Floor Statements

To strengthen our economic competitiveness in a global economy, we must create the right environment for private sector growth in cutting-edge industries. As we work to reform our corporate Tax Code, it's critical that we consider policies that reflect our 21st century economy, an innovation economy, and promote new domestic manufacturing based on the best ideas developed right here in America.

Today, I will introduce a plan to incentivize manufacturing, innovation, and research and development right here in the United States. The Innovation Promotion Act keeps American businesses competitive by reducing their tax rate on patented products by more than half to 10 percent.

This lower tax rate is a major incentive to keep production here in the United States and will better ensure American companies that choose to stay in the U.S. can compete with foreign competitors, expand to new markets, and hire new workers.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting American entrepreneurship, American innovation, and American jobs. Sign on to the Innovation Promotion Act to build America's economic leadership in the world and promote job creation right here at home.

As August begins, millions of young people across the country are preparing to head off to college. Fall brings not only a return to course selection and roommates and football games but also to high college tuition bills. In my home State of Pennsylvania, the average cost of tuition and fees tops $12,000 for a public 4-year school and $32,000 a year for a private university. These high costs force 70 percent of Pennsylvania college students to take out student loans.

One of the biggest decisions facing students and college graduates is not just the amounts they borrow but who their lenders will be and whether they will be private lenders or Federal loans. Federal loans are simply a better deal. They offer lower, fixed interest rates, consumer protections and manageable repayment options. Private student loans, on the other hand, typically have uncapped, variable rates, hefty fees and few consumer protections. From 2001 to 2008, the private student loan market exploded, increasing from $5 billion to $20 billion. Lenders loosened underwriting standards and often cut school financial aid offices out of the process.

While students may need private loans, they should know the differences between private lenders and Federal loans and be fully informed of the differences in cost and obligation. Unfortunately, right now, a majority of student loan borrowers who are turning to more expensive student loan programs of private options do so without fully exhausting all of the Federal student loan options available to them. This means that student borrowers unnecessarily take on increased costs.

That's why I've joined with my colleagues, Representatives Jared Polis and Tim Bishop, to introduce the Know Before You Owe Act in order to make sure that students and their families have access to vital information regarding their student loan programs. The legislation requires schools to counsel students on the financial aid options available to them, and it requires private lenders to adopt commonsense steps to protect student borrowers. The Know Before You Owe Act will empower students and their families to make informed decisions about financing their educations.

Access to higher education is a top priority for middle class families. They know that higher education is one of the keys to being able to succeed in a competitive 21st-century marketplace. They are willing to invest in their futures by taking out student loans in order to afford college. We need to ensure that students have full and complete information about the most affordable student loan options available to them in order to fight back against those who might take unscrupulous advantage of families facing tough financial decisions.

I urge my colleagues to join with me in supporting this important legislation and to better ensure that millions of Americans can afford college without taking unnecessary long-term financial hardship and risk.

I appreciate the opportunity to speak for just a couple of minutes on the legislation before us.

I do support a transparent process that would better ensure that there's public information on the impact of sequestration which, of course, is the automatic spending cuts that are scheduled for next year.

Sequestration, which would trigger those automatic cuts, was put in place to force Congress to work to find a bipartisan, balanced approach to deficit reduction. Today's legislation does not move us any closer to achieving that goal.

Time and again, the Republicans in Congress have rejected a balanced approach that would include spending cuts and revenue and economic growth. They reject a balanced approach that would protect our Nation's short-term economic recovery and create the right environment for long- term growth.

They reject a balanced approach, as you heard before, that has been recommended by every bipartisan commission, that would move our country forward by making tough yet responsible choices on the deficit and would reflect America's priorities and build America's economic strength.

The American people deserve to know the impact of across-the-board cuts resulting from the failure of the Republican majority to find that common ground and avoid sequester. But they also deserve real solutions, something the Republican majority has yet to deliver.

Their so-called solution, their budget, the House Republican budget, takes a partisan, one-sided approach to deficit reduction. It relies solely on spending cuts and directs the $100 billion cuts next year from sequestration to come only from one part of the budget: non- defense discretionary. All of the $100 billion cuts next year would come from our domestic priorities: health care, education, scientific research, transportation, law enforcement, to name a few.

