Buddy Carter

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 1550, the Program Management Improvement Accountability Act, introduced by Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa. Program and project management are the guide rails that are necessary to ensure the Federal Government actually works. Effective program and project managers are both the first line of defense against waste and fraud throughout the Federal Government and the best positioned employees to increase government efficiency. With Federal spending out of control, we need the best program and project managers we can get to combat waste, fraud, and inefficiency. According to CBO, the Federal Government will spend more than $4 trillion in fiscal year 2017, but better management alone could prove a significant effect on our long-term spending. A 2013 Accenture study found that a 1 percent increase in efficiency could save the Federal Government nearly $1 trillion by 2025. S. 1550 gives our Federal professionals the support and leadership they need to build a strong foundation of efficiency for Federal programs and projects. The bill addresses challenges these professionals face to ensure that management professionals in our Federal workforce have the guidance, support, and professional standards necessary to improve efficiency. According to a report by the National Academy of Public Administration, there are five significant challenges to improving program management capabilities in the Federal Government: laws do not holistically address challenges of program management; program management is not recognized as an important discipline for improving performance and results; agency executives and stakeholders do not understand their roles and responsibilities; training and development of program managers lack consistency across the Federal Government; and program managers lack a professional community to provide support and voice concerns about program management development. S. 1550 addresses these challenges by: requiring OMB's Deputy Director of Management to adopt and oversee government-wide standards that are consistent with private sector best practices; requiring agencies to designate a senior executive to serve as a program management improvement officer, an individual who will then be responsible for implementing standards and policies set by OMB at their agency; and establishing a Program Management Policy Council to discuss topics of importance to program and project managers and make recommendations to resolve inefficiencies in programs identified as high risk by the Government Accountability Office. Providing guidance and leadership to our Federal employees responsible for trillions of dollars in spending will go a long way toward meeting a simple goal like increasing efficiency by just 1 percent. I urge my colleagues to support this cost-saving, bipartisan bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5625) to provide for reimbursement for the use of modern travel services by Federal employees traveling on official Government business, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5690) to ensure the Government Accountability Office has adequate access to information.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the courageous Chase Busby from St. Simons Island, Georgia--a 3-year-old battling leukemia. After Chase showed symptoms of a fairly common cold for about a month, his parents, Chris and Cassie, took him to the doctor for tests. Unfortunately, those tests showed that he had an acute type of childhood cancer found in bone marrow. Since that time, Chase has gone through many more tests, medicines, and painful procedures, including chemotherapy. He is set to complete his treatment in 2018. In true south Georgia fashion, I am proud to say that Chase's local community is rallying behind him. In his honor, on September 23, Redfern Village in St. Simons is hosting a block party called ``Redfern Goes Gold,'' and the proceeds will go to funding childhood cancer research. With September being National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, I rise today to wish Chase Busby all the best in fighting this disease. Chase, we are here to support you every step of the way.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Well, it begs the question: How did they know about it? Here is how they know about it. What happens when you bring a prescription into a pharmacy is we fill that prescription and we adjudicate the claim. What that means is that the community pharmacy's computer calls the insurance company's computer and it tells you automatically whether they are going to pay it and how much they are going to pay. Well, guess what? That pharmacy that owns that insurance company that I just called, they have that information. Yes, there are laws against it. There is supposed to be a wall there in between them, but you tell me how that pharmacy knew that my wife had a prescription filled that day at the community pharmacy that I owned at that time. Obviously, that is what is happening. Representative Collins, you have introduced your bill, a great bill. It has to do with MAC transparency, MAC, maximum allowable costs. Let me tell you very quickly what maximum allowable cost is. We talk about acronyms. Well, nobody uses as many acronyms as the Federal Government uses. I tell people all the time that one of my goals in Congress is to learn at least 10 percent of all the acronyms that we use up here. But the acronym, MAC, M-A-C, maximum allowable cost, what that is is that insurance companies come up with a list and they say this is what we are going to pay you. This is the maximum we are going to pay you. If you can't buy it any cheaper than that then, I am sorry; you are just going to lose money. Well, that is okay to a certain extent. We understand that. We can work within that. But what happens is they don't update it, so all of a sudden--and you have seen it. We have all experienced what has happened with the spikes in drug costs here recently, particularly in generic drugs. What happens is that drug goes up. Well, the insurance company drags their feet and they don't increase that maximum