Floor Statements

Mr. Chair, I rise in support of H.R. 6192.

Mr. Chair, I will start off by thanking the sponsor, Mrs. Debbie Lesko of Arizona, and the members of the Energy and Commerce Committee for advancing this bill through regular order.

The United States is blessed with tremendous natural resources. We have the cleanest oil and gas in the world, emissions-free nuclear, hydropower, and renewables.

We also have the world's best workforce and an innovative spirit that has contributed to technological breakthroughs that have changed the world.

For centuries, American innovation has led to new technologies that have improved people's lives from the lightbulb and the home refrigerator to air-conditioning, the washing machine, and the dishwasher.

These inventions are engrained in modern life, and they were not the result of some aggressive government regulation or mandate, but of American ingenuity.

Sadly, the Biden administration's war on American energy is now reaching inside American's homes. Through sue and settle agreements with radical environmental activists, the Department of Energy has reached backroom deals to impose new regulations on dozens of appliances that Americans rely on every single day.

Last year, the Biden administration attempted to ban gas stoves. Thankfully, DOE changed course after bipartisan opposition and an overwhelming vote by Congress to reverse the ban.

These new mandates are forcing people to spend more on less reliable options. This comes at a time when Americans are already being crushed by rising costs thanks to Bidenflation.

By continuing to double down on policies like this, the Biden administration is showing just how out of touch they are with the financial struggle the vast majority of Americans are feeling. Americans simply cannot afford President Biden's rush-to-green agenda.

The bill led by Mrs. Lesko seeks to protect Americans from Federal mandates that result in minimal energy savings while significantly driving up costs for consumers.

It ensures that DOE is only allowed to adopt efficiency regulations on home appliances that are cost effective, technologically feasible, and save a significant amount of energy.

This is going to benefit Americans across the country. It should be a bipartisan issue, and that is why I urge colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in sending a strong message to the Biden administration.

In closing, I will, again, thank Mrs. Lesko for her hard work on the bill.

Madam Speaker, I was absent during the recorded vote to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted Yea on Roll Call No. 143.

Stated against:

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1023, the Cutting Green Corruption and Taxes Act.

I thank the bill's sponsor, Congressman Gary Palmer of Alabama, and the members of the Energy and Commerce Committee for advancing this bill through regular order.

The U.S. has been blessed with tremendous natural resources which we have been able to harness as a result of free market principles and an entrepreneurial spirit that is uniquely American.

We have harnessed the power of nuclear energy, electrified millions of rural Americans' homes with clean hydropower, and ushered in the shale revolution which continues to create millions of new jobs, bring manufacturing back to the U.S., and revitalize communities across our Nation.

As a result, America is more energy secure today than ever before.

This legacy is under threat. Since day one, President Biden has been taking steps to shut down American energy.

On his first day in office, he ended the Keystone XL pipeline. He has actively taken steps to ban gas stoves and liquefied natural gas exports, tear down hydropower dams, force electric vehicle mandates on Americans, and impose a tax on natural gas.

His so-called Inflation Reduction Act provided the EPA with tens of billions of taxpayer dollars to launder to extreme, liberal special interest allies who will ultimately make us more reliant on China by forcing Americans to rely on cheap Chinese batteries and solar panels manufactured with slave labor and the worst environmental standards on the planet.

H.R. 1023 is an important step toward ending the President's radical rush-to-green agenda. It repeals the EPA's $27 billion green bank slush fund and its recently proposed natural gas tax.

The EPA doesn't want Congress or the American public to know how they are spending hard-earned taxpayer dollars and the way that they want to give tens of billions of dollars to radical environmentalists in secret.

This legislation will also repeal the EPA's recently proposed natural gas tax. This tax drives up the costs on everything from our grocery bills to our energy bills. It will force good-paying American jobs overseas and make us more dependent on foreign energy sources.

I strongly support H.R. 1023, the Cutting Green Corruption and Taxes Act, which promotes American energy leadership and security, which is something that is vital to building on our legacy of improving lives, helping to lift people out of poverty, and raising the standard of living across the country and the world.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' on this important bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie).

