Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the failures taking place with the launch of the ObamaCare exchange through healthcare.gov. Since October 1, this Web site has been plagued with delays, errors, and fundamental flaws in the Web site design. This prompted USA Today to call it an ``inexcusable mess'' and ``nightmare.'' In addition to the technological failure, the Web site leaves Americans open to exposure of privacy information. Buried in the source code of healthcare.gov, a paragraph reads:

You have no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding any

data stored on this information system. At any time, the

government may monitor, intercept, search, and seize any data

stored on this information system. Any data stored on this

information system may be disclosed or used for any lawful

government purpose.

Consumer Reports states:

It's not worth the hassle, at least not for now. Stay away

from healthcare.gov for at least another month if you can.

This is not reassuring for Americans entering personal, medical, and financial information onto a government Web site, especially when Congress is still reviewing the IRS for gross mismanagement in collecting private individual information.

John McAfee, founder of McAfee Antivirus, emphasized last Wednesday:

Millions of Americans could have their identities stolen as

a result of signing up for ObamaCare.

Despite these major malfunctions and structural defects, the administration still has penalties in place for individuals that don't obtain coverage.

Mr. Speaker, this is not acceptable.

Prior to October 1, my colleagues and I emphasized the inability of the Department of Health and Human Services to implement these exchanges. Therefore, if an individual does not wish to subject themselves to the risk of identity theft, they should be allowed to make that decision without the consequence of fines forced by the Federal Government. That is why I am working on legislation right now to ensure that Americans are not being punished for failing to buy a health care plan from a dysfunctional system.

Additionally, Mr. Speaker, the Associated Press reported that, to date, only 476,000 people have enrolled. Mind you, that is 476,000 Americans that are left open to identity theft. I would like to point out that this is out of 36 States enrolled in the Federally-Facilitated Marketplace--36 States. At one point, healthcare.gov posted error messages in at least 24 of those 36 States.

Further, according to the USASpending.gov, over $600 million of taxpayer dollars have been spent setting up these failed exchanges. Mr. Speaker, this is an insult to the American taxpayers.

CGI Group, one of the main contractors for healthcare.gov, reported that the site's design was changed about a month before its debut to prevent users from comparing prices without registering for an account. Why would the administration agree to remove the price comparison option when the President has promised the country affordable health care? It is because, for some, health care rates may become simply unaffordable.

The administration announced they would provide a new ``shop and browse'' feature to the Web site. However, this new feature is not giving consumers the real price. In some cases, people could end up paying double what they see on the Web site. For example, CBS News ran the numbers for a 48-year-old woman in Charlotte, North Carolina, who is ineligible for subsidies. According to healthcare.gov, she would pay $231 a month, but the actual plan on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield North Carolina Web site costs $360 a month. This is more than a 50 percent increase. The difference: Blue Cross and Blue Shield requests your birth date before providing more accurate estimates, further proving the point that monopolies are problematic as well, especially in North Carolina.

Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent on a system that does not work. Therefore, there is one question we must all ask ourselves: Is the Affordable Care Act really affordable?

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor one of North Carolina's most heroic sons: Airborne Ranger SFC Cedric King of The United States Army.

On July 25, while out on patrol during his third tour, SFC King nearly lost his life in an IED explosion in Azickzia Afghanistan. After losing both of his legs and sustaining numerous other life-threatening injuries, Cedric has in so many ways come back from the dead. In just a few months, he has come so far and so fast it is beyond words. With the help of his lovely wife Khieda, and his two beautiful daughters Amari and Khamya, he charges forward each day towards recovery. He is also an instructor and pathfinder graduate Ranger.

Mr. Speaker, I submit this poem, penned in his honor by Albert Carey Caswell.

If I Were King

(By Albert Carey Caswell)

If . . . I were King . . .

I'd be one splendid thing!

I'd be the one to freedom bring!

If I were King!

I'd wear that uniform . . .

of such brave hearts who walk with hearts so very bold and

warm!

Who are Airborne!

And I'd be a Ranger who freedom so forms!

As over the enemy I so swarm!

