EACH Act

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Roskam for his leadership on this issue. I also want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson), because this bill that we are talking about today is and has been rife with nothing but bipartisan support. It is issues like this that we can work together to correct. No matter what the bill is, no matter what some of the other outlying issues of implementation of certain laws that may or may not affect our constituents and how they do so, but the fact that we are trying to fix this once and for all, for many in this country, is a testament to what good happens here in a bipartisan fashion.

I also want to thank the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Kevin Brady, my good friend, for his continued leadership on this issue and helping to make sure this bill comes back to the floor.

This Congress has an opportunity to continue the bipartisanship I just talked about and promote religious liberty and fairness by passing the EACH Act, because the EACH Act modestly expands the religious conscience exemptions under the Affordable Care Act to include individuals who rely solely on religious methods of healing.

The current religious conscience exemption under the Affordable Care Act exclusively applies to only a few select faiths. As a result, some Americans, including Christian Scientists, are required to purchase medical health insurance that does not cover the healthcare of their religious practice and choice. They are, therefore, forced with the choice of violating their conscience by purchasing traditional health insurance or violating the law by not complying with any individual mandate.

Under the EACH Act, applicants must attest annually that they are a member of a religious group, that they rely solely on a religious method of healing, and that they have not received medical health services during the preceding taxable year.

This is a very important point, Mr. Speaker. Additionally, with the help of input from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the bill makes it clear that the legislation does not preempt any State laws requiring the provision of medical treatment for children. Further, if a parent needs to provide a necessary medical service to a child, doing so would not invalidate the individual's exemption.

The EACH Act, again, is truly an example of bipartisan legislation with input from stakeholders that actually made it better. I am proud to have worked with my friend and colleague, Mr. Keating, on moving this legislation forward. He knows this issue well. His home State of Massachusetts established a similar religious conscience exemption in State law more than 10 years ago.

I also represent Principia College, a college for Christian Scientists in Elsah, Illinois, one that we have a few graduates of right here in Congress, including the last speaker, Mr. Lamar Smith. While working on this bill, I have heard from both students and professors from Principia on the importance of passing this legislation and what it would mean to their lives.

One such student wrote: ``I feel religious liberty is such a vital part of the American exceptionalism that permeates worldly thought, and the passing of this bill will only contribute to the commitment of our government to preserve that right. My family has paid excessive amounts for healthcare, among other expenses, that we do not use due to our reliance on the Christian Science healing for prayer. I do not believe Christian Scientists should feel that they are being punished in some way for expressing their First Amendment right.''

Well, Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand up here today for their First Amendment right.

This legislation is about as straightforward as it gets. It is broadly bipartisan, promotes religious liberty and fairness, and it also saves the taxpayers money. The Congressional Budget Office estimated passing the EACH Act would save taxpayers an additional $31 million, if signed into law.

The EACH Act passed this House in both the 113th and 114th Congresses, but, unfortunately, it was held up in the Senate. It is time that Congress finally passes the EACH Act out of both Chambers and sends it to th President's desk for his signature.

I urge a ``yes'' vote.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1201) to amend section 5000A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an additional religious exemption from the individual health coverage mandate, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1201, currently under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to see this bipartisan bill is getting a vote today.

H.R. 1201, the EACH Act, or Equitable Access to Care and Health Act, introduced by my colleague, Mr. Rodney Davis from Illinois, provides commonsense relief from ObamaCare's mandate to purchase insurance from those who object on religious grounds.

This bill extends the religious conscience exemption from ObamaCare's individual mandate to those individuals who rely solely on a religious method of healing. Receiving medical health services, as we traditionally think of them, is inconsistent with the religious belief of Christian Scientists.

This bill says that for people who choose not to use traditional healthcare or services, they are fully exempted from the Affordable Care Act's requirement to buy insurance. For Christian Scientists, if they bought the insurance plan, they wouldn't use it anyway. If you don't believe in something, why should the government force you to participate.

In healthcare, so many of our choices have been restricted because of the Affordable Care Act's domino effect across the entire healthcare sector. The EACH Act takes a step in the right direction by restoring freedom for people who had to face a dire decision of either violating their conscience by purchasing ObamaCare or violating the law. This is an unfair position that the law should not put them in, and I hope we can finally resolve this by passing the EACH Act today.