allowable cost and, all of a sudden, the pharmacy is dispensing something at a loss. Well, that is obviously a business model that is not going to sustain. You are not going to be able to stay in business if you are dispensing something and losing money on it. Then, how do they come up with this MAC list? What we are talking about here, and what Representative Collins' bill addresses is what is called MAC transparency. All we are asking here is to shine light on this, is to have some transparency, so we can see exactly what is going on. And that is what his bill does, and we appreciate his work on that very much. His bill is a step forward, not only for the industry, but again, for the beneficiary, for the patient. That is ultimately who is going to save money, and that is ultimately what we are trying to do here. It is no surprise that the costs are going up because of a lack of transparency in the system, no surprise at all. We have got to have more transparency, particularly in the pricing of generics if we are going to be able to create a stable and an affordable healthcare system. Now, you heard mentioned here earlier, DIR fees. DIR, direct and indirect remuneration, and you heard mentioned clawbacks. Now, let me try to articulate this the best I can and what happens here with these DIR fees, which is something that has come up in the past probably year, maybe year and half or 2 years. But what this is is, I mentioned earlier that, when the community pharmacy fills the preparation, we adjudicate the claim, that our computer calls their computer, the insurance computer, and it tells us how much they are going to pay. Okay. We are okay with that. We understand what we are going to get paid. But yet, with DIR fees, months later, the insurance company comes back and says, oh, we told you we were going to pay you $2.50. No, we have got to take back that $2.50. We are not going to be able to pay you that. Folks, obviously, that is not a sustainable business model. Nobody can stay in business that way. Yet that is the way DIR fees are being imposed now. Thank goodness, just last week, Congressman Morgan Griffith from Virginia, our colleague, introduced a bill that addresses Medicare part D prescription drug transparency and DIR fees. I thank Congressman Griffith for that. Again, keep in mind, folks, we are not talking about, oh, we have got to make community pharmacies profitable. All community pharmacies want to do is to compete. We just want to have the opportunity to compete on a fair, level playing field. That is all we are asking. We are not asking for any favoritism at all. Yet, when you have got an insurance company that owns the pharmacy, that is obviously a conflict of interest. Who cannot see that? Again, Congressman Griffith has introduced this bill, and it is a great bill. These DIR fees, a big unknown for pharmacists, as I mentioned. They can sometimes total up to thousands of dollars per month, and they can significantly complicate what your net reimbursement is going to be to cover your cost. In fact, in a recent survey, nearly 67 percent, almost two-thirds of community pharmacists, have indicated they don't receive any information about when those fees will be collected or how large they will be--two-thirds, two-thirds of the pharmacies here. And folks, I was so happy to see Representative Loebsack. He pointed out that he was the only Democrat here tonight, but I can assure you that there are other Democrats, because this is a bipartisan issue. Listen, when you go to get a prescription filled in a community pharmacy, they don't ask you if you are a Republican or a Democrat. They could care less. All they know is you are a patient, and we need to take care of that patient, and that is what we are trying to do. There is another bill that I want to touch on here. It is a very important bill. It is one that has been introduced by another good friend of pharmacy, Representative Brett Guthrie from Kentucky. It is called the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act, and this is really the pharmacy provider act. As I mentioned earlier, the pharmacists who are graduating today are so clinically superior to when I graduated. And Congressman Scott, I believe, mentioned earlier about the things that pharmacists are doing now: flu shots, immunizations, all of those things that pharmacists are able to do. Pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare professionals out there. We in America, if we are ever going to get our healthcare costs under control, we have to take advantage of that. We have to take advantage of having that expertise right there before us and having it so accessible. Representative Guthrie's bill, the pharmacy provider status bill, will give us the opportunity to reimburse pharmacists for those clinical services that they are capable of and that they are currently providing. This is something that needs to be done under Medicare part D. I mentioned Congressman Griffith and what he has done, and it really has been a blessing, then Congressman Brett Guthrie and what he has done, and Congressman Collins and what he has done. All of these things are very, very important. I want to mention one other thing, and that is something that has come out of the Energy and Commerce Committee this year, and that is the 21st Century Cures. 21st Century Cures is a great piece of legislation. That and the opioid bill that we passed earlier this year, I think, are two of the bills that I am most proud of since I have been a Member of this body; and part of that has to do with the fact that they are healthcare bills and I am a healthcare professional. But 21st Century Cures is a great piece of legislation. It has been passed under the leadership of, as I say, Chairman Fred Upton and the Energy and Commerce Committee. It has been critical in advancing research. It addresses so many different things. It increases funding for the National Institutes of Health. It streamlines the process of the FDA and how they approve medications. It offers incentives to companies to come up with new innovations with new medications. Right now we know of over 10,000 diseases that affect humankind, yet only 500 of them can be treated. 