If I were King . . .

To bring hailing down upon our enemy,

such a most magnificent deadly force all at light speeds!

And if I were King,

I'd be an American Hero from who freedom so breathes . . .

All with that is so inside of me!

And so live by such a creed,

and so march off to war to such places where angels so fear

to be!

To so say what must so be said!

To do what must so be done!

If I were King!

I'd so sing what must so be sung!

If I were King

I'd be a United States Ranger . . .

Who would so laugh at danger . . .

Who mountains can so climb!

All for love of country so sublime!

For only the few can so say!

That they so wear that beret . . .

Who with all of my most courageous Brothers In Arms,

have so watched our Brother's blood so run as they died that

day!

With tears in eyes as their fine lives are now so done,

as he'd kneel and pray!

And if were King,

as an Airborne Ranger over evil I would so reign!

For Rangers lead in all things!

And if I were King,

all for God and Country I would have so bled!

For in history Rangers have always led!

As its life and death in what is said!

And if I were King,

I would have given up my two strong legs,

as from out of the darkness armed but with only my courage

and faith!

To so awake from such harm!

As my tears so brake,

as my heart so tells me to somehow move on!

As with each new day,

I.must wade through such pain and heartache formed . . .

With the help of a great wife Khieda who stands by her man so

very warm!

And my two beautiful daughters Amari and Khamya,

who lovingly call out my name each morning . . .

If I were King!

And though my task is great . . .

These new giant steps I would now so take . . .

For time for no man so waits . . .

And pity will only weak hearts so create!

So wipe all of your tears away . . .

As I stand here much more than a man on this very day!

As my strides have gotten stronger and much more great!

Look at me,

because I'm Airborne as it's up out ahead you'll find me

leading the way!

To So Teach You!

To So Beseech You!

To So Reach You and All Of Your Hearts This Day!

As Hero I was not trying to be,

but this is what my Lord God has so made me . . .

So get out of my way!

For I've got mountains to so climb!

And hearts to so heal all in my time!

And I've got Blue Skies up ahead of me . . .

When, I go back home to my most beloved Carolina someday!

If I were King how proud I would so be . . .

In life,

most people never reach so high!

And jump so heroically from the skies!

Who are Rangers who are Airborne,

all so selflessly to so live and die!

And so live by such a heroic creed,

ith but such tears in eyes!

And so bury their dead up on high!

For its far . . . far better to live a noble life . . .

Than, just to do the ride!

Better, to give up your strong fine legs . . .

Then, in the end so wish somehow better choices you had made!

And die with such regret as you so ask yourself,

what did I do all in my life?

For I'd much rather live like a King,

and know that my life had meaning in every way!

Then die just marking time day after day!

If I were King!

I'd hold my head up high until my dying days!

Knowing full well,

what to this world I gave!

For in life,

only a few Kings so lead the way!

If I were King,

heaven would me await.

Mr. Speaker, today is day 10 of ObamaCare exchanges being up, or supposedly being up. We now know the problems with the exchanges are not just due to high traffic; rather, technology experts have reported the real problems are with the actual structure and shoddy software used for the exchanges.

The Hill reported on October 8, from one expert, James Turner, software engineer, ``It's probably the most broken release that I have ever seen.''

I am hearing firsthand the frustrations from my constituents. One constituent said:

The program freezes up when you try to enter your tax

filing status. You can't get past it. Same thing happens when

I try to apply over the phone. I've called every day since

October 1, all different times of the day, and have gotten

nothing but the runaround, one excuse after the other, that

their system is down.

I've called during peak time. I've called during off-peak

time, but apparently there are no on-peak hours. If I can't

get qualified for a subsidy before January 1, we will have to

let our insurance lapse.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I say, this is a defective exchange, and it is only part of the problem.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 536, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share with this body and the American people a great injustice. A few moments ago, one of my colleagues from Texas, from across the aisle, spoke of this as well. So as you can see, there are many times that we all can come together and agree upon certain items and move the American people forward in a better way; however, this particular situation is unthinkable.

