David Dreier

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DREIER. I am told there are 11 minutes remaining on your side. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, at this time I am very privileged to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished former chairman of the Republican conference, my friend from Columbus, Indiana (Mr. Pence). (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, at this time I am happy to yield 1 minute to another hardworking physician, a member of this new freshman class, the gentleman from south Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Dr. DesJarlais.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield my friend an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. DREIER. I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, this is the first act of the 112th Congress, and I have to say that I am particularly gratified that we have had six new Members of this 87-Member Republican class participate in this debate because, Madam Speaker, they have come here with a very, very strong, powerful message from the American people. That message is that we have to make sure that we create jobs and get our economy back on track. Even though we have gotten this positive news of the reduction of the unemployment rate from 9.8 to 9.3 percent this morning, tragically last month only 105,000 new jobs were created. That is not enough to sustain our economy. You have to create at least 150,000 jobs just to be treading water. We know that the American people are continuing to suffer, and the message that has come from the American people through these 87 new Members is that we have to have a laser-like focus on creating jobs, getting our economy back on track, and reducing the size and scope and reach of the Federal Government. My friend Mr. Pence and I had an exchange in which we said only in Washington, D.C., can saying that cutting a $2.7 trillion increase-- eliminating that, scrapping that--will, in fact, cost money. It's absolutely crazy, but that is what they are arguing; and through their sleight of hand, with the Congressional Budget Office, they are going to continue to claim that it will somehow save money. Madam Speaker, we are doing what we told the American people we would do. It is very simple. Beginning last year, we said we would have a very clean up-or-down vote: Should we maintain this $2.7 trillion expansion with government mandates and increased taxes, or should we repeal it? That's what we are going to be voting on after the 3-day layover next week; and, Madam Speaker, are we, in fact, committing ourselves to doing everything that we possibly can to ensure that every single American has access to quality, affordable health care and health insurance? That's what the resolution that I have introduced, H. Res. 9, will do. It will direct the six committees of jurisdiction to begin immediately working on ways in which we can drive the cost of health insurance down. I personally believe that we need to allow for the purchase of insurance across State lines, which is now forbidden under the McCarran-Ferguson Act. I believe that it is very important for us to have associated health plans so that small businesses can come together and get lower rates. We need to have pooling to deal with preexisting conditions. We need to expand medical savings accounts. And yes, Madam Speaker, the fifth thing we need to do is we need to have meaningful lawsuit abuse reform so that resources can go towards doctors and not trial lawyers. These are the kinds of things that these new Members are telling us need to be done, and that is exactly what passage of this rule will make happen. Now, Madam Speaker, let me say I urge support of this rule, and I urge support of the underlying legislation.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, at this time I yield 2 minutes to another hardworking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, our friend from Marietta, Georgia, Dr. Gingrey.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining on each side?

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. I have no authority to do that. We are living under this rule that was passed by the House.

Mr. DREIER. I have my time, and I will be utilizing that, Madam Speaker.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the fact that my friend from New York has stated his respect for Mr. Sessions and Mr. Fitzpatrick. These two individuals were in this Capitol. They were in this Capitol when they took the oath of office. They didn't happen to be in this exact room. Under the standard of collegiality in Jefferson's Manual, it is indicated that they have to be within the proximity of the Speaker. Madam Speaker, any Member who does not vote in favor of this resolution is allowing the problem to persist. This resolution rectifies the problem which we all realize has happened. I believe that we have a responsibility to this institution, we have a responsibility to the Constitution, we have a responsibility to the American people, and this resolution rectifies a problem that has existed. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 26, I send to the desk as the designee of the majority leader a resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield on that point?

Mr. DREIER. I thank my friend for yielding. Let me just say to the commission that I think it is very important to note that they argued that there should be a reduction to 26 percent as the top corporate rate and 23 percent as the top tax rate. I thank my friend for yielding.

Mr. DREIER. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, everyone is very enthused about today. It is a great day. We have 96 new Members of this institution--87 Republicans and nine Democrats--nearly 100 new Members. They are here having carried a very strong and powerful message from the American people, which is we have got to create jobs, get our economy growing, reduce the size and scope and reach of government, and do it in a more transparent, open and accountable way. Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we are doing. That is exactly what we are doing with this rules package. Now, there seems to be a little disagreement on the notion of dealing with spending and taxes. The fact of the matter is we all know--several of us have said it through the debate--that we don't have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. What we need to do is to focus on reducing spending, and we are absolutely committed with a laser-like approach to doing that. It is going to be tough. It is going to be painful. I hope that, as we reached out and had bipartisan input on this rules package for the first time ever, that we will be able to do the exact same thing, Mr. Speaker, when we deal with the question of getting our economy growing and the other challenges that lie ahead of us. We never before have had the opportunity that we are going to have in just a few minutes. The Rules Committee is going to meet after we are seated, and when I came to the Rules Committee two decades ago, I was told by the dean of the Washington press core, David Broder, that the Rules Committee hearing room was small by design. Why? To keep us out, Mr. Broder said to me. Well, Mr. Speaker, for the first time in this quest for transparency, we are going to have online streaming of our Rules Committee meeting that will take place after we are seated here. General Leave