Diane Black

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. BLACK. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to myself. The American Health Care Act has gone through many fits and starts over the last few months. This bill begins to fulfill our promise to the American people by reducing costs for American families. It eliminates ObamaCare's burdens on small businesses and families and protects those with preexisting conditions. We must continue to work to build on this. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), our majority leader.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, it really is my privilege now to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan), the Speaker of the House.

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

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 4001(b)(1) of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2017 (S. Con. Res. 3, 115th Congress), I hereby submit for printing in the Congressional Record the 302(a) allocation to the Appropriations Committee of the House consistent with that concurrent resolution. Allocations for authorizing committees were previously filed on March 24, 2017. Section 4001(b) of S. Con. Res. 3 authorized the House Committee on the Budget to file 302(a) allocations consistent with the budgetary levels established in S. Con. Res. 3. This filing authority was necessary because there was no joint statement of managers accompanying S. Con. Res. 3. Under section 301(e)(2)(F) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the allocations are to be included in the report accompanying the concurrent resolution on the budget. This allocation is enforced by section 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, which prohibits the consideration of appropriations measures that would cause the applicable allocation of new budget authority to be exceeded for the budget year, fiscal year 2017. This allocation applies to bills, joint resolutions, and amendments thereto or conference reports thereon, considered by the House subsequent to this filing. A corresponding table is attached. If there are any questions on this allocation for fiscal year 2017, please contact Brad Watson or Jim Bates.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I hereby submit for printing in the Congressional Record revisions to the budget allocations and aggregates of the Fiscal Year 2017 Concurrent Resolution on the Budget, S. Con. Res. 3. These revisions are designated for the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 244, the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2017. The revisions designated are made pursuant to section 314 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. These revisions represent an adjustment for purposes of budget enforcement. These revised allocations and aggregates are to be considered as the aggregates and allocations included in the budget resolution, pursuant to S. Con. Res. 3, as adjusted. Pursuant to section 314 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, these revisions to the allocations and aggregates shall apply only while the House Amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 244 is under consideration or upon its enactment. Corresponding tables are attached.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Indiana for yielding to me and for hosting this very important Special Order where we recognize women and, in particular, Jeannette Rankin. Mr. Speaker, I want to rise today to honor Jeannette Rankin and to celebrate 100 years of women in Congress. Jeannette inspired millions of Americans when she became the first woman in the Nation's history to serve in the House of Representatives. A Republican and a former schoolteacher from Montana, Jeannette declared ``I may be the first woman Member of Congress, but I won't be the last,'' as is seen on the poster that the gentlewoman from Indiana has right there in front of the Chamber. Mr. Speaker, while we may not agree on all the issues, Jeannette and I share a vision to preserve and protect the American Dream for future generations. We do so with the hope that young girls, like my two granddaughters, would be able to live a life they choose for themselves, not that someone else chooses for them. For me, this topic is deeply personal. I spent the first years of my life in public housing, the daughter of parents with no more than a ninth-grade education. I came from a background where people didn't always know how to dream, and, as a result, I was prepared to settle for a life of unfulfilled potential. I had started to believe that, as a young woman growing up in the fifties and the sixties, who literally lived on the other side of the tracks, maybe the American Dream wasn't for me. But in time, doors of opportunity were opened that helped me to realize a plan for my life that was greater than I could ever imagine. I became the first person in my family to earn a college degree. I fulfilled my desire of becoming a nurse, and I became privileged to serve in the Tennessee General Assembly, and now in Congress. I have traveled far corners of the world, and I have seen the struggle that women endure for access to education, a paycheck, and for real independence. I am keenly aware that only here in this country is my story even possible. Only here could someone like me go from living in the halls of public housing to serving in the halls of the United States Capitol--that is why we call this the American Dream. Jeannette Rankin reminds us that the people's House represents Americans from all walks of life. Today in Congress, we have 104 women serving, and I am honored to be the first female chairman of the Budget Committee. As we celebrate 100 years of women in Congress, we must resolve to ensure that stories like ours are not unique. The work we have done here in Congress must reach today's young women with the truth that they have God-given talents waiting to be used, and that the American Dream is theirs to share as well. I again thank the gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Brooks) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Frankel) for bringing us together to celebrate this monumental anniversary.

