Renee Ellmers

Mrs. ELLMERS

Mrs. ELLMERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my congratulations to the Men and Women of Combat Medical Systems on the opening of their new office in Fayetteville, North Carolina. One year ago this month, Fayetteville suffered from a sudden and devastating outbreak of tornadoes. These storms ripped through our region and caused horrendous damage to homes, businesses, and personal property. I was told of the bravery of their staff and President, Corey Russ, who, as a retired Delta Force medic, began treating casualties and handing out thousands of dollars of company equipment to strangers so that they could help others in the area and transport casualties to nearby hospitals. One year later, our communities continue to rebuild and we can take pride in the new homes and buildings that have been erected. We must continue to remember the individuals that perished in this disaster and honor their legacy through the care and rebuilding of our community. Combat Medical Systems and its employees show the dedication and determination we all aspire to as we rebuild and survive in the face of unforeseen obstacles. This courage embodies the spirit of our nation and fuels our economy. I commend them on their willingness to give back to the community and on the successes they have rightly earned. Again, I congratulate them on the opening of their new office. May God bless them, their families, and our great nation.

Mrs. ELLMERS

Mrs. ELLMERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the United States Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Unit at Southern Nash High School in Bailey, North Carolina. Since 2006, Unit NC 935 has been selected by Headquarters, United States Air Force Air University as a Distinguished Unit, ranking in the top 25 percent of units worldwide. For the 2010 2011 School-Years, Unit NC 935 was selected by Headquarters, United States Air Force Air University as a Distinguished Unit with Merit, the highest honor bestowed in the United States Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. In March, Cadets Trevon Davis, Lorell Dupree, Austin Fennell, Samantha Hill, Cristal Raya, and Trebor Walker flew on an Air Force mission with a KC 135 Tanker crew from the 77th Air Refueling Squadron to refuel a C 17 in flight. And most recently, Unit NC 935 placed first overall at the annual Capital City Invitational Drill Meet in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Regulation Armed Flight placed third, commanded by Cadet John Setera. The Regulation Flight placed third, commanded by Cadet Lance Burnett. The First Year Cadet (AS 1) Element placed third, commanded by Cadet Eric Wall. The Regulation Color Guard placed third, commanded by Cadet Raya. The Relay Team placed third. The AS 1 Flight placed second, commanded by Cadet Davis. The Innovative Element Armed placed second, commanded by Cadet Trebor Walker. The Innovative Duo placed second, performed by Cadets Walker and Burnett. The Regulation Element Male placed first, commanded by Cadet Fennell. Cadet Burnett placed first in the Best Individual Drill with Rifle competition. Cadet Fennell placed first in the Best Individual Drill competition. Cadet Fennell also received an award for most sit ups performed in two minutes. I would also like to congratulate Lt. Col. John Coulter, CMSgt John Wedding, Commander Luis Lewis Pimentel, and all the cadets at Southern Nash High School, on the accomplishments of this impressive unit. The 2nd district of North Carolina thrives on strong leaders like these, and I am proud to represent these fine young men and women.

Mrs. ELLMERS

Mrs. ELLMERS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak today on the intellectual responsibility of H.R. 9. Back in my home town of Dunn, I have friends who are pharmacists. They own and run an independent pharmacy started by their father 60 years ago. I'm speaking of Paige Houston and Cathy Blackman. Paige told me the other day that initially in this recession they were missed because people were afraid to go without their medications, and they were willing to pay the money even though the economy was starting to take a turn. Today, things are so bad that people are going without their medications, which as a result is a decrease in the number of customers they have and the amount of revenue coming in. Now their accountant has told them that they have no choice but to cut contributions to their employees' 401(k) plans and their health insurance premiums or be forced to lay off employees. Paige told me this 20 percent tax cut will keep more money in their business, allowing her to maintain benefits for her employees.