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

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

Mr. Speaker, one serious contender for a share of this $14 billion is Power Forward Communities. This new entity, which has been formed to secure a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund award, is a coalition of several organizations, including Rewiring America.

Rewiring America's leadership includes a former Obama White House appointee, a former employee of liberal political action committees, and a Democratic politician, Stacey Abrams. Rewiring America is a project of the Windward Fund, which is controlled by Arabella Advisors. Arabella Advisors funnels donations to various leftwing nonprofits.

To give another example, the board of another applicant, the Coalition for Green Capital, includes former Biden administration officials and a former senior staffer of the Democratic National Committee. This includes David Hayes, a former senior official of President Biden's White House Climate Policy Office who was central to advancing President Biden's climate agenda.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan), chairman of our Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee.

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

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7520) to prohibit data brokers from transferring sensitive data of United States individuals to foreign adversaries, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam 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 in the Record on the bill.

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

I rise today in support of H.R. 7520, the Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024.

Data brokers are harvesting people's sensitive data and selling or sharing it without people's knowledge or consent. To make matters worse, they often do this without any safeguards against this sensitive information going to foreign adversaries who could easily exploit it for nefarious purposes.

This sensitive information includes everything from a person's physical and mental health to their geolocation data. Oftentimes, it is sold to the highest bidder, including to foreign adversaries like China and the companies they control.

H.R. 7520 will limit how data brokers are able to share Americans' personally identifiable and sensitive information abroad.

I commend my Energy and Commerce Committee colleague Ranking Member Pallone for his leadership on this legislation. It is an important complement to our ongoing efforts to establish a comprehensive data privacy standard, one that cracks down on abuses of Americans' personal information by narrowing the information that is collected in the first place and putting people back in control of their personal information.

Today is an opportunity to send a very clear message that the U.S. will not tolerate the continued targeting, surveilling, and exploitation of Americans' data.

This bill advanced out of our committee with a unanimous, bipartisan 50-0 vote. I look forward to it passing the House this week, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), who is the chairman of the subcommittee.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce).

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Madam Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this bill that would prohibit data brokers from profiting off the sale or the transfer of sensitive data of U.S. individuals and specifically that of U.S. military servicemembers to a foreign adversary country or any entity that is controlled by such country.

The term ``controlled by a foreign adversary'' parallels the definition of H.R. 7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, that we passed last week out of the House 352-65.

I believe that this is very important legislation also to complement that effort and our continued work to enact legislation that would bring a national privacy and data security law into place.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7521) to protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications, such as TikTok and any successor application or service and any other application or service developed or provided by ByteDance Ltd. or an entity under the control of ByteDance Ltd., 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 in the Record on the bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.

Foreign adversaries, like the Chinese Communist Party, pose the greatest national security threat of our time. TikTok's access to 177 million American users makes it a valuable propaganda tool for the CCP to exploit.

Over the past week, we saw in real time how CCP-controlled TikTok used its influence and power to force users to contact their Representatives if they even wanted to continue using the app. This is just a small taste of how the CCP weaponizes applications it controls to manipulate tens of millions of people to further its agenda.

Today's legislation will end this abuse by preventing apps controlled by foreign adversaries from targeting, surveilling, and manipulating the American people. We have given TikTok a clear choice: Separate from your parent company, ByteDance, which is beholden to the CCP, and remain operational in the United States, or side with the CCP and face the consequences. The choice is TikTok's.

Companies controlled by a foreign adversary, like the CCP, will never embrace American values like the freedom of speech, human rights, the rule of law, and a free press. If given the choice, they will always choose the path of more control, more surveillance, and more manipulation. In the case of TikTok, we wouldn't even know it.

Today, we send a clear message that we will not tolerate our adversaries weaponizing our freedoms against us.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 10 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) and ask unanimous consent that he be permitted to control that time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Gallagher).

Mr. Speaker, it is not true that this is a downpayment on the RESTRICT Act--not interested in the RESTRICT Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Bucshon).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 40 seconds to the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Hinson).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Cammack).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg).