Mrs. BLACK. It is really just such a wonder when we look at this country and, having traveled, as I know that you have, throughout the world, see the struggles of women in many, many other countries. I know we are not quite where we want to be, and I know we have still a ways to go, but I am so proud of what we do here in the United States to lift up our women and to recognize that they have talents that we need in every sector of our society.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 228, I call up the bill (H.R. 1628) to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2017, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today to speak in favor of the American Health Care Act, a bill that repeals many of the worst aspects of ObamaCare, and begins to repair the damage caused by the law by bringing choice, competition, and patient-centered solutions back into our healthcare system. Standing here today in the House debating this bill is a proud moment for me. I was working as a nurse in Nashville in the 1990s when, fresh off of the failure of HillaryCare, the Clinton administration pushed out a single-payer pilot program in Tennessee called TennCare. As the story goes, Vice President Gore and the Democratic Governor sketched out a program on a napkin while sitting in a local bar. I saw firsthand the negative impact of government-run health care on patient care. I saw the costs rise, and the quality of care fall. I saw the burdens being placed on doctors, patients, hospitals, and care providers. I saw patients faced with fewer choices and more regulation. And I saw the devastating impact that TennCare was having on our State's budget, gobbling up so much State spending that other priorities like education and infrastructure were getting squeezed. I couldn't sit idly by while this was happening in my State, so I decided to get involved in public service, and it is what inspired me to run for office at the very beginning. And when, in 2009 and 2010, I saw the same principles being debated and eventually implemented on the national level, I thought my experience in Tennessee would be valuable to the national debate. I told the people in my district that, if elected to Congress, I would fight to repeal and replace ObamaCare. In 2011, I sponsored the first piece of legislation that repealed a part of ObamaCare. And today, we take the largest step yet in rescuing the American people from the damage that has been done by ObamaCare. We are united in our goal to repeal ObamaCare and replace it with patient-centered health care. Right now, ObamaCare is imploding. We were promised premiums that would decrease by $2,500; instead, average family premiums in the employer market have soared by $4,300. We were promised healthcare costs would go down; instead, deductibles have skyrocketed. We were promised we could keep our doctor, and keep our health insurance plans; instead, millions of Americans have lost their insurance and the doctors that they liked. In short, the Affordable Care Act was neither affordable, nor did it provide the quality of care that the American people deserve. The American Health Care Act is a first step in our efforts to deliver patient-centered healthcare reform. This bill returns to the American people freedom and choice in their healthcare decisions. It gets government out of the relationship between patients and their doctors--where it has never belonged--and puts people back in charge of their own health care. It brings the free market principle of competition to an industry that has long been dominated by government intervention. Today we are faced with a stark choice: Do we vote to continue the damage ObamaCare is doing to our country and our constituents, or do we vote to go down another path, a better way of doing health care in this country? While no legislation is perfect, this bill does accomplish some important reforms. It zeros out the mandates. It repeals taxes. It repeals the subsidies. It allows people to choose health insurance plans that are unique to their families, instead of purchasing a one- size-fits-all plan that is mandated by some Washington bureaucrat, and it modernizes Medicaid, a once-in-a-lifetime entitlement reform. Ending Medicaid's open-ended funding structure will play an important role in addressing the future budget deficits and our growing national debt. I applaud my colleagues who have stayed in this fight and continue to make this bill better. The members of the Budget Committee, which I chair, outlined four principles they believed would improve the bill. Those principles led to significant changes to allow more State flexibility in Medicaid and ensure that tax credits truly served the people they are meant to serve. Others fought to eliminate Federal ObamaCare regulations that drive up the cost of health care for all Americans and give those powers back to the States. At the same time, we also ensure that States have the resources to provide maternity and newborn care and treatment for mental health and substance abuse. I agree with these changes, and I applaud my colleagues for the work to make sure that we truly reverse the damage ObamaCare is doing to our healthcare system and our economy. ObamaCare's legacy is clear: more government, less choice, and higher costs. Our vision for health care in America is the opposite: more freedom, more choice, and lower costs. Put simply, the American Health Care Act is a good first step, but it is only a first step. My good friend and our former colleague, Dr. Tom Price, will use his position as Secretary of Health and Human Services to address some of the regulatory burden of ObamaCare through administrative action. We have voted already and will continue to vote on individual pieces of legislation to implement even more patient-centered, free market reforms that we cannot address through reconciliation. In fact, we just passed two bills already this week. One would allow small businesses to join together to purchase insurance, and the other would increase competition by tearing down antitrust regulations. That bill received 416 votes. This shows that these bills are commonsense measures that include bipartisan support. The day is finally here where we have an opportunity to fulfill that promise that we have made to the American people. I, for one, cannot sit idly by and let this opportunity go to waste. Campaigning is easy compared to governing, but our constituents did not elect us to do what is easy. They elected us to do what is right. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' on the American Health Care Act, to rescue the American people from ObamaCare. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock).

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 7 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act of 2017.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson), a member of the Budget Committee.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Lewis), who is a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington) who is a member of the Budget Committee.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Faso), a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Gaetz) who is a distinguished member of our Budget Committee.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Rokita), who is the vice chair of the Budget Committee.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Higgins).

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize that our Members on the other side of the aisle are sharing some data on the coverage of per congressional district based on a study that was conducted by the Center for American Progress, which is a left-leaning organization to begin with. The Center for American Progress employs a flawed methodology for estimating this coverage. In fact, their foundational numbers are actually based on CBO's coverage estimates, estimates that the CBO itself has established are not infallible. These coverage numbers only take into account plans that they consider comprehensive major medical policies. This is a term that is used in the very law that we are trying to dismantle today. These coverage estimates do not account for things that we have in our bill, such as HSA plans that allow purchase with tax credits, and many medical plans. So the AHCA increases freedom for Americans to purchase the kind of coverage that works for them, not the narrowly defined coverage that we see that the Federal Government likes. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), who is a member of our committee.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Sanford).