Mrs. ELLMERS

Mrs. ELLMERS. I thank the chairman for allowing me to be here tonight to help in this effort. Mr. Chairman, the President's economic agenda has failed the American people. The President's economic agenda has failed our job creators, our seniors, and future generations. The President's policies have failed and are making the economy worse. The President's budget calls for more failed attempts to tax, spend, borrow, and bail out our way to job creation. I'd like to read a quote from a third party that addresses this issue. Bernie Marcus, former chairman and CEO of Home Depot: If we don't lower spending, and if we don't deal with paying down the debt, we are going to have to raise taxes. Even brain-dead economists understand that when you raise taxes, you cost jobs. Because the President cannot stand on his record, he has regrettably turned to the politics of envy and division. There is nothing fair about making our children and our grandchildren pay the bills for what the President's own fiscal commission cochairs called ``the most predictable economic crisis in our history.'' I have a couple of more quotes, and these aren't from conservative publications, mind you. USA Today: ``Obama's budget plan leaves debt bomb ticking.'' The Boston Herald: President Barack Obama has apparently decided that he is not going to be part of the solution to the Nation's enormous deficit, which would make him, yes, part of the problem. Mr. Chairman, our friends across the aisle continuously discuss the issue of Medicare, which we know is one of the growing problems when we're dealing with the debt. Our Democrat friends continue to say that Republicans are cutting Medicare and are changing it as we know it. Yet, in ObamaCare, they cut a half a trillion dollars out of Medicare. I have a quote from the Congressional Budget Office as well, and my friend across the aisle had one a few moments ago. This quote is from 12/19/09, and reads that the government takeover of health care ``could reduce access to care or diminish the quality of care.'' I also have a quote from the Government Accountability Office: ``Medicare remains on a path that is fiscally unsustainable over the long term.''

Mrs. ELLMERS. Mr. Chairman, House Republicans are going to pass a jobs bill. We are going to pass a budget. This budget includes fundamental pro-growth tax reform and eliminating corporate loopholes and subsidies in order to help create jobs. It addresses the real drivers of our debt, saving our social safety net programs from going bankrupt, and it calls for the repeal of the government takeover of health care and other job-destroying spending. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote for the House budget bill.

Mrs. ELLMERS

Mrs. ELLMERS. I thank the chairman for this opportunity to speak with my colleagues as a nurse and a wife of a general surgeon. Mr. Chairman, IPAB was created under ObamaCare to slash Medicare spending by restricting health care services for seniors in need. Repealing IPAB will restore the doctor-patient relationship. Mr. Chairman, when someone goes to the doctor, they reveal the most personal experiences of their lives and engage in a relationship with a dedicated health care professional who puts his or her career on the line for the purpose of making that individual whole again. Left alone, President Obama's government-knows-best mentality will force our seniors to cede this relationship to a board of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats who will have the power over the health and the lives of millions of other Americans. Each patient is unique, and their care rests on the doctor's ability to provide the best treatments available, regardless of the cost of their liability. One of the greatest challenges facing our Nation's health care system, including Medicare, is the rapidly rising costs. This legislation recognizes that. This legislation repairs and repeals the IPAB with commonsense medical liability reform that will save billions of dollars. I have sat and listened to the debate today, and I have listened intently over the 2 years since ObamaCare went into effect, and I still have one question to my Democrat colleagues across the aisle: What is your solution for Medicare? We know it is not sustainable as it is now. What is your solution? Mr. Chairman, Federal bureaucrats should not dictate to doctors how to provide care, force them to provide medication regardless of their known complications, and make them liable with no limits or protections.

Mrs. ELLMERS. We have got to move forward on malpractice reform. Our colleagues ask the question, How can malpractice be put in place at the Federal level? And yet they have put Federal health care as an issue and put control as an issue. We must provide patients and medical professionals with the security and the safety net.

Mrs. ELLMERS

Mrs. ELLMERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of Sheriff's Deputy Warren Lewis III. I want to personally express my regard for the courage and commitment he made to the citizens of Nash County, North Carolina. Mr. Warren will forever be an upstanding husband, father, and investigator, leaving a legacy of the highest standards for service and integrity that should serve as an example for all American citizens. Those fortunate enough to know Mr. Warren in life are blessed to have been able to share in it with a true American hero. We live in a country rooted in laws and values. From the principles crafted by our Founding Fathers in the Constitution, stems our Nation's moral code, which has provided America with budding prosperity that radiates throughout the world. However, our success as a nation is limited by those that misinterpret the basic rights that are such an integral part of being an American citizen. Diligent leadership in our local, State, and national government is needed in order to preserve the values that make our country the preeminent model of civil society. Through years of dedicated service to the citizens of Nash County, Mr. Warren helped us all by ensuring our great Nation's founding principles of freedom and justice. Such valued service in law enforcement can only be implemented through officers with the noblest of character and deepest sense of personal responsibility. Mr. Warren's achievements in life should be honored in the community as it inspires us all to emulate his patriotism and passion for public service. I hope that you will all continue to find comfort in everything that Mr. Warren selflessly left behind. His life will never be forgotten, as his devotion to his community will always remind us to keep our country a safe place. God bless your family.