Mr. Speaker, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Crenshaw).

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much for yielding and I appreciate him bringing us together here tonight.

We are all in anticipation of the State of the Union, and for the Republicans in the House, certainly, you have outlined some priorities, we also are a party of life and celebrating life.

Tonight, I wanted to highlight the importance of really honoring the lives of everyone, that every life has value. Our son, Cole McMorris Rodgers, was born with an extra 21st chromosome. Now most of the world knows that as Down syndrome. I can honestly say that seeing the world through Cole's eyes has made me a better mom, but also a better legislator. I am reminded every day whenever I meet with anyone connected to the Down syndrome community as to the full potential that is just waiting to be unleashed.

Unfortunately, in the Biden administration, we have seen them leading on a pretty radical pro-abortion agenda that bolsters a culture which fails to protect the most innocent among us. It does not affirm that every life is worth living, lives like Cole's.

That is why I am leading alongside my Republican colleagues to champion legislation that supports women and children at every stage of their lives. That is what we are committed to. We have led on legislation this Congress like the Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act, the PREEMIE Reauthorization Act, and the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act.

Just recently, the House passed a bill that I had worked on, the QALYs bill, that would prohibit QALYs within the Federal Government and it would ensure that those with disabilities with chronic diseases have lifesaving cures and access to prevent discrimination against these individuals when it comes to their healthcare.

We still have work to do in our Nation, all across this country to ensure that women feel like an abortion is never their only option and we can do that by making sure that we are providing care, hope, and support for mothers and children at every stage of their lives. Every life is worth living.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for the time tonight in leading us this week in the Special Order.

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from the Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation, H.R. 6544, the Atomic Energy Advancement Act.

We have worked very hard, and most agree that a robust and growing nuclear industry is critical for reducing emissions and providing reliable and affordable clean energy to Americans.

Nuclear energy can help us build durable, economic, and strategic relationships around the world, especially as the influence of China and Russia in this industry grows. We know our allies are eager for American leadership and technology, and our nuclear industry is ready to lead.

The Energy and Commerce Committee has a rich history of plowing the hard ground necessary to legislate, coming together on solutions that improve people's lives and that make our country stronger and prosperous.

H.R. 6544 continues that leadership, and I am grateful for the leadership of the chairman of the subcommittee, Jeff Duncan, as well as the ranking member, Diana DeGette, and the ranking member of the full committee, Frank Pallone, for working together so that we can move this legislation forward, helping to maintain a robust and growing nuclear industry, which is vital to delivering reliable, affordable, and clean energy to all Americans.

This much-needed modernization of our regulatory framework will restore America's nuclear dominance; encourage innovation; enable industry to deploy safe, reliable nuclear energy; and usher in a new era of U.S. energy leadership.

Madam Speaker, I urge support of the Atomic Energy Advancement Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support today of H.R. 7176, the Unlocking Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2024, introduced by my friend Representative August Pfluger.

President Biden's decision to impose a ban on issuing permits to export natural gas is just the latest example of his administration caving to environmental activists and putting politics over the American people.

This ban will harm the American economy, jeopardize good-paying jobs, weaken our energy security, and it threatens the security of our friends and allies.

America has become the number one producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas in the world. It has strengthened our economy, reduced costs for the American people, and enabled the United States to lead in reducing emissions more than any other nation, both here at home and abroad.

American LNG has been a lifeline, especially to our friends and European allies since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Since the invasion, American LNG has helped them reduce their natural gas prices by over 83 percent and reduce their dependence on Russia.

President Biden's ban sends a signal to our allies that we are no longer a dependable energy partner. This is unacceptable.

H.R. 7176 will immediately reverse the President's decision allowing the U.S. to export more and encouraging domestic production here at home, which will then reduce American energy supply vulnerabilities.

This will reduce American energy supply vulnerabilities and encourage investments in other industries, like manufacturing.

Some estimate that LNG exports could add as much as $73 billion to our economy and more than 450,000 American jobs by 2040.

