To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that emergency services volunteers are not taken into account as employees under the shared responsibility requirements contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I want to start off by certainly extending congratulations to Representative Barletta for his persistency in continuing to bring this legislation forward. As he has pointed out, it has been bipartisanly supported, and it deserves passage. It passed unanimously, as he indicated, in both the Ways and Means Committee and also unanimously on this floor, which is no small order.

Of course, it comes in the midst of controversy. I say ``controversy'' because--well, our distinguished chairman is to be congratulated as well for not only bringing this bill forward, but also for the great victory that was won by the Green Bay Packers yesterday.

In a moment, because I do want to continue my praise of the Aaron Rodgers look-alike.

Today, our distinguished chairman announced that he is not running for President. We think that it is so that his look-alike, Aaron Rodgers, may fill that void. I know that it was an outstanding victory by the Packers yesterday, but it was not without controversy on our own committee.

I know that Kenny Marchant, Kevin Brady, and Sam Johnson are very concerned about this, but as the chairman said, ``The rules are the rules,'' and we should proceed from there.

But I also want to thank all of those, and especially the chairman, who raised the point about volunteer firefighters. All of us have that visual in our minds, of course, of those going up the stairs so that people can come down the stairs. And since September 11, and noting that volunteer firefighters cover more than 70 percent of this country, this clearly is a bill that was worthy of the unanimous approval and consent that it received and, as I indicated, is bipartisanly supported by our entire delegation.

I want to commend the gentleman from Connecticut, Representative Courtney, who will speak later, and also the gentlewoman from Connecticut, Representative Esty, and also the National Volunteer Fire Council, which has been 1,000 percent behind this and also other tax issues that are going to be coming before our committee that have been bipartisanly supported as well by Representative Reichert, Tom Latham, and others. And I know that we share the bipartisan spirit in this.

I also would like to say that, along with firefighters, the many people who are emergency medical volunteers could benefit from a number of volunteer tax breaks that we could provide as well. I look forward to working with our distinguished chairman and, again, commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Representative Barletta.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Will the gentleman yield?

We are especially gratified, though, in a true show of compassionate conservatism that you reached out to the chief fan of the Jersey Cowboys--excuse me--the Dallas Cowboys, Chris Christie, to provide him with both a hug and a sincere gesture from Wisconsin.

Mr. Speaker, I really deeply appreciate the words of my colleague and fellow member of the Ways and Means Committee. Again, I want to commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta).

I want to submit for the Record a letter from the Department of the Treasury that, at the bequest of a number of Members bipartisanly submitted and they made the changes to the rules.

B. Exclusions From Definition of Hour of Service

Commenters requested that hours of service performed in

certain capacities not be counted as an hour of service. The

final regulations adopt the following changes in response to

these comments.

1. Volunteer Employees

Commenters requested that hours of service performed in the

capacity of a volunteer for a government entity or tax-exempt

organization not be counted as hours of service for purposes

of section 4980H. Under the definition of hour of service

outlined in these regulations, an hour of service is

generally defined as an hour for which an employee is paid or

entitled to payment. Accordingly, hours worked by a volunteer

who does not receive (and is not entitled to receive)

compensation in exchange for the performance of services are

not treated as hours of service for purposes of section

4980H.

Commenters noted, however, that some volunteers receive

compensation in the form of expense reimbursements, stipends,

contributions to employee benefit plans, or nominal wages.

Local governments, for instance, noted that many volunteer

firefighters or other emergency responders are paid a salary

or an hourly wage, generally at a rate lower than the rate

paid to non-volunteers performing services in a similar

capacity. Other volunteer firefighters or emergency

responders may receive expense reimbursements or other fees

each time they respond to a call. Commenters generally

expressed concern that volunteer service would be discouraged

if volunteer hours were required to be counted when

determining whether the individual is a full-time employee

for purposes of section 4980H.