Their budget fails to require other even larger parts of the Federal budget to reduce costs and be more effective. Their budget fails to protect our fragile economic recovery. It fails on economic growth. They should work together with Democrats to make a real deficit reduction-economic growth package for the United States of America.

Mr. Chair, during rollcall vote No. 483 on H.R. 5856, I mistakenly recorded my vote as ``no'' when I should have voted ``aye.''

Amendment Offered by Ms. Woolsey

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this legislation.

As so many of us know, 2 weeks ago, the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, affirming the path forward to those consumer protections and to increase access to affordable health insurance coverage; for seniors to afford lifesaving medications; for the 17 million American children who have preexisting conditions to receive coverage for the care that they need; the 30 million uninsured Americans to be able to afford coverage.

Because of the Affordable Care Act, families will not go broke because of an illness, small businesses can afford coverage for their employees, and young adults, 6.6 million of them, can remain on their parents' insurance. Yet Republicans are continuing their politically motivated attempts to repeal health care reform instead of working to grow our economy and strengthen the financial security of America's middle class.

Today is the 31st time Republicans have called for a vote to deny Americans access to affordable, quality health coverage. This legislation reflects a clear decision by Republicans to put partisanship ahead of the pressing needs of our constituents and our country. Their actions are taking time and attention away from the work we should be doing. It's wasteful and it's misguided. Their actions are creating uncertainty and hurting our economic recovery and the security of middle class Americans.

I urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation and get to work on jobs and economic growth for our families, for businesses, and for our Nation, and stop this wasteful, unnecessary action.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 387, had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. Speaker, today's vote is nothing more than a political stunt by Congressional Republicans to once again undermine the health care reform law. Republicans included a ``poison pill'' to ensure limited Democratic support rather than work in a bipartisan manner on an important policy issue. This once again proves they are more interested in politics than policy.

We should take a serious look at corporate tax policy and its impact on innovation in this country. In Pennsylvania, the medical innovation industry is vital to economic growth, employing more than 80,000 people and pumping more than $13 billion into the local economy. I am proud that Pennsylvania companies are on the front lines of this innovation, and it is essential that they have the ability to grow and thrive.

We must work together to strengthen America's role as a global leader in the medical innovation sector, which will yield the next generation of life-saving treatments and strengthen our economic competitiveness. I urge my Republican colleagues to work with us to implement tax policies that will preserve, promote and grow these innovative industries.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the ranking member's comments and his good work and important work on the plan, the Republican plan and the Democratic alternative.

Let me start by saying very clearly, once again, House Republicans are taking a shortsighted approach to deficit reduction and economic growth in this country. The Federal budget is a statement of our priorities and our values as a Nation, and Republicans have made their priorities and their values very clear. The Federal budget is about choices: the choice to protect seniors; the choice to grow our middle class; the choice to make smart investments in our economy. Or not.

The Republicans have made their choice very clear. They are choosing to cut prevention and public health efforts, immunizations and flu vaccines, screenings for birth defects, developmental disabilities, and hearing loss in children. They are hurting mothers who need prenatal care, children who need hearing and eye exams, women who need screenings for cancer and heart disease, and our frailest, sickest seniors who need nursing home and in-home care.

Republicans are choosing to eliminate essential health services that save dollars and save lives. This choice will hurt millions of American women, children, and seniors. Instead, Republicans are choosing to protect tax breaks for the largest oil and gas companies and tax breaks for companies that ship American jobs overseas.

There is a better way. The Democratic budget takes a balanced approach to deficit reduction and makes spending cuts and targeted investments to grow our economy, and it meets our obligations to our Nation. The Republican plan rejects this balanced approach. It rejects efforts to grow our economy. It rejects protections for our seniors, our children, and our future. It is the wrong choice for the American people, and we must reject this plan.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and congratulate Rose Feldsher on her retirement from the volunteer program at Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia after 50 years of service.

Rose is the longest serving volunteer out of 500 at Einstein. Her volunteer work there started back when John F. Kennedy was president.

After waiting long, stressful hours by herself for her own husband in surgery, Rose took it upon herself to volunteer her time so that people in similar positions did not have to go through the same thing she did. And so, in 1961 Rose started ``making rounds''. She delivered water, comforted loved ones in the waiting room and assisted nursing staff.

