Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I was absent from the House floor during rollcall votes 206-211. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall Nos. 206, 208, and 210; I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall Nos. 207, 209, and 211.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be withdrawn as a cosponsor of H.R. 3936.

Madam Speaker, I rise with a heavy heart to honor the unexpected and tragic passing of an honorable young woman dedicated to her country.

Midshipman Marisa LeeAnn Sanchez was a bright and talented student at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. A native Hoosier, Marisa was a gifted high school athlete in volleyball, tennis, swimming, and basketball. Marisa also volunteered her time as a member of Student Council and the Athletic Council and Business Professionals of America.

Marisa excelled academically, graduating 10th out of her class of over 300 students. In 2009, I nominated Marisa to the Merchant Marine Academy, and I was pleased when the Academy accepted her. It was with grave sadness that I learned of her recent passing.

The tragedy of losing such a young and promising life is never easy. I give my most sincere condolences to Marisa's family: father, Jeffery McClane; mother, Lisa Robinson Sanchez; stepfather, Gilberto ``Gil'' Sanchez; stepmother, Heather McClane; three brothers, Joshua Caleb McClane, Milo Sheldon Sanchez, and Christopher Allan Anderson; two sisters, Morgan Anne Sanchez and Kate Argabright; paternal grandparents, Floyd and Jenny McClane; maternal grandparents, Randall and Gloria Robinson; paternal grandmother, Maria Sanchez; great- grandmother, Eva Sellars; and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. May they find comfort in the Old Book which tells us that ``Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.''

I thank the distinguished gentlelady for yielding and for her outstanding leadership on behalf of taxpayers.

I rise in opposition to the rule, to follow ordinary protocol, but it's impossible to come to the floor today and not talk about what hundreds of millions of Americans are thinking about today, some of whom will be driving late to the post office, heavy laden with an envelope that they hope they got right, to file their taxes. It is tax day in America, April 15; and it is a tough, tough day for working families, small businesses, and family farms.

You know, Will Rogers said famously the only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse when Congress is in session. And that has probably never been as true in my 10 years here on Capitol Hill as it has been in the last year and a half under this administration and this majority in Congress.

Now, we heard a lot yesterday here on the floor of the Congress about tax cuts that have been passed into law. I rise this morning, Mr. Speaker, to really set the record straight because the American people have a choice to make this fall, and they deserve to know the facts.

Yesterday, I enjoyed a number of speakers from the Democrat majority who came down boasting of having cut taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars. I think I even heard one speaker say that this Congress had cut taxes more than any Congress in American history. That one elicited a chuckle yesterday, and I can't help responding the same today. Here are the facts:

First and foremost, this Congress has voted and this President has signed into law $670 billion in tax increases in the last year and a half, $670 billion. And the list includes 14 tax hikes signed into law, totaling $316 billion on middle class families in direct violation of the pledge that President Obama made not to raise taxes on individuals that make less than $200,000 a year or families filing jointly that make less than $250,000 a year. It really is astonishing. And thanks to the great work of the Committee on Ways and Means, the Republican minority there led by the distinguished gentleman from Michigan, David Camp, people can go to the Web site, they can go to gop.gov, they can go to the Web site of the Ways and Means Committee and look at this full list.

Under the health care bill, Public Law 111-148, new taxes on individuals who don't purchase government-approved health insurance, it's $17 billion over 10. A new tax on employers who fail to fully comply with government insurance mandates, $52 billion in tax increases. A new 40 percent excise tax on certain high-cost health plans, that's $32 billion in tax increases over 10, and on and on and on the list goes. But that's not where it ends.

Under SCHIP, Public Law 113-3, tobacco tax increase and expanded enforcement authority, $65.515 billion in tax increases over 10. So- called stimulus bill repealed guidance allowing certain taxpayers to claim losses of an acquired corporation, that's a $6.9 billion tax increase. And on the list goes. It is $670.341 billion and counting. And I say again, not only has this Congress increased taxes by $670 billion since President Obama took office, but the list includes 14 tax increases totaling over $316 billion on middle class families.

It is truly astonishing to think that arriving on the scene during the worst economy in 25 years that the response of this administration and this Congress has been to take what in my judgment was excessive spending under Republican control and put it on steroids and pay for it with hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes, and of course enacting more government.

Now, taking directly on the assertion of my Democrat colleagues, in the time I have remaining, the suggestion that Democrats have passed the largest tax cuts in history, you know, the American people have got to be asking, Are they kidding? But no, they're not. In fact, the President, in remarks while signing the government takeover of health care with $570 billion in tax increases in it, actually said, ``And when this exchange is up and running, millions of people will get tax breaks to help them afford coverage, which represents the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history.''

