlelady from minnesota. mrs. bachmann: i know your daughter is the most precious part of your life. as our daughter is as well. and as the gentleman from texas, i know it's his daughter that he's most concerned about,

with the ill effects of this bill. and i also call now on another great texan, randy weber, from the great state of texas, from the 22nd district of texas, mr. weber, you are have one minute. mr. webster: thank you. i thank -- mr. weber: thank you. i thank the gentlelady. mr. speaker, four facts, one question. fact one, obamacare passed the house by the house democrats, 219 of them. now, 34 d's joined republicans in opposition. let us see how many join on funding the government with the upcoming c.r. fact two, republicans are poised to fund everything in the government at the current levels and eager to do so. fact three, polls show that americans overwhelmingly do not want obamacare. fact four, this house of representatives is the keeper of the purse as designed in the constitution. and well within our authority to defund the ill-conceived and

very unpopular government takeover of health care. only one question, mr. speaker, will those same democrats have voted for obamacare -- who voted for obamacare vote with the american people this time? and will the senate vote with the american people this time? i'm randy weber and that's the way i see it. mrs. bachmann: i thank randy weber from texas. texans have stood up on this issue and they've been fighting from the very beginning. there's a new member of congress, mr. bentivolio. mr. bentivolio has diligently worked not only to defend obamacare, but to delay obamacare. he ran on that when he ran for office, and he has fulfilled that promise while he's been a member of congress. i yield to the gentleman from michigan's 11th district, mr. bentivolio, for one minute. mr. bentvolio: i thank the gentlelady from minnesota. that's to defund or delay. mr. speaker, the president's

health care law is unworkable. hardworking americans know it, they're going to see their insurance premiums skyrocket. small business owners know it. they're going to have to scale back hiring and maybe even let people go. people in the president's own party know it. even the senator from montana, a key author of the legislation, called it a train wreck not long ago. the unions know it. teamsters call it a nightmare because of the jobs and benefits lost. why? because despite the president's saying the law is working its way -- or working the way it's supposed to, we know it's not working at all. that's why house republicans remain committed to protecting the american people from this unworkable, unfair law. with that i yield back. thank you. mrs. bachmann: i thank mr. bentivolio. we have now scott tipton from colorado's third congressional distri. a fabulous member of congress.

mr. tipton: i thank the gentlelady for her leadership. mr. speaker, the affordable care act missed on its primary goal. addressing affordability and accessibility for the american people. probably no one said it better than the afl-cio just a few weeks ago, saying that the affordable care act will lead to the destruction of the 40-hour workweek and will devastate the health and well-being of their members. there was a time in america when we worked to be able to get a 40-hour workweek. now americans just want to have a 40-hour workweek. we know there's a problem with the health care law when we were seeing fewer doctors, fewer nurses, fewer hospital beds but yet we have the room to be able to create more i.r.s. enforcers. this is legislation that we are reaching out to the administration to be able to work on. to be able to create affordability, accessibility, we must defund and repace this broken piece of legislation on behalf of the american people. with that i yield back. mrs. bachmann: thank you, representative tipton, from the rocky mountains all the way to

the great state of new york, mr. tom reed, fabulous member of congress. i yield one minute. mr. reed: i thank the gentlelady for yielding and i came here today on the floor of this chamber, mr. speaker, and i just dropped the fair c.r. and what the fair c.r. says is let's listen to the american people. let us delay obamacare for at least one year. the president has already given business a pass for one year. why is it fair that individuals and hardworking taxpayers had to be subject to this mandate? also what's fair, is why are there special exemptions for members of congress and employees and staffers here in washington, d.c., yet 300 million other americans have to be subject to this law? it's just not right, it's just not fair. it's time to keep the government open. but do what's right and listen to the american people. and take care of this unfair the administration

knows needs to stop. thank you and i yield back my time. mrs. bachmann: representative tom reed has gone to the heart of this problem which is the lack of fairness in obamacare. and speaking to that is representative ted poe of the great state of texas. after myself, my mother's favorite member of congress is ted poe, our hero. i yield to the representative from the great state of texas. mr. poe: i thank the gentlewoman and i thank your mother for being so kind. i appreciate the fact that you're bringing this to the attention of the american public and to members of congress again. the affordable care act, it's not affordable, and it has nothing to do with care. we cannot afford it and the health care of this nation now turned over to the government? are you kidding me? that's why we're so persistent in trying to change a bad decision by congress. the affordable care act. so this morning i asked people that are on my facebook to answer this question, how's

obamacare affecting you and your business? share your story with me. well, i got a lot of them and i can't give them all today. i ask unanimous consent to file them in the congressional record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe: thank you, mr. speaker. here's what stan says. i lost my job and had to take one with lower pay, no insurance. result of obamacare. caroline, my husband's insurance increased $16 -- 162%. now, the gentlelady from minnesota knows these are real people. these aren't statistics out there. these aren't theories about the president. these are real people who are affected by the president's signature legacy nightmare law. ray says, my family didn't get a congressional exemption. can you get me one? ray, good point. members of congress ought to be under the same laws that everybody else in the country is. everybody ought to be under obamacare. and he brings out a good point

d i have here 729 exemptions of over 1,200 that were granted by the president for waivers of obamacare. i'd have had all 1,200 but the copying machine ran out of paper so i couldn't print them all. here are 729 special folks, special treatment, better deal, because they're not under obamacare. they get some kind of waiver. for implementation of obamacare. . and ray is right. it's not right. it discriminates against everybody else. this great law gets applied to everybody except some special folks the president gives waivers to. at least 729. and i ask unanimous consent to put these in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe: i will continue. after ray's comment about a congressional exemption, i can't get you one, ray. you need to call the president. michael says i have to postpone

my graduation from the university of houston because i cannot take the courses i need tuesday to having to work to pay for mandatory health insurance. tonya, my family's insurance premiums have tripled since obamacare was signed into law. i'm not sure how much longer i'll be able to keep insurance. tonya's trip illed. pam, -- tonya's tripled. pam, my husband's benefits have changed including higher deductibles, co-pays and loss of prescription drugs, all done in anticipation of this new law. please help. i ask for one more minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman's time has expired. mrs. bachmann: i thank the gentleman from texas, mr. ted poe, judge ted poe. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. mrs. bachmann: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to address remarks to the chair and to refrain from engaging in personalities with regard to

the president. under the speaker's announced the of january 3, 2013, gentlewoman from florida, ms. wilson, is recognized for 60 minutes as designee of the minority leader. mr. garamendi: mr. speaker, we are making a modest little change. i relinquish that one hour to ms. wilson. reclaim it -- the speaker pro tempore: the entleman will suspend. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the gentleman from california, mr. garamendi, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. garamendi: i thank you, mr. speaker. sorry for the confusion and my apologies for that. we just heard a remarkable hour of problems that really were so overblown as to be really not

worthy of much discussion. but i think the american public really needs to understand what this last hour was all about. in fact, the affordable care act is working and it's actually working very, very well for millions upon millions of americans. i just want to read some facts and then move on to what is really going on here, which is an effort to try to leverage the necessity of funding the federal government. that is something we must do every year to provide the money to continue all of the work of the federal government. they're trying to use that as a lever to gain something that they've been unable to do in a presidential election year. last presidential election year, the issue of the affordable health care act was front and center and the american people heard more than a year of debate about the affordable health care act, whether it was good or not so good, all the benefits and all of the problems there might be

and at the end, november of last year, the american public decisively said that the affordable health care act and president obama should continue. that was the decision by americans, and in the house of representatives, we gained seats on the democratic side and i think about two million more americans voted democratic than they voted republican, although because of the redistricting and the jerry mannedering of the house re-- gerrymandering of the house remained in republican hands. now, just understand what's going on here. what could not be achieved in the democratic process of an election is attempted to be achieved in two absolutely critical moments in the annual processing of the federal government. the first moment it comes up is october 1. the necessity to provide money to carry on all of the tasks of

the federal government. social security administration, the national parks and on and on, every aspect of the federal funded or as to be nearly every aspect has to be funded every year. that's now being used as a lever to try to be achieved what could not be achieved in an election. after all, this is a democracy. we make our decisions through the electoral process, not by trying to lever using a critical moment, basically the funding of the american government. now in two or three weeks beyond october 1 there will be yet another moment of critical importance and that is the ability of the american government to continue to pay its bills. it's called the debt limit. heretofore -- well, actually in