Since then, the hospital has changed staff, technology, and facilities. Even with the arrival of new technology and ways of helping those who come to see patients, Rose still personally sees that family members and friends get personal updates directly from her. Although the hospital itself has changed over the years, Rose has faithfully shown up every Friday morning for the past 50 years.

Now retiring at the age of 90, Rose plans on spending time with her four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleges join me in thanking Rose Feldsher for her 50 years of dedication and service to those in need in the community.

I thank the ranking member.

The Federal budget is a statement of our priorities and our values as a Nation. The budget needs to be fiscally responsible and reduce the deficit, meet our obligations to our seniors and our families and our future, and make targeted investments to grow our economy.

The Republican budget fails to meet all three challenges. It fails our Nation's seniors and our middle class. It fails to ensure that we can compete from a position of strength in a global economy, and it fails to offer a balanced approach to deficit reduction. The Republican budget relies solely on spending cuts. It chooses tax reductions for millionaires at the expense of the middle class, and it chooses tax breaks for the biggest corporations over small business and new jobs.

The most direct assault on our values as Americans is the Republicans' plan to dismantle Medicare as we know it. Rather than protecting the promise of Medicare for seniors now and into the future, the Republicans break that promise. Rather than reducing costs through payment and delivery system reforms, the Republicans do nothing to contain costs, and they simply shift the cost burden onto our seniors. Rather than guaranteed benefits, the Republicans leave seniors on their own to buy what benefits they can afford with a voucher of limited value. This means seniors are subjected to the uncertainty of the insurance industry, meaning possible discrimination based on age, illness, and income. Their budget even cuts health coverage for our sickest and frailest seniors, threatening their access to vital nursing home care.

For decades, Medicare has provided both financial and health security for America's seniors, with access to quality, affordable, guaranteed health benefits. Medicare is a promise to our seniors, and it is a promise that this Republican budget breaks. America's seniors deserve better. Instead, we need a balanced approach to reduce the deficit, to meet our commitments in our Nation, particularly to our seniors, and to create an environment that grows our economy now and into the future.

Reject this Republican budget and choose the Democratic budget alternative, which meets our Nation's challenges in a way that is balanced, fair, and responsible.

Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to add a few words. Some of these kinds of issues have been talked about all day or all afternoon, but I felt compelled to rise again to talk about what really is at stake here, and what is truly a sharp contrast between the Republican budget and the Democratic budget alternative.

Our budgets as a Federal budget should reflect our priorities and values as a Nation. Our Democratic budget moves America forward by building for the future, by investing in innovation, in education, in energy with confidence and expectation about the opportunities that are available to us in this country.

But it also ensures that we keep our promises to America's seniors by protecting and strengthening Medicare.

The Republican plan for America moves our Nation backward and harms our economic competitiveness now and into the future by choosing sustained tax cuts for millionaires over small businesses and jobs for the middle class, by choosing tax breaks for our biggest companies rather than investments in our future economic growth.

Their vision is one in which college becomes more expensive for millions of Americans, where investments in innovation and research are slashed and we stop being the leaders in the world on bioscience and energy. It abandons seniors in their most vulnerable years.

Rather than balancing the budget by shifting costs to Medicare beneficiaries, the Democratic budget reduces the rate of growth in health care spending through initiatives that will increase our value and efficiency in our health care system. It will contain costs for Medicare and for all Americans.

Millions of seniors rely on Medicare every day for their life-saving medications, treatments, and doctor visits. We cannot abandon our obligation to our seniors, and the Democratic budget does not.

The Democratic budget takes a balanced approach to meeting our Nation's fiscal challenges. It makes targeted investments needed to spur economic growth, and, yes, it preserves the Medicare guarantee and protects tax relief for middle class families--a high priority for us, one that is much less, if a priority at all, for the Republican budget.

Our budget tackles the Federal deficit by reducing the Federal deficit as a share of GDP by more than 8 percent so that it is 2.7 percent of GDP within 10 years. We make some hard choices about how we cut spending, but our budget is a commitment to cut spending by over $2 trillion.

So it reduces the deficit responsibly and fairly. It protects our seniors and our middle class, and it does not ask either our seniors or the middle class to shoulder our fiscal challenges alone.