LNG is vital to America's energy leadership, our security, and our future. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 485.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 485, my Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act, which affirms every person's life has value by banning the use of quality-adjusted life years, or QALYs, and similar discriminatory measures from all Federal healthcare programs.

As many of you know, my son Cole was born with an extra 21st chromosome. Most of you know it as Down syndrome.

When Cole was born, the doctors gave us a long list of challenges and chances for heartache. It was difficult, but I could have never imagined just how positively he would impact my life, my family's life, and the world.

Today, Cole is a fun-loving 16-year-old with big dreams. He wants to be a football player, a pastor, and a race car driver. He is on the basketball team. He plays the drums. For Cole, the sky is the limit.

Cole and others with disabilities deserve every opportunity to succeed. We shouldn't be discounting their potential or prejudging the quality of their life just because of their disabilities.

Unfortunately, several tools frequently used in our healthcare system do just that. QALYs, and other similar discriminatory measures, assign a dollar value on the life of a patient to decide if a certain treatment is cost effective, oftentimes discounting an individual's worth and the need for care solely because of their disability or chronic illness.

It means a bureaucracy coldly determines the value of someone's life and could deny necessary healthcare due to that calculation.

Measurements like QALYs remove the consideration of unique circumstances and health conditions of a patient and their doctor's judgment from deciding what is best for the patient.

I am not alone in opposing the use of these measures.

Democrats acknowledged this when they passed the Affordable Care Act, and they banned the use of QALYs in Medicare.

In 2020, the Democratic National Committee platform stated that: ``Democrats will ensure that people with disabilities are never denied coverage based on the use of quality-adjusted life year (QALY) indexes.''

The nonpartisan National Council on Disabilities wrote a report in 2019 titled: ``Quality-Adjusted Life Years and the Devaluation of Life with a Disability'' that condemned the usage of QALYs and they have continued to write additional letters to Congress urging us to ban their use.

Additionally, we have heard from nearly 200 advocacy groups spanning the political spectrum who are calling on Congress to prohibit the use of QALYs and other discriminatory measures.

This legislation, the Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act, bans Federal payers, like Medicaid and VA healthcare, from using QALYs or other discriminatory measures that devalue the lives of people with disabilities and chronic or rare diseases, and it does it by simply applying the current ban on QALYs and other similar measures that exist in Medicare today to all Federal payers.

In passing this bill, it will mean that healthcare bureaucracies can no longer discriminate against the weakest and most vulnerable patients, and it will help ensure that people can get the healthcare that they need and that their doctors think is best.

This would be a big deal.

Medicaid is the largest payer for people with disabilities, and we are letting it use measures that discriminate against the very people it was designed to support.

That is nothing to say of the millions of injured or disabled veterans who rely on the VA for their healthcare, which is also allowed to use these types of measures.

However, let me be clear in this: H.R. 485 does not prohibit healthcare programs from rewarding value or finding other ways to hold down costs.

For example, if a treatment does not work or shouldn't be covered or it is more appropriate to start with other more cost-effective treatments first, nothing in this bill will preclude the Federal payers from continuing to make these kinds of coverage decisions.

In fact, the National Council on Disability has already identified alternative ways to measure value that do not devalue the life of someone with a disability or chronic illness.

Because of Cole, I have spent my time in Congress as an ability advocate, encouraging people to focus on every individual's God-given talent and potential.

Millions of Americans like Cole need their voices to be heard. Whenever I meet someone with a disability or chronic illness, or with their family, I hear the same thing over and over: They want the same chances to succeed in life as everyone else.

You know what? We are all just one car accident or one diagnosis away from having a disability ourselves.

I hope that banning the use of discriminatory measures by Federal payers against people with disabilities and chronic illness and affirming every person's life has value is something that we can agree on. Let's give people with disabilities, rare diseases, or chronic diseases hope.

Mr. Chairman, I urge support of this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

The reasons that the ranking member says to oppose the bill, they do not match what the bill actually says.

Current law already prohibits the use of QALYs and other similar measures in Medicare. Current law reads: ``The Secretary shall not utilize such an adjusted life year or (such a similar measure) as a threshold to determine coverage. . . . ''

I am not sure why all of a sudden we have this concern about other measures. All the bill would do is apply current Medicare law to other Federal payers, and if people are insistent that other measures are not discriminatory, then they should have no problem in using them.