Mrs. ELLMERS

Mrs. ELLMERS. I thank the gentleman. H.R. 4105 will ensure that the Department of Commerce can continue to apply countervailing duty and anti-subsidy laws to nonmarket economies that are violating current law. At the same time, we need robust trade policies that will strengthen our economy and build upon the partnerships we have made with countries around the world.

Mrs. ELLMERS. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the chairman for bringing this very, very important piece of legislation to the floor for a vote. I'm here to join my colleagues in support of H.R. 4105, which will protect the free market and prevent American businesses from unfair dumping practices by countries such as China. Madam Speaker, I hear from businesses in North Carolina every day who are telling me that in order to compete in the global market, action must be taken to prevent nonmarket countries like China from distorting the market and costing American jobs. Since 2007, the Department of Commerce has applied countervailing duties to Chinese products where it determines that China has provided unfair subsidies that violate its WTO obligations. These duties are not punitive; they merely serve as a correction to unfair Chinese subsidies. They restore the level playing field that U.S. industries and small businesses--such as wire producers and textile companies in North Carolina--provide.

Mrs. ELLMERS

Mrs. ELLMERS. Yesterday afternoon, I happily signed the conference report that was very, very well put together; and I commend Chairman Camp for the hard work that he did and my fellow conferees. This joint conference committee came together, and it was tasked to negotiate the payroll tax holiday extension. This is a very important breakthrough and shows that we can actually work together and compromise for the sake of the American people. I would like to thank, again, Chairman Camp and my fellow conferees once again for the honor and privilege to serve on this committee. Our report does what is necessary to provide a responsible level of certainty to job creators and ensures that millions of hardworking Americans will be protected. In this Obama economy, it is important that American taxpayers keep more of their money and use it to make ends meet. Gas prices are projected to go up above $4 a gallon, Madam Speaker, by the summer. If this puts a little more money in individuals' pockets so that they can pay for a half a tank of gas or one-quarter of a tank of gas, then I say I'm all for it. Furthermore, this deal strikes the most dramatic blow to ObamaCare yet, keeping a promise I made when I first came to Washington. With this agreement, we are cutting spending by more than $50 billion and using a portion of these savings to pay for the doc fix. What is the doc fix? The doc fix ensures that millions of Medicare patients, our seniors, will receive that medical care. It will prevent the 27.4 percent cut to physicians for Medicare services. We must now return our focus to the most pressing issue facing our Nation, which is job creation and fixing this economy.

Mrs. ELLMERS. Madam Speaker, the President has submitted another bloated budget that ignores the economic crisis we are all living through under the Obama economy. It's time to roll up our sleeves and get to work on removing these barriers to prosperity and focus on the one thing that matters most--job creation and continuing to provide certainty to millions of Americans who are looking to us to make concise decisions about their future and the future of their children.

Mrs. ELLMERS

Mrs. ELLMERS. I thank my freshman colleague from New York for yielding. I've been watching this discussion, this debate going on, and I am once again amazed by the issue. I am in favor of this motion to instruct. In fact, I am so much in favor of it that I wish we weren't here talking about it right now. I wish we had finished the people's work in 2011. As my colleague has pointed out, we were here. This idea that somehow we don't work up until the minute, Mr. Speaker, this is ridiculous. This is absolutely ridiculous. This is nothing more than a dog and pony show. As a conferee, I am anxious to begin the House and Senate-level meetings and to learn about what policy pathway will get us to the yearlong extension we are all seeking, what we voted for, what we passed in the House of Representatives--bipartisan effort, mind you. I am waiting to see what the Senate has to say about this on this 1,000th day of their not even passing a budget. The Senate's willingness to produce a plan is critical to giving employers, workers, and those seeking to reenter the workforce certainty they need. Again, I am ready to work on this issue. My colleagues are ready to work on this issue. We were ready to fix this problem in 2011, where it should have been left, so that into 2012 we could provide certainty for the American people. I support this effort, and let's get to work.

