Virginia Foxx

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, to sum up the debate, H. Res. 461 does four things. It sends a clear message about our values. It condemns lawbreaking where Democrat politicians have failed to do so. It tells parents that we are on their side. Most importantly, it reiterates that public school facilities should be used for educating children, not housing illegal immigrants, because the academic success and safety of America's students must be put first. Therefore, I urge the House of Representatives and Congress to pass H. Res. 461, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Madam Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Good), who introduced this resolution, and is chair of the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Chair, I rise today to support the House Republican package to alleviate rising healthcare costs for small businesses. I am proud that the Committee on Education and the Workforce has taken a leading role in this effort. Healthcare cost is the number one issue facing small businesses today. In fact, according to the NFIB, it has been their top issue for over 30 straight years. Through the dot-com bubble, the Great Recession, the COVID-19 pandemic, and record inflation, small businesses have consistently identified healthcare costs as their greatest concern. House Republicans recognize that these small businesses are the engines of the American economy, and this package is the first step toward much-needed relief. I will take a moment to discuss the two pieces of this package from the jurisdiction of the Education and the Workforce Committee. First, this package incorporates Representative Good's Self-Insurance Protection Act. We passed the Self-Insurance Protection Act through committee because small businesses are being squeezed. There is no other way to put it. On the one hand, premiums are skyrocketing, and it is costing small businesses a fortune to cover their employees. Single-coverage premiums cost about $8,000 per year now, and they are drastically outpacing inflation. The bottom-up inflationary pressures have inevitably forced small businesses out of the insurance marketplace, and more and more are deciding to self-insure. Experts predicted this when the ACA passed, and it has held true. On the other hand, the government is coming from the top down and telling small businesses they cannot access stop-loss insurance. Stop- loss insurance is a financial tool that self-insured businesses typically buy to protect themselves from catastrophic costs, but the government overreaches, overregulates, and denies many small businesses this critical tool. For example, in New York, insurers are expressly prohibited from selling stop-loss insurance to employers with fewer than 100 employees. The New York State Association of Health Underwriters wrote regarding the law: ``Some groups have already lost their employer-provided health coverage altogether and have had to go into the New York health insurance marketplace exchange to obtain coverage, only to find that their new coverage has higher copays, larger deductibles, greater total out-of-pocket annual limits, narrower in-plan healthcare provider networks, and fewer out-of-network medical specialists.'' Like in a pincer maneuver, the government is coming from both sides and trapping small businesses in the middle with no options. The Self-Insurance Protection Act is the solution. It provides a lifeline to small businesses and hardworking Americans who are being squeezed by the soaring cost of traditional health insurance. It would stop Federal and State overregulation of stop-loss insurance, allowing self-insured small businesses a way out of the government's two-sided trap. Next, this package also incorporates Representative Walberg's Association Health Plans Act, which is perhaps the single best cost- saving tool at our disposal. The Association Health Plans Act would offer immediate relief for everyday workers, taxpayers, and job creators. I know this because it has been tested. In 2019, before the courts stopped President Trump's association health plan, AHP rule, America got a chance to see and feel the impact of deregulation. AHPs produced savings of up to 29 percent on average. At the upper limit, groups saved 50 percent with their newly formed AHPs. AHPs achieve these savings by allowing small businesses to band together to increase their bargaining power when purchasing health insurance. Currently, many regulations restrict small businesses and individuals from doing so. Enabling small economic actors to pool resources is critical to their competitiveness in the market. In healthcare, big companies enjoy large economies of scale, and only more so with each passing year. Countless studies and evidence point toward this worrisome trend of market consolidation. Three pharmacy benefit managers own 80 percent of the market. Physician practices and hospitals are merging at a rapid pace. Thankfully, hospital mergers have slowed during and after the pandemic, but it is not enough. This bill helps mom-and-pop shops and self-employed workers fight back. I should also clarify that this bill does not turn healthcare into the Wild West, like some Members claim. Important regulatory guidelines exist to make sure enrollees would not be defrauded under AHPs. For example, every AHP must have a board consisting of at least 75 percent employer membership. This ensures that AHPs are maintained in good faith. They are also required to abide by existing consumer protections, such as prohibitions against discriminating based on an individual's health status and prohibitions against using preexisting conditions to deny coverage, increase premiums, or impose waiting periods. The benefits of the Association Health Plans Act can be summed up in the words of Trump's DOL: ``AHPs are about more choice, more access, and more coverage.'' I agree. Let's help small businesses get the relief they need and working Americans the coverage they deserve. Madam Chair, I urge passage of this healthcare package, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Chair, our colleagues are opposed to freedom in choosing healthcare. They want everyone in government-controlled healthcare and are quite willing to mislead the American people on what these bills do. Madam Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg), a