David Dreier

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, let me just say that I don't have other speakers here yet. I have others on their way over to the floor. I understand the disparity that exists in the timing, and I could talk for all that period of time, but I don't want the gentleman to suffer through that. So I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. I would like to yield 1 minute to my hardworking colleague from Lincoln, Nebraska (Mr. Fortenberry).

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds to say to my very good friend that the fact of the matter is the Republicans sent association health plans to make sure that small businesses could drive the cost of health insurance down to the Senate, and our friends in the other body in the other party killed that measure. We put into place for seniors access to affordable prescription drugs. And so we have worked diligently to make this happen. With that, I am happy to yield 1 minute to my good friend from Fort Myers, Florida (Mr. Mack).

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 5 seconds to respond. Madam Speaker, let me say to my friend that the President did say that he is willing and eager to work with Republicans to rectify the problems that are here, and right after the election, he said that he wanted to correct the 1099 issue, recognizing it is a flawed measure. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H. Res. 9.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, may I inquire of my friend if he has any further speakers on his side?

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to one of our new Members, the gentleman from Oklahoma City (Mr. Lankford).

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

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield 2 minutes to my very, very good friend and California colleague, the dean of our delegation, Mr. Lewis.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, today we begin the process of implementing health care reform. I underscore that. Implementing health care reform is what we begin today. This resolution, H. Res. 9, initiates the second step of a two-part process, which, as we all know with the 245-189 vote last night, saw repeal of the health care bill. Having taken that action to wipe the slate clean, we're now moving on to the far more challenging task of crafting real solutions for the American people to ensure that we can drive down the costs of health insurance and health care. This resolution instructs the four committees of jurisdiction to draft legislation that brings about meaningful health care reforms. Furthermore, this resolution lays out 12 clear guidelines that define what real reform is. Some of these guidelines are simply commonsense principles, such as the need for reform that doesn't hurt job creation or the need to eliminate duplicative wasteful spending. But if there is one overarching principle for true reform, it's that we cannot pick winners and losers. Real reform must be accessible to every American. If a family is forced to give up a health plan that is working for them, can we call that reform? If a small business must lay off employees to comply with new mandates, can we call that reform? If a doctor is forced to close her family practice because the cost of malpractice insurance is prohibitive, can we call that reform? If government bureaucrats make decisions that should be left to doctors and patients, can we call that reform, Madam Speaker? Obviously not. Our goal is to increase access to quality health care for every single American, including those with preexisting conditions. H. Res. 9, that we're going to be considering here today, puts us on the path to do just that. As I said at the outset, this is a tremendous challenge. Achieving the goal of meaningful health care reform, which we all share, will demand an open and collaborative process. The four committees of jurisdiction have a great deal of work ahead of them. This is a process in which we all must contribute--Democrats and Republicans alike. We have good ideas that are coming from both sides of the aisle, and I believe that they will be considered through this deliberative process. These ideas must be shared, analyzed, and debated. If we all participate in this open and transparent process, I believe that we can address the health care challenges that we face in an effective and meaningful way. Ultimately, we all hope to arrive at the same place. We all share the same goal, that is, access to quality care for all. That's what House Republicans want to achieve, and that's what my Democratic colleagues want to achieve as well. And that's what President Obama wants to achieve. We all have our own views on how we get there. In this body alone we have 435 views on the best way to reform our health care system. We owe the American people nothing short of a rigorous and thorough debate. But if we conduct that debate in good faith, Madam Speaker, grounded in the recognition that we all hope to achieve the same outcome, I believe that we, in a bipartisan way, Democrats and Republicans together, can come up with real solutions. Now, we saw the day before yesterday that the President said that he is willing and eager to work with Republicans on the issue of health care. That's a sentiment that I, and I know my colleagues on this side of the aisle, share wholeheartedly. This resolution, H. Res. 9, puts us on a path towards doing just that. It will begin this critically important process. So I hope very much that we will have strong, bipartisan support for this resolution. I will say that we have an amendment that will be coming forward, a Democratic amendment that the Rules Committee has made in order, I am happy to say, that will add to that list that our friend Mr. Matheson has provided. And I will also say that contrary to the argument that has been put out there that we don't have solutions, there is a wide range of proposals that exist. And we look forward to having this committee process vigorously pursue just that. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to one of the hardworking members of this brand-new class that has come in carrying this strong message, the gentleman from Columbus, Ohio (Mr. Stivers).