Now, I was on a television show right after the distinguished Senator from Illinois, Senator Dick Durbin, where he made the same assertion. And even PolitiFact, an independent and analytical organization online, took a look at what Senator Durbin said, suggesting that Obama Care was the largest middle class tax cut in history, and they gave it a false the next day.

Here are the facts, and here is where the stretch comes from: it is the assertion, presumably, by Democrats that the $466 billion in subsidies paid directly to insurance companies in the health care takeover represents tax cuts. Well, if I can just say for the record from my heart, paying insurance companies isn't a tax cut to me, okay. I mean, I was raised south of Highway 40, but I'm trying to keep--if this Congress ever wants to get around to actually cutting my taxes, writing checks to insurance companies that you're paying for with higher taxes, that's not a tax cut to me. A tax cut to me is reduce my taxes so I can keep more of my hard-earned money.

There are other nickel and dime things in the stimulus bill, the refundable tax payments they're pointing to,

but the biggest chunk of their claim of having cut taxes is $466 billion in subsidies paid directly to insurance companies in the health care takeover. I think that's why PolitiFact referred to Senator Durbin's assertion as false as an independent analysis and why independent observers have also rejected that.

Look, it's a serious day in the life of the Nation. The truth is the American people are hurting. This government is running about a $1.3 trillion deficit. We ought to get serious about fiscal discipline in Washington, D.C. and we ought to get real about giving the American people across-the-board tax relief. Only cutting taxes across the board--like John F. Kennedy did, like Ronald Reagan did, like George W. Bush did after the towers fell--only by cutting taxes across the board for working families, small businesses and family farms can we hope to ignite the entrepreneurial energy of this country to lift Americans and to create jobs once again.

I appreciate the time the gentlelady has yielded. It is important to set the record straight. The American people deserve to know on tax day that this administration and this Congress have increased taxes by $670 billion and counting, because in just a few months after Congress has made its decisions, the American people are going to get a chance to make theirs.

Mr. Speaker, you know, Groucho Marx said years ago, Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?

I just have to wonder, Mr. Speaker, about the American people looking in this morning to hear Democrats talking about having cut taxes more than any other Congress in history.

Let me see if we can do this. They passed a budget with record taxes and spending, will add $1 trillion to the national debt in the next 10 years. They passed a national energy tax called the cap-and-trade that will cause utility rates to go up on small businesses and family farms and businesses across this country by hundreds of billions of dollars. And we just passed ObamaCare with $600 billion of tax increases. So now they're standing in front of the American people on the day before Tax Day, on the day before tens of millions of Americans are going to take to the street and say enough is enough, and expect you to believe that they've been cutting taxes.

Well, I think the American people know better. I think the American people know what we really need here in Washington, DC, is less talk and more action. Let's cut taxes across the board for working families, small businesses, and family farms. Get government under control. Get government out of the way. This economy will come roaring back.

I rise today to begrudgingly support this resolution and offer my congratulations to Duke, Coach K, and to all of those outstanding players for the NCAA men's national championship game.

Now that being said, I would be remiss, since I will have been married 25 years to a graduate of Butler University, to fail to also rise and commend Coach Brad Stevens and the small but mighty basketball team that America became enamored of in this year's tournament, simply known as ``Them Dogs'' back in Indiana and the Butler University Bulldogs to the rest of the country.

Taking nothing away from Duke, an outstanding university and an outstanding program, or Coach K, I have to tell you I was especially moved when I think it was the day before the basketball game when there was all of the talk about David and Goliath, all the talk of underdogs, and Coach K, being the class act that he is, went before the national press and said, Enough of this talk about underdogs. Butler is a really good basketball team. And anyone who tuned in that night--and my ears are still ringing from Mrs. Pence's enthusiasm that night--saw that the case was proved.

Ultimately, Duke carried the day, but with the news that coach Brad Stevens has signed a long-term contract to stay in Indiana--and I think we're only losing one player next year--I say to my distinguished colleagues, representing and speaking on behalf of Duke, See you next year. Congratulations.

Mr. Speaker, the American people don't want a government takeover of health care. The policy, the backroom deals, and the arrogance have angered millions. But that is no excuse for bigotry, threats, or acts of vandalism, and I condemn such things in the strongest possible terms. People who engage in such acts undermine our cause and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

But I also rise to condemn the efforts to smear millions of law- abiding Americans who oppose Obamacare and their principled opposition with these criminal acts. The American people have every right to oppose this government takeover of health care without being lumped in with bigots and vandals by liberals in Congress and in the mainstream press.

