not a federal unelected unaccountable bureaucrat. that works best. i'm not yielding. i'm not yielding. i'm looking. the one-size-fits-all washington mandated strategy that wastes millions of dollars creates fraud does not work. i'll yield back to the gentleman. >> thank you. i next yield two minutes to my colleague from indiana, as well. >> i think my colleague from kansas. look, medicaid is not functioning as effectively as it could if we were to give states flexibility to tailor the current one-size-fits-all program to each of the populations and individual needs listening to their individual populations. i agree with the sentiments of my colleague from indiana. let's not assume that all wisdom resides here in washington. let's not assume that all administrative creativity resides here in washington dc. let's allow our 50 states to figure practices to their populations. one thing i know the states would welcome is the opportunity to tackle not just the waste but the fraud. the problem with fraud is so bad the department of justice has devoted an entire unit to rooti

to let the families, the parents do what's right for the children and not some unelected, unaccountable, federal, bureaucratic system that as the evidence shows doesn't do any good for anybody. before yielding back, i ask these two rhetorical questions. why in the world do the children of tomorrow have to pay for the education of today? that's what the spending does. i'm not going to pay for it. mr. honda isn't going to pay for it. it's those that don't exist yet that are going to pay for this. why do they have to pay for substandard education? with that, i yield back. >> since my name was brought up, i probably hav education system those criticizing federal funding. it probably reflects more than just what we've talked about versus the achievement that you have there. so you can take statistics and make it into mistruths. let me tell you what this is all about. all this money isn't decided here and how to spend it, we're sending it to the leas, the local education authorities. if you don't understand that, then you don't understand the process of education. the federal portion of every

we need to trust people and not unelected, unaccountable federal bureaucrats and on and on and on. and so -- oh, yeah, i was listening. and all this is is just an excuse to throw poor people and half of all americans are poor people now. they're not bums, they're not welfare recipients, they are people who are poor because of the recession and because of the economic addition of this country. food stamps. only 8% of the people who receive food stamps receive any other benefit. 61 60% of them were working. only three months out of three years can they receive tandem. 80% had an elderly member in the family. 2/3 had kids and disabled people. and i don't care what the blueprint says, food stamps has one of the best -- the lowest error rate that there is. 1 in 7 households have responded that they have food and security. there are 45 million people who use food stamps and that is not nearly the numbers of people who are eligible for it. so this whole lexicon that we have built up around food stamps to vilify the poor, you know, to try to justify, you know, ripping up the social safety

let me compare this to the president's proposal to use ipad, the unelected, unaccountable bureaucrat board apppolitical . here is the president's budget and what he is proposing. this is law, by the way. this is the law that is -- here is what it proposes for medicare's growth rate. let me do that again. this is the republican budget, what it proposes to throw medicare at, here is what the affordable care act and current see much difference there? yet my friends on the other side seem to complain this is draconian cuts to seniors. how can that be if if our trajectories are the same? let's talk about the main difference between our approach and the affordable care act, the president's new health care law. it's not the proposed spending. as you can see they're the same. the difference is who is in control? 15 bureaucrats or 50 million empowered seniors? that's the difference. now look at ipad doesn't work because unlike cms, cbo thinks fail by 2021 because the actuaries tell us 40% of medicare providers under the of rdable care act are going to business. they're telling us the provider

medicare under the president's law is flexion year turns medicare over to a board of 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats whose job is to circumvent congress and put price controls on medicare which would lead to denied care for current seniors. medicare under the president's law raids $500 million from medicare to spend on his new health care proposal. we're saying get rid of the rationing board, stop the raid and preserve the system. don't change benefits for people in a near retirement because they've already retired or they're about to retire and they've organized their lives around this program. and we're saying,future, in ord this system, have a list of options they want to choose, just like we as members of congress do for our health care choices. saving medicare this way, which has a rich tradition of bipartisan support for this kind of medicare reform is the most humane, common sense and bipartisan way to save this vital program. but let me turn it over to dr. plies, cho is an expert on this. >> the american people are martyr than the democrats give them credit for. they've removed $