In response to these concerns, the final regulations

provide that hours of service do not include hours worked as

a ``bona fide volunteer.'' For this purpose, the definition

of ``bona fide volunteer'' is generally based on the

definition of that term for purposes of section

457(e)(11)(B)(i), which provides special rules for length of

service awards offered to certain volunteer firefighters and

emergency medical providers under a municipal deferred

compensation plan. For purposes of section 4980H, however,

bona fide volunteers are not limited to volunteer

firefighters and emergency medical providers. Rather, bona

fide volunteers include any volunteer who is an employee of a

government entity or an organization described in section

501(c) that is exempt from taxation under section 501(a)

whose only compensation from that entity or organization is

in the form of (i) reimbursement for (or reasonable allowance

for) reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of

services by volunteers, or (ii) reasonable benefits

(including length of service awards), and nominal fees,

customarily paid by similar entities in connection with the

performance of services by volunteers.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is both appropriate and right that we codify this and put it into a law.

With that, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut, Joe Courtney, one of the chief sponsors who, along with Elizabeth Esty, helped engineer this bill.

I yield the gentleman an additional minute.

I have no further requests for time.

Joe Courtney said, ``Don't forget to mention the Patriots,'' so I would be remiss if I didn't.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I want to thank Representative Courtney also for recognizing the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Reauthorization Act, as I mentioned earlier, which is something that has been bipartisanly cosponsored in the past by Representatives Reichert, Latham, myself, and others.

The distinguished chairman and I, who are classmates, who came into this Congress together--he has also been a great proponent and advocate for making sure that these volunteers, who never were intended in both the case of Mr. Barletta and also in the case of the IRS, something that is administratively burdening for the IRS, this is, as Mr. Kelly so passionately said, something that is common sense, that we ought to work on together, and that we ought to provide the relief for, those who provide more than 70 percent of the volunteer aid across this country, especially when it comes to fighting fires. And our National Volunteer Fire Council is supportive of this as is the Fire Chiefs Association. I am looking forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle to ensure this.

Again, with that, I commend and congratulate the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta) and thank him for his fine work in this area, and I look forward to supporting him on future endeavors.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 33, the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act.

This is a good, truly bipartisan bill that protects our first responders, our volunteer firefighters, and emergency services personnel. It protects them by ensuring that they are not considered employees under the employer mandate provision of ObamaCare.

If they were, some fire companies would be forced to pay for the volunteers' health insurance or pay a fine, driving many fire departments out of business. As a former mayor, I know how important volunteer fire companies are to the health and safety of a community. Simply put, this is a public safety issue.

I first learned about this issue from a volunteer firefighter, Bob Timko, back home, and I began a crusade to clear this up for volunteer firefighters and localities and the residents of Pennsylvania and every other State.

As you know, the employer mandate of ObamaCare kicks in for employers with 50 or more employees. Now, some fire companies may hear about this and immediately think, ``Well, we only have 25 volunteers, so we are safe. We don't have 50.''

That may not necessarily be the case. Some fire companies are considered part of their local government. If you take the number of firefighters, paid and unpaid, and add them to the number of other public employees, such as highway workers, police, code enforcement officers, health officers, and clerical workers, you can easily reach 50, even in a small town.

This would be a very big deal in my home State of Pennsylvania, where 97 percent of our fire companies are either completely or mostly volunteers. Nationally, almost 92 percent of fire companies use at least some volunteers, and over 86 percent depend on all or mostly volunteers.

Those numbers come from the 2012 National Fire Department Census conducted by the United States Fire Administration. If your district is like mine, then volunteer firefighters are ingrained in your community.

We won an initial battle on this issue. After I raised it with the IRS and brought pressure to bear through this legislation, they finally relented and changed their rules regarding the Federal tax status of volunteer firefighters.

However, this is too important of a public safety issue to be left to the changing positions of unelected Federal bureaucrats at the IRS. Their arbitrary regulatory guidance could easily be changed back.

Our people back home deserve better. We owe our emergency service volunteers, who risk their lives every day, rock-solid certainty. This legislation says, once and for all, that volunteer firefighters are just that--volunteers--and should not be subjected to the employer mandate. It takes away the power of the IRS to change the rules.

I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their continued support. Last year, this bill passed the Ways and Means Committee by a strong bipartisan vote of 37-0, and it passed the House by a very rare unanimous vote of 410-0. Not one single Member, Republican or Democrat, opposed it.

