Marsha Blackburn

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, at this time, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Meadows).

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. As recently as September, Secretary Sebelius herself said that 7 million enrolled by the end of March would define success of the law. Well, is that 7 million that go to the Web site, put an insurance product in their cart, and then go think about it? Mr. Speaker, when I was growing up, I spent a lot of time working in the retail industry selling clothes in a little dress shop. Every once in a while we would have somebody that would come in and put something on hold. They would say, I'm going to be back. Well, we called them the ``be-backs'' because, guess what, more often than not, they did not come back and complete that purchase. Yes, they put it on hold. Yes, they put it in an online shopping cart. But then they move away from it because this program is broken, it is too expensive to afford, and the American people do not want it.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for the great work that he has done on this bill. What is so interesting and one of the reasons we find it necessary to come and address these issues is Secretary Sebelius told us in December that 5,000 people a day were getting access to health care that they had not had before. The other side of that story, which was not told, is 74,000 American families a day were getting cancelation notices. They were looking at one another across the dinner table and saying, Guess what, our insurance has been canceled. It has had a devastating effect. And as we try to do oversight and due diligence and continue to push for that oversight and due diligence and carry it out, even this morning at the Energy and Commerce Committee, where we had Mr. Cohen, what we have found is it is very difficult to get information, even when we are sometimes hearing from employees admitting what they told us was wrong; but then we do not get the straight story. So it is very appropriate that we require HHS to release weekly detailed reports about the exchanges, including their enrollment, their functionality, and efforts to address the technical issues at healthcare.gov. It is absolutely appropriate because this is all being done with the taxpayers' money. The American taxpayers have paid for every bit of this. It is not the Federal Government's money. It is not President Obama's money. It is not Congress' money. It is the taxpayers' money. This is a failed rollout and a failed program. This administration was supposed to be the most transparent administration in history. It has not been that. It is well documented that it hasn't been. Indeed, the rollout and the implementation of this law have been even less transparent. The reason, I think, is because there have been so many problems, such as millions of Americans losing access to their health insurance. None of the information being shared by the administration regarding enrollment means much of anything. We talk about people that enrolled, but we don't know how many people have paid and how many people have completed that process. What are the demographics of the individuals that are enrolling? All of this is information that the individual that is paying for this--the American taxpayer--deserves to know. Who has paid for this insurance? The White House has backed away from using any measure of enrollment as a means to determine success.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, when is this administration finally going to start paying attention to the warning signs? When career staff at OMB warned the administration that Solyndra wasn't ready for prime time, they moved forward anyway and lost hardworking taxpayers a half billion dollars. When private consultants told the White House and HHS officials last spring that there were problems with healthcare.gov, they moved forward anyway. When CMS sent a memo just 4 days before healthcare.gov went live and warned about ``inherent security risks''--their terminology--the administration moved forward anyway. So their failed policy of forward is costing us money and is getting people into trouble. This is what we are hearing from an Experian report. America's personal information is at high risk on healthcare.gov. There is a great opportunity for a data breach. Mr. Speaker, this is something we can stop. The bill today does that. It is simple. It addresses the problem. What it does very simply--and I commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania for the Health Exchange Security and Transparency Act--it accomplishes what this administration has failed to make a standard practice. It will force HHS to inform anyone if their information has been breached, and they have to do this within 2 business days. They can't hide it. They can't spin it. They have got to tell you if your information has been breached. We do this because if the administration is going to require us--and, yes, to my colleagues, it is a requirement--to use healthcare.gov, at least they can notify you when your information has been breached.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, every great community has a grand storyteller; one who proclaims the greatness of the land. The Music City family has many great tellers, all worthy of praise, but standing behind the city's legacy is one particularly great teller of its story and song. I rise today to honor Jo Walker Meador for her outstanding service to country music. Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1995, Jo Walker Meador is no stranger to accolades from her beloved industry and her successes are well known. From the beginning days of Fan Fair to the Country Music Association and on to the CMA award shows, Jo's mark is ever present. It is no small truth that country music would not hold the audience and devotion around the world were it not for Jo Walker Meador. Now in its sixth year, the Cecil Scaife Visionary Award honors those whose life and work paved the way for the next generation of award winning musicians, artists, and business leaders. It is fitting then that you celebrate Jo today. I ask my colleagues to join with me in celebrating Jo Walker Meador, the Matriarch of Music Row, as she is honored with the Cecil Scaife Visionary Award.