rather than allow 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to do medicare m.rtis reforms that will save and strengthen this program for american seniors. seniors will have an opportunity to choose a health care plan or traditional medicare, whichever fits their needs best. no changes are made for those in and near retirement. now, no doubt we will likely ti accusations today as we've heard in the past. in fact, we've heard them already. we'll hear that a defense of the broken status quo here in washington when what we need is a positive vision for our country's future, not more demagoguery. many would apparently prefer to ignore medicare's fiscal challenges and issue false criticisms and accusations. we believe it's our responsibility to bring ideas to the american people, honest ideas that engage in an honest and factual debate. there's no denying that our health care programs currently are unsustainable from standpoint. our budget is the answer to this looming crisis. and with a complete and full repeal of the president's health care law, coupled with a guarantee, house republicans ar

now, let me compare this to the president's proposal to use ipad, the unelected unaccountable bureaucrat board of political appointees for current seniors. here is the president's budget and wrap he is proposing. this is law, by the way. this is the law that is in the affordable care act. what it proposing for medicare's growth rate. let me do that again. i think i can -- so this is the republican budget. what it proposes, here is what the affordable care act in current law does for growing medicare. see much difference there? yet my friends on the other side seem to complain that this is draconian cuts to seniors. how can that be if our trajectories are the same? let's talk about the main difference between our approach and the affordable care act. the president's new health care law. it's not the proposed spending, you can see the paths are the sail. the difference is, who is in control. 15 bureaucrats or 50 million empowered seniors. that's the difference. now, look at what happens if th unlike cms, cbo thinks ipads will fail by the actuaries at cms tell us 40% of medicare providers u

rather than allow 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to do so for them. seniors have ang opportunity to choose a health care plan or tradition until medicare. no changes are made for those in and near retirement. no doubt we'll hear the same old tired accusations that we've heard in the past we've heard them already. what we need as a positive and not more demagoguery. many would prefer to ignore medicare's physical challenges and issue false criticisms and accusations. we believe it's our responsibility to bring in honest ideas that engage in an honest and factual debate. there's no denying that our health care programs are currently unsustainable from a

president obama in his law, the one being debated over at the supreme court, sends 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats will be in charge of putting price controls and cuts to medicare to accommodate that growth rate strersuss our plan to put 50 million seniors in charge of choosing what health care plan is best for them. more for the poor. more for the sick. less for the wealthy, and it makes medicare solvent. and here's the catch. we don't change the benefit for current seniors. this applies to younger people. unlike the current law that the president passed that my friend voted for, 15 bureaucrats are in charge of putting price controls on current seniors' medical care which leads to denied care for them. if we're talking about who's saving and shrinking the medicare, it's this budget as opposed to the status quo which raids it, rations it and still allows the program to go bankrupt. with that i'd like to yield two minutes to a gentleman from new hampshire, a member of the budget committee, mr. gunta. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. guenta: i -- mr. guinta: we

the unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats of the independent payment advisory board pose a threat to the ability of seniors in my district and around this country to get the health care they need. mr. pult green: across my district, i hear from doctors who are deeply concerned about their ability to accept more medicare recipients because reimbursement rates are already too low. mr. hultgren: but if the ipab bureaucrats are allowed to ration care, rates will be even lower. fewer doctors will be able to afford to treat medicare patients. it's cruel to tell our seniors they have medicare but refuse to tell them there will be no doctors to treat them. ipab will be the end of -- of medicare as we know it, the age of seniors being able to get treatment from their preferred doctors. we need to act now to protect seniors and to protect medicare. i hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in supporting this bill. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: may i ask the gentleman how many speakers

today, our freedom is never safe because unelected, unaccountable regulators are always on the prowl.the number of federal employees has grown by 140,000 people under this president. those regulators do a lot of damage. with regulation, there are unintended consequences, unestimatable costs, and unwanted influence of special interests who care very deeply about how those regulations are written for their benefit. the bureaucratic impulse is to make more rules, never to get rid of old rules, and each of those regulations tends to erode our freedom and stifle our prosperity. by the way, the obama administration's assault on economic freedom is not just limited to actions against individuals and free enterprise. it extends to intrusion in the workings of the free marketplace itself. when government rather than the market routinely selects winners or losers or puts its hands on the scales of justice, then enterprises and entrepreneurs cannot predict their prospects and free enterprise becomes or is replaced with chronic capitalism, solyndra and others. when government put $500 million int