I say to my countrymen, end the threats, end the vandalism, and let's also end the smears of law-abiding citizens exercising their First Amendment right to speech and peaceable assembly.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Republican Conference, I send to the desk a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Well, here we go again. Last Sunday, defying the will of a majority of the American people, House Democrats rammed their health care bill through the Congress chock full of Big Government spending mandates and backroom deals. Now we're being asked to fix the bill by passing some sort of reconciliation measure.

But, Mr. Speaker, the bill before us tonight doesn't fix anything. It doesn't fix the fact that this is a government takeover of health care that's going to mandate that every American buy health insurance whether they want it or need it or not. It doesn't fix the fact that it includes about $600 billion in job-killing tax increases in the worst economy in 30 years. It doesn't fix the fact this bill provides public funding for elective abortion for the first time in American history.

Mr. Speaker, the American people know there's no fix for ObamaCare. We need to repeal this law and start over. If we repeal ObamaCare, we can start over with commonsense solutions at a lower cost and create jobs. If we repeal ObamaCare, we can enact medical malpractice reform, use the savings to cover Americans with preexisting conditions, and promote pro-life protections in the law. If we repeal ObamaCare, we can reform health care in this country without putting our Nation on a pathway towards socialized medicine.

I urge my colleagues in both parties, heed the voice of the American people. Reject this attempt to fix a government takeover of health care. Work with us to repeal and start over on health care reform that reflects the common sense and the common values of the American people.

Madam Speaker, I was absent from the House floor during rollcall votes 141, 144, 145, 146 and 147. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on each rollcall vote.

This is truly a remarkable moment in the life of this Nation. Some say we're making history. I say we're breaking history. We're breaking with our finest traditions--limited government, personal responsibility and the consent of the governed. The first principle of public service in a free society is humility. The arrogance we've witnessed in this institution is breathtaking. Only in Washington, D.C., could you say you're going to spend $1 trillion and save the taxpayers money. Only in Washington, D.C., could you exchange the pro- life protections enshrined in the law for 30 years for a piece of paper, signed by the most pro-abortion President in American history.

Despite overwhelming public opposition today, this administration and this Congress is poised to ignore the majority of the American people. Let me say, Mr. Speaker, this is not the President's House. This is not the Democrats' House. This is the people's House, and the American people don't want a government takeover of health care. Now I know they don't like us to call it that. But when you mandate every American to have government-approved insurance, whether they want it or need it or not, when you create a government-run plan, paid for with job-killing tax increases, and you provide public funding for abortion, that's a government takeover of health care, and the American people know it.

The American people want to face our challenges in health care with more freedom, not more government. And this really is about freedom. The more I think about this debate, the more I think about what Ronald Reagan said in 1964. He said then and now, It's about whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far distant capital can plan our lives better than we can plan them ourselves.

You know, today we gathered in the old House Chamber for a time of worship and prayer. Members of Congress have been doing that for about 200 years. It's a Chamber filled with statues of great Americans: Sam Houston, Lew Wallace, Robert Fulton, William Jennings Bryan, soldiers, heroes and

heroines of freedoms past. As I sat there, I thought of that Bible verse that said, ``We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.'' Standing here tonight, I believe we are as well. And I mean, not just those that are looking in tonight from here and around the country, but those who have gone before. Men and women who did freedom's work in their time who persevered, who made this the greatest Nation on Earth possible.

Now it's our turn. We can reform health care without putting our country on a pathway towards socialized medicine. We can reform health care by giving the American people more choices, not more government. So I say to my Democratic colleagues, stand with those who have gone before and made the hard choices to defend freedom in their time. Stand with us. Stand for freedom, and the American people will stand with you.

This is a remarkable moment in the life of our Nation. After years of runaway Federal spending, deficits, debt, borrowing, bailouts, and takeover, against the opposition of a clear majority of the American people, the Democrats in Congress and in this administration are prepared to ram through a $1 trillion government takeover of health care. And it's just hard to believe.

Ignoring the will of the American people, twisting the rules of the House and the Senate into a pretzel, we're headed for a showdown this weekend.

But I've got to tell you, I like our chances. The reason House Democrats don't have the votes is because the American people know this is a government takeover of health care. Mandating that every American purchase health insurance, whether they want it or need it or not, passing hundreds of billions of dollars in job-killing tax increases, providing public funding for abortion, and setting into motion government-run insurance that will cause millions to lose the insurance they have is a government takeover of health care.

Let's have the debate. A minority in Congress plus the American people equals the majority. America, we can win this fight.

Madam Speaker, I was absent from the House floor during Friday's three rollcall votes and Monday's four rollcall votes. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall numbers 109 and 110, and ``yes'' on rollcall numbers 111 through 115.