2011, this was a routine process in which the congress would continue to say, ok, we will increase the debt limit so we can pay our bills. it was done during democrat and republican administrations routinely. there was always some discussion about the debt, about the deficit, as it should be and in fact the president, mr. obama, when he was in the senate, railed against this ssue of deficit. ok. that often happens he was on the other side of it. these two moments of time is now being used as a lever to achieve in the legislative process what could not be achieved in the electoral process. so much for democracy. ow, just a few facts about the affordable care act or obamacare, as it's come to be known. nearly 13 million americans

have benefited from over $1.1 billion in rebates from insurance companies. i was the insurance commissioner in california for eight years, and i knew then, as i know know, that the insurance companies were overcharging the public for their health insurance policies. however, i did not have any authority under california to order rebates. the affordable health care act sets up a system that requires the insurance companies to pay at least 80% of the premium dollar for medical services. if they don't they have to do a rebate. it's the law that they want to repeal. ok. $1.1 billion. 105 million americans, including 71 million americans in private plans and 34 million seniors in medicare, have

received access to free preventive services. you want to hold down the cost of medical services? do prevention. the affordable health care act requires that every insurance policy, including medicare, provide a free medical checkup every year. guess what has happened? the cost curve has bent downward. why? because serious illnesses are either treated or delayed. diabetes, strokes, heart conditions are analyzed early and treated, reducing the cost of health care and far more important, keeping people alive and healthy. moving on, 30 million women, 30 million women are receiving free coverage for comprehensive women's preventative services, including a well woman visit and diabetes screening.

they want to repeal that. 30 million american women receiving free diagnostic care. hey want to repeal it. 17 million children with pre-existing health conditions can no longer be denied coverage. i was the insurance commissioner. i cannot tell you the number of times that i begged for a law that would require insurance companies to continue or to provide insurance for a newborn child that had a serious illness. ime after time in california insurance companies would insure the mother for the delivery and the moment that child was delivered, the child had no coverage. bankruptcies and lack of medical care ensued.

17 million children will be denied health care coverage if they are successful in repealing the affordable health care act. 17 million children. 6.6 million young adults till the age of 26 have taken advantage of the obamacare law, the affordable health care act, to stay on their parent's health insurance plan. if you have a kid in college, if you have a kid that's graduated in college that's 21 22, they can stay on your plan. before the affordable health care act, before obamacare, they had little opportunity to get insurance. they had to go out and buy their own policy. they're able to stay on their

parent's policy. 6.6 million young adults that will not be insured if they are successful in repealing the ffordable health care act. 100 million americans no longer . ve a life-time exclusion previously, most health insurance policies in the united states set a limit on the amount of coverage that a person could have during their lifetime or in a given year. 100 million americans no longer have a lifetime exclusion. 100 million americans are able to get comprehensive coverage for the duration -- for the duration of their illness. they want to affect the well-being of 100 million

americans. you heard about the senior doughnut hole, the drug coverage. written into the law in 2003 providing drug coverage for seniors, medicare part d, was a doughnut hole. you got the first couple of thousand dollars covered after that. after that had to be paid by the seniors. the affordable health care act is shrinking the doughnut hole every year. and in another two, three years, that doughnut hole will be closed providing an extraordinary important benefit to seniors. i know this problem. in my communities before the affordable health care act, before obamacare, seniors would reach that doughnut hole threshold and they could not afford to continue to buy their drugs, their pharmaceutical

products. so what did they do? their blood pressure went up, their diabetes was not treated and they became seriously ill. they want to repeal the affordable health care act and the doughnut hole will not be closed if they are successful. so we continue on. , california, on october 1 four million californians for the first time will have access to an insurance exchange, a marketplace, a free marketplace , which we talk about all the time but one does not exist in california until october 1 where the uninsured in california, including this

member of congress, will be able to go to a rational marketplace that lists numerous health care policies, five different levels of coverage, all of them uniform, all of them priced where i and four million other californians can select the policy of our choice. not a government policy but a private insurance company policy. a marketplace. a free market solution to the 40 million americans that are not insured and the four million in california that are not insured today. we rail back and forth, democrats and republicans alike, about the necessity of a free market and for the first time ever in this nation, a free market, rational market system is established. not only in california, but in every state in this union.

and 33 state governors have efused to set up a free market rational system called an exchange. called an exchange in which insurance companies will lay out their policies, lay out their price, lay out their coverages, exclusions and the rest, and the public will be able to have price information, quality information and make a choice. that's what's called a free market. and they want to repeal it. o what are those people to do? 435 of us represent the people of america. i spent an hour listening to some 20 people who may in their own -- believe that they're representing their people. but i know from my experiences

as insurance commissioner in california that for the first we across this nation, have the opportunity to have a market system, a health insurance market system that is rational, that is sensible in which prices are available, in which quality and multiple products are available. not a government-run health system, but rather a market system established by this government so that the people of this nation can pick and choose which private policy they want. if you're over 65 you can get your medicare and you will continue to get it with the additional benefits that that -- benefits that are in the affordable care act. if you're not yet 65 and you happen to have been unemployed the age of 50, prior to the affordable care act, you were in the deepest of trouble.

you were virtually uninsurable. why? because you were 50 years of age. you were entering that period when you were expensive. you were likely to get health issues. insurance companies routinely discriminated against you. and if you happened to be a woman, you were in even deeper trouble. those days are gone. unless, unless the republican rty succeeds in repealing, delaying, defunding the affordable care act. the american people have an opportunity today to get insurance. or they will on october 1. exchanges will operate across the country. some run by states such as

california and new york, where the governors said, this makes sense to the people in my state, and we're going to do it. others like texas and montana, the governors said, oh, we don't care about our people, and therefore the federal government is stepping in to set up the exchanges. whatever you may have heard over this last hour about a government-run health care ystem, it is not true. except, except if you happen to be on medicare. medicare is a government-run health insurance program in which the delivery is not provided by the government but provided by multiple health care providers. individual doctors, group of doctors, hospitals, big health care medical centers such as the university of california-san francisco.

yes, medicare is a government health insurance, insurance system. it is not a delivery system. there is one, however, it's called the u.s. military. military hospitals. and veterans hospitals. those are government delivery systems. so whatever you may have heard about the government takeover of health care, not true, unless you happen to be in the military, a veteran or on medicare. even the medicaid program is state-run. not run by the federal government. oh, there are so many falsehoods. you could fill this entire room with the falsehoods that we've heard over the last months. but the reality is that the affordable health care act is good for america. it is reducing the inflation

rate in health care. we've already seen the lowest inflation rate in the last three years since the enactment of the affordable health care act and over the last -- than over the last 25 years. so, are we going to shut down vernment so that the opponents, who failed in an election, who failed in congress in 2010 to stop the affordable health care act, failed in a presidential election, in senate elections, are we going to shut down government so that they can leverage something that they could not achieve in an electoral process? i don't think so. i don't think the american government will stand for it. i don't think the american eople will stand for it. i want to talk about jobs.