We must come together to help those who have been hurt by this intrusion into their lives. This bill has widespread bipartisan support. In fact, the House passed a similar bill last Congress by voice vote. Once more, passing the EACH Act will reduce the deficit by $31 million.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the good news for my friend from California is that tomorrow he will have an opportunity to vote on bills that will lower the costs of healthcare with the health savings account agenda that is forthcoming.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith), a longstanding advocate on behalf of Christian Scientists, who has tried to bring rescue to them.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.

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

We hold conscience in this House tenderly. Our Founders were wise. In the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights, the first freedom that they articulated was our freedom to worship. What you are hearing today is a bipartisan consensus that we value that, and we recognize the power of conscience, the power of religious liberty, the power of being able to worship as one pleases. That is something that Mr. Davis from Illinois is advocating today, Mr. Thompson is supporting as well, along with the longstanding work of Mr. Smith from Texas.

Passing this bill will give those who object to health insurance on religious grounds the ability to opt out of the system that they don't want to participate in, in its entirety. They won't have to face a choice between violating their belief and violating the law anymore. I urge its passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, the House has passed this bill before, making clarifications on the existing religious exemptions for healthcare. I understand that religious groups have important healthcare concerns that must be taken seriously.

I support this bill. But we should be talking about issues in healthcare that our constituents are bringing up to us every day, like skyrocketing prescription drug costs, increasing premium costs, and threats to guaranteed coverage for preexisting conditions, a direct result of efforts by my Republican colleagues.

The Trump administration continues to raise costs and reduce access to affordable healthcare in its never-ending effort to sabotage the Affordable Care Act.

In just the last few weeks, the administration has refused to defend protections for Americans with preexisting conditions, stopped risk adjustment payments to health plans covering sicker patients, and again slashed payments to the navigators that help people access healthcare insurance. These and many other misguided efforts are raising the costs for those Americans who need healthcare coverage the most.

We should be examining and responding to this growing threat to affordable care, not ignoring it.

I encourage my Republican colleagues to bring to the floor bills that truly address the healthcare cost crisis that middle class Americans and seniors are facing. After all, that was their promise to our constituents.

In 2015, the President promised:

We're going to terminate ObamaCare. We're going to terminate it, it's going to be terminated. It's going to be replaced with something much better and something much less expensive for you and for the country.

Republicans and the President have failed to present the public with a better plan, and they have failed to drive down the cost to patients.

As a matter of fact, their work has driven costs up. The cumulative ACA sabotage by the Republican Congress and the administration are adding as much as 24 percent of healthcare premium increases in my home State of California.

Now they should work with us to strengthen and protect existing programs so that our constituents can go to the doctor when they need to or get surgery or a drug that their lives depend on. As Members of Congress, this is our responsibility.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

I just want to mention that my friend and committee member was half right in what he said about tomorrow's vote. We will be voting on some healthcare bills tomorrow, and they are bills that will help. But they will help people that either have the money to pay for healthcare or people who are healthy, not the folks who need access to quality, affordable healthcare.

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that, contrary to this party's position for decades, these bills aren't paid for, and they are going to add about $70 billion worth of costs to our national debt.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. Does the gentleman from Illinois have further speakers?

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I yield myself the balance of my time, and I thank the sponsors for their work on this bill. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Roskam) for yielding me time, and I thank another gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis) for introducing this legislation.

The Equitable Access to Care and Health Act is a bill that I strongly support. It expands the religious conscience exemption in the Affordable Care Act.

The bipartisan legislation has broad support in the House and in the Senate. It has passed the House by voice vote in the last two Congresses.

The ACA currently provides for a religious conscience exemption, but the exemption is unduly narrow and applies only to a few faiths. This exemption should be expanded to accommodate other religions whose sincerely-held religious beliefs could cause them not to purchase healthcare insurance.

With the recent repeal of the individual mandate, the CBO now estimates that the bill will result in about $30 million in cost savings. I hope my colleagues will support this piece of legislation. It will help advance the cause of religious freedom.

Mr. President, I understand that there are two bills at the desk that are due for a second reading en bloc.

Mr. President, in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further proceedings en bloc.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.