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding, and Mr. Flores has really done a wonderful job of outlining the problem that we have come to the floor to address tonight. Quite frankly, Mr. Speaker, it is a problem and a situation that so many of our constituents never thought that they would witness or experience in this great Nation. They always felt that they had the right to free speech because it is a guaranteed right. How dare that they, or their groups, find themselves subjected to mistreatment by a Federal Government agency because of what they chose to say or to do, all in defense of liberty and the Constitution of this great land. Well, we had some of our Tennessee groups that were unjustly targeted through this process. They brought that to our attention because they realized that they were the brunt of this mistreatment, that they were facing a Federal Government agency who came bearing the power of the Federal Government to try to fear and intimidate citizens. Yes, indeed, it is the example of the government turning against the citizens and the power of the government being used to silence the citizens. So many of our constituents that were involved with this process said, What happened? How did this change? What has caused this to take place? And what they began to say to us was, if they can do this to others, what are they going to do to us? If they can do this to us in our group, what will they end up doing to others? So we have worked very closely and continue to follow what is happening with these groups and, of course, have been very concerned, as we have heard and watched the hearings for how the IRS carried out this data-mining and these word searches. I have to tell you, Mr. Speaker, it is no doubt at all, no doubt in my mind at all why the American people are so concerned about the security of the President's health care law. They know that their data may be used against them because they have living proof with the IRS, that they took information, applications, donors to groups, and then they turned that information against those donors from those groups in order to silence them and to impair their free speech. I want to read a letter tonight from one of the groups in my district, in our State, that has been unfairly and unjustly treated by the IRS. And this one comes from Linchpins of Liberty. It is stating their posture as of October 21 of this year. And the gentleman who is the executive director of Linchpins of Liberty is a gentleman named Kevin Kookogey, who started his organization because he loves his country. He loves freedom. He wants to preserve this for his children and future generations. So he did what a lot of Americans do, decided to put together an organizational structure that individuals could come together under to further the cause of freedom, something more individuals could and should do. But this is what happened to him, and I am quoting from his letter, which I will enter, Mr. Speaker, as a part of the permanent record for the proceedings of this evening: Dear Congresswoman Blackburn, As you know, I am president and founder of Linchpins of Liberty, an American Leadership Development Enterprise. On January 2, 2011, we filed our application with the IRS seeking to obtain a 501(c)(3) status as an educational organization. Now, Mr. Speaker, that date is important. January 2, 2011: For over 33 months now, the IRS has unlawfully delayed and obstructed that application. Under threat of perjury, the IRS has demanded that I disclose the identities of my students, some of whom are minors. One letter from the IRS contained in excess of 90 inquiries of intimidation intended to force me to disclose my donors and to identify the political affiliation of my mentors. This has come at great cost to me. I have already lost a $30,000 grant from a reputable nonprofit whose executive director advised me that he had never seen such treatment of a 501(c)(3) applicant in his 25 years of making grants. On June 5, 2013, the day after I testified before Congress, I then lost most of my business when my largest client advised me that it was uncomfortable with the public expression of my political views in defending my constitutional rights. A few days later, Congressman McDermott suggested on national television that I may have lied before Congress simply because I was not under oath when I testified. Perhaps he was projecting, because I don't make a distinction between whether or not I am under oath. I tell the truth all the time. If the intent of the administration is to intimidate and silence the voices of freedom, then it has grossly misjudged its citizens. The government is not our master. It is our agent. We are the principals, and we delegate our rights. We do not surrender them. I therefore respectfully appeal to you to confront this abuse of power by the executive branch, and, in so doing, to protect, defend and preserve human liberty for ourselves and our posterity. Sincerely, Kevin Kookogey, president and founder, Linchpins of Liberty. Mr. Speaker, when you read the letters such as the one from Mr. Kookogey, such as the ones that you are going to hear from other organizations tonight, what you realize is there is an outstanding field of questions relative to what has transpired with the IRS: Why did they go about this? What was their purpose? Was it maliciousness? Were their actions purposeful? Was it intended to silence, to silence those that stand in opposition to the practices and the positions of this administration? Those are some of the questions that our constituents are still seeking to find the answers to. They would like to have their IRS designation because they recognize we are a Nation of laws. We abide by the law, and they would seek to operate within the law. October 21, 2013. Re Linchpins of Liberty--The Cost of Speaking for Freedom Hon. Marsha Blackburn, Washington, DC. Dear Congresswoman Blackburn: As you know, I am President and Founder of Linchpins of Liberty: An American Leadership Development Enterprise. On January 2, 2011, we filed our application with the IRS, seeking to obtain 501(c)(3) status as an educational organization. For over 33 months now, the IRS has unlawfully delayed and obstructed that application. Under threat of perjury, the IRS has demanded that I disclose the identities of my students-- some of whom are minors. One letter from the IRS contained in excess of ninety (90) inquiries of intimidation intended to force me to disclose my donors and to identify the political affiliation of my mentors! This has come at great cost to me. I have already lost a $30,000 grant from a reputable non-profit whose Executive Director advised me that he had never seen such treatment of a 501(c)(3) applicant in his 25 years of making grants. On June 5, 2013, the day after I testified before Congress, I then lost most of my business when my largest client advised me that it was uncomfortable with the public expression of my political views in defending my Constitutional rights. A few days later, Congressman McDermott suggested on national television that I may have lied before Congress simply because I was not under oath when I testified. Perhaps he was projecting, because I don't make a distinction between whether or not I am under oath. I tell the truth ALL the time. If the intent of the Administration is to intimidate and silence the voices of freedom, then it has grossly misjudged its citizens. The government is not our master. It is our agent. We are the principals, and we delegate our rights. We do not surrender them. I therefore respectfully appeal to you to confront this abuse of power by the Executive Branch, and in so doing to protect, defend, and preserve human liberty, for ourselves and our posterity. Sincerely, Kevin Kookogey, President & Founder, Linchpins of Liberty.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to stand in support of the rule that will allow us to bring the Keep Your Health Plan Act to the floor. It is important that we take this action today on H.R. 3350 because we have heard from the American people, from coast to coast, that they do not want the President's health care law. They do not like the President's health care law. They feel as if, and have realized that what is happening with this law is that, number one, it is restricting their choice and options when it comes to health insurance, and, number two, the cost is skyrocketing. Now, we know that that is very important to our families who have chosen health plans that meet their needs--health savings accounts that allowed them to take individual responsibility for their health care, allowed them the opportunities for choosing doctors and physicians and keeping those doctors and physicians--and what the American people are telling us and our constituents are telling us is that they do, indeed, feel betrayed by the empty promises that the President and this administration have made. They are also quite concerned about the botched Web site rollout; as I said, the insurance premiums; and, oh, those cancelation notices that are hitting the mailboxes of millions of Americans. They say, This is not what we bargained for. It is not what we were promised. It is not what we voted or spoke in favor of. And so they are asking us to take an action, and H.R. 3350 does take that action. Now, Mr. Speaker, I want to go back to 2010 when we had a conference and the President was before us, and I asked him a question about the ability to keep plans and for individuals to stay insured. I spoke because of the experience we had had in my State of Tennessee with the test case for HillaryCare, which was called TennCare. We saw the effects of that. We knew it was the test case for a public option in health care; we knew it was too expensive to afford; and, overall, we knew it did not work. In his response, the President mentioned a little bit about some stray cats and dogs and that he thought they had that cleaned up. But I have to tell you that our constituents and their policies are not stray cats and dogs, and they deserve to have the opportunity to keep their health care and not to be treated in a disrespectful manner or to be discarded to the sidelines. So the President needs to realize he cannot go around waving a magic wand and fixing this by executive fiat. This is a law. We are a Nation of laws, and we abide by the rule of law. ObamaCare, the President's health care law, is the law of the land. In order to provide relief to the American people who have clearly spoken to say they do not want this law, it requires an action of Congress. Today's action will provide relief for some individuals--not as many as we would like, but it is one step in providing some relief. The American people have grown weary of this administration spending money that it does not have on programs the American people do not want. The President's health care law is a great example of a program that the American people do not want, so they have come to us as the people's representative and reminded us that we are a government of, by, and for the people that should be working for the people. And as one of my constituents told me Monday, we, the people, are going to start being the people and holding this administration and this Congress accountable. Today is one of those steps that we are taking on behalf of our constituents and the people of this great Nation. I thank the gentleman from Texas for the exceptional work that he has done in working with Chairman Upton from Michigan in bringing this to the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for the superb job that he has done on bringing H.R. 3350 to the floor; and I thank him for listening to millions of Americans who have been so forthright in saying we do not want the President's health care law; it is destroying our access to the health care that we like; it is taking away our health care plans. Never has there been a Federal mandate that has just swept so many people aside and said you must buy this product. Some of you have asked, why are we doing this? Let me tell you why. We are doing it for my constituents like Carolyn and Lucy and Cindy and Wilma, all small business owners, all female heads of households, who have written us and have said we are being forced out--forced out--of the plan that we like, we are being forced away from the doctor that we like, we are being forced to buy a product we do not like.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, a great society is often given their place in history based on how they serve the least among them. A great people are often judged from how well they serve the least of all. I rise today to honor the work of My Life Speaks as they work to bring aid to orphans in Haiti. Cited as one of the poorest countries in the world, Haiti has almost 500,000 orphans. With high illiteracy and unemployment rates, the Haitian society struggles with poverty, and the high orphan rate it accompanies. Often forgotten, children with special needs are orphaned and overlooked completely. My Life Speaks works to provide the best quality of life possible to orphans, those with and without special needs, by providing safe housing, quality education, and accessible medical care. I ask my colleagues to join with me in celebrating the good work of all who follow the call of the Almighty to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and care for the orphan. May our vocations be a light of the old prayer, ``at the end of our lives, may we all be found in the service of others.''

