Brett Guthrie

Mr. GUTHRIE

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I remind the gentlewoman that we did have a bill yesterday that passed. It hardly got any Democratic support. If you look at the enhanced tax credits that they set to expire to pay for the Green New Deal, so the moral cause that people are bringing up, they chose to put Green New Deal tax credits over extended premium tax credits. That is obvious. It is in the same bill. It wasn't like they voted for one bill and then another. At the same time, yesterday, we estimated a good half of the people on--we know, from a GAO study, there is waste, fraud, and abuse in the ObamaCare marketplace that we wanted to fix. It went to the Senate, and it got taken out during the reconciliation bill. We put in cost-share reductions that were estimated to lower premiums in the marketplace by 12.7 percent. When it went to the Senate, the Democrats challenged it in the Senate and took it out. We also know there are another 163 million Americans who get their healthcare from their employers, which they offered nothing to assist and help, which we did yesterday. We know most of the people in the marketplace are small business men and women who have to buy in the individual marketplace because they work for themselves and don't have a big employer with a big employee pool. We allowed them, in yesterday's bill, to band together so they can buy across their associations. Instead of being a car dealer with 20 employees, you can be 100 car dealers, with 20 times 100 employees, so they have a bigger pool and can get cheaper rates for their employees. We did have a bill that passed yesterday without a single Democratic vote that lowered premiums in the marketplace and premiums for every working American. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Crenshaw), my friend.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I invite anyone to read through the list of the specific things that are prohibited in this bill from being performed on minors and say which one they think is good for a minor to have. Instead of reading through the list, I wish they would go through the list and say which is good for a minor to have. On Medicaid, we have this issue of States providing Medicaid to people who are here illegally. That is the Medicaid administration. It is the same dollars. It is commingled. If you are going to operate something through Medicaid, unless you say that you are going to use Federal dollars for this procedure but State dollars for that procedure, it is the same administration doing them. We tried to fix that in the big, beautiful bill. It was struck down by the Democrats in the Senate. We think that is wrong. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Crenshaw), my friend.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GUTHRIE

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Molly Brimmer Lolli for her service to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. A graduate of the University of Maryland for both a bachelor's degree in Political Science and a Juris Doctorate degree, Molly began her career on Capitol Hill as a Legislative Assistant for Rep. Andy Harris (MD-01) in 2019, before becoming Senior Advisor on Health Policy and later Legislative Director for Rep. Richard Hudson (NC-09) in 2021. In January 2023, Molly became Counsel for the Subcommittee on Health for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce under Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers while I was serving as Subcommittee Chair. When I became Chairman in January of this year, I knew I wanted to keep her on my team as an expert on health issues. After serving two Chairmen and three Subcommittee Chairmen, Molly has departed the U.S. House of Representatives to accept another opportunity to continue to serve as a health expert. I wish her the best, congratulate her on her new role, and thank Molly Brimmer Lolli for her service to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the United States Congress. I also congratulate her on the birth of her and her husband Tim's new 6 pound, 2 ounces baby girl Carmela Gray Lolli who was born on October 26, 2025, and wish this young family all the best. I know Molly, Tim, and Carmela's big sister Breslin are very proud to welcome her to the family.