21st Century Cures addresses this. It is a great piece of legislation, and I would be remiss if I did not mention that. Again, I want to thank Congressman Collins, and I want to thank all my colleagues who have spoken here tonight on a very, very important subject. Again, folks, all we are saying is let us compete. I have had so many patients who have been, their parents, their grandparents, treated at our pharmacy; yet, because their insurance plan changed, they literally left our pharmacy in tears and had to go down the street and have a prescription filled somewhere else. That is not American. It is not right. Again, I want to thank Congressman Collins for giving me this opportunity to speak on this, obviously something that I have dealt with all my life, my professional life. I am very proud of our profession. I am very proud of community pharmacy. I am very proud of the patient care that the community pharmacist and all pharmacists provide to the patients. So I thank the gentleman for doing this and thank him for giving me the opportunity.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Well, exactly.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. That is the whole key. The whole key is that what we are talking about is patient care. We are not talking about community pharmacies trying to pad their pockets. But what we are trying to point out and what you have done so efficiently, particularly with your chart, is to point out what is happening here. Everyone is concerned about high drug prices right now. It is one of the biggest subjects that we hear about in the newscasts and everywhere. Granted, this is not the only part of that, but it is a big part of it. What is happening is we are taking competition out of health care. If we talk about ObamaCare, if we talk about the Affordable Care Act, ObamaCare, whatever you want to call it, my number one concern with is that it has taken competition, it has taken the free market out of health care. I mean, think about it. Am I talking just about independent retail pharmacies? No. I am talking about independent health care. How many independent doctors do you know anymore? Most of them are members of healthcare systems, most of them are members of hospital systems, which are fine systems, but, again, we are taking away competition. And that is what is happening here. I thank Representative Collins. I want to thank him for, again, organizing and bringing this to light. As you have mentioned, I have been a community pharmacist for over 30 years. I graduated from the University of Georgia in 1980. Go Dogs. I am just as proud as I can be of my alma mater. You know, pharmacy has changed tremendously since I graduated. I serve on the advisory board at the University of Georgia at the College of Pharmacy, and I can tell you the quality of students that are graduating now from pharmacy school is just tremendous. The clinical expertise that they are graduating with makes us all in health care very, very proud. I still maintain that pharmacists are some of the most overtrained and underutilized professionals out there. But, again, I want to get back in full disclosure here. I am a free market person. I am someone who believes in the free market. I believe in competition. And that is all community pharmacists are saying: Let us compete. But as Representative Collins has pointed out so succinctly here, we don't even have the opportunity to compete. When you have the insurance company owning the pharmacy and making decisions that impact patients and where they can go and tell patients, No, you cannot buy your prescription over here, you have to buy it over here, that takes the free market out of the system. That takes competition out of the system. Who cannot see that? There are chains there who will tell you that their operation is a three-legged stool. They have the PBMs, they have the pharmacy, and now they have their health clinics. Well, what does that do? It is a great business model, sure, but once they get you, they got you. If you go to a pharmacy and they write that prescription, and then that prescription is filled right there, well, obviously, that is a conflict of interest. But that is what is happening now. If the insurance company owns the pharmacy and tells you that you have to go to this pharmacy, that is a problem. True story. I owned three community pharmacies before I became a Member of Congress. My wife owns them now. While I still owned those pharmacies, I filled a prescription for my wife at the pharmacy that I own. This was about 3 or 4 years ago. Later on that night, she got a call from the insurance company encouraging her to get that prescription filled at another pharmacy. I am telling you, this is true. Honest. That is just crazy.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Well, I want to thank the gentleman for organizing this and for bringing this to light. This is something that I know you are obviously very passionate about and that you have worked on for a long time; many years. You know, it is not just you. You are obviously a leader here. But also, Representative Scott, who spoke earlier. Representative Loebsack. I may be the only pharmacist in Congress, but we have many friends of pharmacy in Congress, and we appreciate this very much. But even more so--if I may, even more so, what you are concerned about, what Representative Scott, what Representative Loebsack, what everyone up here is concerned about is patient care. That is what we are talking about.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. No. It is. As the gentleman states, it is a very common practice. And you know, it is downright unAmerican. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy here in America. When you do not allow a small business to participate, even if they are willing to take the reimbursement that an insurance company is offering, but that insurance company, nevertheless, will not let them participate, that, in my opinion, is unAmerican.