Mrs. ELLMERS

Mrs. ELLMERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Time Warner Cable for its investment in local television news coverage in North Carolina and its recent expansion into Washington, D.C. By opening a news bureau in our nation's capital, the people of North Carolina will have another outlet to learn about the important work being done on their behalf and other updates that are important to the communities throughout the region. Mr. Speaker, TWC is dedicating significant resources to high quality local news channels that provide critical local news, weather, traffic and sports coverage in the communities that they serve. In my district, the Raleigh research triangle area is home to some of the leading innovators in technology and healthcare. The legislation that we pursue and enact in Washington has an enormous impact on these businesses and research facilities. With Time Warner Cable's commitment to reporting both at the local and national level, they are giving our residents an important resource to stay informed and involved. I applaud Time Warner Cable for recognizing the importance of local news, for investing in it and creating jobs while providing this critical service to their customers and the constituents I serve.

Mrs. ELLMERS

Mrs. ELLMERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order.

Mrs. ELLMERS. Mr. Speaker, I am here tonight with my colleagues to discuss the importance of small business in America. Small businesses are our job creators in America, and we here in Congress must do everything that we can to help them to be doing exactly that in creating jobs in our country. We're here to talk about these issues. We're here to talk about the burdens that are on small business that remain intact that we can help with. We must do everything we can because right now our small business hands are tied. They are telling us over and over again that regulations and the threat of taxation uncertainty continue to hold them back from creating jobs, innovating, and investing in their own companies. With that, I yield to my colleague from Washington.

Mrs. ELLMERS. I will just echo my colleague's remarks by saying that, according to the NFIB, compliance with environmental regulations costs small businesses four times more than larger firms. Larger firms do have the ability and employees in place to deal with these issues. Our small businesses simply cannot afford to do business that way. With that, I yield to my colleague from California.

Mrs. ELLMERS. I thank my colleague from California. Your perspective alone, as a small business owner and as a farmer, really gives us that strong idea of what we're really facing. Many of us here in Washington now are and have been small business owners, and we understand the burdens that we are having to undertake and that the rest of America is dealing with. In fact, Mr. Speaker, I'm going to just talk a little bit about some statistics and poll data. According to a recent Gallup Poll, small business owners in the United States say complying with government regulations is the most important problem facing them today, followed by consumer confidence in the economy and a lack of consumer demand. Small business firms bear a regulatory cost of $10,585 per employee just to deal with the regulations, which is 36 percent higher, there again, than larger businesses. Small business is what drives our economy, yet it is what is continuously targeted, and we must act on it with the bill that we will pass tomorrow, H.R. 527. I spoke a little bit about the excessive costs of dealing with environmental regulations. According to the Small Business Administration, regulations cost the American economy $1.7 trillion annually, which is an enormous cost. You can see by our unemployment rate why we continue in this. Until we are able to cut the excessive, overbearing regulations that are facing our businesses, we will not turn this economy around. That is why we must act now. That is why, of the many bills we have passed over to the Senate, we repeatedly ask for a vote so that we can get started. We could do this tomorrow if these bills were voted on. One last bit of information before I introduce my next colleague. Of the administration's new regulations--``new'' regulations--200 are expected to cost over $100 million each. Seven of those new regulations will cost the economy more than $1 billion each. We cannot continue on this path. With that, I yield to my colleague from Illinois.