A great injustice is being done to our servicemembers and their families. We learned last night that five brave American servicemembers were killed over the weekend in Afghanistan while selflessly protecting our country. Normally, Mr. Speaker, the loved ones of these fallen warriors receive assistance in the form of benefits to help them make those final arrangements for burial and other necessary preparations. Yet, as a direct result of the political gridlock here in Washington and despite legislation passed in this House last week with great bipartisan support, servicemembers and their families are no longer receiving their benefits.

Mr. Speaker, despite the government shutdown, our servicemembers are still expected to go to war, knowing full well that they may pay the ultimate sacrifice for this great Nation, and we should be expected to keep our promises to their family members. I am working, as we speak, to right this wrong, and I urge all of my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, we are granted the power of the purse strings here in Congress, so we are right and reasonable by using that power.

Yesterday, the House led and acted responsibly by providing yet another plan to get parts of this government back open again:

We provided funding to the NIH, which provides essential lifesaving treatments and research to families who have received the worst news possible--that their family member, their child, may have pediatric cancer that needs a cure. And I urge the Senate and the majority leader, Harry Reid, to bring this up for a vote in the Senate immediately.

We provided funding to the District of Columbia, which is part of our stewardship.

Today, we will once again vote to keep the promises to our veterans, and we will vote for the funding for National Guard and Reservists. These are all issues that we all agree on, depending on where you are sitting, Republican or Democrat.

The right thing in this situation is to provide funding and reopen the government. It's time for us to act.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit the following:

Committee on Armed Services,

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC, October 1, 2013.

Hon. Chuck Hagel,

Secretary of Defense, Pentagon,

Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Secretary: I share the concerns you've expressed

about the seriousness of the lapse in appropriations and the

additional negative impacts on military readiness associated

with a significant furlough of defense civilian workforce. In

an effort to mitigate these harmful effects, the Congress

reached unanimous agreement that the members of our Armed

Forces, as well as the civilians and contractors who provide

support to the Armed Forces, should continue to receive pay

and allowances. As you know, this legislation, H.R. 3210, the

Pay Our Military Act, sponsored by Representative Mike

Coffman (R-CO), was signed into law last night. With the

enactment of this law, active duty uniformed personnel can

continue to be paid for their service and most civilian

defense workers should remain on the job.

I was heartened to read your statement indicating that it

is a priority for your General Counsel to review the

legislation, ``to see if there's any margin here, or widening

in the interpretation of the law of exempt versus non-exempt

civilians.'' I believe the legislation provides you broad

latitude and I encourage you to use it. The text does not

limit the provision of pay to civilians who were previously

categorized by the Administration as ``excepted'' or

``essential'' for the purposes of Department of Defense

operations in the event of a government shutdown. Therefore,

I strongly encourage you to use the authority Congress has

given you to keep national security running, rather than

keeping defense civilians at home when they are authorized to

work. Likewise, as your General Counsel reviews the

legislation, I request additional information regarding the

provision of pay and allowances to members of the military

Reserves and National Guard.

I look forward to an update on the Administration's

interpretation of H.R. 3210 later today. I know you would

agree with me that this is no time to use national security

or our national security workforce as a political pawn.

Sincerely,

Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I have the distinct honor and privilege to represent Fort Bragg in my district; and I found out yesterday evening that, despite passing funding to keep our military paid and to keep our military civilians paid, there have been over 7,000 Fort Bragg civilian employees furloughed. Now, I find this very interesting there again because the President signed this very bill into law Monday, and here we have a situation where I have needless--needless--suffering happening in my district.

I have a letter from Chairman Buck McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, to the Department of Defense on clarification of this, that I would like to read:

The text does not limit the provision of pay to civilians

who were previously categorized by the administration as

``excepted'' or ``essential'' for the purposes of Department

of Defense operations in the event of a government shutdown.

We passed H.R. 3210, the Pay Our Military Act, sponsored by my colleague from Colorado (Mr. Coffman).

Thank you to my colleague from Georgia.