I want to thank Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader McCarthy, Majority Whip Scalise, the Ways and Means Committee, and their staffs. We all recognize that my bill is a simple, bipartisan solution to an unforeseen consequence of the President's health care law.

This bill has the strong support of the National Volunteer Fire Council, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the Congressional Fire Services Institute. I want to thank my partners, as well as the men and women they represent, for their help.

To be clear, forcing volunteer fire companies to comply with ObamaCare will not extend health insurance to the uninsured; rather, it will close firehouses, placing people at risk.

I strongly urge the passage of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues on both sides. There are very few times when you have a vote here that is unanimous, and it is for a simple reason. It is that everyone here understands and appreciates what these men and women in our communities are willing to do to make the community safe.

You know, as a mayor, I have come to appreciate the volunteer firefighters more than I could ever imagine. Many times, I have watched them stand out in the middle of a road with a boot, trying to raise money so that they could buy gear or equipment or get more training. The volunteers ask very little of their community compared to what they are willing to give, and that is the ultimate sacrifice. They are willing to give their lives for people that they don't even know. They are willing to walk into a burning fire.

I can remember one night, our local fire department in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, they ran in, and they came out with a little baby whose life they saved. And I also remember a day when they couldn't save a life and how it affected every one of those men and women as if it were their own child. They have a lot to worry about, and what they shouldn't worry about is where they are going to get money to provide health insurance or pay a fine. I am sure this was an unintended consequence, and we here recognize that.

So again, I want to thank the chairman and my colleagues for standing with me and saluting the real American heroes, the men and women who volunteer to save us, our first responders.

Mr. Speaker, on January 12, 2015, on Roll Call #17 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 203--Clay Hunt SAV Act, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On January 12, 2015, on Roll Call #18 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 33--Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On January 13, 2015, on Roll Call #20 on Ordering the Previous Question for H. Res. 27, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On January 13, 2015, on Roll Call #21 on H. Res. 27, Providing for consideration of H.R. 37, the Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act; H.R. 185, the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2015; and H.R. 240, Making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On January 13, 2015, on Roll Call #23 on Agreeing to the McKinley of West Virginia Amendment to H.R. 185, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On January 13, 2015, on Roll Call #24 on Agreeing to the Johnson of Georgia Amendment to H.R. 185, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On January 13, 2015, on Roll Call #25 on Agreeing to the Jackson Lee of Texas Amendment to H.R. 185, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On January 13, 2015, on Roll Call #26 on Agreeing to the Connolly of Virginia Amendment to H.R. 185, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On January 13, 2015, on Roll Call #27 on the Democratic Motion to Recommit H.R. 185, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On January 13, 2015, on Roll Call #28 on Passage of H.R. 185-- Regulatory Accountability Act of 2015, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On January 14, 2015, on Roll Call #29 on Agreeing to the Aderholt of Alabama Amendment to H.R. 240, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On January 14, 2015, on Roll Call #30 on Agreeing to the Blackburn of Tennessee Amendment to H.R. 240, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On January 14, 2015, on Roll Call #31 on Agreeing to the DeSantis of Florida Amendment to H.R. 240, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On January 14, 2015, on Roll Call #32 on Agreeing to Salmon of Arizona Amendment to H.R. 240, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On January 14, 2015, on Roll Call #33 on Agreeing to the Schock of Illinois Amendment to H.R. 240, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On January 14, 2015, on Roll Call #34 on the Democratic Motion to Recommit of H.R. 240, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On January 14, 2015, on Roll Call #35 on Passage of H.R. 240-- Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On January 14, 2015, on Roll Call #36 on the Democratic Motion to Recommit of H.R. 37, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On January 14, 2015, on Roll Call #37 on Passage of H.R. 37-- Promoting Job Creation

and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 33) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that emergency services volunteers are not taken into account as employees under the shared responsibility requirements contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 33, currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I am here bringing forward Mr. Barletta's bill, and it is really simple. One of the cornerstones of our civil society--one of the great pieces of the American story--is volunteerism but, in particular, volunteerism among our first responders.