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I want to visit with my colleagues this morning for a few minutes about the impact of our Federal Government and what it is doing to our country's future and to future generations. That is something that has been foremost in my mind this week. This week, our family has welcomed a new baby. Georgia K. Graham was born in New York City at 2:25 Monday morning. So as we have welcomed her, as we think about her future, one of the things we are discussing is: What kind of America will she have to grow up in? How solvent will we be? Will we still be the country that celebrates the American Dream? Will we be the country that focuses on opportunity, that looks to entrepreneurs and innovators to create a better day, not only for America, but for the entire world? This is also the time, Madam Speaker, as we look at what has happened with our Nation's budget, with our Nation's spending, that we look at the long-term effects of so many of the programs and entitlements that are placed before us. One of those is a program that is commonly known as ObamaCare, and some of my colleagues say: Why is it that we talk about ObamaCare in conjunction with the budget? I would like to remind my colleagues it is because it is a very expensive program. And I have a chart that shows what has happened with the cost of that program since the law was passed and now as we are focusing on implementation. You will see we were told this was to be a program that would run about $900 billion over a 10-year period of time. It was to be access to health care insurance for those that did not have that access. But when we look at the chart that reflects the Congressional Budget Office's findings--this is a chart that was prepared on the Senate side--what we see is the cost estimate over that same 10-year period of time from when the law was passed. Remember, we had to pass it in order to read it and find out what was in it? From when it was passed, there at $900 billion, to today, as we look at the implementation of ObamaCare, it has become a $2.6 trillion-over-10-year program. It is a tripling of costs, and we don't even have it out of the starting gates yet. This is why we are looking at the total cost of health care. In the Budget Committee, as we look at the long-term outlook for our Nation and the implications that our budget will have on the private sector, on hardworking taxpayers, what we find with the cost of health care is that those programs are expected to double in their impact on the budget. We have to remember that every single dollar the Federal Government has comes out of the pocket of taxpayers, men and women who go to work every day and earn that dollar and then have to send more and more of that dollar to the Federal Government. As we look at the challenges that face this Nation, we focus on what we will spend, how we will use that money, and we think about the children, the grandchildren that we have and their future and the impact our spending habits today will have on their tomorrows.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, the Tennessee Seventh Congressional District is home to many young talents. Whether in the music, technology, health care, or artistic communities, America's youth find success. I'm please today to rise and add one more group to the list of outstanding young talent: baseball players. Led by coach David Weathers, the young men from Lawrenceburg left Babe Ruth Baseball League 13-year-old World Series as the Southeast Regional Champions. Dedicated to athletics, sportsmanship, and the great sport of baseball, these 13 young men represented Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, and the Southeast Region with great pride. I ask my colleagues to join with me in celebrating the hard work, perseverance, and dedication of Ben Stagg, #43; Bradley Huckaba, #6; Clay Gambel, #9; Jacob Hallmark, #7; Jacob James, #10; Jacob Laws, #23; Jett Beasley, #1; Kendall Franklin, #88; Koltar Houser, #14; Lance Pope, #4; Ryan Weathers, #25; Sam Crane, #5 and Sawyer Turnbow, #18. I join with their friends, parents, coaches, and supporters in celebrating their wonderful season.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, there's an old quote that reminds us women hold up half the sky. I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to honor one woman who holds up half the Tennessee sky and all the State House. I congratulate State Representative Beth Harwell as she receives the Joe and Honey Rodgers Leadership Award. Unanimously elected as Tennessee's first female Speaker of the House in 2011, Beth Harwell began her elected service in the state's 96th General Assembly. Receiving the Rodgers Leadership Award as the 2013 Christian Civic Leader of the Year, Speaker Harwell is recognized for her work in areas such as preventing child abuse, lowering unemployment, and reforming welfare. Citizens have a divine obligation to serve their communities. I am grateful for organizations like The Operation Andrew Group and United 4 Hope as they offer their time, talents, and treasures to the Middle Tennessee area. Along with her husband Sam and children Allie, Sam, and Tucker, I congratulate Speaker Harwell and I ask my colleagues to join with me in celebrating Speaker Harwell's good work, her dedication to serving the least among us, and her leadership in Tennessee.