Mr. Speaker, this is such an important issue on which to be speaking here at the House. I rise in support of the Research for Lifesaving Cures Act and in support of the funding of the NIH in order to help bring lifesaving cures to sick Americans. The situation in Washington today should not be standing in the way of this important lifesaving work. There is no defensible argument against this legislation.

NIH has been in the forefront of biomedical discoveries that have revolutionized the field of medicine. These discoveries have laid the foundation for treatments and cures for many diseases, including cancer and including improving the lives of countless Americans. The government shutdown is preventing new patients from entering clinical trials. For those patients, it is a matter of life and death; it is not a matter of politics. About 200 people register at the NIH every week. About 30 of those are children, 10 of whom have cancer. We must ensure that medical care is not suspended for these patients, especially for those children who are faced with difficulty.

Thank you to my distinguished colleague from Kansas, vice chair of our Republican Conference. Thank you for yielding time to discuss this situation that's at hand right now.

Right now, we're faced with this government shutdown. Right now, millions of Americans are thinking to themselves, What on Earth is happening in Washington? There's a shutdown. There's the implementation of ObamaCare exchanges that took place starting yesterday.

The interesting thing is that 47 States are receiving frequent error messages on the Web site. In my home State of North Carolina, the Obama navigators were grounded as the exchanges and the computer system was shut down. Americans across this country are faced with error messages on both exchanges run by the State and those run by the Federal Government.

Day one. Day two. Failure of ObamaCare.

So despite 3 years of time, countless dollars, countless administration officials testifying in hearing after hearing after hearing in the Energy and Commerce Committee and in the Ways and Means Committee that everything would be ready to go on October 1, for sure, right on track--those were the things we were told, We are moving right on track; consistently, we were told--and this is what the people of the country are seeing.

This is what we're seeing in North Carolina. This is day two of ObamaCare exchanges. They changed up a little bit from day one. They added some cute little icons here. It says:

We have a lot of visitors on this site right now. Please

stay on this page.

As if you have nothing else to do. Just hang out. Just stay here.

We checked this site throughout the day just about every hour to just check and see if it would be up and running.

And it goes on. It says:

We're working to make the experience better.

We don't want you to lose your place in line.

We'll send you to the login page as soon as we can.

Thank you for your patience.

Well, yes, America is going to need a lot of patience with ObamaCare. Because if this terrible law--and, yes, it is law, but there are bad laws that get passed--if this law is fully implemented, health care will be changed forever. You will have to have a lot of patience because you are going to be waiting at the doctor--if you can even find a doctor to go to. You will be waiting at the hospital, in the emergency room, or wherever you seek care, because the care will not be available. And the care that you will receive will be diminished.

Yes, we're all going to have to have a lot of patience.

One of the things that I've been doing in my office is trying to get firsthand accounts of what my constituents are experiencing as they're learning about their health care coverage; if they have health care coverage right now, what's happening to them. And I'd like to share a few of those with you.

A nice lady by the name of Judy emailed me saying she received a letter from Blue Cross & Blue Shield stating that the plan she currently has would no longer be available.

Now, if you can flash back a couple of years ago, our President-- President Obama--said repeatedly, You will be able to keep the health care you have. You will be able to keep the doctor that you have.

Well, our worst fears are once again realized. Judy has had a change, and she didn't choose it--someone else did.

And she goes on to say that a new plan was chosen for her where her premiums will go up from $151 a month to $589 a month. My question is, Chosen by whom? It certainly wasn't Judy who chose that. It was someone else. It was Blue Cross & Blue Shield. Somewhere along the way, someone else dictated to Judy what she would be able to have.

The reason she was given--and this actually was stated in the letter:

While rates often change due to rising costs of health

care, the new rules and regulations of the ACA, effective

January 1, 2014, contributed to the majority of the increase.

It literally stated in the letter that the reason her premiums were going up so significantly was because of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Another constituent wrote:

Our self-employed son's insurance went up from $430 a month

to $900 a month.

That's almost double. That's almost a 100 percent increase.

We were promised lower costs and more competition. President Obama said our premiums would be decreased by $2,500. Yet I am hearing the opposite from my constituents.