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5587, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, and the benefit and opportunities it will provide for those looking to enter the job market. We have an opportunity to get rid of the stigma of this vocation path and bring to light the benefits of career and technical education. This bill overhauls the system to bring the decisionmaking down to the State and local leaders. It more closely accounts for changes in the job market. It increases the input from groups such as students and business leaders. This legislation empowers leaders from our States and communities by reducing the paperwork for local education providers and streamlines the requirements process. It supports closer partnerships with employers, who know the needs of the workplace, and puts in place accountability benchmarks to ensure that these programs on the secondary level are delivering the training and results they are supposed to be providing to students. This bill also allows States and local authorities to develop a curriculum they know that works for their students and for their communities. I applaud the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) and the Education and the Workforce Committee for their hard work and diligence in addressing this matter. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Savannah, Georgia's Specialist Joseph Broam of the Georgia National Guard and a student at Armstrong State University. Specialist Broam was chosen to represent the entire Army National Guard at the U.S. Army Best Warrior Competition. I am incredibly proud of Specialist Broam's accomplishment and could not be more enthusiastic for his final competition, starting September 26. To qualify for the championship competition, Specialist Broam completed and succeeded at the brigade, State, regional, and national levels. Each competition was extremely physically and mentally straining. During the national competition, participants ran more than 4 miles over rough terrain, completed a demanding obstacle course, and navigated land during day and night. I rise today to congratulate Specialist Joseph Broam for his accomplishment, and I wish him the best of luck on September 26.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4979, the Advanced Nuclear Technology Development Act, and to talk about what it means for our nation's energy infrastructure needs. Energy independence is a critical goal for the United States as the sources of energy available in this country grow and become safer. It's been proven that nuclear energy is an extremely safe and viable option with the only new nuclear plant in 30 years being built just up the river from my district. There has been a considerable amount of research and development that has gone in to the nuclear energy and it accounts for 60 percent of the clean energy produced in the United States. Under this bill, those hurdles to design and development will be lowered to ensure that the option to produce clean, viable energy that is stable and sustainable remains a possibility. Growing a closer partnership between the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will help to chart an energy independence path for our nation as we seek new possibilities and alternatives to power our way to a better future. This legislation will knock down those walls to innovation and will provide an opportunity to develop advanced reactor designs that could be vital to our energy infrastructure. I applaud my good friend Mr. Latta for his work on this issue and the work of the Energy and Commerce Committee to address these reforms to the nuclear energy field and energy independence and I urge passage of this important legislation.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4979, the Advanced Nuclear Technology Development Act of 2016, to talk about what it means for our Nation's energy infrastructure needs. Energy independence is a critical goal for the United States as the sources of energy available in this country grow and become safer. It has been proven that nuclear energy is an extremely safe and viable option with the only new nuclear plant in 30 years being built just up the river from my district. There has been a considerable amount of research and development that has gone in to nuclear energy, and it accounts for 60 percent of the clean energy produced in the United States. Under this bill, those hurdles to design and development will be lowered to ensure that the option to produce clean, viable energy that is stable and sustainable remains a possibility. Growing a closer partnership between the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will help to chart an energy-independent path for our Nation as we seek new possibilities and alternatives to power our way to a better future. This legislation will knock down those walls to innovation and will provide an opportunity to develop advanced reactor designs that could be vital to our energy infrastructure. I applaud my good friend, Mr. Latta, for his work on this issue and the work of the Energy and Commerce Committee to address these reforms to the nuclear energy field and energy independence. I urge passage of this important legislation.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1301, the Amateur Radio Parity Act, and its positive effects on amateur radio operators and our communities. Amateur radio operators not only participate due to interests in the hobby, but also because they serve an important role in the communications and coordination of communities and emergency services. Under existing regulations, amateur radio operators can be subjected to regulations that other industries are not subject to, effectively singling them out. This bill doesn't display favoritism, it simply created an equal playing field for an industry that is little known, but contributes immensely to the well-being of our communities. The Amateur Radio Parity Act would ensure that amateur operators are able to continue their hobby within the confines of the law, including in deed-restricted communities. Across the United States, there are more than 720,000 amateur radio operators licensed by the FCC whose services to their communities cost nothing to the taxpayers. They are instrumental in helping to coordinate during natural disasters and have provided services to organizations including the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, FEMA and the Department of Defense. As the Representative for coastal Georgia, I know all too well the effects of a natural disaster on an area and the benefits to having in place every protection possible to help combat the challenges that arise in those difficult times. I applaud my good friend Mr. Kinzinger for his work on this issue and the work of the Energy and Commerce Committee to address these reforms and I urge passage of this important legislation.