Ken Buck

Mr. BUCK

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the House Republican Conference, I offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. BUCK

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 382 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis), my friend, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule and the underlying legislation. House Resolution 382 will ultimately drive down healthcare costs and make care more affordable to millions of Americans across the country. In 2017, we have had a conversation in America about how health insurance costs have drastically increased in the past 7 years. We need to fix our health insurance market, a task that House Members and Senators have been working hard on for the past few months, but if we are truly going to address out-of-control health insurance costs, we need to start looking at the cost of supplying care itself. That is where H.R. 1215, the Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017, plays a vital role. H.R. 1215 focuses on lowering the cost of care by placing checks and balances on the excessive and frivolous lawsuits faced by doctors and other healthcare providers. A GAO report found that rising litigation awards are responsible for skyrocketing medical professional liability premiums. Unfortunately, these premium costs are passed on to the patient and, in many cases, are passed on to American taxpayers. The reforms in H.R. 1215 will make care more affordable for patients and will improve access to care, especially for rural America. Over time, unending and excessive lawsuits have limited the amount of doctors nationwide, particularly in States that have not instituted their own reforms. With a string of frivolous lawsuits levied against our medical community, many Americans who would become doctors and practice in certain parts of the Nation simply decided against it. The reforms in H.R. 1215 will especially help rural and underserved urban communities, where quality healthcare can be difficult to access. Incentivizing medical professionals to serve in communities that might otherwise be overlooked should be one goal of our healthcare reform efforts. I know the healthcare challenges faced by so many in eastern Colorado, where access to quality care is sometimes limited. We need doctors who are willing to invest in these communities, but we need to empower these doctors by freeing them of frivolous and excessive lawsuits. Beyond just access to care, the growth of frivolous malpractice lawsuits has led to a change in the way care is provided. Many providers are forced to practice defensive medicine. In doing so, doctors order unnecessary, excessive diagnostics not because the patient needs them, but because the doctor attempts to avoid a frivolous lawsuit. The practice of defensive medicine increases costs for the patient without providing any discernible benefit. The legislation we are considering is key to increasing the affordability of care and the access to care for all Americans. This bill is supported by the American Hospital Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians. The American Medical Association has also voiced their support. But let me be clear: The bill before the House today does not limit access to justice for legitimately wronged or injured patients. It does not hamper a wronged patient from recovering damages for their injuries. The bill simply imposes a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages, a provision that has worked well in California, where this legislation has already been successfully implemented and modeled for decades. But there is no cap on economic damages that a patient may incur in a malpractice situation, and the bill's cap does not preempt any State law that otherwise caps any form of damages at amounts either higher or lower than the cap in H.R. 1215. The legislation also limits the contingency fees that lawyers can charge when bringing a malpractice case on behalf of a client. In other words, we don't want to incentivize lawyers to push forward with illegitimate cases. We want patients who have been wronged to have access to a fair trial, where they walk home with the winnings in their own pocket, not their lawyer's. H.R. 1215 builds on the successes of medical malpractice reforms in States like California and Texas. In these States, similar laws have increased access to affordable medical care. They have created an environment where doctors can focus on helping patients rather than spending time in endless litigation and dealing with threats from the trial bar. The legislation before us, while creating a uniform national playing field, protects State laws by allowing flexible reforms to be used at the discretion of States. State courts will still hear medical lawsuits as always. The reforms at hand today deal with care that was provided or subsidized by the Federal Government, including through a tax benefit. We must pass this legislation for the American taxpayer. The taxpayer doesn't deserve to have their hard-earned dollars simply end up in the pockets of trial lawyers due to frivolous lawsuits. That is why H.R. 1215 is a critically needed reform. Unlimited and opportunistic lawsuits help no one except trial lawyers. Consequently, our doctors have to increase their costs and practice expensive defensive medicine, costing patients and taxpayers. And when our physicians are impacted, so are we. Trial lawyers too often stand between patients and their doctors. With the looming threat of excessive, unending lawsuits, healthcare providers have to worry more about the trial lawyer at their door than the patient in their office. H.R. 1215 places important limits on these lawsuits so that the truly wronged are compensated without enriching trial lawyers at the same time. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BUCK. Proudly, no.

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I know my friend from Colorado did not mean to insult me when he referred to me as a lawyer, but I want to make a quick distinction. I spent 25 years as a prosecutor, not a lawyer. Prosecutors put people in prison and make the world safe for all of us; lawyers get people out of prison and make the world less safe for all of us. I want to make that distinction.