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, Tennessee is home to many young talents. Whether in the music, technology, health care, or artistic communities, America's youth find success. I'm please today to rise and add one more group to the list of outstanding young talent: baseball players. The South Nashville All-Stars headed earned their place in the World Series with a 5-3 win over Henrico, VA in the southeast region final. While they did not leave the Series with the title, they returned home to Middle Tennessee to fans, friends, and family all proud of their outstanding accomplishments. I ask my colleagues to join with me in celebrating the hard work, perseverance, and dedication of: Austin Kasick #14, Ben Pickman #32, Blake Kirchenbauer #3, Blake Money #15, Bricen Russell #23, Christopher McElvain #7, Connor Smith #13, Knox Preston #24, Robert Hassell #9, Tanner Morgan #1, Trae McLemore #21, and Zane Denton #25. I join with their friends, parents, coaches, and supporters in celebrating their wonderful season.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate being recognized for the time, and I appreciate the recognition that this Chamber and my colleagues are putting on the issues before us. As we look at Federal spending, what we have to do is say: What is causing us to be in a position where we are borrowing $2 billion a day? And if we are borrowing $2 billion a day, we have to ask: Is that a sustainable practice and something that we as a Nation can continue? Of course the answer to that is, no, it is not sustainable. Therefore, we have to look at what is causing us to spend more money than we are taking in, and one of the things that is at the top of that list that is too expensive to afford is the ObamaCare program, the Affordable Care Act. What I would like to do today is focus my comments on what we are seeing from the Affordable Care Act and what has happened with the cost of this program and why it has become too expensive to afford and why we have to talk about it and focus on it and put it on the table as we talk about what our Nation spends. Now, we all remember supposedly ObamaCare, the Affordable Care Act, was going to be a $900 billion program, roughly, that was to give access to affordable health insurance for those who didn't have access to health insurance, but let's look at what has happened. This was the estimate: under a trillion dollars, $900 billion, when the program was passed. But, oh, remember, we had to pass it in order to read it to find out what was in it. After we read it the first time, $1.4 trillion. My source on this is the Congressional Budget Office, the CBO. Every time it has been reviewed, with some of the nearly 13,000 pages of rules and regulations, guess what has happened? The cost estimate has gone up. Now ObamaCare is a $2.6 trillion program. So what we are looking at is a near tripling in cost before the program goes into effect. This is why we continue to say, as we look at fiscal health, fiscal restraint, you have to look at what is happening with the cost projections on ObamaCare. Now, for those of us from my State of Tennessee, this is something that is not new to us. We had the test case for HillaryCare in our State. It is called TennCare. What happened with the TennCare program was it ended up quadrupling in cost in a period of 5 years. Now, this causes us a little bit of concern because we look at what has happened with the cost of government-managed and -delivered health care services. Well, let's take a look at Medicare and where it was supposed to be in 1968 and then what has happened with its costs. You can look at these lines, the red line. These are on my Web site for our colleagues that would like to go and look at the Web site. You can see what happened in 1968, and the red line shows where it has grown to today. For something that was to end up being about $12 billion a year, we are now spending over $400 billion a year on. You can see what were to be the projections here on this bottom line, and you see how far it has exceeded its projections. So because of this, we are quite concerned with the growth and the projections of growth for ObamaCare. Look at the track record of government spending. Do programs generally come in below their estimates? No. They generally exceed those estimates. So we continue to be very concerned about what will happen with the cost of ObamaCare and the impact this is going to have on our $3.5-trillion-a-year budget, and we continue to say: We have to review this; it is too expensive to afford; and does it fit into what the American taxpayer is willing to pay for? Because every penny we spend here in Washington, D.C., comes out of the taxpayers' pockets from money that they have earned and then have paid in taxes, sent to Washington, they expect us to be very careful stewards of those dollars. Before my time expires, Mr. Speaker, I just want to point out one other concern that we have with the exchanges and the way they are going to handle information. Six hundred million dollars to build a computer system that doesn't work and doesn't protect the identity and the information of enrollees in the health care exchange is another of the problems there that is worthy of discussion of this program.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, a picture is worth a thousand words, and I felt like it was appropriate today because so many of our colleagues say, Why do we want to discuss ObamaCare when we talk about the budget or talk about the continuing resolution? And here is the reason why. It is a program that is too expensive to afford. Take a look at this graph. We all know that, supposedly, when ObamaCare started out--by the way, as an insurance access program for the nearly 40 million that didn't have insurance--it was to be under $1 trillion, exactly $863 billion. So now we look at what has happened to the growth of this program. CBO shows us, looking at this, when you address $1.4 trillion, 1.7, we are now at $2.6 trillion in costs over a 10-year period of time. So to my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, I say, this is why we have to put this program on the table and discuss it. It is now a nationalization of 17 percent of our Nation's economy and has gone from under $1 trillion to $2.6 trillion. Let's get the spending under control.