i want to talk about my district. i wanted to talk about the necessity of a farm bill so that there will be food on the table for the poor, so that there will be a program that the farmers in my district will know what they will face as they begin to plant their winter crops. that bill languishes because of this process that we're seeing. i wanted to talk about a transportation bill that we must write and fund so that we can build the infrastructure, so that we can put people back to work. but, no, we're caught up here in this process. there are things that we need to do in america. and here we are. here we are. this is not good for america. the affordable health care act is good for americans. and when we provide health

insurance for every american, we will be a much more just society. and we'll have a stronger economy. this road's out ahead of us. i'm going to be joined by my colleagues. i'd like my colleague from florida to join us here. mrs. wilson, will you please join us? -- mrs. wilson, will you please wilson, will you please join us? ms. wilson: thank you for sharing this hour with me. representative garamendi from california, my dear friend. mr. speaker, who could be gainst making every american

eligible for health care insurance? i can't even imagine. so i'm here today to help set the record straight. about obamacare. i'm here to explain what obamacare means to the people in my community and the people around this nation. and i'm here to explain the truth, the real truth behind the health care reforms that e moving ahead on tuesday, october 1. simply because obamacare -- obama cares. mr. speaker, this health reform is about making it easier and cheaper to get insurance if you don't have it. it's that simple.

our president, barack obama, cares. and is making health care easier to obtain. he cares and is making health are more affordable. president barack obama cares and is making health care more accessible. now, listen up. if you have medicare, this does not apply to you. this has absolutely nothing to do with you. it will not affect your coverage. if you have medicaid, this does not apply to you. if you have a job with health re coverage, this does not apply to you.

obamacare only applies if you o not currently have insurance . you will finally have the opportunity to gain protection for your body. you will finally find peace of mind. ou no longer will have to fear being bankrupted by a health emergency. you no longer will have to let your health suffer by avoiding he doctor. now longer have to fear for your family going without care. mr. speaker, there are very few simple steps for getting started if you're uninsured. because obama cares, you can get started with these simple directions. if you have access to the

internet, you can get started right away. beginning tuesday, october 1, health care -- healthcare.gov will give you all the information you need to sign up for this program. once you're there, go to the tab that says "get insurance." mr. speaker this will take you to a page that will -- mr. speaker, this will take you to a page that will explain all the insurance marketplaces available to you. you will be able to compare all the plans available to you in your area. mr. speaker, the internet is the best way to sign up. but if you're not comfortable using a computer, ask a friend or ask a young relative to help you survey the choices. young people know all about

if you need additional help, 318-2596. all 1-800- people are available around the clock to offer assistance in more than 150 languages and in miami that is very important. they can help you enroll by mail if you prefer. mr. speaker, obama cares so much that there wills be expert -- there will also be expert advisors called navigators in your community. you can find them at community health centers, at the mall, in drug stores, and in many places of worship. in some states, traditional insurance agents and brokers will be able to help. but remember this, if someone

tries to charge you money for advice on how to sign up, say no. because it is a scam. no one should be charged for assistance in signing up. mr. speaker, americans should take their time in completing the important task of choosing the right health insurance plan. i know sometimes it can take two hours to choose the right pair of shoes at the mall. or two hours at a kitchen table to choose the right table -- tv plan. -- cable tv plan. be patient. take your time in choosing the right plan to protect your body and your life. you won't regret it.

mr. speaker, obama cares because health reform is not only about making insurance simple, but also making it affordable. let me just give you a couple of examples. a self-employed person with a spouse and two children and a household income of $33,000 would more than likely not be able to afford insurance at all today. . but starting tuesday, october 1, this person would be able to get insurance for his entire family for an average of $94 per month. because of a government subsidy. a single mother with three children and a household income

to 0,000 will now be able insure herself and her children per average of $163 month through obamacare. mr. speaker, it's affordable and it's essential to be covered. young people under 26 will be able to stay on their parent's plan. for those young people without the opportunity to join their parent's plans, it's especially important for you to get insurance. if you're young, you're statistically more likely to end up in a car crash or motorcycle crash or to experiment with drugs or other risky behavior that lands you into trouble. you need insurance as much or

more than anyone else. you have to pay to insure that car. you have to pay to insure that motorcycle. so make sure that you pay a very small portion of that first paycheck you earn to insure your precious body. mr. speaker, no one said this would be easy. there will be challenges as the federal government implements the new insurance market in 36 states in the weeks ahead, but progress is never easy. nothing this important and ambitious is easy. there will be needed tweaking and needed corrections, but that was also the case in 1935 when we rolled out social security and in 1965 when we rolled out medicare.

mr. speaker, we know that insurance companies can no longer deny children with pre-existing coverage, we th 105 ecause of obamacare, million americans no longer have to live in fear of maxes -- maxing out their lifetime insurance coverage. we know that obama cares because more than three million young people up to the age of 26 now have coverage because insurance companies can no longer remove them from their parent's plans. yes, mr. speaker, we are well n our way to a healthier, more financially secure nation. we refuse, we utterly refuse to

llow anyone to damage repeal or turn back obamacare. it is the law of the land, and it is here to stay. we will stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. we will speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves. we will do all this and more barack resident hussein obama cares. he cares for the people of this nation. i yield back the balance of my ime. mr. garamendi: thank you very much, ms. wilson. thank you for laying out the way in which the affordable health care act will bep fit

and how people can use that act, how they can access the exchanges and the benefits that are found in it. i'd like now to call on one of my colleagues from the midwest, mr. ryan, if you'd care to join us, thank you. ryan dempster i thank the gentleman, i -- mr. ryan: i thank the gentleman, i thank the gentlelady. this is an important issue for us around the country, in ohio especially. we have a very unique situation going on in ohio as i heard the previous -- previous special order, heard many members of the tea party caucus come up here and talk about how bad the affordable care act is, how it is going to end democracy as we know it, how the sky's going to fall and it is troubling, i think, when you actually see what the benefits are. and let me be the first to say, as i think even those of us who voted for the health care

reform, there's a long way to go. we got a lot of work to do. these things aren't easy. this is a very complicated situation, a very complicated rogram to try to cover all 313 million americans, try to drive down health care costs, try to move toward prevention and wellness, very big goals in the united states, goals we can only really achieve if we work together. so to have one side trying to destroy what is now law in the united states, confirmed by the supreme court, passed by the house, the senate, signed by the president, approved by the supreme court. and now as we try to stand it up, we have people trying to inject into the process, not a helpful hand, not trying to

make it work better but trying to destroy it, trying to add more uncertainty here in the united states congress. even to the brink of wanting to shut down the government or default on the credit, the full faith and credit of the united states. all the polls are saying, 60% to 70%, maybe in the high 50's, most americans say we do not want you to use shutting down the government or defaulting on ur debt as a way to try to push back on obamacare. or the affordable care act. so what i'm saying is, we have millions and millions of people. here's what really gets me. people walk up on the other side of the aisle, god bless them, and they act like prior to 2008, 2009 we had a health

care system that took care of everybody. everybody was fine with the current -- no, no businesses were calling our offices saying, man, this health care's destroying my business, i can't plan ahead, it's a 30% increase this year, it's 70% next year. we get one person sick in a small business of 20 or 30 people, we got to go bankrupt. people forget. millions of americans prior to this health care law, 1,700 families in my congressional district went bankrupt because of health care. so we're not even going to talk about that, are we going to sweep that right under the rug, the kind of suffering that goes on in some of our communities, we're going to drive around the problem, close our eyes? and everyone says this is a giveaway. this is not a giveaway. this is about giving people who

go to work every day, sometimes two or three jobs, have a sick kid, we're just going to ignore them because we got this bumper sticker on the back of our truck that has four little slogans on it and, boy, we can't deviate from that because we'll get primaried by a tea party candidate because we can't check every box along the way. but fine. let those 1,700 families go bankrupt. let that kid with cancer and his parents who are at akron children's hospital or some other children's hospital around the united states have to deal with the fact that they hit their lifetime cap because their child has cancer. ow, give me a break. because you got to stick to that bumper sticker. can't deviate from the bumper

sticker that says less government. we want to go back to that great health care system that left 40 million people without any health care, that kept driving up prices for small businesses, small manufacturers in ohio. we can maintain what is great about the american health care system. i represent a direct not far from the cleveland clinic. we understand in northeast ohio , some rful it is aspects of our health care system, but there are failures in our health care system and we are here as members of the united states congress to try to fix those holes in the system and try to help our fellow citizens that may be sick, maybe can't afford it but go to work every day just as

hard as everyone else. and i will say, before i kick it to my friend from new york, that i find it very interesting that we have some governors in some of our states, republican governors in some of our states , conservative republican governors in some of our states, tea party governors in some of our states, one in ohio was the chair of the budget committee during the gingrich revolution, governor kasich. he makes the exact same arguments for expanding medicaid in ohio, which he's fighting for, along with governor brewer out in arizona and some others. he makes the exact same arguments that it is immoral for us to have this level of sickness in our society with people not having access to health care.