Mr. BUCK. I yield to the gentleman from Colorado.

Mr. BUCK. Reclaiming my time, do not tell prosecutors that they are merely lawyers. To be a prosecutor is a higher standard. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Marshall).

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

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I just want to make one point. I have heard a number of times now that this bill is a solution searching for a problem or it does nothing to help our underlying cost. The Congressional Budget Office, the very office that my friend relies on for the most recent estimate of those that will decide not to seek insurance under the Senate healthcare bill, has estimated that this bill will save taxpayers $50 billion over 10 years and reduce medical malpractice insurance premiums by 25 percent to 30 percent. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I will remind my friend from Colorado that the very $250,000 cap that we are talking about in this bill is the same cap that has been adopted by the Colorado State Legislature.

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I would remind my friend again that the States that have adopted any cap--it could be $250,000, it could be $500,000, it could be $1 million in non-economic damage caps--will not be affected by this bill. This bill only affects those States that have no caps, and it is Federal money that is being used to pay for these.

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I want to inquire of my friend from Colorado, he mentioned when he was introducing the gentleman from Virginia that there are schools that are closing because gym roofs are falling in. I know a number of very generous individuals that would like to contribute. Does the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis) have the names of any of those schools for us? I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.

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

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

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my friend's newfound sense of bipartisanship. The Affordable Care Act was passed without a single Republican vote in the House, without a single Republican vote in the Senate, and without any concern of Republican thoughts about how healthcare should be run in this country. Now that the Affordable Care Act is, in fact, failing; now that we have over 90 counties in America that have zero health insurers to choose from in the individual market; and now that we see the Affordable Care Act in a death spiral, all of a sudden, we are concerned about the bipartisanship and how to fix the problem. We have heard zero amendments in the past 6 years to the Affordable Care Act that would have, in fact, improved the Affordable Care Act from the other side of the aisle while they had the President in the White House, and now, all of a sudden, we are looking for bipartisanship and solutions. We will find that bipartisanship and those solutions in the future. Mr. Speaker, if we truly want affordable healthcare in this country, then we need to address the cost of supplying care. H.R. 1215 strikes at the heart of skyrocketing medical care. By limiting frivolous and unending lawsuits, doctors can focus less on the courtroom and more on the patient in the operating room. The reforms made by H.R. 1215 will be especially important for rural America and underserved urban America. Doctors will be able to afford to live and practice in these communities, providing the attentive and responsive care that all Americans deserve, not just Americans who live a few miles from a major hospital. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation. I know Democrats and Republicans have different policy approaches to reforming our healthcare system, but this legislation has already been implemented by Democrats in the State of California, where it has proven successful. Now we have the chance to apply this approach more broadly, in a way that will help millions of Americans. This effort has been bipartisan in the past and should be bipartisan today. Mr. Speaker, I thank the sponsor of this bill, Representative Steve King. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the resolution, and I urge a ``yes'' vote on the underlying bill.

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. BUCK

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Newhouse), my colleague on the Rules Committee, for yielding. Mr. Speaker, in the West, water is life. Coloradans must wisely steward the precious water flowing through our lands. That is why we are so focused on water storage projects. Unfortunately, many water storage projects in my State face significant setbacks in permitting due to a long list of regulatory checkboxes. Local, State, and Federal agencies all have their own requirements. For the past several years, I have followed multiple important water storage projects on the front range of Colorado that deeply impact Coloradans. Year after year, the shovels remain untouched as the water projects inched their way through the regulatory permitting process. Water projects should not take over 10 years to permit and then only a few years to build. Much of this delay occurs because each level of government--local, State, and Federal--requires their own studies and permitting checklists, even though many of those requirements are the same or only slightly different. H.R. 1654 makes this process more efficient, allowing the Bureau of Reclamation to coordinate the Federal and State permitting processes, so that we can avoid unnecessary duplication and so that we can better unify the approval requirements. H.R. 1654 offers a more streamlined approval process for our water projects but still empowers State and Federal governments to fulfill our duties to protect communities and the environment. This is a good government bill. We are simply asking different levels of government to work together so that our water projects can earn the permits they rightfully qualify for. No water project should take 10 years to gain approval, but too many have. H.R. 1654 ensures that projects on Federal lands will have a clear, more efficient permit application process. We owe this bill to the people of Colorado; we owe this bill to the people of the West. We owe this bill to everyone in this country who relies on fresh, clean drinking water. We owe it to the farmers who need water for their crops, to the ranchers who need water for their livestock, to the anglers who need water for their recreation. I am supporting H.R. 1654 for these people. I ask my colleagues to support this important legislation as well.