and then it puts a board of 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats in charge of putting price controls on medicare which will lead to denied care for current seniors. we get rid of that. we get rid of the rationing board, we stop the rate of the medicare and we leave the benefit intact for people in and near retirement. but in order to cash flow this commitment to the current seniors we which these we should do, you need to reform it for the next generation. we're about the same age, it's not going to there for us when we retire. there's a bipartisan idea out there, called premium support, just like the plan that members of congress have that says let's give medicare beneficiaries a fee for medicare service included and let them pick around the competing plans like in many other areas of life and subsidize based on need. more for the poor and a lot less for the wealthy person. doing it that way which has bipartisan support saves medicare and helps us keep the commitment to today's seniors. i would think -- it took me five sentences to explain that though, that's the challenge. when you

medicare under the president's law is next year turning medicare over to a board of 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats whose job is to circumvent congress and put price controls on medicare which will lead to denied care for current seniors. >> if i'm a senior, it seems like republicans are trying to scare seniors into supporting their bill. what's your sense? >> congress in washington has already altered med tearer. pennant by put into place an advisory board, which as a physician is to deny payment for certain care for seniors. we believe it's absolutely imperative and what the actuary for medicare is you've got to reform the system in a positive way. we think that can be done by allowing seniors to remain on medicare if they so desire or to move to a. pra, a health care coverage that may be more responsive to their needs. it's imperative we do that so the country doesn't continue to spend hundreds of billions of dollars it doesn't have. >> sir, you talk about reform. a recent kaiser family poll shows that when seniors trust democrats more than republicans to handle medicaring and 70% of

he is putting bureaucrats unelected unaccountable with price controlling and denied care for seniors.e are saying get rid of the healthcare law stop putting ragsings in current senior healthcare benefits they organize their lives around don't change their benefits in and near retirement but in order to make good on the promise you have to reform to the next generation. there's a bipartisan consensus on how best to refroerm orm it. we save and shrink the program. it puts the board of 15 bureaucrats in charge of price controlling which will deny fairs for current. >> first of all does he have the nomination wrapped up and is it time for the party to unite around romney, stop fighting amongst themselves and take the fight to obama? >> i don't know if he had it wrapped up. we haven't had relevant republican primaries since bush and reagan. >> of course you are not going to say that before april 3rdrd. >> i don't know i would say he has it wrapped up. he is becoming the frontrunner. the more we coal less can the better off we are going to be. the prize is november not this summer. it is co

medicare under the president's law is next year turning medicare over to a board of 15 unelected, unaccountableob is to circumvent congress and put price controls on medicare which will lead to denied care for current seniors. >> to which nancy pelosi said, the american people have already rejected this plan before and this year will be no different. americans' priorities are clear, republicans must work with democrats to preserve and strengthen medicare and not dismantle it. we must act to create jobs is grow our economy. as far as how this plays out, let's unpack the christmas in march thing. i think it's interesting. my celebrity look alike luke russert tweeted that john boehner said this budget will not make it hard for gop house members to win in november. in other words, we're not going to give them any sort of unforeseen boon doogals as they march towards re-election. >> the reality is everybody knows this isn't going to become law, let's have it out to start with. this is purely for political -- >> optics. >> and to argue fundamental beliefs in spending and cutting. and in this case, in

that is the obama care model and turn to over to unelects, unaccountable bureaucrats and make them makeisions. we have to put individuals in charge and let them control it. >> medicare has had much slower growth in cost than the private sector and that's been documented again and again. they forced the costs, and providers and doctors and hospitals can charge more. >> i think, dean, i think you'll disagree with me, and i think this ipad and independent payment advisory board. and it's used for work. i think it's the ultimate exercise in central planning and it allocates patient care and it will allocate drugs and allocate doctors and it will allocate hospitals and it will ration everything. that was the intent of this. these were unelected bureaucrats, dean and this is the key to understanding the central planning nature of obama care. >> larry, you've got a very interesting central plain. in the soviet union you didn't have rationing that said here's what the government will pay for. in this case, anyone who wanted to -- you don't like it, go and pay for it yourself. you don't are want

this is a board of 15 unelected, unaccountable and not necessarily health care experienced individuals who will have more power than even congress itself when it comes to deciding what care every american will receive. the board members will not be under congressional oversight and will not answer the phone when you call to complain. americans agree by 57% to 38% margin obamacare and ipab should be fully repealed. so far democrats have been unwilling to listen to the outcry from the american people. they will have another chance to respond to we the people's by voting with republicans to repeal ipab and hopefully willing to repeal obamacare in its entirety when it is brought up for a vote in the future. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. roe: i ask ask the house to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. roe: we begin to debate a bill that would eliminate the ipab. this denial of care board is comprised of 15