I will also point out to anyone who may be listening, according to CBO's cost estimate: ``CBO does not expect that enacting H.R. 485 would affect the prices that result from negotiations between the Secretary and drug manufacturers.''

I don't support this capping or government price fixing of drugs. I don't support it. I would like to see us work together to reduce the cost of drugs, but this bill, according to CBO, does not expect that H.R. 485 would affect the prices that result from negotiations between the Secretary and drug manufacturers.

Don't get distracted from the underlying bill here.

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie).

Mr. Chairman, this bill should be bipartisan. This legislation before us today takes the language that the Democrats put into the Affordable Care Act, and again I will quote it: ``The Secretary shall not utilize such an adjusted life year (or such a similar measure) as a threshold to determine coverage. . . .'' We take that language from Medicare inserted by the Democrats in the Affordable Care Act, and we apply it to all Federal payers. It should be bipartisan.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).

Mr. Chairman, if this legislation harms people who we are intending to help, why do we have support letters from nearly 200 disability patient advocate groups across the political spectrum? Down Syndrome Society, Autism Speaks, Disability Law Center, and ARC all support this bill.

If the Democrats want to suggest that they are committed to lowering the cost of prescription drugs and that the reason to oppose this bill is because it is going to increase costs, the only reason this bill would increase costs is if you are denying care to people who have disabilities. That is the only reason. You are discriminating against people. That is the only reason this bill would cost any money.

CBO already estimates that this bill is going to cost $1.1 billion. Why is that? Why would this legislation cost $1.1 billion? Because CBO is forecasting that there are going to be discriminatory measures used against individuals, and we are going to ban that. We are going to make sure that doesn't happen.

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce).

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence).

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Harshbarger).

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Miller-Meeks)

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Cammack).

Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining on each side.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio, (Mr. Wenstrup).

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).

Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota.

Mr. Chairman, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

We have worked together on important legislation to lower costs, provide more transparency, bipartisan legislation from the Committee on Energy and Commerce. I am quite disappointed today that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have refused to come to the table on this one.

We just heard that there is no justification for this legislation. The ranking member actually said it is dangerous. Let me just point out again, nearly 200 advocacy groups, spanning the political spectrum, are calling on Congress to prohibit the use of QALYs and other discriminatory measures, perhaps because they see the VA's website today. Go to the VA's website and you will read, to date, the quality- adjusted life year, QALY, is the preferred metric for estimating health effect.

We have also heard that this bill is a big giveaway, a blank check, to pharma. Republicans agree, we must lower the cost of prescription drugs, and we have worked on it. Discriminatory action, discriminatory metrics against people with disabilities and chronic illnesses is not the way to do it.

We have heard today that the offset is a partisan pill. Let me just highlight that Senator Sanders is using the prevention fund. Senator Sanders is proposing right now to use the prevention fund to offset increased funding for community health centers. The Senate passed this provision 90-6. It is disappointing that now this is an issue of offsetting costs of no longer discriminating against those with disabilities.

Yes, we have to offset the cost of no longer discriminating against those with disabilities. That is why there is even a CBO score on this bill.

I also note that ``similar measures,'' which seems to be an issue today with my colleagues across the aisle, are current law for Medicare. We are simply expanding that same language in Medicare to other Federal health programs. Why have different standards?

Mr. Chair, this should be the law of the land. This legislation is important. Those with disabilities and the advocacy groups are asking for Congress to take action. We have addressed the issues in the underlying bill.

Mr. Chair, I urge support. I hope today that we can come together, Republicans and Democrats, as Americans, to protect the healthcare and the access to healthcare for every individual with disabilities and chronic illnesses. As I mentioned, we are all just one car accident or diagnosis away from being that person. Vote ``yes.''

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

Ms. McCollum. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 485, the so- called Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act.

