mr. burgess, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. burgess: i thank the speaker. mr. speaker, here wer five weeks from the time that we all have to file our income taxes, april 17 of this year. it's 99 years since this house enacted the progressive income tax that we now all know by its familiar names that we all use for it and i thought it might be appropriate to spend some time this evening talking about our tax code and talking about what might be possible in fundamental reform of the tax code. i have long been a proponent of what is known as a flat tax. i think that is something that is worthy of this house taking up and debating. there is legislation that has been introduced, h.r. 1040, for people who are keeping score at home and this would be a rational approach for people who want to be treated fairly by the tax code. our president does talk about fairness in the tax code and for people who are wanting to get out of the tyranny of having to live with a shoe box of receipts every spring. this weekend when i go home, i will be sp

burgess for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i got a lot of stuff to ask today. i know we only have five minutes. i will, of necessity, have to submit a lot of questions for the record. i would appreciate a timely response. let me follow-up on where chairman upton was going a few moments ago. we have the 2013 budget from the president on the premium assistance tax credit and the line items between the fiscal year 2012 budget as submitted and fiscal year 2013 submitted are different year by year. in fact, the total increase in this year's president's budget is $111 billion. so what has happened that accounts for this change? are you having to reassess the number of people that perhaps might be driven out of employer-sponsored insurance on an exchange? >> mr. burgess, the one issue that i think has changed definitively is there was a legislative change dealing with the adjusted gross income for people in medicaid versus the exchange which we feel will actually have an impact on fewer people eligible for medicaid and more people eligible for the exchange. much of th

mr. burgess, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you, administrator jackson, for being here again. i've got a number of things i want to get to. i would submit questions for the record. we're still waiting on responses from your last trip here. we hear from your agency and yourself how you care so much about people in this country with asthma. as an asthmatic, i appreciate that concern.you, the epa is the one federal a t of asthmati an over-the-counter asthma treatment, prime teen mist. that's been available forever. i get that the epa plays a role in the approval. i get that. your agency has the ability to provide a waiver so the existing stock of cfc could be sold to asthma patients in this country. and it's not a small issue. the prescription hfa containing compound costs about three times what the over-the-counter cfc propellant primatene costs. if you get in trouble in the middle of the night and don't have a prescription, you have to go to the emergency room. that really costs patients. i'm asking, will you grant a w

mr. burgess, i think what the president was referring to and i think he understands the economics of the insurance industry very well is that this directive, first of all, in the law is to insurers. in an insurance pool there's a balance of risk. what is estimated by actuaries, by federal actuaries, is the provision of contraception to women balanced against unintended or unhealthy pregnancies. that is not loin a no cost but estimated by -- >> why did we have to interfere? obviously it was in the marketplace. i yield back, mr. chairman. >> thanks. i recognize the gentleman from georgia. >> thank you. madam secretary, thank you for being here. ranking member waxman was quoted in the hill newspaper yesterday as saying and this is a quote, i pad is a useful backstop to put discipline on congress to stop out of control medicare spending. do you agree with that? >> i do. >> because the president believe we need to save the medicare program from bankruptcies like ranking member waxman does? >> i believe the president believes in very strongly and -- >> so -- so my time is limited. yes and no i

mr. burgess. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. burgess: a lot of people have asked why if you're going to do a republican budget, why even involve yourself in the president's new health care law and why is it necessary for the republican budget to repeal the president's health care law and advance bipartisan solutions that take power away from the government and give it back to the people? the joint economic committee prepared a chart dealing with the affordable care act system system -- some two years ago. it's an involved chart you look at it, it needs to be right side up, of course, but you know what, it doesn't really matter, it makes just as much sense upside down. but the reason i wanted you to turn it over you look at this thing, instead of the patient being at the center of all of this the patient is down here at the bottom. this chart was prepared two years ago by the committee staff of the joint economic committee and this is precisely why the affordable care act has to be pulled odd o-- pulled out by the roots in order f