a one-size-fits-all plan in which unaccountable and unelected bureaucrats decide what kind of health care you should get. physicians, patient advocates and respected scholars, democrats and republicans alike have warned that the ipab threatens access that cares for seniors and people with disabilities. the board has the authority to meet and make decisions in secret without considering the prospective patients and their doctors and without judicial review. madam chairman, this is the wrong approach. ipab must be repealed. h.r. 5 also includes important reforms to reduce the costs of frivolous medical lawsuits. the president's health care overhaul has not fulfilled his promise to reduce health insurance premiums by $2,500, but common sense medical liability reforms will truly bring down costs both for american families and the medicare program. i urge passage of this legislation. the chair: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin is recognized. mr. levin: i yield to mr. blumenauer. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. blumenauer: i come to the floor from the budget committee whe

ipab is an unelected and unaccountable board of 15 bureaucrats empowered to set medicare reimbursement rates in order to control costs and it will mean rational health care for our nation's -- ration health care for our nation's senior citizens. that letter that went out, if you want to read the details is available on "the new york times" website. emily ethridge pointing out ipab is the one issue house republicans will take up as a way to repeal a key part of the president's health care bill. that gets to the larger issue of agreement on capitol hill on many of the major issues. whether or not there is any sense of compromise or bipartisanship. there was a topic we talked about this morning with bill galston, co-founder of no labels. we want to hear from you whether or not there are ways to improve congress. we'll show you the phone number in a moment. first here's a portion from today's "washington journal." >> the reputation of the congress of the united states in the eyes of the american people has never been lower. recent surveys put it around 10%. i suspect that used car dealers

this is going to be 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats that will have the authority to deny paymentsor seniors. this has strong bi-partisan support. i expect as it passed in our committee last week it will as well pass in the house in the near future. the bottom line is we need to make sure that we as elected officials are serving our medicare beneficiaries, those who elect us, rather than giving bureaucrats or unelected burr accurates thelected burraccurato this. we should not be doing that. >> congressman paulsen, there's a cbo report saying if you do repeal ipad, it will add a cost of $3.1 billion to the deficit over the next decade. how do you take care of that? will there be an offset in the bill? how do you account for the added cost? >> there will be an offset included in the bill before we vote o on it on the house floria because that's what the rules require. we've had offsets for obama care. it might be medical malpractice reform, it may be something else. we're going to for sure have an offset and do health care in the right way for the patient center and doctor-patient re

this single provision -- this board of 15, unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats what would the power to impose price controls that would cut senior access to care. to make it worse, this board would not have to meet in public or listen to public input. amazingly, obamacare leaves the door wood open for ipab members to receive gifts from lobbyists. the public has no right to talk to members of ipab but those showering them with gifts do. this will solve the problem? it doesn't. it restricts payments to doctors that provide health care. it is already the case that 12% of doctors will not take medicare patients due to the unreliability of government payouts. that is twice the number of doctors who refused to see medicare patients in 2004, with is a frightening statistic on how quickly that is rising. a recent survey showed that 60% of doctors will have or will restrict their medical practices as a result of obamacare, and those doctors, 87% said they would be fworsed to restrict the amount of care they offer to medicare patients. obamacare ignores the laws of economics in this instance.

today, our freedom is never safe because unelected, unaccountable regulators are always on the prowl. under president obama, they are multiplying by -- like proverbial roberts. the number of federal employees has grown by 140,000 people under this president. those regulators do a lot of damage. reregulation, there are unintended consequences, an estimate costs, and unwanted influence of special interest to care very deeply about how those regulations are written for their benefit. the bureaucratic impulse is to make more rules, never to get rid of old rules, and each of those regulations tends to erode our freedom and stifle our prosperity. by the way, the obama administration's assault on economic freedom is not just limited to actions against individuals and free enterprise. it extends to intrusion in the workings of the free marketplace itself. when government rather than the market routinely select winners or losers or put its hands on the scales of justice, then enterprises and dr pepper north cannot predict their prospects and free enterprise becomes or replaced with chronic cap