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, it is so interesting to hear my colleagues talk about how they want a clean CR. Just so that everyone realizes, Mr. Speaker, what they are saying is give us the money--no strings attached, no accountability. What we continue to say to our colleagues is we want an accountable CR--accountable to the U.S. taxpayer, who is footing the bill for this government. It is not Federal money that we appropriate or that we spend. It is taxpayer money coming out of the pockets of hardworking men and women. As I read emails from my district in Tennessee, what I hear repeatedly is, number one, We cannot afford the $17 trillion in debt. It really scares us. It frightens us for the future of our children and grandchildren. We cannot continue to monetize $75 billion worth of debt each month. We have to get our fiscal house in order. That is what we seek to do.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, words have meaning, and we are coming to the floor regularly to talk about the fiscal issues of our great Nation and to talk about how we should approach these. I'd appreciate that we have everyone in the body involved in this debate, Mr. Speaker, but I want to drill down just a little bit and take a look at what we have going on out in the media and what we continue to hear from so many who are beginning to participate in this debate. The President and some of our friends across the aisle love saying they want a clean CR. That sounds really nice. For them, they feel as if it implies that what we want is a dirty or an unclean or an evil CR, and I find their choice of words so very interesting, Mr. Speaker. What we want is an accountable CR because, when they're saying they want a clean CR, I would encourage my colleagues to realize what they're wanting is the no-obligation loan. They want no strings attached. A ``clean CR'' means give us the money, but don't you dare expect us to be accountable for that money. Words have meaning. When our colleagues hear that, I would encourage them to just realize that what they're really telling you is that they don't want the accountability, that they don't want the transparency. They do not want the responsibility. As we would say when I was in the State Senate in Tennessee, they don't want outcome-based budgeting; they just want to be able to spin what they can spin. What we continue to push for is accountability, transparency, being responsible to the taxpayer and being responsible to future generations. We have to do that because the spending is out of control. We talk a lot about the CR and the lower spending levels that are in that. Those came about because of the Budget Control Act. The fact is that we worked and got a 2 percent across-the-board spending reduction; and for the last 2 years we've been able to get the deficit, the annual spending overage, down a little bit. We were in 2010 and 2011 borrowing $3 billion a day to keep the doors open around here. Today, we're borrowing $2 billion per day to keep the doors open. We need to get to the point that we're not borrowing a single cent. We need to get to that point. Our goal, for those on the other side who can't figure out what a goal is, our goal is fiscal responsibility, fiscal endurance and sovereignty, preserving freedom, free people and free markets. That is our goal for this Nation and doing it in a responsible way. I've got a great niece who is due this month, and when Georgia Kati Graham arrives, I don't want her to be looking at a mess of a Federal Government. Right now, her share of the national debt is $53,000. Every newborn who is going to arrive: welcome. With your citizenship, here is what you owe. That is not responsible. It is why we come to this floor day after day. It is why we continue to say to the Senate, Negotiate with us. Work with us. Sure, let's look at the short-term funding issues, let's look at the long run. How do we preserve this great Nation? How do we get this spending under control? I would offer, Mr. Speaker, we don't do it by going out and borrowing $2 billion a day. We don't do it by having the Fed monetize $75 billion worth of debt each and every month. We do it by saying we don't have a revenue problem; we have a spending problem. And it is time that we put the components of that problem on the table and negotiate our way through it so that we're looking at long-term fiscal health and fiscal solvency, not just for this year or next year, not just for the next decade, but for the next century. Let's put our focus on how we return to certainty, how we return to predictability with our Federal regulatory agencies and our Tax Code. The time to tackle the problem is now.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, you know, words have meaning, and I find it so interesting as I come to the floor this morning that I continue to hear my colleagues talk about a clean CR. Well, for my colleagues and for my constituents, I want to explain what this means. They want to say no attachments, no further accountabilities, no spending reductions, just give us the money. And I would remind them the levels that we're spending at are due to sequestration. It's the law. It's the law. That's where it's at. By implication, they are saying, what you all want is unclean or evil or dirty. What we are for, Mr. Speaker, is an accountable, transparent CR, an accountable, transparent process--transparent and fair to hardworking taxpayers, fair to future generations, like my grandsons, my nieces, great-nieces and nephews, who are going to have to pay the bill. Let's have an accountable spending process.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, as we have all heard, we received the news yesterday that our priests and ministers could end up facing government arrest if they attempt to celebrate mass or to openly practice their faiths on a military base during this government shutdown--a shutdown that we did not want, a shutdown that could have been avoided had the President and Senator Reid agreed to negotiate with us. This is so unfortunate. What we see is no mass, no communion, no confession, no prayer, no faith, no religion. Mr. Speaker, what we have to realize is that religious beliefs predate government. Government should not be able to tell those who are religious whether they can practice their faiths freely regardless of our government-funding situation. What we are seeking is accountability, transparency, and reducing what the Federal Government spends. Government funding is irrelevant to the religious rights and freedoms that are enshrined in the First Amendment of our Constitution, and some don't get to throw away the Constitution just because they are unwilling to sit down and negotiate and work with us through this process. We are not going to sit here and say, Even if you volunteer to serve the faithful, we are going to deny you. So I ask you, Mr. Speaker: Will our priests and ministers this weekend--some of them on my post at Fort Campbell in my district--be arrested if they recite a Hail Mary? if they lead in prayer? I think that it is time for us to pass this legislation to agree that we let our men and women in uniform pray. Let America pray. Government shouldn't arrest anyone because some want to play politics with this situation.