that it doesn't make any sense for us to wait for somebody to get so sick and then they dump themselves in an emergency room after weeks and weeks of sickness, ending up there much sicker than they should be. he, as well as others, are making the argument that prevention is the way to go, wellness is the way to go. and i commend these governors because it makes sense. so sit down and work with us to help stand this up, to create more competition, to make sure that these young children and their families don't have to go to bed every night. and this is the last one. now trying to take any help or giving the congressional staffers, which is floating around here. and i know it's a political hot button. but my goodness gracious, we get young people that want to

come to capitol hill, live in one of the most expensive cities in the world, make peanuts because they are ambitious and want to get ahead and we're going to say, you're on your own with your health care too. what are we doing? what are we doing? this doesn't make any sense, and i'm sorry, you know. i'm sorry you don't like president obama. i'm sorry. you know, i don't know what to say. ut to come after health care reform where so many millions of people are going to benefit. and in ohio we're saying six out of 10 of the people who are uninsured in ohio can get health care for less than $100 a month, what's wrong with that? what's wrong with that? i yield to my friend. >> thank you, representative ryan, and thank you for

expressing the tone of harshness that's prevailed in this chamber. mr. tonko: i don't know if i can remember when a law, a standing law in this country was used as a reason to avoid paying our bills or keeping government running. i find it regrettable that we go after the law of the land, in this case, the affordable care act, they'll reference it as obamacare, and we'll see how long that label stands when the program proves successful. might be removed immediately. but nonetheless, the harshness here is driven after a season, season's worth of activity on the affordable care act. we have voted for it in both houses of the congress, bipartisan support in the senate, president stood for re-election, was re-elected.

and about arguments of repeal and replace by the candidate for president from the other party. and the cumulative total of votes from members of the house were in majority -- so the people have stated they support this. and as senator mccain indicated on the floor just this week, there are consequences to elections. it's not sinking in, or perhaps it has but they refuse to allow their behavior to end. . it's putting themselves first as political forces rather than the people, best interest of the people. i am a concerned, i'm convinced this is driven by the fear that this obamacare, as they call it, will be successful, and this is their last effort possible to end the opportunity to provide affordable, accessible, quality health care for all. we know it.

we see it in our states. we see it in ohio. we see it in california. we see it in florida. we are joined by our friend from texas who just visited my district this week in albany, new york, representative castro from texas. we have seen it in our home states. people have a need out there. in my case, i can cite some of the stats, 36,000 young people will not be biased against with pre-existing conditions from having insurance. take it away, why don't you? take it away and then put us at risk of defaulting with our credit rating. take it away. be harsh. we look at the 12,000-plus seniors who are receiving discounts for their pharmaceutical needs. take it away, why don't you. it's unfair. it's un-american. immoral to take it away, but we are going to use it as a pawn and device here called negotiating on whether or not the government will continue to run, whether we keep the doors opened and the lights on. whether or not we are going to pay our bills. come on, working families in

this country understand it. they roll up their slives, they play by the rules, they work hard, they expect to taste success, and they pay their bills on time and expect their government to do likewise. they don't expect us to put a roadblock in the way that says the law of the land, law of the landstuhlly tested in the highest court of the land, in the supreme court, given the green light, we'll put that in as a roadblock to stop progress because we know the october 1 starting date is quickly arriving. this is grossly unfair to the people of this country. when i look at the 124,000 seniors who are receiving free eventive services, i'm not ready to give that up. repeal is not an answer. improving is an answer, i'll work with you. but we don't use this vehicle as a reason to stop government from running, a vehicle to stop us from paying america's bills. it goes on and on. ,00 young people who now qualify to stay on their -- ,200 young

people who now qualify to say on their parents' coverage. this is allowing people, the tens of millions who are uninsured, many who are underinsured to have access, connection to a system. aren't we in this business to respond to the needs of people? are we in the business to take the facts, twist them, present them in a way that calls for confusion and only serve political partisan purposes? i think we can do better than that in this chamber. we are going to work. we are going to get to that finish line. i'm convinced, representative garamendi, we are going to stand for justice. what's for fairness in our society. and health care is a right. we should see it as an american right. the moral compass points in that direction. and we ought not use it as a pawn in a political theater that allows for us to not have government funded or allows for bills.ot pay our

let's get on with business. what's happening in this chamber? are we so insensitive to the needs of people, what could be more important than responding to the health care needs of the people of this great country? so let's stop the brinksmanship. let's get it done. let's get business done here. i thank you for leading us in this discussion. mr. garamendi: thank you very much, mr. tonko. in previous weeks you and i and mr. ryan and mr. castro have had the pleasure of talking on this floor about putting people to work. about jobs. about creating the infrastructure, the education, the training that's necessary to move americans. this week we find ourselves caught up in this leveraging the necessity of funding government and paying our bills, the debt limit, using that as a lever to destroy a very important law that previdse benefits, real benefits to every american. -- provides benefits, real benefits to emp american. mr. castro, we thank you for joining us. we know texas was much discussed

in the previous hour. i hear you have some thoughts about all of this. please join us. thank you very much. mr. castro: thank you, congressman garamendi, and thank you congressman tonko and congressman ryan for your very eloquent words in describing the situation we face today. i like millions of americans hope that there will not be a government shutdown. i hope that we can get past the hostage politics that have prevailed over this place over the last few years. his is no way to run a government. our nation is the strongest nation on earth. we are the most exceptional nation on earth. and these wounds are self-inflicted ones. i have said many times and i have heard from my constituents that all of these fiscal fights, these self-inflicted wounds by congress, when we get up to the limit where we are supposed to pass a budget or we are supposed to raise the debt ceiling limit, all of these fights are causing

the nation high blood pressure. they are affecting the market in negative ways, the stock market is taking a hit, our employment rates are taking a hit. in every way this has been bad for the country. and i would also remind our members of congress and the american people about what happened the last time brinksmanship was tried. the last time this happened the sequester resulted. a bad way to do business. i think people on both sides of the aisle would agree that the sequester did not turn out well for our nation. well, that's the same road we are headed down again. the republicans are taking us down the same road that gave us the sequester, the budget control act, and then the cuts that really were across-the-board, were not targeted, have hurt the military, hurt education, have hurt health care and we are headed down the same road.