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds. I do so to say to my friend that I appreciate his very conciliatory remarks. Everyone has acknowledged that this measure is flawed. The President said in his press conference right after the election it was flawed. We have had the courts already throw the mandate out. We need to deal with the problem even before this measure is being implemented. So it seems to me to be absolutely essential that we proceed with this work. With that, I am happy to yield 2 minutes to a hardworking member from our Rules Committee, the gentleman from Lawrenceville, Georgia (Mr. Woodall).

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds to say to my friend from New York, it is very interesting that the President of the United States the day before yesterday said that he was willing and eager to work with Republicans to ensure that we rectify this flawed bill. The distinguished assistant minority, the former majority whip, Mr. Clyburn, said in a program earlier this week that he looked forward to working with Republicans in a bipartisan way to address this. With that, Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to my good friend from Allentown, Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent).

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. Madam Speaker, everyone has acknowledged that the legislation that has passed is flawed. Everyone has acknowledged that. The President of the United States, when he said that the 1099 issue imposing mandates on small businesses needed to be rectified in his first news conference after the election, recognized that there were problems. We had, the day before yesterday, the distinguished assistant minority leader, the former majority whip, Mr. Clyburn, say that he believes that Republicans and Democrats should work together to improve this bill. We have already had a Federal court determine that it is unconstitutional to impose this mandate. Madam Speaker, we need to work together to resolve the very, very great challenges that we have ahead of us. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 26, I call up the resolution (H. Res. 9) instructing certain committees to report legislation replacing the job-killing health care law, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, as we know under the structure, I have claimed time in opposition to the amendment, but I will state once again that I am supportive of the Matheson amendment. I urge my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans alike, to come together and vote for adding what would be item number 13, which will be the beginning of wide-ranging reform to ensure that every single American has access to quality health insurance so that we can again get our economy back on track and focus on job creation and growth. With that, I again urge support of the Matheson amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I would like to claim the time in opposition to the Matheson amendment.