One of the other issues that's happening in North Carolina right now has to do, again, with the exchanges. One of the things that we found out about a week ago was that the number of insurance companies that were going to be offering plans on the exchange is two--two insurance companies are offering plans.

There are 100 counties in North Carolina. One insurance company has a monopoly, essentially. They can offer plans throughout North Carolina; and in 61 of those counties, they have a monopoly. They're the only plan being offered. They're the only insurance company being offered.

To that, they counter by saying, We're offering multiple plans. But that's not competition. Competition is amongst the insurance companies that should be provided. We were promised lower rates. You receive lower rates with competition. It's very simple.

So only two insurance companies are providing health care coverage on the exchanges in North Carolina. One has a monopoly throughout. The other covers 39 counties. So you can see 61 counties having a monopoly. That's not fair. How is that fair?

As my colleagues and I have been saying over and over again, this law is not ready for prime time, And it never will be. That's the sad part. It is never going to measure up to what we were promised. Even as changes have been made to it, it still is lacking. It's filled with tax increases. It's filled with mandates. This isn't the plan that we should be following for health care.

I'm a nurse. I dedicated my life to health care. I came here to Washington to fight ObamaCare. I never wanted to run for office before; but in the summer of 2009, the President was on the road telling us all about the health care plan that he wanted for America. My husband is a general surgeon. We practice in our small town. We said we've got to go out, and we've got to speak on this.

One of the things that the President also said was that, overwhelmingly, doctors and nurses were in favor of this plan. We said, No, Mr. President, this is not true. And we started speaking out against it.

The same issues that I was raising with the people of North Carolina that I was speaking about back then are the fears and the realities that we're faced with now. The cost, the overreach, the inefficiency, all affecting health care, all affecting our economy.

The workforce alone, as we know, is going to be changed from a 40- hour work week to a 30-hour work week. We're going to become a part- time America. That's not what our country was built on. And yet that's what we're faced with with the implementation of ObamaCare.

That's why we've asked for a delay. That's why we believe that every individual, every American should be receiving the same options that Big Business has gotten with the 1,500-plus waivers given. Every American should be able to say, I think it's a good idea

and I'll take it; or, No, I don't. Why should we not have that choice? Why should every American not have that choice?

We need to delay it; but more importantly, we need to put a better system in place. And the system that I support, at least at this point, is the Republican Study Committee's plan for health care reform. It's an alternative plan. It's the American Health Care Reform Act that we rolled out a couple of weeks ago. It puts in place all of the pieces that we know, one, that the American people want, that the American people feel they need; but at the same time, it puts forward flexibility, affordability. It's patient-centered. It's not government- run.

They're the reforms that have been necessary, complete with tort reform, liability reform that is such an essential piece, health care savings plans, tax credits for individuals who are buying health care insurance.

It is the answer to health care reform. You should be able to purchase insurance across State lines. You shouldn't have to be told that there are only two insurance companies that you can choose from.

These are the solutions in health care that we really should be looking for--not given something, not told you have to have something, not told that you will be penalized if you do not participate.

The whole point of an online marketplace was to provide options; but as we are seeing, this couldn't be further from the truth.

And I thank my colleague from Kansas for allowing me to speak my mind on this issue. It's so important to America, so important to these times, with this government shutdown.

Thank you so much to my distinguished colleague from Georgia. This is such an important day. We have reached day one of the ObamaCare exchange being up.

If you look at the chart that we have up, very similar, Congressman Gingrey, to that same chart that you are showing, it is what North Carolina is seeing today. For any North Carolinian who is going on the Web site, it is not ready for prime time.

I rise today to talk about the failures of ObamaCare and why we have persisted for so long to remove this terrible law. It is law, we get that. We understand it. It was upheld by the Supreme Court. However, it is a bad law. It is bad for America, it is bad for the economy. It is bad for health care. And as it is right now, it will not be improved. There's no way that we can change it, that we can improve it at this point.

The exchanges being up, 32 States that are showing the same screen to those who are going online, those who have been promised this exchange so that they can check and see what kind of coverage they will have available to them, this is what they are seeing.