congressman, last time you and i spoke about a month ago here on the floor, i mentioned that in politics you're often asked whether you are a republican or democrat, what is it you stand for? and i think as democrats when we believe -- what we believe in is there are few things that have made this nation great. first is freedom because we are a free people. that freedom has been hard fought for, i come from san antonio, texas, military city usa. the people of san antonio and people of texas know the high price of freedom. the second is democratcy. we are a democratic nation. because we are free we get to elect our leaders and we get to kick them out of office when we no longer believe they are representing our views and our values. but much of the politics of today is really fought over the third principle and value which is opportunity. what is special about this country and the reason that for years and years people from all over the world have wanted to come to america is because as

americans we have come together to build out what i call a infrastructure of opportunity that enables each of us to pursue our american dreams. and i want to remind you what i mean by that. just as there is a infrastructure transportation, a system of streets and roads and highways that helps all of us get to where we want to go on the road, in american society we have built up together a infrastructure of opportunity that enables each of us or at least helps us get to where we want to go in life. and that has to include certain things that are at risk when we get into hostage politics. great public schools and universities, strong health care system, so that if you get sick you don't become debilitated or die and an economy built around well-paying jobs so people can support themselves and their family members. it's that second part that i mention, health care, that has been an issue in this debate. and i just want to close by saying this. the senator from texas, the junior senator from texas, a few

days ago talked about how he he was speaking for -- how he was speaking for 26 million texans when he was threatening to shut down the government over the affordable care act which he derriesively calls obamacare. he does not speak for 26 million texans. the fact is texas has the highest percentage of people who have no health care coverage at all. there are a lot of families who are having to take their kids to the emergency room, who are getting letters from their insurance companies because they hit their lifetime cap. they are getting letters being denied coverage because they have a pre-existing condition. the affordable care act is going to change that. it's going to be a good thung for our state. so i would just -- thing for our state. so i would just note there are a lot of people in texas who are excited about the affordable care act and the fact that they are going to have a chance to afford to have insurance, some of them for the first time in their lives, and even those who

have insurance, many of them will no longer have to worry about being denied because of pre-existing condition, about hitting a lifetime cap, or about going bankrupt because of health care. so with that, congressman, i yield back. mr. garamendi: thank you very much, mr. castro. thank you for pointing out that one junior senator doesn't represent all of texas. i know you represent the heart of texas. that is the people of texas. we are joined here by our distinguished senior member from the state of new jersey, please thank you for that, but before you begin, may i inquire how much time we have? the speaker pro tempore: nine minutes remaining. mr. gare why mendy: very good. thank you. mr. pallone: i want to thank the gentleman from california and all my colleagues who came to the floor in the aftermath of that hour from the gop gotsche side. basically criticizing -- g.o.p.

side, basically criticizing the health care reform, obamacare. sometimes when i listen to what the republicans say about obamacare, i'm shocked because i don't think they understand how many people are out there who already benefited from it and who are really looking forward to october 1 because they can sign up for the first time for health insurance. and let me tell you in my own district i have had so many inquiries about -- from people who are uninsured or underinsured or can't afford the health insurance they have now. nd i just want to say, i agree with the gentleman from lifornia that this was basically resolved last november. it couldn't have been clearer that the president, for whom obamacare is known now, was out there in the presidential election saying that the affordable care act was a great accomplishment on his part, and he was going to continue with it. and then you had mitt romney on

the other side saying if he was elected he he was going to repeal it. my colleague from california is right. that was resolved in the election. why is it that our colleagues on the republican side are trying to hold the health care reform hostage and saying that if we don't repeal it or delay it or defund it, or whatever we have had so many votes on this, over 40 now, that they are going to shut the government down. one has nothing to do with the other. and i just want to talk about those three groups of people who are most positively impacted by obamacare beginning october 1. first of all we know we have about 40 million americans who are uninsured. many of them are from new jersey. they don't have health insurance options right now. this is going to be the first time, october 1, that they actually have a rational, legitimate option to get health insurance. and they are waiting for october 1 to come around. secondly, we have just as many people, maybe 80 million people, who may have health insurance,

but it's very skeletal, doesn't provide much in benefits and they have to pay a lot of money out of pocket if they get sick or go to the hospital. those people will also benefit because every health insurance policy that's offered under the health exchange the gentleman from california talked about will be a good benefit package. at least as good as what we know now as blue cross blue shield. then you have the third group of people who may have health insurance but they are spending so much of it in order to make sure they have health insurance, they are spending so much money that they can't pay for their rent or they can't pay for their mortgage or put food on the table. all these people are going to benefit come october 1 when they can sign up for a good package and an affordable package. one of the main reasons it's affordable is because the federal government is helping pay the premium. helping subsidize the premium with tax credits, but not tax credits that you have to pay up front and then you get a refund

when you file next april 15, but a tax credit like a subsidygoes premium. and we are already hearing, i have said this to my colleagues in new jersey, now they are saying the average health insurance policy is going to be about $350 a month. that may not seem like -- some people say $350 a month, that is incredibly affordable for a lot of people in new jersey who are paying a lot more right now. that's without the subsidy. with the subsidy that can go down to $100 a month depending upon your income. i can't stress enough how important this is. and for the republicans to try to hold this hostage, no one on our side of the aisle is going to give up on the affordable care act because we know people need it. and we are going to move forward and hopefully they come to their senses and don't keep trying to shut this government down. i want to commend the gentleman again. thank you. mr. garamendi: thank you very much for your commends about new jersey. -- comments about new jersey. mr. ryan, i think we have about two minutes, maybe 2 1/2 minutes

left. if you'd like to close and i'll take the last 30 seconds. we'll thank the public for their attention. mr. ryan: i thank the last couple of points that i'd like to make, again, we have very conservative republican tea party governors saying we want to expand medicaid and they make all of the same arguments that we made during the health care debate. you get sicker, it costs more money. there's also a moral aspect that we got millions and millions of people going bankrupt, children not getting treatment, hitting the ceiling when they have cancer, some other issue. those problems have been fixed. and so to those folks here in the house of representatives need to recognize just how extreme their position is. when karl rove and john mccain and some of these other folks are saying you folks are really

out on a limb here, you're not making a lot of sense, that's not tim ryan and mr. garamendi and mr. pallone and others who they would call liberals, that's karl rove, bush's brain is telling you you're way out on a limb on this one and it doesn't make any sense. and i think that's important. you have republican tea party governors making the same argument about expanding medicaid. critical, critical point. lastly, as we see the top 1% and the top .1% garnering almost a third of the wealth created from 2009 to 2012, we got a problem in this country. and so if we can't step in and say the very least we can give some of these folks some basic health care, then we got to ask ourselves what kind of country do we really want to live in and i yield back to my friend. mr. garamendi: mr. ryan and mr. pallone, thank you very much for joining us on the discussion of the affordable

care act and the way in which the republican party here in as a -- is using it repeal as a lever to really shut down government. it's not a good situation. we normally spend our time here on the floor talking about jobs, infrastructure, how we can move this economy and this nation forward,. we hope to get back to that next week. coming critical vote up in the next couple of days, tomorrow, sunday, about health care and the way this government should operate. with that, mr. speaker, we yield back our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the

chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. i heard our president saying on television in a speech i heard this morning, in essence, people who watch fox news think obamacare is terrible, all kinds of problems. i hope that our president will start watching something besides cnn or msnbc so he can find out that everything he's done is not made of gold, that people are hurting across marek. -- america. they heard him when the president said if you like your health insurance you get to keep it. he said it over and over and over and over.

if you like your health insurance, keep it. made that speech across the over and over. he said if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. well, it turns out it's not true. if you like your health insurance, you'll lose it or cost you a whole lot more. and that's what people are finding out across our country. i appreciate my colleagues talking about -- and actually saying some of the same things about obamacare that they said 3 1/2 years ago, the trouble is now obamacare is upon us and people are being hurt and they've lost their insurance. they've lost their doctor. they can't afford the extra thousands of dollars that it's costing. i think politifact taking a shot at me saying it would cost people thousands of dollars if they were at 133% of the

poverty level. they'd have to buy the insurance or pay the extra income tax. and when you get down to it, even the article that criticized me pointed out at the end that still with all the government subsidies, it was still going to cost a few thousand dollars, that was the estimate. it's costing people money they don't have. they're getting less care, not more. just give have to opinion on that. we got case after case, email after email from real americans that have seen the harm it's done. young friend i have tremendous respect for across the aisle had pointed out that, you know, apparently from his limited experience he said that congress has worked in a very partisan way the last few years. what he doesn't realize is that

in the four years the democrats controlled the house, they presided over the congress that had more closed bills. that meant they didn't allow a single amendment. nearly are a sized half of the country because they didn't allow a single amendment on the bills in the history of our congress. it was the most routeless, partisan, overreaching -- ruthless, partisan, overreaching congress in the history of the country. it was unbelievable. so it gets a little difficult to hear republican leaders who were in charge during the four most oppressive partisan years when it comes to having input from the other side tell us about responsibility and bipartisanship when she showed