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 835, which encourages the development of new technologies that increase consumers' access to commerce and financial tools. This is an exciting time in American Commerce. Each day, innovators are connecting consumers, industries, and markets through brand new technologies and connected devices. These new technologies will empower American consumers and our economy like never before. With innovations coming so rapidly, we need to ensure that these new technologies are not at the expense of consumer privacy and cybersecurity. These resolutions would support American innovation in financial technology, transparency, security, and consumer empowerment while protecting consumers' personal information. By improving consumers' access to commerce through technological means, we can greatly improve the quality of life for future Americans. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution so that our innovators can confidently take on the challenge of developing technology for tomorrow's marketplace

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 847, which would express the sense of the House of Representatives about a national strategy for the Internet of Things. We are truly living in the internet age, and new technologies are developing each day. High performing mobile devices and cloud technologies that seemed so new are already commonplace in the business world and at home. Broadband internet access is expanding into communities across the nation, and it is more affordable than ever. As innovators add internet connectivity to an increasing number of ordinary objects, we need to be thinking ahead to the next big thing. H. Res. 847 expresses the sense that we need to encourage innovation and development of these technologies through cooperation with industry and consumers. It is also important to look ahead to how the Internet of Things can be used to improve the efficiency of our government and reduce waste and abuse. By preparing for these technologies now, our nation will enjoy greater benefits in the future. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5104, the Better On-line Ticket Sales Act, and to discuss what it means for consumers. Congresswoman Blackburn introduced this legislation to combat an issue that many of us are probably very familiar with if you attend entertainment events. Too often, consumers are left in the dust as outside groups take advantage of the system and buy up tickets in large blocks. This results in fans not having access to those events or having to pay more to purchase tickets from a third party vendor. This harms the industry and fans looking to enjoy it on their free time. Under this bill, software that enables this circumvention of those checks would be prohibited from being sold and tickets purchased in this manner would also be prohibited from being sold. The FTC would enforce these new requirements and people who were affected by these profiteering ventures would be able to bring a civil suit. For too long, these organization and individuals have sidestepped the system with the fan being the one that is most impacted. Congresswoman Blackburn's legislation would overhaul this broken system and punish those who are unwilling to play by the rules. I applaud her work on this issue and the work of the Energy and Commerce Committee to rein in these actions and urge passage of this important legislation.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for his efforts.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for holding this important debate on tax reform and the FairTax Act. Tax reform is one of the most pressing issues facing our Nation today. In fact, it is so important that my very first act in Congress was to cosponsor this bill. I had promised that to my constituents. When I got here, that is exactly what I did. Without question, one of the most pressing issues that our citizenry has right now is tax reform. That is at the top of the list. So I am very proud to be able to participate in this. You mentioned the ports. I am very blessed and very humble to be able to represent the First Congressional District in Georgia, which includes two major seaports: the Port of Savannah, which is the number two container port on the Eastern seaboard and number four in the Nation; and the Port of Brunswick, which is the number three roll-on, roll-off port in the country, meaning that we have cars down there that are leaving that port every day and going to all corners of the world. It is something that we are very, very proud of, and something that adds to our economy. And it is not just the economy of the First Congressional District, but of the entire Southeast United States. That is how important it is. Again, that is why the FairTax is so very important to our country and why I support it so much. We need a tax system that treats everyone equally, that encourages American businesses and the economy to grow and prosper. First of all, people don't like paying taxes. We understand that. We all understand the need to pay taxes. But if they are going to pay a tax, they want to pay a consumption tax. They don't want to pay a property tax. They would rather pay a consumption tax. I have learned that after years of being a mayor and after years serving in the State legislature, that has been something that has been just very clear to me. And people want a tax system that is easy to understand. They don't like our current tax system that is so complex. When you look at the IRS manual and you see how thick it is, it just boggles the mind to think