The truth is this bill fails to protect health care for all patients. Instead, this bill undermines the Affordable Care Act by stripping funds from the Prevention and Public Health Fund, our nation's first mandatory funding system dedicated to improving our nation's public health system and lowering public health care costs. This critical funding has helped the Centers for Disease Control reduce the leading causes of death and disability nationwide and support early detection of and response to public health threats.

This legislation is a step in the wrong direction. If passed, this bill would make it more difficult to improve the affordability of prescription drugs. House Republicans claim that this bill will help prevent discriminatory policies because it prohibits Medicaid, Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, Medicare Part D Plans (PDPs), the VA, and the Defense Health Agency from using Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs). The truth is federal law already prohibits Medicare from using QALYs in its coverage determinations, and state Medicare plans are required by law to cover all drugs.

If House Republicans were serious about ensuring all Americans have access to affordable, comprehensive health care treatments, they would have supported clarifying amendments to this bill that would ban discriminatory practices. Instead, we are presented with another bill that does not address the problem and does not put the interests of patients and taxpayers first.

Mr. Speaker, I missed votes this evening. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 20 and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 21.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Glenn Johnson for his 20 years of service as Mayor of Pullman and his dedication to the highest standards of servant leadership.

Glenn has been a trusted member of the Pullman community for more than four decades. In 1979, he left behind a successful career in Sacramento, Calif. to become a professor at Washington State University's Edward R. Murrow College of Communications. For thirty- five years, he taught courses in communications and television news, always pushing his students to reach their full potential.

Glenn quickly became beloved on campus, not only by his students. but by all of Cougar Nation for the spirit, talent, and tradition he embodied as ``The Voice of the Cougs.'' Even before Martin Stadium put in a quality set of loudspeakers, Glenn led the crowd in a call-and- response that has become legendary in Cougar football. To this day, every time Glenn calls out ``And that's another . . .,'' the crowd enthusiastically responds with, ``Cougar first down!''

In 2004, Glenn began his first term as Mayor of Pullman. Over the next twenty years and five terms, he earned the trust of Pullman residents, city officials, and business leaders alike through dedicated leadership and a commitment to making Pullman a special place to call home. He spearheaded investments and initiatives like Project Downtown, which continues to revamp the city center and inspire incredible growth.

Mayor Johnson has also led with tremendous vision about the future of the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport. I have been blessed to work with him on various projects over the years to remodel the airport's infrastructure, the services it provides, and create the space for new economic opportunities across the region. Glenn's vision and determination were the primary reasons why the airport added a new runway back in 2019 and have been the driving force behind the brand new terminal that is set to open later this year. His leadership has been absolutely essential to the airport's success and ensuring it will continue to connect the Palouse and residents all across Eastern Washington with the rest of the world for decades to come.

Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for Glenn's committed service to the Pullman community. He has been a fierce advocate for the city, and as he enters his well-deserved retirement, I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking him for his years of devoted service and wishing him well in this next chapter.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Nadine Woodward and thank her for both her dedication and service as the 45th Mayor of Spokane.

Nadine has been a trusted member of our Spokane community since 1990, when she first arrived after earning her degree from the University of Portland. She began her career--and quickly became a household name-- working for two of our region's television news stations, KREM and

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1042) to prohibit the importation into the United States of unirradiated low-enriched uranium that is produced in the Russian Federation, 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 insert extraneous material into the Record on the bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 1042, the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act, which I introduced with Mr. Latta.

American leadership in nuclear energy and nuclear technology is critical to our economic and national security. One of the most urgent security threats America faces right now is our dangerous reliance on Russia's supply of nuclear fuels for our nuclear fleet. This threat has intensified as a result of the war in Ukraine.

American nuclear fuel infrastructure has been stunted by policies that Russia has exploited by flooding the U.S. market with this cheaper fuel. Today that accounts for more than 20 percent of our nuclear fuels for American reactors.

Last year alone, our industry paid over $800 million to Russia's state-owned nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom and its fuel subsidiaries. That number could be even higher this year, and these resources are no doubt going towards funding Putin's war efforts in Ukraine.