what they think when they got in charge. it was really quite mean. we were told by our colleague earlier, republicans gave us sequester and just encourage my friends across the aisle to go back and look at accurate history. it was the president that proposed sequester. i didn't think it was a good idea at all. that's no way to really legislate. we should have made the difficult choices and made the cuts. and then to hear comments about the democrats believe freedom has made us great. i absolutely believe do too, but freedom has a price. freedom requires responsibility from americans, it requires that everybody be involved, that everybody pay attention to what the government's doing so those who said for so long, i don't care what the government does, long as they stay out of my business, if that's your approach, the government does not, will not stay out of your business. it gets to where we are right

now with obamacare. every american's most private secrets about their own personal, private health will be kept by the federal bureaucracy here headquartered in washington. the records may be kept elsewhere. i think administration made a deal with g.e. so g.e. and the federal government will have everyone's most personal secrets. it's a good thing they can keep a secret in the federal government so surely nobody's personal records will be leaked out once they get to the possession of g.e. or the federal government. but for my friends across the aisle to talk about hostage politics, all i know is that people that i talk to across my , i think, lowest

denominator probably ended up to about 500:4 that talked about how obamacare really was and people said, we got our 26-year-old on our health insurance so it's not so bad. gee -- and republicans were ready to agree to that. we were ready to do bipartisan bills, but the most closed-minded and closed congress in our history would not allow input. they didn't want our input. they were going to do it all themselves and as a result of that kind of mean-spiritedness, americans are suffering today. so i have my friend from texas. also former state district judge, and as i understand he's heard from his constituents as well. and i'd yield such time as he may consume to my friend from texas. mr. poe: i appreciate the gentleman yielding some time.

earlier this morning i was reading some emails and facebook posts on my facebook from people with the question i asked, how does obamacare affect you? we ran out of time earlier this morning. unlike the senate, we can't talk until we're through talking, as you know. so i'm going to read a few more of those in the next few minutes from some of these folks that i received comments from in my district and people on facebook this morning. tonya told me that my family's insurance premiums have tripled since obamacare was signed into law. i'm not sure how much longer i can keep it. pam says the huge chemical plant my husband works for has made changes to his benefit package which includes higher deductibles, co-pays and loss -- and some loss of prescription drug benefits. all done in the anticipation and implementation of health care act. he works hard. i'm a public school teacher.

we want to send our daughter to her dream school upon graduation. the university of texas, mr. gohmert. i know we may have disagreement on that. but anyway, they want to send their daughter to the university of texas. and she says, more coming out of our pockets for health insurance means less available for college. please help. shannon says, because of obamacare, premiums have doubled, all co-pays went up so i had to change employers because of the law. brandy, i am a finance manager for a nonprofit company with 16 employees. we may not be able to offer health insurance next year. linda, who i went to high school with, said, i'm feeling the pain of obamacare today. my doctor's office told me this morning that my insurance company will no longer cover a procedure for my knee that they have covered in the past. i will now have to pay $1,080

out of pocket. i asked if this was the result of obamacare, she replied in the positive. also, tricare won't cover it and my doctor dropped medicare coverage. her last comment was, expensive. matthew says, i'm an outlaw now. i'm subcontractor and i just can't afford obamacare. kristen, if i could afford insurance, i'd already have it. this forces me to buy something i still cannot afford. jen says this, the deductible went up, co-pay went up, i have thyroid problems and have to have it tested one to two times a year. the insurance always covered this test. it no longer covers it. i'm still trying to figure out the affordable part of the health care when my costs keep getting higher. christy, here's what she says about her family business. our family business has had a 47% increase in costs to the company since obamacare was

passed. we're going to have to cut somewhere. david, i'm a texas citizen, u.s. citizen, living in bahrain. i reside in bahrain. my employer provides my insurance in bahrain. but i'm told i have to buy a u.s. policy or face the penalty. and teddy -- and this will be a last one -- presents rough situation for people he cares about. my fiancee went from 40 hours a week to 27 hours because her employer said they had to in order to avoid penalties from obamacare. my sister has been told that her tests and some medicines for her m.s. will not be covered because obamacare mandates say she's no longer going to be a viable person at the age of 50.

now, these are real people, these are real people who contacted me about the effects of obamacare, contrary to the folks on the other side said for the last hour, it's not all great for many americans. it's a tough legislation. it affects people's health and it affects them financially and we're turning this law turns over america's health to the federal government. there's got to be a better way. i appreciate the gentleman from tyler yielding me time and i yield back. mr. gohmert: thank you. reclaiming my time. real people being hurt in real ways is what obamacare's doing, and for those who think it is a good thing, those were people that would have been helped by either side of the aisle, but it should be noted that insurance companies under

obamacare are paying an additional tax to the federal government. everybody's having to pay more for everything and yet they're getting less health care. i get questions, why under obamacare are we now going to see everything we've already gotten notices, so much more expensive, higher deductibles, those kinds of things? and part of the answer is, well, we got to pay for the 18,000 or so i.r.s. agents who are going to be hired to help you with your health care or your health insurance so they can monitor more closely what you make and what you spend it on and whether you're spending enough on health care and how you're spending it. we got to pay for all the i.r.s. agents. now, that's not going to help anybody's health, but then you also look at all the navigators that are being hired. .

that's a problem. i saw over $1 billion was about to be spent on advertising to tell americans how good they were going to feel under obamacare. all those things end up coming out of the coverage and health care the people would otherwise get. and i -- i see my friend from pennsylvania has arrived and didn't know if he wished to be recognized. i would be glad to recognize him for such time he may consume. mr. perry: absolutely. i like to thank the gentleman from tyler, texas, for yielding me the time. what does access to care mean? and that our claim is that it -- obamacare reduces access to care. access to care is your ability

to have a doctor take care of you. or some kind of practitioner, take care of whatever your health care need is. i think it's important that we show an example, or examples of that. so right now on january 1, on january 1 thousands of americans are at risk of losing their lifesaving dialysis treatment which they need to survive. we are not talking about i need to have my bunions reconfigured or a skin tag or upset stomach. we are talking about dialysis that people that are on dialysis must have it on a regular basis to live. i visited a dialysis clinic, 25 machines that operate six days a week in the fourth congressional district, mr. speaker. six days a week. 25 machines. all day long. people coming in. it serves primarily the underprivileged population of harrisburg, pennsylvania, which is the capital. that's its primary clientele.

and the gallon there running the place told me -- gal there rung the place told me on january 1 if obamacare continues to go through, they'll cut their operating hours from six days to three. three days a week from six. so those 25 machines will be idle half the time that they are currently being used. that's 50%. now, medicare payments already fall very short of covering the entire cost of this, but this clinic makes up the difference by the other paying customers. and i would ask the folks that support obamacare, do they really think, do they really think that the rich in this nation are going to go without access to care? concierge rd about medicine. the rich will continue to receive care one way or the other. but it's the poor. it's really abject poor that will suffer under this. to nt to put some names this. i met a vietnam veteran named johnny. people think, yeah, dialysis, you have diabetes, you didn't

take care of yourself. this man is fit. doesn't smoke. and does take care of himself. he happens to have diabetes. he comes into this clinic and he needs to come in more than once a week. so when you go from six days to three days, johnny is going to have to look for some other way to get his dialysis. then there's amy. amy comes in a couple times a week and hooks herself up. she comes and she knows it so well that the people there that actually administer the service and care don't have to do that work for her. she comes in and takes care of that herself. so she can stay, literally stay alive. then there's chris, 34, people think, oh, you need dialysis. you didn't take care of yourself, you're an old person. 34 years old. when you go to dialysis i need to tell people it's four, five hours sometimes or more in the chair. that's a day. away from work. away from family. it's hard to sustain employment when you're gone four, five hours a day two or three times a week to stay alive.