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to address my colleagues today. Indeed, being in the middle of a government shutdown is something we did not want, and my colleagues and I on our side of the aisle continue to invite the Senate colleagues and their conferees to sit at the table with us and negotiate. We want to make certain that we work out the issues of our Nation's fiscal health. We have to remember currently we're borrowing $2 billion, $3 billion a day to keep the doors open. This is something we cannot do. It is not fair. It is not fair to future generations. It is not fair to our children and grandchildren. It is not fair to the small business people who have dreams of building a business, watching that business grow, watching those dreams come true. It is not fair to the future of their families. To our Senate colleagues, we do continue to ask them to join us and to negotiate these issues. There's a lot that's been said about ObamaCare, and some say, Well, it doesn't have anything to do with the budget. You know what, Mr. Speaker? It has everything to do with the budget because of the amount of growth that is taking place in this program. I think we all remember that originally ObamaCare was to be a health insurance access program. Let's give a pathway for uninsured Americans to have access to health insurance, a laudable goal, something that there was agreement on. Where it ran off the rails, if you will, was in the projections of the cost--far exceeding what anybody thought it would be--when it began to make $600 billion worth of cuts in Medicare, taking money out of Medicare, money that the Federal Government is taking out of wage earners' paychecks and putting it into the pot that says ``ObamaCare'' and using that money to redirect, to stand up the ObamaCare program. There's a problem with that. There's a problem when there are mandates that are made on our hospitals, on our physicians that are paying them less. There's a problem when there is $819.3 billion of new taxes specifically embedded in the ObamaCare legislation, the law, $819.3 billion worth of new taxes that are going to come out of the paychecks of workers and be put into the ObamaCare pot to implement that law. The impact is dramatic. Even though the President has given 1,200 waivers and special favors, even though he's chosen to make 19 delays of the program for people and entities that have gone to him and said, Hey, we would like a delay or we would like a waiver--the list goes on and on--it is individuals, like my constituents, who are dealing with the full impact of this. Here are a couple of the emails that I have received: Marsha, please stop ObamaCare from happening. This is a small businessowner in one of my cities: It was great for me to have insurance through the CoverTN program for small business. It works great for me and others. It's affordable. There's no way I can afford ObamaCare. My insurance cost is going up five times more than what I pay now. We cannot afford this program. A small business owner who went to a check-cashing facility, got $400, started a business, and now has five locations, 45 employees, wants to grow this business, and cannot because with a 40-hour workweek, 50 employees, it would cause him to have to shutter the doors of his five locations and do something different for his 45 employees. That is the impact that this law is having on a regular daily basis. Another constituent with a child with type 1 diabetes, they have utilized their employer's reimbursement account, $5,000 that was there. Now that's going to be limited to $2,500. They are looking at how unaffordable the Affordable Care Act is going to be for them. The list goes on and on.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of amendment No. 1 to the continuing resolution, the bill that is bringing us to the floor tonight, and how vital it is that we address the funding needs of this Nation and how vital it is that we do it in a manner that is respectful of the American people and of our constituents. One of the things they have repeatedly said is they want to make certain that we delay the onset of ObamaCare, and that is what we are going to do. Included in the amendment would be the delay of the 20 new taxes of ObamaCare. It would delay the individual mandate and the costly surtax for noncompliance. It would delay the employer mandate, the Medicaid expansions, the new exchanges, and all those subsidies to try to get people to enroll. It would delay the dozens of enforcement powers which ObamaCare gives to the IRS. And it would delay the collection of all your personal information and data by the navigators and those seeking to put this program into effect with these exchanges. So that is what this amendment would do. Why are we doing this? Number one, this is a program that is too expensive to afford. We have seen that already it has tripled in cost. From its $860 billion estimate, it is up to $2.6 trillion. We know that it is making $600 billion in cuts to Medicare. We know that it is not ready for prime time. There have been 1,200 waivers given to this program. People that are friends of the administration were seeking to be opted out. And it's not good for the American people. There have been 19 administrative and Presidential delays of this program. We also have learned that there are missed deadlines. We see the impact that it's having on our hospitals. They're laying off people. Hospital doors are closing. Jobs are being lost. Insurance costs are escalating. They have missed 47 percent of all their deadlines as they have sought to put this into place. And the list goes on and on. But most important is what we hear from our constituents, what we hear from the American