Further, we have seen how Putin has weaponized Europe's reliance on Russian natural gas. There is no reason to believe that Russia wouldn't do the same with our nuclear fuel supply if Putin saw an opportunity.

Rosatom has also supported China's nuclear energy ambitions. The risks of continuing this dependence on Russia for our nuclear fuel are simply too great. It is weakening America's nuclear fuel infrastructure, which has significantly declined because of the reliance on these cheap fuels.

That is why I am leading H.R. 1042.

Our bill bans fuel imports from Russia and sends a strong signal to the market that will help ensure America's nuclear leadership and fuel infrastructure. Our legislation also provides waivers to cover any supply gaps leading up to 2028, at which point no more Russian fuel will be allowed to be imported into the U.S.

This bill both protects any short-term needs of the industry and provides the long-term certainty necessary to build out American capacity, as well as European capacity that serves our markets.

H.R. 1042 has bipartisan support from the Committee on Energy and Commerce. It also has support from the nuclear industry, the nuclear fuels industry, and policy advocates.

Additionally, the Biden administration has also said that a ban on Russian fuels is necessary to advance our domestic fuel build-out, including the fuels for advanced reactors.

Across Europe, utility providers are starting to transition away from Russian fuels, announce new capacity, and invest in plant projects. We are seeing important fuel processes returning online in the United States.

For example, the uranium conversion facility in Metropolis, Illinois, has restarted operations for the first time in years. That facility alone could meet the domestic uranium conversion needs within 2 years, but only if they have assurances that cheap Russian fuel won't undercut their business.

The reality is, no facility owner is going to be able to invest to expand production capacity without the certainty of long-term contracts for their products. Those long-term contracts from fuel customers, the utility companies, will not be written if there remains uncertainty about Russian fuel continuing to flow into the United States, and the risk that Russia will once again be able to flood the market with cheaper products.

H.R. 1042 provides those assurances to industry.

American leadership in nuclear energy and nuclear technology is critical to our economic, energy, and national security, and a strong domestic nuclear fuel system, from mining to enrichment, is vital to our leadership.

In the U.S. alone, nuclear energy provides nearly 20 percent of our electricity generation, all of which is emissions free.

Nuclear plants operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, making them one of the most reliable, zero-carbon, baseload energy resources.

H.R. 1042 will protect the short-term needs of the nuclear industry and provide the long-term certainty necessary to encourage investment and secure a durable domestic supply of fuel.

I urge my colleagues to support the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act to restore our industry and take down Russia's nuclear fuel empire.

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

Mr. Speaker, I, too, urge support for this bill. I am pleased we have been able to come together to move this legislation forward, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5378) to promote price transparency in the health care sector, 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 in the Record on the bill.

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

I rise in support of the Lower Cost, More Transparency Act. We all know that healthcare is too expensive, and the system is far too complicated. In the Committee on Energy and Commerce, we have heard countless stories about real patients who were victims of an opaque system and were on the hook for staggering amounts of money for seeing a doctor, going to a hospital, or getting medicine.

We heard about a patient who tried to shop for her care and was billed thousands of dollars more than what she was quoted. We heard about a patient who was overcharged $11,000 by a hospital for services she didn't receive. We heard moving testimony from cancer patient advocates about policies we can enact right now to lower their drug costs.

The Lower Costs, More Transparency Act includes these and other policies that would directly help all these patients. It lowers costs for Americans through increased healthcare price transparency. It ensures that senior citizens on Medicare never pay more for a drug because of where it is administered, and it makes drug prices transparent to help patients and employers

get the best deals possible on medicines.

Over 90 percent of Americans support increased price transparency in healthcare. By passing this bill, we will be delivering results people are counting on. Further, CBO confirms that the bill would save taxpayers more than $700 million over the next decade.

I thank Chairman Jason Smith, Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, and Ranking Member Frank Pallone for their leadership. I thank Majority Leader Steve Scalise for working with us to bring this bill to the floor today.

Also, a special thank you to Ranking Member Pallone's team, notably Tiffany Guarascio, Waverly Gordon, Una Lee, and Saha Khaterzai for working with us to find this bipartisan agreement.