rationing of health care for our seniors that this independent payment advisory board, 15 unelected, unaccountablese price controls on medicare. we don't do that. we use the power of kcompetitiv markets, a transparent marketplace and bipartisan plan supported by senator wyden, a democrat. we are hopeful this is the plan that will work and not only safe health care but frankly save our nation from bankruptcy. >> who do you think will blank as we ged toward the end of the year on that claf? would you be okay with the sequester kicking in and bush tax cuts expiring? it's a huge wall that could hurt a fairly tepid recovery in that we're in already. >> i totally agree, joe. the president is proposing the single largest tax increase in american history, $1.9 trillion. but what's interesting, if you give the president every single tax increase, 40% of which is going to fall on small businesses, but if you give the president his entire tax increase, it's about 17% of the $11 trillion of additional debt he's placing on us. my point is you can't tax your way out of this problem and without spending discipli

this is an unelected, unaccountable board of bureaucrats empowered by this law to make additional cutsmedicare based on arbitrary cost control targets. as a result of this new board, 15 bureaucrats would now have the power without any accountability whatsoever to make changes to medicare. what's more, there is no judicial or administrative review of ipab personnel or recommendations. in other words, they are accountable to no one. ipab isn't answerable to voters, and it can't be challenged in the courts. its main role, as "the wall street journal" editorial board put it, will be the inevitable dirty work of denying care. the inevitable dirty work of denying care. in an effort to control spending, ipab will limit patient access to medical care. it's that simple, and frankly it's totally unacceptable. republicans recognize the problem of medicare spending and the need for reform. we also recognize that ipab isn't the answer. this is just one more reason obamacare needs to be repealed and replaced. that's why even democrats are cosponsoring a bill to repeal it over in the house, calling i

this is an unelected, unaccountable board of bureaucrats empowered by this law to make additional cuts to medicare based on arbitrary cost control targets. as a result of this new board, 15 bureaucrats would now have the power without any accountability whatsoever to make changes to medicare. what's more, there is no judicial or administrative review of ipab personnel or recommendations. in other words, they are accountable to no one. ipab isn't answerable to voters, and it can't be challenged in the courts. its main role, as "the wall street journal" editorial board put it, will be the inevitable dirty work of denying care. the inevitable dirty work of denying care. in an effort to control spending, ipab will limit patient access to medical care. it's that simple, and frankly it's totally unacceptable. republicans recognize the problem of medicare spending and the need for reform. we also recognize that ipab isn't the answer. this is just one more reason obamacare needs to be repealed and replaced. that's why even democrats are cosponsoring a bill to repeal it over in the house, calli

this is an unelected, unaccountable board of bureaucrats empowered by this law to make additional cuts to medicare based on arbitrary cost control targets. as a result of this new board, 15 bureaucrats would now have the power without any accountability whatsoever to make changes to medicare. what's more, there is no judicial or administrative review of ipab personnel or recommendations. in other words, they are accountable to no one. ipab isn't answerable to voters, and it can't be challenged in the courts. its main role, as "the wall street journal" editorial board put it, will be the inevitable dirty work of denying care. the inevitable dirty work of denying care. in an effort to control spending, ipab will limit patient access to medical care. it's that simple, and frankly it's totally unacceptable. republicans recognize the problem of medicare spending and the need for reform. we also recognize that ipab isn't the answer. this is just one more reason obamacare needs to be repealed and replaced. that's why even democrats are cosponsoring a bill to repeal it over in the house, calli

medicare under the present law is next year turning medicare over to a board of 15 unelected, unaccountabless and put price controls on medicare which will lead to did not care for current seniors. medicare under the president's half a trillion dollars to spend on his health care proposal. we say get rid of the russian board, stop the raid and preserve the system. not change benefits because they have retired or are about to retire and they have organized their lives around this program. we are saying, let people in the future, in order to save the system, have a list of choices of guaranteed options, including the traditional fee- for-service program from which to choose just like we do as members of congress for our health care choices. saving health care this way, which has a rich tradition of bipartisan support, this kind of medicare reform is the most humane, the most common sense and bipartisan way to save this vital program. let me turn over to dr. price who is an expert and a member of the ways and means committee as well. >> thanks. the american people are smarter than democrats gi