We have a choice to make, and we will be making it this evening and tomorrow as we decide which budget is better for the America that we dream about, that we expect, and that we work for.

I urge my colleagues to stand up for a responsible budget that, yes, makes spending cuts and also makes smart investments; that grows our economy, but also meets our obligations; that respects our values and who we are as Americans. It creates opportunities, and it is fair to America.

I suggest that we vote ``yes'' for the Democratic budget that protects America and our values and grows our economy.

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the bill before us.

H.R. 452, the Medicare Decisions Accountability Act, had clear bipartisan support.

As a co-sponsor, I am deeply disappointed by Republicans' decision to link this legislation to an unrelated and partisan issue. This rule ensured that repealing IPAB would not be given serious consideration in the House.

My support for IPAB repeal reflects my confidence in and commitment to Medicare payment and delivery system reforms in the Affordable Care Act that will improve quality, increase efficiency and care coordination, and not only save lives but reduce costs.

IPAB is not a ``death panel'' or a ``rationing board.'' IPAB is simply the wrong approach to the right goal.

Abdicating responsibility for legislating sound health care policy, whether to an unelected commission or private insurers, undermines our ability to represent the needs of our constituents.

Republicans have once again demonstrated that political showmanship trumps legitimate concerns expressed by seniors and the medical community.

Linking IPAB repeal to tort reform--an unrelated, divisive, and polarizing issue--has brought what was once a bipartisan effort to a screeching halt.

I urge my colleagues to vote against this partisan stunt and put our Nation's seniors first.

Mr. Chair, during rollcall vote number 103 and 104 on Himes and Ellison amendments, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Amendment No. 6 Offered by Ms. Waters

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 96, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

This conference committee was charged with resolving differences between the House and the Senate so that we could extend middle class tax cuts, protect seniors' access to their doctors, and extend unemployment benefits for Americans looking for work. As a member of the conference committee, I'm pleased we found a compromise to meet these goals and we are able to provide stability for millions of Americans.

Action today means 160 million American taxpayers will be able to keep more of their hard-earned dollars. These are middle class families struggling to pay their mortgages, their food bills, child care costs, and college tuition. This tax cut will better enable them to meet their obligations and contribute to growing the economy.

Action today means that 13 million of our hardest working Americans will receive unemployment benefits and be better able to provide for their families.

There are encouraging measures of economic growth in our country, but recovery is still fragile. We've had 23 consecutive months of private sector job growth. Unemployment numbers are down, yet millions of Americans are still looking for work. Action today better ensures that losing a job will not mean economic disaster for families who have worked hard and played by the rules.

An action today means that we will keep our promise to 47 million seniors by preventing a drastic 27 percent cut to physicians who care for Medicare beneficiaries. This is a win for American seniors, but it does not relieve us of our responsibility to permanently repeal the SGR and replace it with a new payment system.

For over a decade this failed policy has created uncertainty and instability for patients, for health care providers, and for the Federal budget. Throughout this process, I advocated for both permanent, fiscally responsible repeal of the failed Medicare policy and a path forward to new payment models to improve quality while reducing costs. Despite bipartisan support for this approach, a long- term agreement could not be reached. I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to end this perennial threat to the promise of Medicare once and for all.

I urge support for middle class families, for America's seniors, and for millions of Americans still searching for a job. I urge support for this conference report.

As a daughter of a Korean war veteran, I firmly believe that we have a responsibility to better insure that our Nation's veterans find work when they return home.

To me, veterans, especially post-9/11, are struggling to find employment. We can and must do better. Last week, I introduced the Hiring Our Veterans Act to strengthen current law that I introduced and championed successfully in 2007 and again in 2009, which provided a tax credit to employers to hire unemployed veterans.

Today, the House of Representatives, in a bipartisan way, will pass legislation that builds on this effort and expands job opportunities for our veterans. It will expand the maximum tax credit available to employers who will hire disabled veterans who have been unemployed for 6 months, and it strengthens the hiring tax credit to benefit both short-term and long-term unemployed veterans.

This is a huge victory for our brave men and women and their families who have sacrificed so much for our Nation and our freedom. And as we wind down two wars, it is our duty and our honor to support our veterans and better insure that they have good, stable jobs when they return to home.