member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen), a member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Chair, my colleagues have explained that many things that our colleagues across the aisle have said about these bills are not accurate. I am not going to say it again, but I think it is important that we say that these bills are going to do good things for the American people. It is going to provide choice and it is going to provide lower costs. I am certain of two things: one, healthcare costs present a significant burden on small businesses; and, two, inaction is not going to cut it. This comprehensive small business healthcare package is a proven first step on free market principles and reducing government interference. By empowering small businesses with choice in competition, we can lower healthcare costs and increase access to high- quality care. I hope the other side of the aisle gives this legislation the serious consideration it deserves. I often hear complaints that Republicans don't have a plan to fix healthcare costs. Here it is. Let's reduce healthcare costs together and pass this package. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Chair, I am pleased my Democratic colleagues are finally expressing some concern for rising healthcare costs, particularly the burden those costs can impose on our Nation's seniors. I remind my Democrat colleagues that Medicare is expected to become insolvent in 8 years. Increasing access to AHPs may be a lifesaving option for these seniors if Congress does not address Medicare's insolvency issues. Unfortunately, for seniors, premiums of older Americans have risen drastically thanks to ObamaCare. In fact, health plans in New York just requested rate bumps of up to 40 percent. The percentage of healthcare costs paid by a health insurance plan is known as the actuarial value, AV. On average, the AV of an individual employer-sponsored plan is 83 percent. When compared to the 70 percent AV of a silver plan and even the 80 percent AV of a gold plan on the Affordable Care Act exchanges, employer-sponsored plans provide affordable and more comprehensive coverage than ACA plans. Employer-sponsored plans also have lower average deductibles: $1,763 for an individual employer-sponsored insurance plan compared with $5,155 for an individual ACA exchange silver plan. I will repeat that: $1,763 on an employer-sponsored plan, for an individual employer-sponsored insurance plan, compared with $5,155 for an individual ACA exchange silver plan. Individual employer-sponsored plans have lower average out-of-pocket costs than ACA exchange plans. Madam Chair, $4,355 is the average maximum for an individual- sponsored insurance plan compared with an average maximum of $8,519 for an individual marketplace silver/ACA plan. Clearly, our government-run and government-subsidized healthcare programs are facing incredible fiscal challenges. I urge my colleagues to be more concerned with the older adults enrolled in those programs than those enrolled in large group employer plans. This amendment is an insincere attempt to delay implementation of commonsense policy that will increase health coverage options for all Americans. Instead, AHPs and the coverage options provided under this bill give older Americans more affordable coverage options. Madam Chair, for these reasons, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the amendment and ``yes'' on the underlying bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Chair, I believe I have the right to close, so I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Chair, again, our colleagues continue to try to mislead the American people about what this bill does. These plans cannot cherry-pick, cannot exclude, and must cover preexisting conditions. The opposition to this bill from our colleagues across the aisle, unfortunately, is to freedom of choice. The title of this bill is the CHOICE Arrangement Act, freedom of choice, which would allow people to stay out of the non-affordable care act, known as ObamaCare, but still have affordable health insurance. This bill is about choice, freedom, and good healthcare coverage, and we should approve the bill without this amendment. Madam Chair, I ask my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Chair, I appreciate Mr. Molinaro's amendment. I support it, and I appreciate his working to make a good bill better.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Alex Medina, a man who demonstrates the spirit of giving that is a model for all of us. Alex is a bone marrow donor, and thanks to his generosity, he was able to provide Egerton Burroughs, a man whom he had never met, with a second chance at life. Mr. Speaker, donations like Alex's, whether they be bone marrow, blood, or other precious resources, help save the lives of countless Americans every day. Mr. Medina and Mr. Burroughs were brought together by a wonderful program, Be The Match, which matches viable bone marrow donors to patients across the country. We are blessed in North Carolina that both Duke University Hospital and Wake Forest Baptist play pivotal roles in bone marrow and stem cell transplants. Dedicated professionals there and at other institutions perform lifesaving work. Mr. Speaker, across North Carolina and our entire Nation, the kindness and generosity of donors like Alex Medina should not only be celebrated but also encouraged. We can all play a positive role in the lives of others, and donating blood and other critical resources is one way of doing so. The simple actions we take can go on to make a profound impact upon people we know as well as those we do not know. Proverbs 11:25 reads: ``A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.'' Let us never forget how we can serve as forces for good and give to others the gifts that God has bestowed upon us. Recognizing Bill Fisher