. >> do you know, either general burgess or mr. clapper whether mexico -- i'm advised they were not advised by the department of justice and bureau of tobacco firearms about this vast and various program, do you have any -- anything you can tell us about their reaction to this diplomatic rate down? >> no, i cannot commissary. again i was not an intelligence channel so i don't know anything about it. >> thank you. >> senator udall. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good morning to you and thank you for the credible threat and depth of your work and maturity have taken us on touching on many of the hotspot in the world. as what to thank you for your service, which included many, many years. let me turn to a comment that secretary gates made at west point. he said i must tell you when it comes to predict human nature and location of the next military engagement since vietnam our record has been perfect. we have never went that way from grenade panama, somalia to balkans, and more we had no idea that we would be so engaged. do you agree secr

mr. burgess: mr. speaker, health care continues to be an important topic in this country. a lot of people ask me what keeps you awake at night? i'll tell you right now the supreme court is going to hear this law. they could find the individual mandate is unconstitutional, i hope they do, but what if they relieve the rest -- leave the rest of the law intact? then we have a real problem and this house, this house needs to be prepared to deal with that problem and lead on this issue. in recent filings by the administration it's apparent they even acknowledge the difficults -- ifts inherent in throwing out the individual mandate but keeping things like commune rating. they ask these two co-dependent policies be severed under the law. states' attempts in the past to inshureb guaranteed issue and community rating have resulted in insurance costs becoming higher. the number of people who purchase insurance lower, as a consequence the entire system is at risk of completely imploding. mr. speaker, we need to be prepared for this. the supreme court is going to hear the case next mon

mr. burgess: mr. speaker, i want to preserve and protect medicare, speaker pelosi last year cut $500 billion from medicare and the president has put -- has placed his bets on a bureaucratic control board, the independent payment advisory board. a trustee's report from a year ago suggests that the medicare trust fund will be exhausted in less than a decade that doesn't seem like a viable way forward. we've got a budget resolution up to preserve and protect medicare. you can ensure care in the future. this house has voted to repeal the independent payment advisory board, maybe the senate should take up the same action. we have to divert spending and free up resources that focuses on patients. we're committed to protecting our seniors in medicare, lowering the deficit and creating a workable system that allows good doctors to see more patients. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from georgia. >> i ask unanimous con sonet to addres

mr. chairman. director clapper, general burgess thank you so much for being here today and for your service. director clapper i believe you previously testified that the reengage me rate from those who have been released from guantÁnamo bay was 27%. what is the current re-engagement raid of terrorists who have been released from guantÁnamo and have they gone up again in the 27%? >> i think the next assessment will reflect a very small less than one percentage point increase. >> so the next assessment will reflect perhaps a percentage increase, so from 27% to 28%? >> somewhere in that neighborhood. >> certainly anyone being released from there and getting back is one too many, isn't it? >> has. >> i wanted to ask you about, there has been reports from the administration about the potential of exchanging and i asked secretary panetta about this the other day, of five detainees to cutter in exchange -- qatar in exchange for the taliban in afghanistan. as i understand, the detainees that have been reported by both "the washington post" and "the wall street journal," they have been previously ass

mr. pitts: at this time i yield to dr. burgess. the chair: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. burgess: i thank the chairman for the recognition. mr. speaker, i will focus my remarks on the independent payment advisory board because it encompasses all that is wrong with the affordable care act. the health law itself contains policies that will disrupt the practice of medicine. along with the many excesses and constrictions within the law, the independent payment advisory board represents the very worst of the worst of what will happen. as a physician, as a member of congress, as a father, as a husband, as a patient in his 60's i am offended by the independent payment advisory board. this board is not accountable to any constituency and it exists only to cut provider payments to fit a mathematically created target. the board throws the government into the middle of what should be a sacred relationship between the doctor and the patient. the doctor and the patient should have the power to influence prices and