Mr. BUCK

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize four high school students who were selected to represent the state of Colorado as delegates at the Congress for Future Medical Leaders. The students are Kylie Hutchison, Ashley Joplin, Katriana Sefcovic, and Paige Simpson. The Congress of Future Medical Leaders is an honors program that recognizes exceptional high school students who are pursuing career's as a physician or in medical research. These students are the future leaders of the medical field and our country. Through their studies, they have embodied the meaning of hard work and perseverance to achieve their goals, and will better the health of future generations. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to recognize these students from the fourth district of Colorado for their hard work and service to our community. I wish them the best in their future endeavors.

Mr. BUCK

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize eight high school students who have been chosen to represent the state of Colorado as delegates at the Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders. The students are Caitlyn Bauder, Sadie Krause, Miguel Ortiz, Devan Ruder, Ashton Shoemaker, Brenna Sydow, Athena Taylor, and Kyle Yamada. The Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders is an honors program that recognizes exceptional high school students who are pursuing careers as engineers, scientists, or technologists. These students are the future leaders of the STEM fields and our country. Through their studies, they have embodied the meaning of hard work and perseverance to achieve their goals, and will advance science and technology for future generations Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to recognize these students from the fourth district of Colorado for their hard work and service to our community. I wish them the best in their future endeavors.

Mr. BUCK

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule and the underlying legislation. This rule provides for debate on the final negotiated bill between the House and the Senate. This process began last Congress and resulted in the House passing H.R. 1259 in March of this year. The Senate introduced and passed the version of the bill we have before us today by voice vote. It mirrors the reforms contained in Chairman Roe's bill that the House has already passed by a bipartisan vote. Mr. Speaker, we often talk about veterans in this country: We thank them for their sacrifice; we applaud them at sporting events; we tell ourselves that we must take care of them, must repay them for the service to our Nation. But in the past few years, we have discovered that America's care for our veterans has been wholly inadequate. The Department of Veterans Affairs has failed them. Shameful misconduct at the VA has been rampant, and it has hurt our veterans: In 2014, we learned that the Phoenix VA concealed extremely long wait lines for patients and that up to 40 vets may have died while waiting for care at the facility; Just last year, we discovered that a VA Hospital in Colorado Springs also falsified wait time records. The majority of patients at that hospital faced wait times over 30 days, and 28 patients had an average wait time of 76 days. One veteran is even thought to have committed suicide because he wasn't referred for mental healthcare, even though he had been deemed at risk for suicide. That is why Congress needs to act. S. 1094, the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017, allows the Secretary of the VA to hold all employees at the agency accountable for their conduct. We desperately need this legislation, not because all the employees at the VA have problems. Quite the opposite. Most VA employees show up to work every day because they are passionate about serving our Nation's veterans. But there are bad apples, people who put our veterans in danger. These people must be held accountable, and, frankly, many of them must be fired. This bill empowers the Secretary to reprimand, suspend, or remove VA employees who have engaged in misconduct. It also permits the Secretary to recoup bonuses if an employee performed poorly or conducted themselves inappropriately and to recoup relocation expenses for fraud, waste, or malfeasance. The bill also bolsters protection for whistleblowers, creating an office within the VA devoted to protecting those who expose wrongdoing. Supervisors will be taught how to protect whistleblowers and will be held accountable for how well they do. And the bill requires reporting to Congress on the performance of senior executives at the VA and on the outcomes of disciplinary actions at the agency. You may be wondering why Congress has taken such an in-depth interest in an executive branch agency, and I will tell you why. It is our job. The legislative branch was designed to oversee the executive branch. We appropriate the funds used to pay the salaries of everyone working at the VA. These funds come from the taxpayer. For the sake of the taxpayer, we must ensure that the VA is serving its purpose. But this bill also empowers the Secretary of the VA, allowing him or her to take immediate action to protect veterans. We can't wait for long appeals processes when a bad employee on the front lines of a VA hospital is harming our veterans. This legislation should not be controversial. Both Democrats and Republicans want the best for our veterans. This legislation, the legislation we are discussing today, gives the VA Secretary and Congress more tools to hold employees accountable because if we are holding employees accountable, then we are protecting our veterans from abuse. This bill is one small way to say thank you to those men and women who have served our country. We can never adequately repay them, but we can do our best to provide them with sufficient medical care. I urge you to support this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to my friend, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave