Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, Friday's jobs report was discouraging: 347,000 people stopped looking for work. One commentator said people ``simply gave up.''

This has been the worst recovery since the Great Depression. The President's policies, massive spending, a destructive health care law, a promise to bankrupt the coal industry, and a refusal to build Keystone XL have not produced jobs. They have, however, helped Wall Street and Washington elites. This is not fair.

One of my bosses in Pennsylvania 12, Laurie, emailed about her husband, who lost his job as a result of the war on coal. He took care of his family with that job.

She writes:

Many other industries besides the miner are affected. It

trickles down to the truck driver, the blasting companies,

and even down to our restaurants and retail stores.

To help families like Laurie's, this House has passed dozens of bills to promote job growth. Unfortunately, the Senate has failed to act. This must change so that more people do not simply give up.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the accomplishments of Darren Miller of Murrysville, Pennsylvania.

On August 29, 2013, Darren became the first American man and only the fourth person in history to complete the seven grueling open-water swims known as the Ocean's Seven challenge. He spent over seventy-five hours braving frigid waters, treacherous weather conditions, and dangerous wildlife while swimming across bodies of water including the English Channel, the North Channel between Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the Strait of Gibraltar. Darren is the only person to ever complete all of the swims on the first attempt.

A graduate of Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville and Pennsylvania State University, Darren is a product of the first-class educational institutions in our Commonwealth. Darren used our beautiful lakes and rivers in Western Pennsylvania to train for his

historic feat, a reminder that the tools for success are within reach.

Darren also swims to benefit and raise awareness for the Forever Fund, an organization he cofounded, to help families pay for the costs of treatment in the infant cardiothoracic unit at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. He has raised more than $65,000 to date.

Darren named the Forever Fund in remembrance of his grandmother. ``She taught me that success has nothing to do with your pocketbook, but by how you treat someone who can do you absolutely no good,'' he recently said. Darren's personal motto is ``Every breath a gift,'' meant to inspire today's youth to overcome personal challenges and persevere in accomplishing one's personal goals.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to honor Darren Miller's outstanding athletic achievements and service to our community and his fellow man.

Mr. Speaker, Medicare Advantage provides quality coverage to many seniors in western Pennsylvania. It is popular because it provides more options and increased care coordination.

Until 2011, seniors were able to take advantage of an annual open enrollment period from January through March and make adjustments if the plan they chose did not meet their needs. Unfortunately, the Affordable Care Act eliminated this option.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that one of the Nation's largest Medicare Advantage providers had dropped thousands of doctors from its network. As a result, seniors may be unsure about whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors when the current open enrollment period ends this Saturday.

This uncertainty underscores the importance of the Medicare Beneficiary Preservation of Choice Act, H.R. 2453, which Congressman Kurt Schrader and I introduced earlier this year. This bill would restore seniors' freedom to try their plans and make changes.

I thank my 13 Republican and Democrat colleagues for joining me in advocating for our seniors, and I encourage Members on both sides of the aisle to support this commonsense and bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, November 22, we mark the 50th anniversary of one of the saddest days in American history.

This anniversary affords us the opportunity to remember President John F. Kennedy, who also served in this House, and to reflect on his idealism and spirit of public service that he inspired in the American people.

President Kennedy encouraged all Americans to dream big dreams, like putting a man on the Moon by the end of that decade. He reminded us that this country is capable of great feats when the American people come together with a defined mission.

As President Kennedy said in 1961:

It will not be one man going to the Moon; it will be an

entire Nation. For all of us must work to put him there.

President Kennedy's goal was achieved on July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong was the first person to step on the Moon.

It is good to remember how President Kennedy inspired a Nation. The torch of freedom President Kennedy described in his inaugural speech has now been passed to yet another generation. Let this generation celebrate President Kennedy's sense of idealism and public service every day.

Mr. Speaker, over 200,000 Pennsylvanians have been notified that they will lose their plans because of President Obama's health care law. What these numbers don't tell you are the stories of hardworking western Pennsylvanians like Don and Karen from Johnstown.

Don is a Marine Corps veteran and former coal miner. He and Karen run a ministry that helps people in developing countries. Don recently let me know that he will lose his plan. He said:

I specifically bought a health plan that met my needs. I

liked my plan very much and it was something I could afford.

When Don and Karen were able to get onto the Web site, the plan he was offered had a deductible of more than $6,000. In Don's words, this is ``ridiculous and unaffordable.''

Unfortunately, their story is not unique. We need health care reform that works for Don and Karen and the rest of the American people. The Empowering Patients First Act and the American Health Care Reform Act provide a good place to start and a better way on health care reform.