Mrs. ELLMERS. I thank my colleague from Illinois for that very important information. Again, as a small business owner, this information is vital to the solutions that we're coming up with here in Washington. We're not just Members of Congress who don't have the experience out there, and we aren't just listening to the usual Washington bureaucrats. We are actually small business owners who deal with these real-life experiences and understand what works and what doesn't, and this simply is not working. Mr. Speaker, in my district, where the unemployment rate hovers at about 10.3 percent, I am hearing numerous stories highlighting how small businesses are ``hanging on by a thread,'' and I say that in quotes. ``Hanging on by a thread'' is what I hear. ``Over-regulation is killing us,'' is another quote I hear over and over and over again. They feel that they are being punished by Washington. They, years ago, felt that their competitors were the ones that they were working against and trying to compete with for a better product. Now they feel that they are working against the Federal Government and the Federal Government is working against them. The Federal Government has become their enemy. One of the local small businesses in my district is Kivett's Incorporated in Clinton, North Carolina, owned and operated by Mr. Jerol and Telia Kivett. They are wonderful people, and I met them when I was actually running for office. Why? Because I needed to go in. They called for a meeting with me because they were so concerned with where our country was going and what was happening to their business. They were not people who had been politically active, they were not people who had ever sat down with a Member of Congress or a want-to-be Member of Congress, but they felt trapped and continue to feel trapped by the government regulations and all of the uncertainty, including the President's health care bill, which they know will harm them greatly. Kivett's Incorporated, is the largest family-owned and operated church pew manufacturer and pew refinisher in the United States. In addition, they build and refurbish other church furniture and fixtures, such as steeples and stained glass windows and provide a full range of services from delivery to installation. This is a jewel in my district. So many are sending these jobs over to China, and yet the Kivetts have maintained their business. Their business was started by Jerol's father, I believe, back in the fifties. They have spent their lives and dedicated their lives to their business, and they are feeling that it is being pulled out from underneath them. Mr. Kivett's company had 160 employees in 2005, and they are now down to 52--from 160 to 52. Their volume of business is down 60 percent. Their business has not made a profit in the last 3 years. That is significant. They have not increased the prices on their products either since 2005. This has been due to the fear of losing more business, even though their costs, their costs for products, have escalated; but they have tried to maintain their business by keeping their prices at the same level. At one point they were averaging one church, church furniture for one church every day, and are now down to approximately two per week. Mr. Speaker, how are they going to be able to keep their doors open and keep those 52 remaining employees working? Churches depend on charitable giving, and they are having a hard time finding a way to meet their operating budget, which leaves any kind of future planning completely out of the realm of possibility. I spoke a moment ago about the health care law, the uncertainty it's creating for small businesses. Owners make it harder for us to determine--and this is coming straight from Mr. Kivett--it is making it harder for us to determine what our costs are at a time when we are struggling to meet the most basic cost of running our business. As Mr. Kivett puts it, we are just trying to maintain and praying for the government to stop attempting to regulate small businesses and ``get out of the way.'' That is another quote I hear over and over and over again: ``Get out of the way.'' That's some of the gloom and doom that my business owners in my district are faced with. As you heard tonight from some of my colleagues, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Mr. Schilling from Illinois showed you the card, the number of bills, again, that we have passed in the House with bipartisan support to create jobs. We keep hearing how America wants jobs. We keep hearing about the 99. The 99 percent is sitting on the floor of the majority leader in the Senate, because if those bills were passed and sent to the President to be signed into law, we could have jobs created in this country. We need to decrease the unemployment rate. We can talk about cutting spending all day long, and we are all about that, but until we get people back to work, we're not going to turn this economy around. Again, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and you have heard us speak tonight about H.R. 527, which we will be voting on tomorrow. We simply cannot continue the one-size-fits-all regulations produced by this administration which hinder our small businesses. This bill will help alleviate needless burdens. Economic recovery begins with our small businesses, but this will not happen unless we rein in the mass of regulations coming from right here in Washington. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, requires Federal agencies to assess the economic impact of their regulations on small business. Imagine that, imagine having to run an economic impact study to find out how much damage they will be doing to small businesses if these regulations are put in place. If the impact is significant, they must consider alternatives that are less burdensome. However, the agencies have used loopholes to get around this statute, and that is why it is so important that we pass H.R. 527, the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2011, which would remove the loopholes and strengthen the flexibility act by increasing the power of the office of the chief counsel for advocacy to enforce the RFA, ensuring complete analysis of potential impacts on small business and forcing agencies to perform better periodic review of rules. Regulations often impose unnecessary burdens on small business. You've heard that over and over and over again tonight, that impede their ability to create jobs. Agencies frequently fail to consider appropriate alternatives that allow agencies to achieve their regulatory objectives without imposing burdens on America's job creators, our small business owners. The Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act, H.R. 527, provides urgently needed help to small businesses facing an onslaught of Federal regulations. It has been 15 years since Congress last updated the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980. During that time, we have seen that there are weaknesses in the regulatory process that Federal agencies have exploited to the detriment of small businesses and job creators. This bill ensures Federal agencies can no longer ignore the RFA. Job creators are the key to economic recovery and the small businesses are America's job creators. Over-regulation requires the diversion of scarce capital from job creation to regulatory compliance. I said earlier, Mr. Speaker, North Carolina's unemployment rate is now 10.4 percent. This is not a statistic; this is a catastrophe. Mr. Speaker, thank you so much for this opportunity tonight.