that's what these people must do. he supports himself, he's a chef at a local rest ranlts. he has type one, he's had kidney failure. he's going to have to find another place to get his dialysis, some other place, because this place will no longer be there. that's what access to care means. that's putting a face and a name to it. and that's what obamacare is going to do in the community that i represent. literally taking this lifesaving care away from people. so i would urge my colleagues, mr. speaker, to really take a look at the upcoming votes both in the senate and house regarding this bill, regarding this law. it is not ready to roll ow. there are significant failures of it and shortcomings. we understand it was laudable trying to find a way for every american to receive care. that is a laudable goal. we support that. we have a plan here. in the house of representatives. we would like the plan to be aired. none of that's going to happen. none of that's going to happen if obamacare is fully

implemented as is planned for in the upcoming days. none of that's going to happen and these people that are receiving their dialysis on the west shore in the fourth district of pennsylvania will have to find some other way day by day to stay alive thanks to obamacare. mr. speaker, i yield back. mr. gohmert: thank you. reclaiming my time. here's -- the gentleman is absolutely correct, but it's not just pennsylvania. and it's not just texas. it's everywhere people are hurting. my friends across the aisle in the last hour commented about republicans wanting to shut down. we don't want a shutdown. we don't. ted cruz does not want a shutdown. visited with him quite a bit yesterday. he doesn't want a shutdown. but we know the damage obamacare is doing not just to the economy. that's bad enough. but to people's health.

here's an email, we got so many of them, in the short time i have trying to decide which ones to provide. this one from katie says, i just got notice my health care coverage options and costs will be changed. they will send out the info next month. i'm one of the 26,000 part-time home depot employees whose hours were cut back to never exceed 29 per week. we used to do the six-week thing. they would schedule us for 35 to 39 hours per week for five weeks. then cut us back in the sick week to 25 so then back up again. now it's always going to be less than 29 hours per week. i'm scared to death to see what the rate changes will be. probably more than i make, but my doctor of nine years is retiring this month.

she's only 46 and amazingly exceptional family practice practitioner. says she'll grow a garden and herd goats but won't be a contributing member of the insanity. she is an indian hindu born and raised in canada. she came to texas because of the messed up state-run medical care in canada. insurance not the same. losing a doctor. here's one from -- my wife has a bone disease and is always in severe pain. we see a specialist in long view, texas. this specialist travels from dallas, 110 miles away, and practices here a couple days a week. but says obamacare -- since obamacare he said he can no longer afford to have two

practices so far apart and will have to close his long view practice and may just retire early. now there will soon be no doctor in this area for my wife to see and she is too debilitated to make the drive to dallas every month. we are not sure what to do. these are real americans agonizing over the damage that obamacare is doing. and i can't bring myself to call it the affordable care act because it isn't. here's one from a widow that lives in east texas. joy, she says, i'm losing my insurance which i have had for over 30 years. obviously so much for if you like your insurance you can keep it. there's no telling how many millions of times that promise will be broken in the subsequent

months if we can't put off the damage obamacare is doing. back to her letter it says, it was in my husband's name, talking about the nshurens, and he's recently died so here i am a widow and losing my insurance. i'm frustrated and scared. i never had to do anything like research for insurance and don't even know where to begin. i'm from tyler and saw your post on facebook. enclosed is a letter my insurance company sent me. they do not directly say it's due to obamacare, but it's pretty easy to read between the lines. actually you don't even have to do much reading between the lines. a copy of the letter from new york life insurance, at the end of the first paragraph it says, that their insurance, their group health and life insurance trust will terminate at midnight on december 31, 2013. it says, the decision to exit

this market was not an easy one. the determination was made based on the evolving market conditions and regulatory requirements stemming from the patient protection and affordable care act. i think that's pretty clear. she lost her insurance because of obamacare. i know that there's nobody on the democratic side that really wants to do this, put this kind of fear and suffering into a dear widow. .ut it's being done i know that nobody voted on this ide of the aisle for obamacare intending to hurt widows and children like is happening. but it's happening and now that it's happening, it is absolutely incore ridgible if my friends do not help us help those that are being hurt by at least

postponing this disastrous hurtful obamacare. here's another. on tuesday of last week, my 89-year-old mother-in-law fell and broke her hip. her doctor gave her only 50% chance of survival but survive she did. he stated that after the operation that she was lucky it happened this week. he said, in two weeks i could not have performed the same procedure, but it's because it is not approved procedure under the new rules. it's too expensive. and this individual writes, we all wondered what her chances of survival would have been under obamacare. she'll have insurance. but we are already hearing from people that they have been told they better get the procedure now because if they wait it's not going to be covered because

the obamacare board apparently thinks if you're of a certain age then maybe you don't need or deserve a pacemaker or back surgery. here's another that's from an employer -- i work for a commercial electrical contractor who has been in business in east texas for over 30 years. at the beginning of this year we employed over 100 workers. the company provides group health insurance and pays 75% of the cost for the employees. at this time we have 66 employees. we will intentionally have less than 50 employees by the end of the year and the owner is planning to drop the health plan at the first of the coming year. so much for if you like your insurance you can keep it. not only are you not going to keep your insurance, you're not keeping your employment. here's another from bobby. with the health mandate looming,

his college where he teaches determined that adjuncts professors could no longer teach four classes per semester because the time for prep teaching would require them to provide health insurance. so he has been dropped from class maximum to three. he said i didn't expect the health insurance from college, but the mandate has now dictated my workload. it dictated less work. so how does he make it? here's one. i'm a 56-year-old single woman with no children and i have been stuck as part of a time toll collector for harris county since the passage of obamacare. nearly four years i only worked 72 hours every two weeks with no benefits whatsoever. last year the county commissioner stated they will no longer hire full-time employees. i have $39 left for groceries

once mortgage payment and bills are paid. obamacare will destroy me. here's another from charles. i recently applied for job in tyler at a new restaurants. in my interview i asked how many hours i could expect, the owner said verbatim i'm sorry because of obamacare i cannot afford to hire anyone for more than 30 hours per week. here's another, from timothy, i am the only one that works in my house. i support a family of five and would be considered lower middle class. . i just received notice from my employer that i have to pan additional $6 per month as a surcharge on the new health plan -- health care law. also, my premium is going up $60 per month. total of $100 per month,

increase of about $1,200 per year. i am basically looking at a 34% increase for nothing. i don't know how i'm going to be able to afford this had as my budget is pretty tight already. repeal the affordable health care act now, please, because for me it's anything but affordable. here's another from rose, i'm 54 years old and have always had health insurance which i pay for myself. i, too, received a letter telling me that due to the so-called affordable health care they will not be providing me with continued insurance. i will need to make decisions about what insurance i want, but they have no idea what choices i will have and of course no idea what i will be charged but were quick to say it will likely be more than i pay now. thanks a lot, obamacare. she said, we have no extra income to pay for this. please stop this from happening to our family and families throughout our country who are having their rights taken away

from us. here's one from andrea, she sells insurance for state farm. they partner with ashurnt health for our -- assurant health for our plan. we have seen major changes come from the health insurance policies we were able to offer. not only is there a noticeable increase in the price, we no longer offer maternity coverage. we no longer offer prescription co-pay. we no longer offer an office co-pay. we no longer offer the low deductibles we did. we lost many of the networks that allowed people in our area the best choice as for their doctor being in network. now, the premium increases at he renewal are much higher than prereforms. here's another from melissa. i am self-employed and i'm already paying for my own

health insurance. i received a letter from my insurance provider three weeks ago that stated there would be changes in my policy and they would be sending me additional information in the coming months. based on the estimates i've seen, my monthly insurance 136%.will go up roughly obamacare is damaging real americans. we owe it to them to do everything we can to stop it and stop the waivers and exemptions. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair lays before the house n enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 1412, an act to amend title 38, united states code, to extend certain expiring authorities affecting veterans and their families and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the chair recognizes the gentleman from iowa, mr. king, for 30 minutes.