that we can't come up with something much easier than that. That is why I compliment you on the FairTax, because it is simple and it is straightforward and it is fair, and that is what people want. But even worse, we have got an out-of-control bureaucracy at the IRS that has completely lost the trust of the American people. When I go home, when I meet with my constituents time and time again, that is what they tell me, that they don't trust the IRS, that it is too complex. They want it to where they can file their taxes on a postcard. And there is no reason why we shouldn't have that and no reason why we shouldn't continue to work toward that common goal. The FairTax Act would fully repeal our current tax system and replace it with a national sales tax on the use and our consumption of property or services in the U.S. By eliminating the Federal income tax, everyone can keep their entire paycheck and pay taxes only on what they consume. Again, a consumption tax. No more struggling to understand the volumes and volumes of tax codes an exemptions. It would do away with all that. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Everyone would contribute their fair share based on what they purchase. We all have to purchase. That is what makes our economy run, and that is why this is such an ideal tax and such an ideal system for me and for us as Americans. You know, as a former small-business owner, I am fully aware of how difficult it is to be successful and grow when the tax system is so complicated and burdensome. I fought those battles. The uncertainty alone makes it very hard to take on the challenges and risk of building capital and hiring employees. The economy cannot grow if businessowners are held back from making the changes and additions that they need to expand. We have to have that. I believe that a simple and straightforward system like the FairTax will provide the certainty that businesses need to grow with confidence. Our Nation is still in an economic recovery mode, and businessowners and families need all the confidence that they can get. Again, I want to thank my colleague from Georgia for introducing this legislation and compliment him on the excellent job that he is doing. I encourage all my colleagues to support the FairTax so that we can finally have the fair and simple tax system that Americans deserve.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Gus Bell and his 50 years of service to the Hussey Gay Bell Firm, a design and architecture company located in Savannah, Georgia, dedicated to innovating the engineering field. Mr. Bell joined the company in 1966 and, with his hard work, purchased the company 20 years later. He then led Hussey Gay Bell's expansion to international clients, proving itself an international pioneer in architecture and engineering. While a big one, this is only one of Mr. Gus Bell's many accomplishments. For the last five decades, Mr. Bell has also dedicated himself to the enrichment of the State of Georgia. He has chaired the board of Mercer's medical school, founded the St. Andrew's School Board, and represented the State of Georgia in a major water dispute. Mr. Bell's influence is felt throughout the region and, certainly, beyond. I am honored that Mr. Bell is a resident of Georgia's First Congressional District, and I thank him for his dedication to our area. On a personal note, I thank him for all of his assistance to me while I was mayor of the city of Pooler. I am honored to call him my friend.

Mr. CARTER of Georgia

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of seniors in the First Congressional District of Georgia. Many seniors in the First Congressional District of Georgia and across the Nation battle medically complex diagnoses, including cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, severe immune deficiency, epilepsy, and macular degeneration. These Medicare patients face significant complexities in their care and treatment options. This spring, I joined over 240 of my colleagues in sending a letter to CMS that expressed our deep concerns with a sweeping, nationwide experiment that the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation has proposed. Patients and physicians in my district told me with no uncertainty that the CMMI experiment with part B drug payment will have negative consequences for millions of Medicare patients who depend on access to lifesaving treatments to live better lives. Under the part B drug experiment, in many cases, Medicare payment for certain drugs would be significantly below a physician's acquisition cost for the drug. This will put patients at tremendous risk, potentially forcing them to abandon treatments for other treatments that have shown less success. Ultimately, CMS will manipulate choice of treatment for Medicare patients using heavy-handed reimbursement techniques that undermine any efforts by medical professionals who have dedicated their lives to treating complex conditions like cancer. To make matters worse, CMS sought little to no stakeholder input, and has provided little turnaround time before medication treatment will be based on cost, rather than what is best for the patient. As a lifelong pharmacist, I trust clinically trained medical professionals to determine the best treatment for patients, not an unaccountable bureaucrat. Adding to the outlandish nature of this part B drug pilot project, there is nearly no escaping it. CMMI proposes to force nearly 75 percent of the country to participate in this Medicare drug experiment. 75 percent of the country is not a pilot project. It is near full implementation of a new program. Just last week, CMS responded to the letter we sent them and simply thanked us for sharing our opinion. Such a brief and dismissive response is indifferent to the risk posed to our Nation's sickest patients and to this congressional body. For all these reasons, I applaud my colleague from Indiana, Dr. Larry Bucshon, for sponsoring H.R. 5122 to prohibit CMS from moving forward with this dangerous, misguided experiment with seniors' lives. I proudly join him in his effort as a cosponsor of H.R. 5122 and encourage my colleagues to support this legislation.