people, and the rate shock that is out there. And among my constituents I have a small business owner who wrote me this week. Her insurance cost is going up five times over what it is right now; a teacher with a husband and two children, 105 percent. We also have people that are writing in and they're talking about how disappointed they are. They had a plan they liked, but they can't keep it now. One said, ``Our insurance would cost more than what we make. We would be paying our employer $71.50.'' Another said they have lost their insurance. The reason they were given is because of ObamaCare. Discontinued due to ObamaCare. This is what we're hearing from our constituents. Parents of children, a family, a child, type 1 diabetes. They need those reimbursement accounts. They're being cut in half. They're not able to keep that. For an employer whose employees are seeing their out-of-pocket expense go up, do you know what that amounts to for this family? It's a $7,600 pay cut. So what we do is come to the floor tonight to say it's not ready. We are seeing the impact of delay after delay that is being done by this administration. And what we are saying is that it is time, as a fairness issue to the American people, to delay the whole thing. Delay it for a year. Continue to work on it. Make certain that we listen to the American people and respond to their wish. Delay ObamaCare.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, it's interesting what brings us here to the House floor this Saturday morning as we are looking at a continuing resolution to fund the government and as we are looking at ways to address what is happening with ObamaCare--where 17 percent of our Nation's economy is being nationalized and federalized. Those are concerns that we are hearing from our constituents. They do not want ObamaCare to be put into action, and they do not want these insurance exchanges to be stood up and put into action. There are a lot of good reasons why. First of all, they are not ready. That's why we need to delay this for 1 year. Delay it. We know that there are problems with the exchanges. We know that there are problems with all of the interactive technologies. We know that ObamaCare has already missed over half of its deadlines. Why would you move forward on a program that is not ready for prime time? Delay, defund, repeal, replace. That is what we need to do with ObamaCare.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I want to begin my remarks with a couple of comments about the budget process. I think my colleagues could be a little bit confused on this. I will remind my colleagues that it is this body that every single year meets our statutory duty and our constitutional duty to bring forward a budget that funds the operations of the United States of America. We do not miss our deadlines, and this year, we did it. I know that the White House did their Sweet 16 bracket before they did their budget, but we were still pleased to see that they were willing to participate in that process, and we were pleased that our friends in the Senate, for the first time in 5 years, decided they would enter into the budget process. We were very disappointed, quite frankly, when they said they would not move to the conference table with us until we agreed to a tax increase. That is what they want--an agreement to a tax increase in this kind of economy and with about 8 percent unemployment and with 20 million Americans either un- or underemployed? They want more taxes-- more control over people's lives? We were not willing to do that. We are continuing to stand and fight for the American people--for responsible government, for getting this budget balanced within the next decade, and for getting this country back on the road to fiscal health. I will also remind my colleagues that one of the things we continue to hear from this White House and this administration is that they want a government shutdown. Now, they try to blame us--we realize that--but I've got to tell you that I've got a titanium backbone. Let them blame. Let them talk. It's fine. They want a government shutdown. For my colleagues, I would direct their attention to the Congressional Research Service for the summary of what happens in a government shutdown. For the interest of my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, I will just walk through some of these points. One of the reasons they want it is that the President wants control of the checkbook. Right now, the U.S. House of Representatives has that control, and we want to keep it. We don't want a government shutdown. We want to keep the government open and keep cutting it. We want to keep the government open so we can delay, defund, repeal, and replace ObamaCare. This budget process of going into a shutdown gives control to the administrative branch. There is another little tidbit when you read this circular, and it directs you to the 2011 revision of Circular No. A-11. OMB's current instructions would have agency heads use the Department of Justice opinions. I can tell you the American people and a Republican-led House do not want Eric Holder and Barack Obama making the determination of who and what will be open in this Federal Government, what will be funded and what agencies are going to be working. We don't want to give them that responsibility. I know they want that. I know they're trying to get a government shutdown, but I have to tell you that that is not what we want. What we are for, as I said, is of making certain that we protect the future and the financial solvency of this great Nation. One of the reasons we have worked so diligently on a budget for this body is that we know the cost and the impact that ObamaCare is going to have on the Nation's fiscal health, and we are very concerned about it. We see what is happening in our communities. I just want to reference some of the correspondence and conversations I am having with my constituents in Tennessee. Yesterday, I spoke with a gentleman who went to a check cashing store, borrowed $400, started a retail business, now has 45 employees in five locations--a great business. What he is looking at is he can't expand. He can't hire anybody else. He is having to deal with all of the hoops that really weigh this business down, and it is because of ObamaCare.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Will the gentlelady yield?