Finally, I thank my own staff, especially Grace Graham, Corey Ensslin, and Kristin Flukey for their tireless efforts that will make a meaningful difference for patients all across this Nation.

In sum, this bill is a legislative opportunity, bipartisan, regular order, and fully paid for. It advances foundational healthcare reforms for patients, lowers healthcare costs, and reduces the deficit.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to engage in a colloquy with Ranking Member Pallone.

This bill codifies and strengthens healthcare price transparency requirements. Congress asserting itself to declare price transparency the law of the land is critical, but Congress can't account for every specificity and eventuality that is needed to ensure price transparency policies established by the Trump and Biden administrations are set in stone. We have to allow implementing agencies discretion to update regulations that reflect changes in terminology and technology over time.

For example, with respect to health insurance price transparency, it is the intent of this House that this law shall be implemented to ensure that health plans report the prices that they have negotiated with the hospitals, other providers, and drug manufacturers to allow patients and employers purchasing coverage to use these data to drive down healthcare prices through open competition.

Under existing regulations, health plans and insurers must disclose very specific price information for all

healthcare items and services. This bill codifies the authority holding up those regulations to ensure that such robust data continues to be disclosed. These data include all billing codes and modifiers, using industry-standard, government-recognized, commonly used code sets used by all medical providers to define specific healthcare items and services. We ensure the data are accurate by requiring providers' ID codes, place of service codes, and health plan identifiers assigned to the group health plan and insurer, all critical information that makes price disclosures comparable across different health plans.

It is our intent that the requirements for transparency in coverage should be as comprehensive as possible, without limitations. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), the ranking member for the purpose of a colloquy.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Pallone for his ongoing leadership, and I agree it is critical that the legislation meets our intent when it comes to ensuring that the PBMs must be transparent with multiemployer, public sector, and retiree-only health plans along with all other employer health plans. I do concur that we will address this issue in negotiations with the Senate, and I look forward to working to make sure this bill becomes law.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx), the chairwoman of the Education and the Workforce Committee. I appreciate her partnership on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie), the chairman of the Health Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), a subcommittee chair.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Bucshon), the vice chair of the Health Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce).

Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to urge support for this major bipartisan legislation. It is very important healthcare legislation. We are concerned about consolidation within healthcare and the rising costs within healthcare.

The first way we are going to address that is by demanding transparency. We have to know what the prices actually are so that we can empower patients and we can get some more competition within our healthcare system.

I thank everyone who has worked together. This was a priority we laid out at the very beginning of this Congress. It has been months' worth of work.

A big thank you, again, to the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, as well as the other committees, the chairmanship of Virginia Foxx and the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Jason Smith, for working together. We have all contributed, and we have a better product because of it.

I definitely urge support by my colleagues both Republicans and Democrats. This is one that we need to get on the President's desk with a big vote today.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the SUPPORT Act.

This bill is about offering hope to those in despair: those battling substance use disorder, their families and loved ones, and the healthcare workers and law enforcement officers who need continued support to help save lives.

Since 2020, overdose deaths have surged to more than 100,000 lives lost per year. Today, illicit fentanyl poisonings are now the number one cause of death among adults aged 18 to 49, and my home State of Washington has seen the greatest increase in drug overdose and poisoning deaths nationwide in the past year.

The House took a critical step to help get illicit fentanyl off our streets by passing the HALT Fentanyl Act earlier this year. Now we are moving forward with this legislation to increase support for individuals suffering from substance use disorder and to help make sure they receive the treatment they need.

H.R. 4531, the Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act modifies and reauthorizes key programs that expand access to substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery.

Specifically, this bill increases treatment options for intensive inpatient care, allows law enforcement to crack down on illicit xylazine distribution, and continues support for at-risk youth, among many other important provisions.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Kristin Flukey and Seth Gold from the Energy and Commerce Committee staff for their dedicated work on this legislation. I am hopeful that by reauthorizing programs with proven success and increasing access to treatment, we can address the troubling trend in drug-related deaths, saving lives and restoring hope and healing to those who need it.