medicare under the president's law is next year turning medicare over to a board of 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats, whose job is to circumvent congress and put price controls on medicare which will lead to denied care from current seniors. medicare under the president's law, raids half a trillion dollars from medicare, to spend on his new health care proposal. we're saying, get rid of the rationing board. stop the raid and preserve the system. don't change benefits for people in or near retirement. they have already retired or they're about to retire. they have organized their lives around this program. and we're saying, let people in the future, in order to save the system, have a list of choices of guaranteed options, including the traditional fee-for-service program who wants to choose like we do as members of congress for our health care choices. saving medicare this way, which has a rich tradition of bipartisan support for this kind of medicare reform, the most humane and most common sense and bipartisan way to save this vital program. let me turn it over to dr. price, expert on t

would eliminate obamacare's independent payment advisory board and thereby keep a board of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from restricting senior access to health care. it also brings medical malpractice lawsuits under control by capping noneconomic damages and limiting attorneys fees so more money will actually go to the victims rather than overzealous trial lawyers. these reforms will save taxpayers over $40 billion over the next decade. everyone knows that we need to do something about rising health care costs and this bill and taking care of the medical malpractice problems that we have will go a long way in getting those costs under control. this bill will give every member of this house the opportunity to be part of this solution and i urge my colleagues to vote yes on h.r. 5 and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield to a senior member of the judiciary committee, maxine waters of california, as much time as she may consume. water water -- the chair: the gentlewom

now let me compare this to the president's proposal to use ipac the unelected unaccountable bureaucrats of appointees for current seniors. here is the president's budget and what he is proposing. this law by the way, this is the law that is in the affordable care act, here is what it proposes for medicare. let me do that again. so this is the republican budget and what it proposes, here's what the affordable care act in current law does for growing medicare. do you see much difference there? get my friends on the other side complained that this is draconian cuts to seniors. how can that be if our trajectories are the same? let's talk about the main difference between our approach and the affordable care act, the president's new health care law. it's not the proposed spending path and you can see they are the same. the differences who is in control? 15 bureaucrats or 50 million empowered seniors? that is the difference. now look at what happens if the iatap does not work because unlike cms, they think ipap is going to fail by 2021 because the actuaries at seamus tell us 40% of medicare p

medicare and the president's laws, turning the medicare to a board of unelected, and unaccountable bureaucrats, putting it price controls on medicare which will lead to deny care for current seniors, medicare under the current president's laws is half a trillion dollars from medicare to spend on his health-care proposal. we are saying to get rid of the rationing board and preserve the system. they have already retired or are about to retire and have organized their lives around this program, and we are saying that in order to save the system, have the choices of guaranteed options, including the traditional fee-for-service program, just like we do as members of congress for our health care choices. saving medicare it this way, which has a rich tradition of bipartisan support, it is the most humane, the most common sense, and bipartisan net way to save this vital program. let me turn it over to dr. price, an expert on this and a member of the ways in committee. >> the american people are smarter than the democrats give them credit for. they understand that the current program is broken. they un

would otherwise see the responsibility of -- cede the responsibility of congress to an unelected and unaccountable medicare rationing board. this measure is yet another facet of that commitment. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the gentleman from indiana, mr. burton, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. burton: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. burton: mr. speaker, last week president obama was in an oil field in new mexico and the president said that under my administration america is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years . he said that's a fact. that is a fact. he went on to say, you have my word that we will keep drilling everywhere we can and we'll do it while protecting the health and safety of the american people. and he said, a recent independent analysis showed that over the last 36 years, there has been no connection between the amount of oil

outsourcing of our responsibilities to try to make care more affordable to this group of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats and cutting provider payments which actually limit access to health care. but i had -- i tell my colleague from wyoming, i had an experience a couple of years ago visiting with some folks at whole foods, the grocery chain that's headquartered in austin, texas, where i live, they vote each year, i believe -- john mackey, the c.e.o., is very proud of this, they vote each year on their health care plan. what they have chosen, the employees choose year after year is a high-deductible insurance coverage for catastrophic losses, but then to cover the rest of their care it's a health savings plan that actually whole foods makes contributions into this health savings account which is owned by the worker and can then be used to pay for their health care for the regular sort of routine needs. and i remember sitting at the table with a number of the workers and talking about why they liked this alternative so much, and it's clear because it gave them the choices that we all would wan