Coupled with the government shutdown--which we all tried to avoid with every effort possible--there again, the Senate not cooperating with us, the President staying committed to ObamaCare going forward when we know the structure is simply not in place.

You know, Mr. Speaker, I ran for office a couple of years ago. I was elected in 2010. My whole goal has been to repeal ObamaCare because it is not only, again, devastating to the American people, to our economy, but to health care itself. When you have devoted your life to something and you see that it is just being taken apart in front of you, you know that you have to act. Nevertheless, here we are, day one of ObamaCare, day one failure.

For 3\1/2\ years, countless administration officials have testified before us in subcommittee hearings in Energy and Commerce over and over and over again. The question has been posed to them: Will the exchanges be ready October 1, 2013? Repeatedly, consistently we heard from administrators of those agencies: Yes, we are right online; everything is moving completely the way that we would envision it to move. Yeah, there may be some glitches here and there, but we are ready to go October 1. And this is what the American people are seeing.

You know, and that gets to the greater point that the gentleman points out. This objective, when President Obama put it forward--I go back to the summer of 2009. I was not in any position to ever considering running for office; working as a nurse with my husband in his general surgery practice, trying to take care of the patients back home. When we were learning about what the President was proposing, we said, you know what, we just can't simply sit back and watch this happen to us, we have to speak out. Because there were many in our medical community who said, you know, this is wrong, this is wrong. We know that there are reforms that are needed. We know that we have so much to fix in health care. But this approach, this government takeover of health care, is only going to lead to socialized medicine. We know that. And that's not a winning health care system, not when you have the best health care system in the world.

So we did, we started speaking out. We got on the road, we talked to people, we explained to them how dangerous this was. The very conversations I was having then are being realized today. The fears that we were discussing, the issues that we were discussing about where this would take us in health care, are now being realized.

The quote that's on the chart, ``The system is down at the moment. We are working to resolve this issue as soon as possible. Please try again later.'' That is what the people who are in need of health care, that's what they're reading. And for the hardworking taxpayers of America, that is what you're paying for, a complete and total failure of the Federal Government.

We agree, the system is down. That is why we fought so hard for a delay. That is why we felt that that reform was a very essential piece moving forward. That is why we're fighting today for every American to have the same health care coverage, the same options that we in Congress have.

Every American should be treated fairly. Every American should have the same opportunities as everyone else. You cannot just simply hand out waivers to those that you pick and choose.

You know, when big businesses have the ability now to have that mandate put to the side for a year, why does the individual--the individual who needs it more than anyone, the one who's going to that site looking for health care, they can't even be helped by that right now. Meanwhile, we're telling them, oh, and by the way, you're going to pay for this.

If you're a young adult male in North Carolina, your premiums are going to quadruple. If you're a young woman, your health care premiums are going to triple. That is who is going to pay for this. And the system is down; it isn't even working.

As my colleagues and I have been saying over and over again, this law is not ready for prime time, and it never will be. It is unworkable. It will continue to remain so. And for months, again, HHS, IRS, CMS, all of these agencies have repeatedly said that when today comes, October 1, it would be up and running.

I do want to share with you just one of many, but one phone call we received today from one of my constituents, Rachael Burt from Fuquay Varina, North Carolina. She called our office and spoke to one of my staff. And she was emotional, she was concerned, and she was afraid. She said: ``My husband's premium is going up 155 percent. We are shocked. I am on maternity leave, and I am afraid to know how much mine will go up. I'm sure the letter is on its way though.''

In anticipation of this, this poor woman is waiting to receive that information. And what she said was: ``ObamaCare seems to be nothing but a punishment on those who are trying to do the right thing.'' Rachel, I can't agree more. That's what the problem is here. That's why we're working so hard to fix it.

We will remain committed to this issue. We will continue to pursue a delay. And by the way, we will continue to pursue avenues for health care coverage that really are truly affordable, that really do give more coverage to Americans, that really are patient centered, such as the RSC plan, the American Health Care Reform Act that Members of our own conference worked on--eight Members to be exact--to give the American people a choice other than this failure on October 1 of ObamaCare.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 491, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3102, the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act.