Mrs. ELLMERS. I yield to my colleague from Iowa.

Mrs. ELLMERS. I thank the gentleman from Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I just want to take the opportunity to say in closing that, as a small business owner with my husband back in Dunn, North Carolina, with our surgical practice, that we have faced exactly what my colleague is talking about, these excessive regulations that have continued through the years. We are at a point now where we are seeing our fellow colleagues back home with medical practices closing their doors, being bought out by hospitals because they just cannot and know they will not be able to adhere to the mandates coming forward with the health care bill and all of the uncertainty with the doc fix, SGR, all of those wonderful things. Mr. Speaker, we must act now. We can turn this economy around by acting on these regulations, by passing these regulatory decreases for our businesses so that, there again, our job creators can do what they do best, reinvesting in this country and being the job creators that they are. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. ELLMERS

Mrs. ELLMERS. Thank you, Congresswoman Buerkle, for holding this Special Order tonight, along with my colleagues on the Doctors Caucus. And thank you, Mr. Speaker, for being here. We are all here because we are health professionals. We know the real world of health care, and we know the real world solutions. It's the reason I'm here in Washington now, that and the fact that I'm concerned about where the future of the country is going for our children. Many times in our health care practice as a nurse and in my husband's surgery practice as small business owners, over time we have always looked at these issues, whether we're talking about Medicare, whether we're talking about the possibility of having real, good, concrete tort reform, all of these different issues that we've said if we could put these in place, health care could have a much more solid foundation moving forward. We already know that we have the best health care in the world. But being in the industry, having that small business and understanding where Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements--which were down--were going, you have to ask yourself, how can this continue? How can we provide health care into the future? Well, of course we know that the health care bill was passed in the 111th Congress, and now we are seeing the effects of it. One of the effects, as you've pointed out, are to our hospitals. You know, it's important that we are able to articulate this to the American people, connecting the dots. When we talk about the importance of why ObamaCare is devastating to physicians, it's because it affects their ability to be reimbursed for their services. When Medicare will be cut--as we know in ObamaCare, it was cut by $500 billion. Today our seniors are saying to us, we're worried that you're going to cut our benefits. Well, their benefits will not be cut by any of us in Washington. However, because the dollars have been taken out in a significant amount, Medicare will have to say, I don't know what we'll cover. What are we going to cover? And as we know, again, in the President's health care bill, the 15- person panel has been put in place. This 15-person panel will decide what Medicare will and will not pay for. That will be direct payments to hospitals, not just physicians but hospitals, based on the services that they're providing. And if they decide that a service cannot be paid for, there are penalties that can be assessed. There are solutions to this issue, and I pointed out one would be significant tort reform. Not only for our physicians, but again for hospitals. Why is that important? Sometimes I'm afraid we don't explain well enough to the American people why something like malpractice reform would help the situation. Well, we know that in our Nation's hospitals if you go into the emergency room, you're going to receive care whether you can pay for it out of pocket or not, whether you have an insurance card or not, whether you're on Medicare or Medicaid, it doesn't matter. You're going to receive the care. The problem is someone does have to pay for those services because services are rendered. You go into the emergency room, and many tests are ordered. Physicians order more tests out of pure fear for missing something. You can't go into an emergency room and get the good care that you need to get if you cannot identify the problem. So as we know, physicians and hospitals, physicians and doctor's offices, tend to cover all their bases rather than simply relying on the medical education that they have received, the ability to diagnose with just that--with the ability of their practice. So here we are. We talk about health care costs every day, and the escalating cost of them. A good contributor to that is another piece of the President's health care bill which basically puts a tax on all medical devices. Well, think about the cost for any hospital, any provider. What do we do in hospitals? We do surgery. We provide health care. These are medical devices. These are instruments that have made our lives better and help us live longer, but yet now they will be taxed. This is a tax that will have to be assessed. Someone will have to pay for it. If the effort is truly to decrease the cost of health care, how can we continue by increasing the cost? It doesn't make sense. It doesn't add up. So again, the importance is for us to connect the dots for the American people; to show that if we are able to pull back on ObamaCare, that we are able to remove it, repeal it, as we have already voted here in the House, then we can make the significant changes. There is one more point that I would like to touch on, and it has to do with the ability to pay for services. There was a consulting firm, Mercer Consulting Company, and they did a study that shows that 9 percent of employers with 500 or more workers say they are likely to cancel health benefits in 2014 after State-run health insurance exchanges begin offering coverage under the health care law. There again, once again, it will become the government paying for it, which is paid for by the American taxpayers' dollars. We simply cannot continue on this path with health care or any other issue. It has to come with free-market solutions, and we have those solutions and we are ready to put those in place. I just, again, want to reassure our seniors who are receiving Medicare now or in the near future that we are doing everything we can to rescue Medicare from the President's health care bill and put those necessary pieces in place so that we can continue those services into the future that they have paid for their entire lives. I again thank my colleague from New York for holding this Special Order.

