mr. becerra from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for four minutes. mr. becerra: i thank the gentleman for yielding time. and let me say in advance that i appreciate the work that's been done by any number of members in regards to this legislation. many people have engaged in a good faith effort to try to find an acceptable solution that resolves issues which are legitimate and have -- raise a concern for a lot of us with regard to how we move forward with the affordable care act and make sure that not only americans are covered but that our companies can continue to offer insurance coverage for those americans that are not only affordable but have high quality. and many of us have recognized that. in the case of americans who are out of the country more time than they're in the country in the year that we may have to make some exceptions for them so that the company that's offering them health insurance can offer a policy that's competitive. we don't want to price

mr. becerra. >> thank you, mr. chairman. or ambassador, thanks for being here and, mr. chairman, by the bay, i think all of us echo the remarks that were made earlier about your service to our country and to this committee. >> that means a lot from a fellow survivor of the supercommittee. >> that's right. [laughter] you're welcome to stay with us be you like, mr. chairman, it's not too late. ambassador, let me -- actually, the chairman hit on this point, and i'd like to get back to it a little bit. the whole issue of currency. over the last few years, it's been tough on occasion for members in this body to come together and seek with one voice as american legislators versus our particular political philosophies. i think on currency you find whatever part of this dais, i think a number of us are very concerned about the role currency manipulation has played in making it harder for some of our businesses to compete, in making it hard for some of our businesses to keep jobs in america and, quite hone

mr. becerra. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for four minutes. mr. becerra: i thank the gentleman for yielding. let me first acknowledge the work that's been done by so many of our colleagues here, bipartisanly. the gentleman from delaware, the gentleman from california, the committees of jurisdiction, leadership i suspect on both sides of the aisle. tie have been involved in trying to deal with this. if you take a look at the title of the bill, it tells you what they're trying to do. he bill's called the expatriate health coverage clarification act. so the bill tells us that it's to deal with the issue for expatriates. who are expatriates and how are they impacted by the affordable care act? expatriates, i think most of us would acknowledge, is an american who is told by his or her employer, need to send you abroad to go work, whatever the task is, but i need you to go. so that ex patriot now living abroad -- can ex patriot now living abroad -- expatriate now living abroad be told he or she must have an insurance policy that abides by the affordable

mr. becerra. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for four minutes. mr. becerra: i thank the gentleman for yielding. first, the facts. not the facts from this side of the aisle, not the facts from the other party but the facts that we get from the nonpartisan congressional budget office, which is in charge of telling all of us, congress and the rest of the country, what does legislation that's proposed by democrats and republicans actually cost, what will it actually do. they're the nonpartisan referee that we are to rely on to give us the facts without getting into these political battles. and what do the folks at the congressional budget office say about this bill? one, it will increase the deficit by $75 billion. two, around a million american workers will lose their health insurance coverage that they get through their employer today. three, around five times as many workers in american will be at risk of losing hours at work as a result of this bill, should it become law. ok, so those are the facts, not from democrats, not from republicans, but from t

mr. becerra. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized for four minutes. mr. becerra: i thank the ranking member on budget for first, the work he's done over the years in trying to get america back on track when it comes to what it should do with its budgets. budgets are a testament to our values and our priorities, and i believe mr. van hollen has made it clear what the values and priorities of members on this side of the aisle are. it's about making sure that we invest the taxpayer dollars, to help our economy grow, to help grow jobs and to help our kids grow up and get to college. but let me remind everyone here of something. remember those brainless autopilot sequester cuts which was scheduled for last year which led to the republican shutdown of our government? well, the republican budget of 2014 is sequester on steroids. remember last year's autopilot sequester cuts that would have kicked over 50,000 children out of head start classes? well, the 2014 republican budget kicks 170,000 kids out of head start classes. this republican budget would kill jobs. 1.

mr. becerra. first of all, i suppose i should say the treasury is the agency that has the lead on currency issues, but this administration also believes that currency is an issue. and from the very start of the administration, has made clear with countries like china, in its engagement with the g20 where there were agreement by all the g20 including by china to move towards market-oriented exchange rates, through the treasury department's engagement with the g7 partners to insure that g7 countries abide by the same kind of rules. we have made clear throughout that this is an issue, and we want to make sure that we are moving countries in a positive direction. as i mentioned earlier, taking china as an example, we have made some progress. not enough, not fast enough, not far enough. something that requires continued focus and continued pressure at every opportunity. but we are making progress through the various mechanisms. secretary lew, i know you had an opportunity to see him up here testify rec