I commend the chairman for his tireless work on this effort, the effort to put in place sensible reforms and close loopholes in order to improve this nutrition program. One reform which has been mentioned many times is that of the modest work requirements of people who are able to do so.

We will be able to save nearly $40 billion over 10 years. All we are asking is that those receiving benefits--who do not have children, who are without disabilities, and who do not have any other extreme circumstances--simply work, volunteer, train or go to school for 20 hours a week.

Mr. Speaker, we are preserving this program for those who truly need it. I urge my colleagues to support these important reforms so that the truly vulnerable never go hungry.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this motion to recommit.

Mr. Speaker, my friends on the other side can say the same thing over and over again, but it does not make it true. This motion does nothing.

Food stamps are not affected by a government shutdown. No one--not a struggling mother, not a child, a veteran, or any person in need--will be denied benefits if they meet the program's current law and eligibility requirements.

All this bill does is ask them, just as we did in a bipartisan way in 1996, to prepare for work or participate in their communities in exchange for services.

But those much-lauded welfare reforms of 1996 have been thrown aside without the input of this Congress for years and has undermined the well-being of families participating in this program.

Work has been proven to be a beneficial part of the physical and mental health of every individual. It raises their family income and improves the outcomes of their children.

Why do the opponents of this bill want to undermine this successful strategy for reducing hunger in America by increasing workforce participation and increasing incomes of American families?

I urge my colleagues to oppose this harmful motion and support the underlying bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the heroic efforts of Corporal Rodolfo Perez ``Rudy'' Hernandez of the United States Army.

Corporal Hernandez was with Company G, 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team, and was awarded the Medal of Honor for visible gallantry in action on May 31, 1951 in Korea. His platoon was in a defensive position on Hill 420 when it came under heavy attack by enemy forces. Although his comrades were forced to withdraw, Corporal Hernandez stood his ground. When his machine-gun jammed, he valiantly charged with rifle and bayonet straight into the attacking force and he was seriously injured by a grenade blast. Due to Corporal Hernandez's heroic charge, the enemy advance was stalled long enough for his unit to mount a counteroffensive and retake the hill.

It is for this extraordinary courage in action that I am proud to honor and remember the actions of Corporal Rodolfo Perez Hernandez.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 339, I call up the bill (H.R. 2775) to condition the provision of premium and cost- sharing subsidies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act upon a certification that a program to verify household income and other qualifications for such subsidies is operational, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous materials on H.R. 2275.

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

I rise today to speak about the economic disaster facing all Americans on October 1.

Nearly 3 years ago, I decided to run for office for one primary reason: to defeat and repeal Obamacare. Three years later, this terrible law is set to be implemented and the dire warnings and predictions are already coming true.

This past summer alone, we saw three major delays in the law's implementation--from the employee mandate to consumer price caps to the issue we are debating here today.

Congresswoman Black's bill, H.R. 2775, the No Subsidies Without Verification Act, is a first step at attacking the latter.

The premise of this bill is quite simple. Serving as the stewards of taxpayer dollars is one of our most important jobs as Members of Congress. After all, dollars wasted by Congress or improperly spent by the executive branch has a direct impact on the budgets of families across this country who are struggling to pay their bills.

This is why I was appalled by this summer's announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services. In the 600-page rule issued during the July 4 holiday, HHS stated that they would no longer verify income for ObamaCare subsidies. Instead, the Obama administration would now rely on self-attestation and sample audits when launching the ObamaCare exchange subsidy program--an initiative that is estimated to cost over $1 trillion over the next decade.

After receiving criticism, HHS announced that they would reverse course and extend audits to all applicants. Yet, to this date, the administration has issued no formal change in the rule to codify this policy. In other words, they are saying one thing and doing another.

As it stands today, the rule issued by HHS reads:

The exchange may accept the applicant's attestation without

further verification.

And yet, while verification has been removed, the fines remain in place. Any applicant who enters information improperly could possibly face a $25,000 fine. If the mistake is knowing and willful, the fine could grow as high as $250,000.