Madam Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of Private First Class Jaiciae Pauley, who lost his life on December 11, 2009, while serving this grateful Nation in Iraq.

PFC Pauley joined the United States Army in 2008 and served as a combat medic in HQ Company, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division based in Fort Stewart, Georgia. PFC Pauley was posthumously awarded the Army Commendation Medal and the Army Good Conduct Medal.

Born to Julia Caitlin Ramshaw of Fort Pierce, Florida and Roger Pauley of Muncie, Indiana on April 11, 1980, PFC Pauley leaves behind a legacy of dedication and service that ended far too soon.

Thanks to the bravery and courage of patriots like PFC Pauley and all those who have defended this country by donning the uniform, freedom and democracy continue to exist. As a Nation, we will forever owe a debt of gratitude to PFC Pauley and his family that can never be repaid.

As we mourn Private First Class Jaiciae Pauley's passing, let us remember his mother, Julia Caitlin Ramshaw; father Roger Pauley (wife, Teressa); grandparents, Marshall and Flossie Bias, and Harold Hale in our thoughts and prayers.

Madam Speaker, the American people don't want a government takeover of health care. I heard it at town hall meetings, across eastern Indiana this weekend, and at a rally at the Statehouse in Indianapolis yesterday where over a thousand gathered on short notice.

Now, I know many in the Democratic leadership and the administration don't like us to call it a ``government takeover of health care,'' but when you mandate that every American purchase health insurance--whether they want it or need it or not--you mandate what's in that insurance. If you set up a government-run insurance exchange to control what kind of insurance people can buy and set up a massive bureaucracy, even a new health care czar to govern all of it, that sure looks like to me a government takeover of health care. And the American people know it.

Now, clear majorities of this country have rejected this approach. But nevertheless, as we read in the papers, Congress is intent this week on bringing this legislation--seemingly by any means--to the floor of the House of Representatives. And I want to speak about those means today.

The choice that the leadership of the Congress has before them is whether or not to bring the wildly discredited Senate bill to the floor of the House of Representatives. But the truth is, the bill, with its Cornhusker Kickback, with the public funding of abortion, simply couldn't pass the House floor. There's just not the votes for it.

But it seems at this moment what we hear is that the Democratic leadership here in Congress is so desperate to pass this government takeover of health care that they are willing to twist the

rules of the House and the Senate into a pretzel to get it done.

But I am not here to talk about the arcane rules of the Senate and reconciliation that the follow-on bill would be an abuse of. I'm not even here to talk about the rules of the House. I'm really here to talk about the Constitution of the United States of America.

I mean, this so-called Slaughter House Rule that is being proposed, the idea that the Senate bill could be deemed as passed on the House floor without Members of Congress being asked to vote for it, I believe not just tramples on the common sense and insults the intelligence of the American people, but it really tramples on the Constitution of the United States. Let me break it down for you.

I've understood this since the first time I saw ``School House Rock'' about how a bill becomes a law and that little bill danced up the House steps when I was a kid. Let me read it. It's in the Constitution, Article I, section 7, ``Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a Law, be presented to the President of the United States.'' There it is.

As we learned as school children, as it says in the Constitution, a bill becomes a law after it has passed the House of Representatives-- not after it was deemed to have passed, not after it was buried in a procedural motion that no one really has to say they have supported, but after it has passed on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Now, some will say that, well, Republicans just want to talk about process here; we're trying to do something for health care. Well, wait a minute. The processes that are in the Constitution of the United States exist to protect the liberty of the American people and hold those who govern them responsible. The reason our Founders enshrined in the Constitution of the United States the requirement that bills might not become law unless they pass on the House floor is so that they could hold accountable the decisions that the men and women who would serve in this Chamber throughout our history would make.

Madam Speaker, the very idea that the Senate bill could be adopted by the House without any vote on the floor is anathema to the Constitution of the United States, and I believe it's an insult to the American people.

I would say respectfully, Madam Speaker, if you have the votes, vote the Senate bill on the floor. Let's bring it down here. Let's have a good, long debate about that bill that passed the Senate on Christmas Eve with all of its backroom deals and all of its public funding for abortion and its individual mandates and its tax increases.

But if you don't have the votes, let's scrap the bill. Let's start over. Let's commit ourselves to building health care reform on the principles of limited government and free market economics. Let's pass health care reform that will lower the cost of health insurance rather than growing the size of government.

And for heaven's sake, whatever we do, let's go forward this week in a way that honors those who have gone before, those who have fought for this Constitution. Let us live up to the ideals of our Founders and the expectation of our people. And let's throw this Slaughter House Rule business in the trash heap where it belongs.