So many of us represent congressional districts that thrive on and exist on and preserve their safety on volunteer firefighters and first responders. Unfortunately, in the Affordable Care Act, there is a huge glitch. Under ObamaCare, volunteer firefighters and first responders are counted in many ways as if they were full-time equivalent employees, and therefore, volunteer fire departments are getting hit with enormous fines, mandates, and taxes.

It shouldn't be that way. It is causing a huge paperwork burden, not to mention a fiscal drain on the budgets of these small fire departments and emergency responding agencies in our communities and in rural areas all across America. This legislation fixes this.

I want to thank Congressman Barletta for introducing this because he clearly understands as a former mayor and as someone who represents Pennsylvania, which I know has a lot of volunteer firefighters just like we do in rural Wisconsin, that these are the lifeblood of our communities.

The last thing that they need to do when they are so concerned about preserving public safety and health is to worry about all of these ObamaCare mandates. Mr. Barletta's bill preserves the freedom to operate for our 780,000 public service volunteer firefighters. It removes this mandate and exempts them from this onerous mandate, so they can continue providing the public service that they have been right now.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta), the author of this legislation.

Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to say that I

appreciate the kind words from the gentleman from Connecticut.

This is bipartisan. It is wonderful when we can work together and find common ground to get things done and find common ground where the completion of a pass is the completion of a pass, it is a rule.

I yield to the gentleman from Connecticut.

Reclaiming my time, all in good jest.

With that, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly), a member of the full committee.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time other than to close.

May I inquire of the gentleman from Connecticut?

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself just a few moments to say to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson), I appreciate him for his comity, for the bipartisan nature of this.

I would say to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney), first, they have to get through some tough luck--Andrew Luck, in particular-- in order to make it to where they want to go.

With that, for the purpose of closing on his own bill, I would like to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta).

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in very strong support of H.R. 33, and I want to thank Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader McCarthy for allowing this legislation to come forward so early in this Congress.

I agree with the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson). People always say: I wish you guys could get along; just get something done. This is something that we overwhelmingly believe in and we are going to get done.

I think that the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta) has explained very clearly that it has to become statute. It can't be left to be some nebulous fact that is rolling around out there.

Now, these people who do this work--and in Pennsylvania, 97 percent, almost eight out of every 10 firefighters come from the volunteer aspect of it; they are not paid. Yet because of some type of allowance they are given, they fall under the Affordable Care Act, and this would destroy volunteer fire departments as we know them. So what Mr. Barletta has very thoughtfully done is he has put forth a piece of legislation that would guarantee that these folks don't have to worry about that.

Now, I have got to tell you, in the little town that I grew up in and live in, Butler, Pennsylvania, so many people volunteer their time to do the volunteer fire fighting. They are also the EMS. They are the first responders.

Last spring, one of our volunteer firemen by the name of Ryan Sekerski, on his way home from work, he heard over his scanner that a fuel truck had overturned. The driver was trapped inside that truck. He then went to the scene of the accident, got his equipment that was in the trunk of his car, got out, and saved that driver's life. These are the people that we are talking about.

When you come to the people's House, America's House, America's Congress, we look at the things that we can do together, things that just make sense. While we may disagree on some other aspects of what it is that we try to get done, on this, we are solid. This just makes sense for America. This makes sense for all those that lay their life on the line anytime there is an emergency or a fire. They do it voluntarily.

Hundreds and thousands of hours in training go into this. They spend time away from their families. They take time away from personal time, where they could be doing other things, to get trained so that they can help other Americans who may need their help. It is absolutely incredible. It is so American. It is something we look at with a great sense of pride.

And we went to the IRS and said: Listen, what we really need now is a statute that guarantees that these volunteer fire departments will not be put under pressure, where they would have to go out of business.

This is not a health care issue, not as far as it is supplying health care or paying a fine for those that volunteer; but this is a health care issue for every single American for whom these people supply necessary services on a voluntary basis to save their lives and their property.

So I think the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta) is a champion on this issue. He was in the last Congress and the fact that it has come forward again--it is so overwhelmingly supported by both sides of our House that it truly is America's Congress. It truly is America's issue. It truly is an issue that makes sense for all of us. It is maybe our small way of thanking all those folks that do that every day without any pay, just because of the greatness in their hearts.