As Ronald Reagan famously said, ``trust, but verify.'' If history is any guide, these claims of accountability will be disregarded unless oversight is enforced.

This only reinforces the need for the No Subsidies Without Verification Act. The bill would simply require certification systems to be in place so that the administrators can successfully and consistently verify eligibility before any premiums and cost-sharing credits are paid out.

Similar language was adopted by the Senate, but the bill before us would implement a bipartisan consensus and protect taxpayer dollars. It would do so by requiring the inspector general of HHS to certify that income verification is in place before precious taxpayer dollars are wasted and abused.

I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 2775, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts), the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee.

I now yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn), the vice chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from Washington, Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers, the chair of our Republican Conference.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself 45 seconds just to outline some of the things that have already been repealed in ObamaCare.

As a consequence of Congress passing ObamaCare to find out what is in it, we have found some terrible ideas in the law. To date, the President has actually signed into law seven bipartisan bills repealing or defunding parts of the health care law. H.R. 4 repealed the small business paperwork mandate, or the 1099. H.R. 1473 cut $2.2 billion from a stealth public plan and froze the IRS budget. H.R. 674 saved taxpayers $13 billion by adjusting eligibility for ObamaCare programs. H.R. 2055 made more cuts to CO-OPs, IPAB, and the IRS. H.R. 3630 slashed billions from ObamaCare slush funds. I could go on, Madam Chairwoman.

Now I would like to yield 2 minutes to my colleague from Pennsylvania, Congressman Pat Meehan.

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

I would just like to point out to my colleagues across the aisle that in the latest Wall Street Journal article of September 10, one of the things that they point out again is that in the Senate, which is the Democrat majority, they put in an HHS spending bill a sense of the Senate that the provision for income verification be in place.

This is something that is very important. It is common sense. Madam Speaker, wouldn't it be just a major commonsense issue to just simply put in place a proactive prevention of fraud, waste, and abuse?

I would also like to point out to my colleagues that have discussed the issue of whether or not the inspector general has the ability to do so, first and foremost, we wouldn't be approaching this in this manner if the rule had not been removed. Yet, we have to have a system in place that will address these issues.

There is no reason that we can't approach it from this, again, very commonsense approach where we ask that we actually have a rule put in place. We can't simply move forward on this incredible disaster of a law when we are not asking for some verification. I think it's a very simple move. I think it's a very commonsense move.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes to respond to some of the comments from my esteemed colleague.

This is theory. That's basically what we have now, because, as the rule was removed the week of the Fourth of July, there has been no rule put in place to replace it. Basically what we're hearing is the description of how it would be run if the rule were in place.

Mr. Speaker, an August 5 frequently asked question document was given out by HHS and the administration, which basically explains the verify process of the Federal exchange but outlines no details on how it will occur. Additionally, this fact sheet has no force of law. Even worse, the fact sheet doesn't even pretend to address the verification applications submitted to ObamaCare exchanges administered by the States. It simply says that the State can choose whatever sample size it wants to audit, meaning no actual verification may occur before millions of dollars of taxpayer-financed benefits are paid out.

While I believe America is a Nation of honorable people, we have to remember there are always those who will abuse the system. The fact sheet from CMS doesn't change the status of the rule. States can continue to audit whatever sample size they see fit or simply not audit at all.

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

Mr. Speaker, we are prepared to close. I would like to ask my colleague if he has any further speakers remaining?

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

Here in Washington we have a way of doing things, and one of those ways is to deal with problems after they've been created.

Prior to coming to Washington, I was a nurse for many, many years. One of the rules that we had drummed into our heads was, if it's not documented, it did not happen. This is a rule that is not documented, so it will not happen. It is not enough that we simply ask to be on the honor system. This is a very important piece of legislation. We must ensure the hard-earned taxpayer dollars are protected and abuses are avoided. I would urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 2775 for this purpose. I believe it is incumbent on the American people and the job that we do here in Washington to ensure that this happens.

I yield back the balance of my time.