Mr. Speaker, over the past few months, I have come to the House floor to sound the alarm regarding the emptiness of the promises the President made when he sold his health care law, promises such as: if you like your health care plan, you can keep it, and that premiums would drop by $2,500. Those promises, Mr. Speaker, are now on the ash heap of history.

Here is what I am hearing from my district: a woman from Allegheny County recently showed me the letter she got from her insurance company. The letter begins, ``This is to inform you that we will discontinue your health care plan on December 31, 2013.''

A father in the north hills of Pittsburgh tells me his family's coverage is also being terminated next year.

Another woman from the north hills wrote to tell me that she gets insurance through her employer, a small business, but that her share of the premiums are tripling.

When a product comes with a promise that is broken, you take it back and look for a new product. The Empowering Patients First Act and the American Health Care Reform Act are just some examples of possible new health care reform products that we can look at. There are solutions that empower consumers and not Washington elites, and they are a good place to start.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2189. This legislation is an important step forward in addressing and resolving the VA's disability claims backlog.

We owe our veterans a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. Unfortunately, veterans in western Pennsylvania and around the Nation are forced to endure excessive wait times for their disability claims to be processed. That is unacceptable, and our veterans deserve better.

Finding ways to better serve our veterans is one of my top priorities in Congress. The legislation we are considering today increases reporting and oversight, improves coordination between the VA and other Federal agencies, provides more training for VA claims processors, and establishes a task force to look for other ways to address the backlog. Together these actions will bring transparency and accountability to the VA all in an effort to improve customer service to our veterans and their families.

I thank House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, Ranking Member Michaud, and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy for their leadership; and I look forward to continuing to work with them to find ways to better serve our veterans.

I thank the gentlelady for organizing this talk.

Pennsylvania's 12th District in western Pennsylvania stretches from Beaver to Johnstown and to the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh.

Last week we had a visit from HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who was in town to tout the benefits of the health care law. She also attempted to help enroll some western Pennsylvanians in the exchanges.

According to press reports, however, those who showed up were not able to enroll, or even access the Web site. Apparently, glitches were to blame.

As reported in yesterday's New York Times, however, one industry source said, ``These are not glitches. The extent of the problems is pretty enormous. It's awful.'' These problems took more than 2 years to build, and cost the American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The health care law's troubles aren't limited, however, to the Web site issues. Many western Pennsylvanians have reached out to me to share stories about how they are seeing their hours

reduced, or losing their jobs. Other western Pennsylvanians are seeing their health care premiums go up, or losing coverage altogether.

A woman recently got in touch with me and told me that her family recently received a letter from their insurance company, and they will lose the health insurance they have had for more than 25 years on December 31. The alternatives they have been able to find will cost them three times what they pay today.

Mr. Speaker, it is a time for solutions. We do have a new solution that we are proposing, The American Health Care Reform Act, which will actually lower costs, and I encourage our colleagues across the aisle and in our conference to take a look at that.

I thank the gentlelady for the time.

Mr. Speaker, this morning, I rise in strong support of the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act.

Federal workers from western Pennsylvania have reached out to my office. They are concerned about the impact of this shutdown on their families' budgets. These workers serve their fellow citizens. We recognize and thank them for that service.

This bill will retroactively pay Federal employees furloughed during the government shutdown. Federal workers in western Pennsylvania and around the Nation should not be punished for the Senate's refusal to come to the table and negotiate an end to the shutdown.

I urge my Republican and Democrat colleagues to pass this bill.

Mr. Speaker, it's day three of Senator Reid's government shutdown. The American people are frustrated, western Pennsylvanians are frustrated, and I am frustrated.

Make no mistake: there is a choice here. The House's solution embraces fairness for all. The Senate's spending bill protects special deals for Washington, D.C.

The House passed four reasonable compromises to keep the government open. Our latest solution ends the special deal that President Obama cut for Senators and Representatives. It also gives individuals and families the same break from the health care law that President Obama gave to Big Business.

Senator Reid could reopen the government today. Unfortunately, he refuses to compromise. In fact, he said yesterday that he is ``locked in tight.'' Senator Reid is ``locked in tight'' on those special breaks for Big Business, Senators, and Representatives. This is an outrage.

Mr. Speaker, as I answer the phones in my office, I hear from constituents who tell me that there should be no special deals; there should be fairness for all. The American people deserve better from their Senators. It is time for the Senate to end special deals, embrace fairness for all, and reopen this government.

Mr. Speaker, 10 months ago, I came to Washington, D.C., as the new employee of 705,000 people in western Pennsylvania.

Before I came to Washington, I heard about inside deals that happened in this town. I saw some of these deals when President Obama cut special breaks for Big Business and Senators and Representatives. What the President left out was a break for the American people.

It's just not fair. It's an outrage.