Mr. GUTHRIE

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 953, I call up the bill (H.R. 6703) to ensure access to affordable health insurance, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on the legislation, H.R. 6703.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6703, the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act. When the Democrats passed ObamaCare over a decade ago, they sold the bill on the promise that it would lower healthcare costs and preserve plan options. If you like your plan, you can keep it and if you like your doctor, you can keep them, we remember being quoted. These famous last words still haunt us. Today, we know that ObamaCare has not lived up to the Democrats' lofty promises. Instead, the consequences of that bill continue to burden American patients as they have since its enactment. Healthcare spending has nearly doubled since ObamaCare passed. Healthcare plan options have been decimated by Democratic overreach, and millions of Americans are saddled with medical debt across the country. ObamaCare premiums are up 80 percent since the program's inception, with patients paying on average $5,000 out of their own pocket to hit their deductible. The average out-of-pocket spending maximum for 1 year is over $20,000. Without a doubt, ObamaCare has proven to be unaffordable and unsustainable. In an attempt to respond to the affordability crisis created by ObamaCare, Democrats leveraged a public health emergency to shovel hundreds of billions of dollars to big health insurance plans to mask the risk of rising unaffordability of coverage. First, in the American Rescue Plan of 2021 and then again in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2023, Democrats sent temporary taxpayer-funded enhanced premium tax credits directly to the coffers of big insurance plans. They did this without a single Republican vote of support. On both occasions, Democrats chose to make these COVID credits temporary. They could have made them permanent, but they chose instead to focus on advancing priorities for wealthy Americans, which some of these they did make permanent by subsidizing electric vehicles for politically connected cronies to siphon off Federal dollars of the greenhouse gas slush fund. Now, Democrats are uniting behind that policy to send billions more of taxpayer dollars to big health insurance plans. With the Democrats' temporary COVID credits set to expire at the end of the year, they are attempting to turn their policy failures into political gains using the American people as collateral. It is worth reiterating. Democrats funded temporary Band-Aids to cover up unaffordable care. They set the expiration dates. They chose to fund liberal priorities instead of making them permanent. While Democrats continue to fearmonger, I want to shed light on what Republicans are doing to fix the Democrats' affordability crisis, with policies that deliver real, lasting relief to the American people. These include eliminating health plan gimmicks like silver loading, which will lower ACA premiums by 11 percent; increasing transparency for pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen that will lower costs of drugs for all Americans; and increasing affordable plan choices and putting patients back in the driver's seat for their own healthcare plan choices by instituting association health plans, CHOICE arrangements, and stop-loss insurance. This proposal results in more than double the premium reduction that Democrats' extension of the enhanced tax credit subsidies would. The Congressional Budget Office estimates this plan will lower premiums by 11 percent compared to just 5 percent from the Democratic subsidies. These policies will also lower healthcare costs for all Americans, not just the roughly 7 percent enrolled in the ObamaCare marketplace. Many of these policies are bipartisan: Ending silver loading, addressing nefarious PBM practices, and strengthening the employer insurance marketplace all have garnered broad bipartisan support. I hope we can overlook politics that are clouding the issue and come together to pass this bill and continue to work together in 2026 to deliver more affordable healthcare to all Americans. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Miller-Meeks), the sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I will remind my friends that the premium tax credits from the ACA are extended. They are permanent. These are the enhanced premium tax credits. It is good, and sad, that my colleagues are recognizing that the Affordable Care Act is failing. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Pfluger), my good friend and leader on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Speaker, we have heard sad stories. Last night, in the Rules Committee, the Rules chairman read through different stuff. The Rules' ranking member was in townhalls and heard stories about people who had to buy care on the Affordable Care Act marketplace that is failing. There is one thing nobody has ever answered. They say they have to face their constituents. Do my colleagues explain to their constituents that in the bill that they voted for that gave billions of dollars of the Green New Deal; in the same bill they set these tax cuts to expire? I know it was during reconciliation they could have done them within 10 years instead of 5. They also could have done them permanently. There is a way in reconciliation to do them permanently, as well. No one on the other side has ever explained why they chose to make these tax credits expire. I am still waiting to hear the answer for that. In the meantime, we have our bill that will lower premiums, calculated by CBO, in the individual market by 11 percent, as opposed to the 5 percent that would happen if we just passed the enhanced tax credits. Not just the 7 percent in the ObamaCare marketplace will benefit but all Americans will benefit from this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. Mr. Speaker, I again ask the question: Why were these set to expire? We hear the stories that people are reading about people in their districts, and they say how it is unconscionable. It is unconscionable that money was spent on the Green New Deal at the expense of the enhanced tax credits they talk about. We want to solve it. Mr. Speaker, $39,000 is what is brought up for healthcare. That is the problem in America. Mr. Speaker, $39,000 for health insurance is what we have to fix. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, we are here to solve the problem for all Americans. Mr. Speaker, 20 million people are trapped in the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Our proposal lowers those premiums by 11 percent. There are over 160 million Americans who get it through their employers. There are Americans on other types of health insurance. We need to fix this problem. My good friend from Florida, Mr. Speaker, said $39,000 is what they pay for health insurance. That is the problem. That is what we need to fix. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GUTHRIE

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

Mr. GUTHRIE

Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 936, I call up the bill (H.R. 3628) to amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to add a standard related to State consideration of reliable generation, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 3628.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3628, the State Planning For Reliability and Affordability Act, sponsored by my colleague Congressman Evans from Colorado. H.R. 3628 directs State public utility commissions to consider implementing measures that would ensure utilities retain sufficient, reliable generation through their integrated resource plans to maintain the stability and affordability of their electric grids. Over 35 States utilize resource plans to ensure their utilities are appropriately planning their investments in the electric grid. The U.S. grid, commonly referred to as the greatest machine on Earth, is a complex system compromised of myriad components and infrastructure to deliver electricity that powers our economy and enables modern life for households. To ensure the timely delivery of electricity at all times of the day, utilities have historically undergone extensive planning processes to methodically deploy ratepayer dollars to build requisite infrastructure. Unfortunately, in recent years, we have seen States move away from an integrated resource planning process centered on reliability and affordability toward one intended to achieve climate and environmental justice goals. The central focus of utility planning must be on the end-use ratepayers, keeping the lights on for households at an affordable price. Unfortunately, the States that have taken the most aggressive stance on climate goals are the same States with the highest electricity rates in the country. H.R. 3628 is fuel neutral and focused on attributes that are essential to reliability and affordability, such as frequency and voltage support. This legislation ensures that baseload and dispatchable resources, such as natural gas, hydropower, coal, and nuclear, are sufficiently considered as part of any 10-year plan. There is a road for a diverse energy mix that includes renewables and storage, but we know that not all electrons are the same. This is the exact message that the Committee on Energy and Commerce has heard in hearings with grid operators, utilities, engineers, and those charged with protecting the reliability of our grid. In fact, just last month, the head of the NERC called the current reliability crisis a five-alarm fire. The State Planning for Reliability and Affordability Act prioritizes the resources we need most. It will encourage States to take more responsibility over their systems. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta), my good friend and colleague on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Evans), a very important member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.