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Bill Fisher, a familiar voice to many within the High Country in North Carolina's Fifth District and someone I consider to be a dear friend. After nearly 50 years of being on the radio and keeping the High Country informed on all the news of the day, Bill, or Fish, as many of his friends and colleagues refer to him, will be hanging up his headset one final time and retiring. For years, I have been fortunate to join Bill on the radio to talk about issues ranging from the local to the national levels. Mr. Speaker, one of the most important duties that we have as Americans is to be an informed citizen, and I cannot overstate how much Bill embodies that role. No matter the topic or issue of the day, Bill always takes the time to inform people of the developments that matter most. He knows how to read the pulse of the community he proudly serves. As Bill enters this new and exciting chapter of his life alongside his wonderful wife, Sheryl, family members, friends, and loved ones, I hope he knows that he has left an indelible mark upon his community that will be felt for many years to come. Those who tune in to Bill's show on the commute to work, the grocery store, and everywhere in between are grateful for his work. In my eyes and in the eyes of many, Bill is the best that western North Carolina has to offer. May God continue to bless Bill and his family in his well-deserved retirement.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), the ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. General Leave

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the veto message of H.J. Res. 45.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of overriding President Biden's veto of H.J. Res. 45, a Congressional Review Act resolution nullifying the Biden administration's attempt to circumvent the will of the Congress and the role of the Congress of the United States. Mr. Speaker, President Biden's radical plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt via executive fiat is utter hogwash. The American people are not fooled by the deceptive, doctored-up talking points on student loans that the left has attempted to force-feed them over the past 2 years. Appealing words like ``forgiveness'' have been cast around innumerable times as if to imply that a massive student loan bailout is the equivalent of a sweepstakes giveaway. Here is a reality check for our colleagues across the aisle: There is no such thing as forgiveness. This entire scheme is nothing more than a transfer of wealth from those who willingly took on debt to those who did not or had the grit to pay off their loans. Two-thirds of this debt transfer plan would go to the top half of earners. It takes from those in the lower half of earners and gives to the upper half. It redistributes wealth, but from the bottom of our socioeconomic ladder to the top. The 87 percent of Americans who owe no Federal student debt are paying for the 13 percent who do. Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle also claim that this transfer of wealth is about fairness. No, it is about sticking hardworking taxpayers with the tab and those who owe it walking away from it scot-free. Mr. Speaker, if this is not the textbook definition of limousine liberalism, I don't know what it is. What is more, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, inflation could rise by as much as 27 basis points if mass student debt cancellation is implemented. That means we could see an additional two rate hikes by the Federal Reserve because of this inflationary policy alone. To halt the biggest transfer of wealth from blue-collar workers to white-collar professionals in our Nation's history and to prevent any further extension of the student loan repayment pause, the House and Senate both passed H.J. Res. 45. Following the President's predictable veto, this resolution comes before the House again. We must continue to take a stand and defend the interests of hardworking citizens. As the institution that holds the power of the purse, it is our responsibility to do so. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to cut through the political noise that the left continues to gin up about so-called student loan forgiveness and vote in favor of overriding the President's veto on H.J. Res. 45. Fiscal responsibility must be given the due deference it deserves. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Good).

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. My colleagues have said that this is overdrawn in terms of the way the CRA was written, the Congressional Review Act was written, and that it does too much. It gets into too many other things other than simply turning back the President's proposal. It deals with the debt and repayment of debt and those kinds of things. However, this CRA does not in any way tie the hands of Congress. It is up to us to pass the laws. What it does do is stop unelected bureaucrats from writing laws in the form of rules to implement laws passed by Congress. We didn't authorize the Department to do many of the things that it is doing. Congress did not do that, but it is doing many things. The CRA will stop the President's actions and some of these other things that are happening. We have the authority to write legislation, to do whatever we want to. If we want to write legislation to take care of debt and to take care of interest rates, we can do that. Forgive me, Mr. Speaker, for not crying crocodile tears along with my colleagues on the accessibility to college in this country. College in this country is accessible to anyone who has the capable skills to attend, or taxpayers covering the costs of college for many who can pay for themselves and many who simply take advantage of generous taxpayers by skipping out on their loans. That is not what the help from taxpayers is supposed to do. It is supposed to help people gain a college education and go out there and be productive citizens, not renege on paying back their loans. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, the Biden administration is destroying the Federal student aid system that has balanced providing millions of students access to opportunities for post-secondary education while respecting the interest of taxpayers who fund these opportunities. Democrats know their radical free college agenda won't make it through Congress, so instead they are forcing it down Americans' throats by executive fiat through the student loan program. Obfuscation about the details has allowed the department to tout alleged benefits without facing any scrutiny over the implications of these radical changes; however, the facts, which this administration has tried to push under the rug, prove its agenda is nothing more than an attempt to skirt the law and enact policies that would never pass Congress. These actions will leave colleges free to continue increasing costs that greatly impact all American taxpayers. These policies deny any accountability to borrowers and evade any responsibility to help those students turn their degrees into a job. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the override of the President's veto, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, the so-called Green New Deal has reared its ugly head again, thanks to the Biden administration and its allies in Congress. Their newest attempt to prop up this failed radical agenda involves the banning of gas cooking appliances that millions of American families rely on every day. Make no mistake: This harebrained scheme is about more government control; more control over the lives of Americans; more control over what we do and, ultimately, how we think. What is the next domino to fall? Mr. Speaker, if this were to happen, American families would be crushed by high electricity bills and costly appliances in the name of climate activism. House Republicans have introduced the Save Our Gas Stoves Act and the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act to combat this madness. We must push back against more government control in our lives.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, mandatory spending programs are the overflowing sinks that have bedeviled Congress for decades on end. Two- thirds of all Federal spending is allocated to mandatory spending programs, and there are few constructive opportunities to curb exceeded cost estimates. While Congress returns to Washington this week to cut spending in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling, far too little attention is being paid to autopilot spending that far outpaces these cuts. My bill, the Spending Safeguard Act, would restore congressional control over mandatory spending increases by establishing program- specific caps for new or reauthorized programs. If a program spends more than what was anticipated, then it needs to be reformed or extinguished. It is that simple. Let's be honest, Mr. Speaker. Congress has a knack for ignoring opportunities to address direct spending head-on. My bill offers a viable pathway to restore both fiscal sanity and fiscal responsibility in Washington. It is time for Congress to act.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Good), the author of this resolution and the chair of the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.J. Res. 45, which would block the Biden administration's debt transfer scheme and prevent any further extension of the student loan repayment pause. For Democrats, there is a specter looming over this debate, an incontrovertible truth that disproves all their supposed principles and contradicts all their virtue signaling. Student loan cancellation is regressive. Let me repeat that for the Progressive Caucus. Student loan cancellation is regressive. Two-thirds of this debt transfer plan would go to the top half of earners. It takes from those in the lower half and gives to the upper half. It redistributes wealth, but from the bottom of our socioeconomic ladder to the top. For example, the repayment pause has provided $65,000 in de facto loan cancellation for the average lawyer. This is a professional-class bailout. More specifically, it is a professional-class, graduate-degree holder bailout. Of the loans that will be disbursed in 2024, 70 percent will be borrowed for graduate school. Nearly 40 percent of those people will go on to make over $100,000 annually in their careers. Those are the data absent partisan spin provided directly from the Department of Education. The spin comes from the left when they use words like ``forgiveness.'' There is no such thing as forgiveness. The Biden administration is simply transferring the debt from borrowers who willingly took out student loans to hardworking taxpayers who did not. The 87 percent of Americans who hold no Federal student debt are paying for the 13 percent who do. On top of that, the bailout is inflationary, which is always and everywhere a regressive working-class tax. According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, inflation could rise by as much as 27 basis points if mass student debt cancellation is implemented. Enacting mass student loan cancellation could also lead to an additional two rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Billionaires don't feel the effect of inflation. They don't notice when eggs cost $5.99 a dozen. They don't need to take out a mortgage to pay for their house, but working Americans do. Inflation already has a vise grip on blue-collar America. In fact, The Hill reported yesterday that ``a record share of Americans in a new survey from the Federal Reserve Board say they are worse off financially than they were a year earlier.'' That is troubling and should be enough evidence alone to pass H.J. Res. 45 and nullify the Biden administration's deficit-increasing inflationary plan, but in typical limousine liberal fashion, Democrats want future taxpayers and hardworking Americans to foot the bill. Americans shouldn't buy it. America also shouldn't buy accusations from the left that H.J. Res. 45 would charge borrowers backpay on interest payments. It couldn't be further from the truth. Nowhere in this resolution does it mandate backpay. It is prospective, not retrospective. If anything, it would be Secretary Cardona's decision to enact backpay. We know who will pay for the loans if the administration's plan is allowed to go forward. Those who will pay are those without degrees and those who paid off their debt, and those who can't afford to put gas in their cars or food on their table. The rest is just political noise. Mr. Speaker, I urge Congress to cut through that noise and stop this administration from enacting the biggest transfer of wealth from blue- collar workers to white-collar professionals in our Nation's history. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.J. Res. 45, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 429, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 45) providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to ``Waivers and Modifications of Federal Student Loans,'' and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.