mr. mansion. i know he's got a scheduling conflict, but i think to keep my place. >> burgess flip-flopping. >> we appreciate those courtesies. >> thank you, mr. chaiman. i am reading a book called becoming jobs by jim clifton. i would recommend it if y'all haven't seen it. basically the coming jobs will be the biggest war facing this world. who is fighting for jobs and basically breaks it down 7 billion citizens in human beans on this great planet earth. 5 billion over the age of 15, 3 billion seeking a job of some sort. only 1.2 billion for my jobs in the world today. so we can see the mammoth problem we're facing peer but that, what i'm asking is what you can do intelligent past events, do you consider the impact of unemployment and what it will have on the stability of the population and how that increases likelihood of unrest and terrorism? >> absolutely commissary. i think the point, even more basic than jobs is if the project in the future what the world supply of food and water is going to be in the face of the growing population. you project out the population of the earth is going to be i

mr. burgess: madam speaker, this week and next we'll have two opportunities for a thoughtful, forward coursen the people's house and across the street, at the highest court of the land. the supreme court next week hears out arguments on the limits of federal control in health care. a ruling's expected later this summer. perhaps, perhaps our long national nightmare will be over. and guess what? half of americans reported in the hill today, half of americans think that the supreme court will do just that. and this week americans will witness the house embarking on a course of their treatment for the health care law. we are going to vote to repeal the unelected, unaccountable panel that's squeezing out patient access. we'll insist on medical justice reform to drive down the costs of liability coverage for doctors who make sound treatment decisions. madam speaker, the last congress force-fed the american people a new health care law. americans are demanding a second opinion. after revelations of unrealistic assumptions, cost overruns, americans want to change -- want a change of course and now t

burgess. but take the four minutes to maybe explain it a little more. >> well, mr. pallone, the affordable care act had a provision that as part of a definition of essential health benefits, various populations should be looked at. the recndor children around immigrations would be included. the strategies for preventative health that are recommended by the united states preventative health services task force would be included. and recognizing that too many insurance plans often did not include benefits that were specifically recommended for women's health, we were asked to develop a set of preventative health services for women. we turned to the independent scientifically driven institute of medicine and asked them to make recommendations to us. they came back with eight various health benefits, domestic violence screening, mental health benefits, well women visits, and the full range of scientifically recommended contraception services. we promulgated their rules as part of the strategy for women's health as an interim rule and added a religious exemption. and to

mr. chairman. i thank the witnesses who would have been very helpful. >> thank you lieberman. >> director clapper anderal burgess thank you for your extraordinary leadership of the intelligence community and protecting your security. director clapper i want to go back to iran for couple a couple of minutes quickly. you said this morning that is your assessment that iran has not made a decision to build a nuclear weapon, but i assume you also believe based on international atomic energy agency reports and in information that the intelligence community has, that iran has taken steps to put them in a position to make a decision to break out and build a nuclear weapon. >> yes, sir, that is a good characterization. >> there are also certain things they have not yet done which i would be happy to discuss in closed session that would be key indicators that they have made such a decision. >> and that they have done things, is it fair to say, that are inconsistent with just wanting to have peaceful nuclear energy capacity? >> well, obviously the issue here is the extent to which they produce highly-enriched uranium. you

burgess, for five minutes. >> i thank the chairman for the recognition. yes, secretary, way back here. let me ask you because mr. barton was asked you about the loan guarantees at solyndra. when you came to us in love of last year -- november of last year, it seemed news to you that there were postponement of layoffs that had occurred at the company, to take those past election day before they were announced, and you seemed to be surprised that that had, in fact, occurred. and i think if i recalled correctly, you were going to look into that. so can you share with us the results of your investigation, what information you've uncovered as to why those layoffs were postponed past the election day? >> we turned the matter over to the ig, the department of energy ig, and they're looking into the matter, and when they tell us what they find be, we could share that with you. >> well, i pray that you do, but so far have you identified any of your staff, department of energy, that were involved in making that decision? >> no. as i said, we turned the matter over to the ig, and so that is an independent look at what hap