Western Pennsylvanians are right frustrated with Washington, D.C. It seems that Harry Reid and the Senate are intent on keeping the government shut down so they can protect the special breaks they cut for themselves and for their friends and allies.

Mr. Speaker, I'm here to deliver a message from my constituents to the Senate: no special deals. If Big Business and President Obama's friends get a break from the health care law, then so should individuals and families in western Pennsylvania and around the Nation.

It's time for the Senate to embrace fairness for all. It's time to reopen the government.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Research for Lifesaving Cures Act.

To take a minute, you wonder why we're here right now. It's because the NIH has been closed. Why is it closed? We passed a bill just the other night to keep the NIH open and to hold government open, but we wanted to stop the special treatment that Members of Congress were getting.

As a cancer survivor and someone who has benefited from work by doctors who have worked at the National Cancer Institute at NIH, it's important that we continue to fund NIH. And I rise in strong support of this legislation.

It's time to end Senator Reid's government shutdown, which threatens not only research at the NIH, but work across the government. It's very simple to do it. Just stop the special treatment for Members of Congress, and stop the special treatment for the friends of the administration.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my constituents' frustration with Washington, D.C. After a long career in the private sector, I share their frustration. I have negotiated many contracts where I used to work. To negotiate a contract, you need two parties to come to the table.

Last night, the House sent a reasonable compromise to the Senate that

subjects the rulers in Washington, D.C., to the effects of the health care law like the rest of the American people, and provides the American people with the same deal that President Obama gave big businesses and his friends. Members of Congress should not get a special deal when the American people do not.

Senator Reid's refusal to talk, negotiate, compromise, and work with the House resulted in the shutdown of the Federal Government. The refusal to negotiate in order to protect congressional perks is indefensible.

The American people expect and deserve better. The Senate must now come to the table.

Mr. Speaker, sometimes I wonder if we are discussing the same bill.

This is a bill that is to keep the government open. I looked at the Affordable Care Act. The President made a guarantee, a simple guarantee: If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.

When I go to a store and I buy a product and it comes with a guarantee and it doesn't work, you take it back; you get your money back; and you look for a new product. People are losing their health care plans.

Now is the time to take some time for what would be bipartisan health care reform, not a bill that was rammed through on a party-line vote so that we could pass it to find out what was in it. The American people are finding out what's in it. It's time for a new product, and it's time for bipartisan health care reform.

I ask for the folks across the aisle to come together, and let's do something that empowers the American people and not the elites at HHS here in Washington, D.C.

I thank the gentlelady from Minnesota for yielding and organizing this important discussion.

I have been hearing a lot from the folks back home. Robert from the North Hills of Pittsburgh wrote to us:

When Congress debated the health care law under original

objective of health care reform, we thought that meant

control and reduction of health care costs. We were wrong.

Stephanie from the North Hills said:

Add us to the statistics of those who can't keep our

insurance plans or doctors. Our family is being kicked off

our health care plan and is being forced into the exchanges.

Mark from Somerset County said:

Defunding ObamaCare is a great first step. But the next

step is total repeal, and I urge

you to work toward that goal at every opportunity.

His premiums are going up 43 percent.

Francis from Beaver County:

My hours were reduced to 29 per week. And now I've been

informed by my employer that I can't participate in the

corporate health insurance plan because ObamaCare prohibits

it.

Paul from Cambria County works in an auto parts store. His annual costs are going up 16 percent.

These problems weren't supposed to happen. The President guaranteed that if you like your health care plan, you can keep it. You know, when you buy a product with a guarantee that doesn't work, you take it back to the store and you get a refund.

The good news is there's a new product that we can shop for. Last week, we introduced the American Health Care Reform Act. It's the new product. This proposal would lower health care costs by allowing Americans to purchase coverage across State lines and enabling small businesses to pool together to increase their buying power. It provides tax fairness for people who purchase their own insurance and provides the same tax benefit as those who get insurance through their employer. It provides tax credits for people who purchase their own insurance.

And, importantly, and if there's one thing that you have to remember, unlike ObamaCare, which penalizes you with taxes, it gives you a tax benefit. You are rewarded if you buy insurance, not penalized.

Also, importantly, the American Health Care Reform Act provides significant funding for State-based high-risk pools, a place where individuals with preexisting conditions can obtain health coverage when doing so would otherwise have been unaffordable. And it does so without increasing costs on those who currently have insurance.

It is time for a new beginning. It's time for bipartisan health care reform and for that discussion to begin. It's time to bring Republicans and Democrats together for real solutions.

As President Kennedy once said:

Let's not seek the Republican answer. Let's not seek the

Democrat answer. But let's seek the right answer.

We know that ObamaCare is the wrong answer.