mr. king: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, it's my privilege and honor to be recognized to address you here on the floor of the united states house of representatives, especially at this time as the house and the senate hurdled towards sometimes perhaps collision and sometimes perhaps a conclusion to the drama that's taking place over the funding of our government. and it seems as though the focus of all this comes down on obamacare, but i'd like to first, mr. speaker, paint the picture on how we got here and it's this. the house has consistently passed a budget, and then the house passed legislation that essentially required the senate to finally, after over 1,000 days, pass a budget over there themselves. of course it was a token. of course it was pushed off to the side. of course it wasn't something that could be reconciled with a responsible legitimate budget here in the house of representatives, but it met the criterion narrowly.

and so the functionality of this congress, which has been in the past 12 or so appropriations bills passing here, starting here, being messaged over to the senate where if things worked right the senate picked up those appropriations bills and through their appropriations process their hearings, their deliberation, their subcommittee and their committee process, work their will with the house bill that had been messaged to them and one at a time 12 or 13 appropriation bills would work their way so that they had passed the house in one form and generally the senate in different form and which case the conference committee would be appointed and house republicans and democrats would sit down through senate republicans and democrats, hammer out the differences in one or 12 or 13 appropriation bills and come to an agreement. send the conference report to the house or the senate for passage. in which case it would pass both, be messaged to the president.

that appropriations then would be concluded and fulfilled. an a responsible government starts -- and a responsible government starts from hearing from their constituents. really in december -- november, december, january, and as we look forward to the end of the fiscal year, which happens next monday night at midnight, we're working towards getting all of our government funded appropriately. and in those months of january, it starts up, and then february and march, the intensity of hearing from constituents and their budgetary concerns, the appropriations hearings and the appropriations committee and then here on the floor under an open rule bill after bill after bill, a dozen appropriation bills are debated and the open rule that allows amendments to be brought forward on that to adjust the appropriation up or down, the house works its will, the senate works its will. we come together and agree on a conference report. we send it to the president.

the president signs it. and those departments of government that frunded by that appropriation bill then are -- funded by that appropriation bill then are given their budgetary responsibility and their spending authority for the next -- the upcoming fiscal year. that's how it has worked in the past. it does not work that way under this dysfunctional setup that exists today. what happens now in this had congress that we have, mr. speaker, is this. the house debates the appropriations bills. 12 of them or so. we passed several of them at this point in the house. we sent them over to the senate. they go message to -- message to the senate where they arrive at the majority leader, harry reid's, desk. and figuratively speaking, harry reid puts that appropriation bill in that desk drawer and closes the drawer. not to be discussed or heard from again for the balance of the fiscal year. and another appropriation bill goes over and another and another and another. and what you see happen is we've seen this happen in the

past where we have passed -- i remember under chairman jerry lewis, appropriations chair at the time, all of our appropriation bills by july. messaged them all over to the senate where they all would go into harry reid's desk drawer and at the end of the fiscal year sometime about now or maybe a week ahead of this time, harry reid would look around and think, oh, we're facing a government shutdown. if i don't get those desk -- those bills out of my desk drawer. and so he pulls out a dozen appropriations bills, each one of them as a collective judgment of the majority of the ited states congress, puts a marker through the bill and rights in all of the line items and puts on all the christmas tree spending that he does like and he puts in the wish list of the senators that he wants to help out, so to speak, and some are republicans and many are democrats and he creates this

omnibus spending bill. sometimes we call it omnibus if it doesn't show up at the end of the year. otherwise, if it's at the expiration of our spending of our appropriations, as it is now, we call it a continuing resolution. we've been operating on continuing resolutions for too long. and it isn't because of obamacare necessarily that we're at this point today. the leverage has been created because harry reid didn't deal with our appropriations bills. and furthermore, he's not going to deal with our appropriations bills. he's going to create this crisis so that it increases the leverage that he has in defeating the will of the people which is to shut off all the funding to implement or enforce obamacare, mr. speaker, to put an end to its implementation, to not let obamacare become implemented because, first of all, i don't agree with the decision made by the supreme court. i think it's completely inconsistent to declare a bill

to be a tax as it arrives at the united states supreme court -- excuse me -- to declare it not to be a tax to arrive it at the united states supreme court for the purpose of considering the litigation on obamacare but then to declare it to be a tax as the decision of the supreme court. it can be one or the other. either poimcare is a tax or it's not -- obamacare is a tax or it's not a tax but it can't be conveniently not a tax for the purposes of whether the supreme court would grant cert and then conveniently be called a tax for the purposes of calling it constitutional. but that's the decisions that were made by the united states supreme court. all of us take an oath to uphold the constitution. everyone in the house and senate and of course the supreme court as well. and we can't be taking an oath to uphold a decision that no one that i know of in america redirected, you would think, mr. speaker, that of all the constitutional scholars we have that have been writing and reading and thinking and analyzing obamacare, that had

watched as by legislative shenanigan by hook and crook, that patchwork of obamacare had been jammed through the house and the senate in a fashion that would not have mirrored any process we had ever seen before. the time the senate had a filibuster proof majority, and i remember going into christmas eve, the vote that was taking place over there on the 24th on christmas eve of december and i remember when the senate had the ability to delay that vote from 9:00 in the morning on christmas eve morning, december 24, until 9:00 that night which truly would have been christmas eve and i sent the message over there to my senator and i said, please delay that vote as long as you can. keep that thing delayed until the last possible minute. if they want to jam this country and give us a christmas present of obamacare so badly they'll sit there on christmas eve, keep them there then and

let them mischristmas with their families because the flights will be -- miss christmas with their families because the flights will be delayed out of dulles. there was a vote that took place that allowed there would be a couple votes on taxes or something of that nature. so they had a vote at 9:00 in the morning, december 24 that allowed for obamacare to move ahead one more time. and then i wrote back and i said, what do we do now? to my senator. and his answer was, pray and pray for a republican victory n the united states senate race in massachusetts, the special election, because of the passing of senator teddy kennedy. none of us thought on december 24 that year that the following january 18 or 19, that's very close to the election date, that scott brown would be elected as a united states senator out of massachusetts. that is what happened. that was the people in massachusetts rising up and

saying we don't want obamacare. we reject obamacare. we'll even go so far as entirely blue state of massachusetts, that had a delegation of eight members of congress every single one of them a democrat and none of them known as conservative democrats by the measure that i know, that's massachusetts and they sent us scott brown. and they're the ones that had the most example with something that looked like a preview, perhaps, of obamacare. so who knew more than them about this, who had the most loaded politics that should had been electing a democrat in that election, no, they said, we don't want to see anything that looks like obamacare and we're going to send you a young fresh republican whose job it is to help kill obamacare. he came here and began to engage in that effort and was significant in his role. my hats off to former senator scott brown. but in the end, legislative shenanigans defeated even the voters in massachusetts' will

and they put legislation through back over from the senate under the process they call reconciliation. they carved out some, put in the reconciliation process to avoid the filibuster because they no longer had had a filibuster-proof majority. the people had spoken and then the legislative shenanigans were going on. there was drama here in the house. that takes us to march of that year. and the drama in the house was that there were the stupak dozen who said i'm not going to vote for an obamacare piece of legislation that will fund abortion. and so the president made an offer -- this is what's reported in the news, mr. speaker, that he would write an executive order that would nullify the stupak amendment or nullify the ban on funding abortion. and that promise was made by the president before obamacare was passed in order to get the votes to get obamacare to pass here on the floor of the house of representatives. now, think about that. the mored a juct professor of

law -- professor of constitutional law at the university of chicago made a promise to a democrat congressman from michigan who presumably controlled 12 votes of the unnamed stupak dozen who , oddly, it's hard to control votes if you don't know who they are, but in any case, the president making a promise that he'd nullify some of the language that's in the law. . a promise was made that the president thought he could amend law immediately after -- actually after he signed it into law. now, what constitutional professor would take a position like that? i dig this up for a little bit, mr. speaker, because i want people to understand this piece of