Mr. DREIER. I claim time in opposition to the amendment to say that I support the amendment, Madam Speaker. I believe that as you look at the list of 12 items that we have in H. Res. 9, they are not to be limited at all. And I think that by virtue of our making the Matheson amendment in order to deal with the so- called doc fix issue, we have made it very clear that we are already beginning at this juncture to work in a bipartisan way in our quest to create jobs, get our economy back on track, and ensure that every single American has access to quality affordable health care. And so this is, again, the beginning of a very important process. And I'm very pleased that Mr. Matheson has been able to play a role in fashioning H. Res. 9. And Madam Speaker, I hope very much that with the President of the United States saying that he is willing and eager to work with Republicans to rectify the problems that exist with the passed health care bill and the fact that Mr. Clyburn, the assistant minority leader, has said that he wants to work in a bipartisan way to deal with these issues, will lead to strong bipartisan support for Mr. Matheson's amendment and for the underlying resolution. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. DREIER. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, there was a very powerful and resounding message that came last November 2, and that is the imperative for us to create jobs and get this economy growing. The American people are hurting. In my State of California, we have a 12.5 percent unemployment rate. Part of the area I represent has a 15.5 percent unemployment rate in the Inland Empire in southern California. It is essential that we focus our attention on creating jobs, and I believe the step that we are taking today is going to be very, very important as we pursue that goal. Now, why is that? When we look at what passed last year, was signed last March 23 by the President, it was a measure that imposes mandates on small businesses, jeopardizing their ability to hire new workers. It's a measure that imposes dictates on doctors, a regulatory structure which undermines their potential to hire new employees. It is a measure which, in many ways, jeopardizes our potential to grow the economy because it is a dramatic expansion of the entitlement programs which Democrats and Republicans alike say need to be addressed if we're going to create jobs and get our economy back on track. One of the things that I think is important to note is that people have said that repeal of the health care bill in fact is going to cost $230 billion based on those CBO numbers that came out. Well, only in Washington, D.C., can one cut a $2.7 trillion expenditure and have it labeled as a cost. Why is it a cost? It's a cost because the measure that was signed last March 23 imposes a three-quarter of $1 trillion tax increase on working Americans. Now, what does that do to create jobs and get our economy growing? Obviously, it undermines our shared priority of creating jobs and getting our economy back on track. We know that with the $14 trillion national debt that we have and deficits down the road we need to do what we can to rein in that spending, tackling entitlements and dealing with issues like the one that we're facing today. Now, having said that, we all know that Democrats and Republicans alike want to ensure that every single American has access to quality, affordable health insurance so that they can have access to quality health care. And I underscore the word ``quality,'' because if one looks at the important research and development that takes place in the United States of America, I believe that the measure that was signed last March 23 and that we voted in this House to repeal yesterday, that that measure undermines the very important pursuit of research and development to deal with many of the diseases that are out there. So, Madam Speaker, I've got to say that we all say we want every American to have access to quality, affordable health care, and everyone has acknowledged that that bill that was signed last March 23 is in fact flawed. In his news conference right after the election, the President of the United States said that he believed that we need to address the so-called 1099 provisions that impose, again, an onerous mandate on small businesses, undermining their ability to create jobs-- exactly what I was saying earlier. I quoted the distinguished assistant minority leader, the former majority whip, Mr. Clyburn, who on a program earlier this week said Republicans and Democrats need to work together to rectify some of the problems that exist with this measure. And, as I said, it was 2 days ago that the President of the United States wrote his editorial in The Wall Street Journal in which he talked about the need to reduce the regulatory burden that is imposed on the private sector so we can get our economy going and create jobs. And he also said on that same day that he is willing and eager, Madam Speaker--willing and eager--to work with Republicans to rectify some of the programs that exist in this measure. Now, I heard my friend Mr. Matheson this morning, on National Public Radio, state that there was not a plan out there, and that's the reason that, having voted against the bill, he did not vote for repeal, because there's not a plan out there. I heard that at 7:35 this morning on WAMU. Mr. Matheson made that statement. But the fact of the matter is, unlike the plan that was signed into law March 23 of last year that did not include the kind of bipartisan participation that we believe is essential, I've got to say that we are planning to proceed with this direction to the four committees that will allow virtually every Member of this House to be involved. We have 12 items. And I'm happy to say that under this rule we have made in order Mr. Matheson's amendment that we will be considering in just a few minutes that will add a 13th item to deal with the so-called ``doc fix.'' So that, again, underscores our desire to work in a bipartisan way to address some of the concerns that are there. Now, what is it that we say needs to be done? And, frankly, the President of the United States has indicated some of these he supports. We need to make sure that people do have a chance to purchase insurance across State lines, which is now, under McCarran-Ferguson, denied. We need to make sure that we put into place associated health plans-- again, a provision that passed the Republican House but was killed by Democrats in the Senate when we last were in the majority. We need to do everything that we can to allow for pooling to deal with preexisting conditions. We need to make sure that we expand medical savings accounts that provide incentives for people to put dollars aside to plan for their health care needs. And one of the things that the President of the United States said in his State of the Union message 1 year ago right here in this Chamber, we need to deal with meaningful lawsuit abuse reform so that we can have attention focused on patients and doctors and not on trial lawyers. So I would say to my friend from Utah, those are five items that are part of our plan that I believe can enjoy strong bipartisan support. And so, Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 9 so that we can proceed with a bipartisan consideration of this very important goal that we share of creating jobs, getting our economy back on track, and ensuring that every single American has access to quality, affordable health insurance.

Mr. DREIER. I yield myself 15 seconds, Madam Speaker, just to say as I had said to my friend earlier, it's interesting that they continue to say that we did nothing. Associated health plans, which Democrats and Republicans like, designed to drive down the cost for small businesses to provide health insurance, was submitted from this Republican House to the other body. The Democrats, in fact, killed that measure. So attempts were made to put into place real reform. With that, back by popular demand, the Rules Committee member from Lawrenceville, Georgia, for 2 minutes, Mr. Woodall.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield 1 minute to my good friend from Cherryville, North Carolina (Mr. McHenry).

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. Madam Speaker, those are among the brilliant words that 50 years ago today were delivered by President John F. Kennedy as he was inaugurated. In 3 hours we are going to be marking that inaugural with a ceremony in the great rotunda. And I think it's very important, Madam Speaker, as we do that to remember not only John F. Kennedy's commitment to our Nation's security, but to once again underscore his passionate commitment to our economic security by his implementation of pro-growth economic policies that were replicated 30 years ago today when Ronald Reagan became President of the United States and pursued the same kinds of pro-growth policies that President John F. Kennedy pursued. I hope very much, Madam Speaker, that we can learn from the lessons of both of these great Presidencies.