dr. mcdermott, have taken time to not only study the issuebut i believe dr. mcdermott considers himself an expert on the obama care issue. he has been before this rules committee many times. he's a very dear friend of not just this committee but we count on his expert testimony. and the gentleman mr. young, we're delighted that you're hear today. and it is my hope that whatever you have in writing we'll put that into the record without exception. we'll do that. and then any other comments that you may have. if i could have you hold on just for one moment, i would defer to the gentleman from florida. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i'm just curious in light of all your comments at the beginning of all the proceedings, what is your rebuttal or your party's rebuttal to the treasury department's letter to the chairman of the commerce committee, mr. upton on july 9th, pointed will he indicating that the authority to delight employer mandate as put forward by the president is within their framework? what's your rebuttal? or was there a rebuttal to that treasur

dr. mcdermott? >> thank you mr. chairman. it strikes me that the issue here is basically not about the delay. that is off the table. the real issue here is whether you want obamacare or not and are you going to do it or are you going to have any kind of mandate. from the very start, it is understood that for the system to work you have to have everybody in. justice scalia in his oral questioning on the case in the supreme court when asked when talking about the mandatory coverage provision he said my approach would be to say if you take the heart out of the statute of the statute is gone. there is going to be a deficit that is used to be made up by the mandatory provisions. all the money has to come from somewhere so you are put to a choice i guess. bankrupt the insurance companies and the whole system comes tumbling down or else enacting a federal subsidy program that the insurance companies would like. now it is clear that there's a difference between the employer mandate and the individual mandate. the individual mandate i

dr. mcdermott, for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is ecognized for three minutes. without objection, so ordered. the gentleman from washington is recognized for three minutes. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, i'm standing here asking what's the rush. the iranian president is being sworn in in four days. for the first time in years, there is a moderate elected as head of iran who promises us progress on the issues that are of most concern to us. i'm not a blind optimist, and i have no illusions about the nature of iran's government. i understand one election won't ensure us peace but it could mean the change we need to see what it looks like. . experts, including the commander in chief of the central command warned that more sanctions right now will quote, undercut the new president and his pledged plan of moderation. gives ammunition to the hardliners who will operate against him. so the timing of this bill could not be worse from a foreign policy perspective. in addition, members hav

dr. mcdermott, i'd like to call him. he's been a main stay of good health care in this congress for a very long time and he's managing as well with the gentleman from georgia who has practiced medicine. but we can have a disagreement, and the vigorous disagreement that we have i must say, mr. speaker, the weight of truth falls on what we have done on behalf of obamacare, the affordable care act. you know, i enjoy sledding. i enjoy the snow. when you get on a sled it rolls down and you you're happy and you come to a successful end. we roll down and we keep on rolling because the affordable care act is allowing young people to have insurance. it's reducing the cost of prescription drugs for our seniors. it's allowing a state like texas that has the highest number of uninsured to have some 121,000-plus in my district now having insurance. it allows about 10 community health facilities to be able to begin enrollment in this coming september and be able to outreach to those families who will now have coverage for them and the

dr. mcdermott, ranking member, for his opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i suppose we could spend the morning talking about how and why the policy was changed and how it was announced. i might have preferred a different approach, but it's not my job to speculate on best practices for the white house. it's my job it's our job actually to continue to shape and guide reform so that it best serves the american people. focus on policy not on politics. there's been a lot of noise from both sides of the aisle on what this shift means but nobody really knows. i didn't spend my fourth of july combing over the implications of the change and i doubt there's anyone who did. i'm trying to adjust on the back of a galloping horse before we have a chance to properly consider it would simply be unwise. three days, here we are having a hearing on something that was announced before the fourth. i'm sure it's tempting for those who have stood against reform and progress from the beginning to see this as a chance to rip obamacare a part again, yet another time. the ironing of

dr. mcdermott who has been a mainstay of good health care in this congress for a very long time. he is managing as well with the gentleman from georgia who has practiced medicine. we can have a disagreement. the vigorous disagreement that we have, i must say, mr. speaker, the weight of truth falls on what we have done on behalf of obamacare. the snow. when you get on a sled, and rolls down and you are happy. you come to a successful and. we have rolled down and we keep on rolling because the affordable care act is allowing young people to have insurance, reducing the cost of prescription drugs for our seniors and allowing a state like texas, the highest number of uninsured to have some hundred 21,000 plus in my district now with insurance. it allows about 10 community health facilities to be able to begin enrollment this coming september and be able to outreach to those families who will now have coverage for them and their children. let me be clear. how many times do i have to say no, you cannot have your way? the supreme court has ruled that this is the law of the land and ther

dr. roe, mr. reed, mr. hanna, doctors mcdermott and bera. survey research in the national journal shows overwhelming public support for this type of protection for families. 96% of the americans surveyed said it was important that these health and end of issuesopor ur health care system. 97% agree that it's important that patients and their families be educated about care and end of life option treatments available along with curative treatment. and 86% agree that these discussions about pal tif care and end of life treatment should be fully covered by health insurance. americans agree that people need to know what faces them in difficult situations approaching end of life or when people are temporarily unable to make medical decisions for themselves. but medicare, which will pay tens of thousands of dollars for a full hip replacement for a 93-year-old woman with terminal cancer will not authorize a couple hundred dollars for her and her family to have medical consultation about her personal choices and circumstances for the future. our legi

dr. price, control the remainder of the time for us. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from georgia will control the rest of the time. the gentleman from washington. mr. mcdermott: i ask unanimous consent to submit for the record a record which shows that hundreds of thousands of constituents in the first district of wisconsin and the eighth district of texas would benefit from the affordable care act. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcdermott: i yield two inutes to the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. blumenauer: this is the latest chapt for the a long-running process of deliberately trying to sabotage health care reform. this -- the delay of the employer mandate for 5% of american businesses that employ only 1% of mesh workers is not earth shattering, not entirely unforeseen but more to the point given a concerted effort by my republican friends to dismantle health care reform you would think they would embrace it. it is being attacked instead because there is no interest by my republican friends in comprehensive approach to making health care work better. they hav