Mrs. ELLMERS

Mrs. ELLMERS. I rise today in favor of H.R. 822. The right to bear arms is a staple of our Constitution as a basic American right, and we should continue to protect it while making sure our laws remain efficient. I am one of 268,000 permit holders in North Carolina. This is not only a rights issue; more importantly, it is a safety issue. As millions of American families know, there is no greater threat to our families than the ability to protect. We must protect our families, and it cannot stop at States' borders. H.R. 822 also does not impact State laws governing how concealed firearms are possessed or carried. Again, it does not jeopardize the States' rights. I call on my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation.

Mrs. ELLMERS

Mrs. ELLMERS. Absolutely. All of our homes, we all live by budgets. The American people have had to redo their budgets over and over and over again. Why? Because of the economy that we're in today, because of the cost. And yet the Federal Government does not do this. Now we are up to what, 930 days that the Senate has not passed a budget? We passed our budget. We passed a budget in the House. The President had a budget. But his budget called for over $1 trillion more of spending that we were not taking in.

Mrs. ELLMERS. It didn't balance, and it didn't pass in the Senate. Ours did not come up for a vote. So Washington continues to function without a budget. And yet, again, our households function with a budget. Mothers and fathers are up at 3 o'clock in the morning worrying about how they're going to pay the bills this month, and yet the Federal Government just says, it doesn't matter. We can just continue to spend money. As long as we don't have a budget, we can spend as much we want. That is the problem. And the American people are tired of this. They are tired of us just with our open checkbook writing, having to raise the debt ceiling to take care of the bills that have already been submitted and the interest that we have to pay. The balanced budget amendment that we're talking about passing passed the House in 1995, went on to the Senate, missed passing by one vote. Where would we be today in our economy if that had passed back then? The Federal Government would have been held to a vote, they would have been held to a budget, and we wouldn't be deciding these things. We wouldn't be having to pass continuing resolutions that the American people look to us in Washington and say, where is the leadership? How can it possibly be that that's the way they're functioning? And yet this is what we have to do to keep Washington running because Washington does have a purpose. We have to provide for the national defense, we have to take care of our seniors, and we have to take care of those individuals who cannot take care of themselves. And yet, without a budget, we have no way of deciding how much that will be. And so we continue on. This version makes it harder to raise taxes. This version is substantial. The balanced budget amendment says that in order to raise the debt ceiling, the future Congress will have to have a three-fifths majority to vote in each Chamber in order to raise the debt ceiling. That will become even more difficult. This is what the American people are calling for us to do. They're crying out for leadership. If we pass this balanced budget amendment in the House and it goes on to the Senate and passes there as well, then it will move on to the States for ratification. This will be historic. We will now be saying to the Federal Government, you must adhere to a budget. It's as simple as that. The most basic function of any household and of any business is to have a working budget in place, and yet the Federal Government, in its arrogance, says, no, we do not. Therefore, we are stuck in this situation that we, as you know, are dealing with every day, trying to figure out how we're going to pay for the things that we have that the American people need. Under President Obama, the national debt has increased 34 percent. Clearly, it is time to stop. Clearly, the American people are saying to us, come up with a solution. We're dealing every day here in Washington with trying to make it through, trying to build a foundation for the future. This balanced budget amendment will be a tool that we can use so that our children and our grandchildren will know prosperity, and we will ensure it. It's time to get it done. Thank you so much for letting me speak on this issue.