Wally Herger

Mr. HERGER

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

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. When the Democrats passed their massive health care overhaul, they didn't spend one cent to resolve a longstanding problem and ensure seniors have continued access to their physician. As a result, for the fourth time since Obamacare passed, we are forced to take emergency action to prevent physicians from having their Medicare payments slashed. This time, the looming cut is 25 percent. The brinkmanship where this Democrat Congress has walked physicians up to the cliff, only to back away at the last minute, is unacceptable. My friends on the other side of the aisle are quick to remind us that they offered to address Medicare physician payments last fall. This is true. They put a bill on the floor which had already failed to pass the Senate. This bill would have expanded our already record deficit by an astounding $210 billion, a crippling debt load on top of the $1 trillion health bill. Rather than responsibly manage the Medicare program, they chose instead to cut Medicare by one half trillion dollars to fund their government takeover of health care. The good news is that today we are finally starting to address this problem in a bipartisan way. We're stopping these cuts not for 1 month or 2 months but for a full year. We're ensuring that physicians will be able to keep their doors open and that seniors will have continued access to their doctors. And we are doing this in a fiscally responsible manner without adding a dime to the deficit. We are doing it by taking aim at the irresponsible overspending that was created by the new health care law. Let it be known on this day, in the people's House, that dismantling of Obamacare begins. Once the House passes this bill and the President signs it into law, we will have landed the first blow to the Democrats' massive health care overhaul. Today we begin by removing $19 billion from their risky $1 trillion experiment; a risky experiment that CBO predicts will force health insurance premiums for millions of families to increase by $2,100 in 2016 alone; a risky experiment that the Obama administration predicts could force 117 million Americans out of their health plans; a risky experiment that Medicare officials have repeatedly warned could jeopardize seniors' access to care; a risky experiment that Medicare officials predict will force millions of seniors out of their current Medicare and retiree health coverage; a risky experiment that increases taxes by more than one-half trillion dollars at a time when unemployment is nearly 10 percent. A risky experiment that would spend an additional $1 trillion on health care when every respective economist tells us in order to improve our country's fiscal health, we must get control of health care spending. My friends on the other side of the aisle repeatedly said a doctor's fix couldn't be paid for, that it shouldn't be paid for. Yet with bipartisan work, we have before us a fully offset bill that gives physicians 1 year of certainty while Congress works to reform physician payments in a fiscally responsible manner once and for all. So here we are today, Mr. Speaker, pulling at the thread that will begin to unravel ObamaCare. Rest assured, America, we are taking $19 billion today, but we will continue to fight to get the rest next year. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. General Leave

Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton).

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

Mr. HERGER

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

Mr. HERGER. I thank my good friend from California for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 1540, which I introduced to expose a growing crisis on public lands in my northern California congressional district and across the Nation. Mexican drug cartels are operating large-scale marijuana plantations on these lands, and the problem is getting worse by the day. I recently joined law enforcement in a marijuana eradication raid in the forests of Shasta County, California, and saw firsthand the flourishing productivity of these foreign drug traffickers. Unfortunately, the Federal Government has not taken sufficient action to dismantle them, and a comprehensive strategy is long overdue. These foreign drug cartels pose a severe threat to public safety. They are heavily armed and have repeatedly fired at law enforcement officers to protect their illegal crops. They endanger the lives of outdoorsmen who too frequently have been confronted by violent criminals while simply trying to enjoy their public lands. They use the drug profits to fund a multitude of violent crimes and provoke the political unrest in Mexico that could threaten our national security. They cause grave and costly damage to our environment, leaving behind tons of trash and dangerous chemicals and costing taxpayers an estimated $11,000 to restore each acre of forest damaged by marijuana cultivation. Mr. Speaker, our national forests should be a safe haven for families and recreation enthusiasts, not Mexican drug cartels. The American people should not have to fear for their safety while on a family camping trip. Taxpayers in our Nation should not have to bear the financial burden of the damage caused by drug traffickers. And the United States should never allow foreign cartels to reign free on the sovereign territory of our Nation. Let me say emphatically that these drug trafficking organizations must be pursued relentlessly, shut down permanently, and brought to justice unconditionally. House Resolution 1540 spells out the crisis occurring on our public lands and affirms that the Federal Government must do more to confront this threat. It calls upon the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to work in conjunction with Federal and State agencies to develop a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to permanently dismantle the foreign drug trafficking organizations that have found a sanctuary on these lands. It is an important first step designed to both shine the light on this unacceptable menace and to demand that Federal law enforcement agencies take more aggressive, more persistent, and more effective action to shut them down for good. I want to thank Chairman Conyers and Ranking Member Smith for their commitment to addressing this serious threat to public safety and to our national sovereignty. I urge my colleagues to vote for this resolution.

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, we are now in some of the worst economic times since the Great Depression. We have 9\1/2\ percent unemployment nationally. I have areas in my district that have double that amount. This is certainly the wrong time to be raising taxes. We need to stop this tax increase for all Americans--for the hardworking families who are struggling to make ends meet, and also for the small businesses that we are relying upon to create jobs and grow our economy. The bill before us today would result in a massive tax increase on small business owners, entrepreneurs, and job creators at the very time our country most desperately needs them to succeed and to hire more employees. Mr. Speaker, this is no time for half measures. I urge the House to reject this flawed bill, and instead pass legislation to ensure that no American sees a tax increase on January 1.

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, for the fifth time in the last year, Democrats' ability to properly manage the Medicare program is causing medical doctors to confront a looming massive cut in their Medicare reimbursement rates. In fact, when the cut went into effect in June, Medicare held physicians' payments for weeks, and it ultimately was forced to pay claims that cut physicians' rates by 21 percent, only to later send additional payments once the majority congressional Democrats decided to pass another patch. In practical terms, this meant for weeks doctors and other providers saw no or greatly reduced Medicare payments, but yet they still had to pay their rents, payrolls, and other overhead expenses. Madam Speaker, this is unacceptable and irresponsible. As a result of the Democrats' failure to address this issue in a timely manner, tens of millions of taxpayer dollars were wasted to reprocess physicians' claims and to send new checks to doctors all because the majority party could not finish its work on time. Physician practices, like most small businesses, are hurt by this dereliction of duty. In a letter signed by 117 physician specialty and State medical societies, physicians detailed how many practices were forced to seek loans to make payroll expenses, to lay off staff or to cancel capital improvements and investments in electronic health records and other technology. Furthermore, when payments resumed, many physicians experienced long delays in receiving the retroactive adjustments. The physician group letter states, ``This is not the way to manage a program that seniors and the disabled rely on.'' The legislation before us provides for a 1-month postponement of the 23-percent cut; but in 1 month, the cuts return, this time even deeper, with payment cliffs expected to reach nearly 25 percent on January 1. Madam Speaker, the Democrats' practice of missing deadlines, of withholding payments and reprocessing Medicare claims is no way to run the program. Furthermore, the Democrats' new health law cuts more than one half trillion dollars from Medicare but spends nothing on fixing the physician payment problem. It is one of the many reasons we should replace that flawed legislation with reform Americans can afford and that we should address a true long-term fix for our doctors and seniors. A Republican House will run this program differently. We cannot miss deadlines. We must ensure doctors get paid on time for the services they provide. We cannot string them along not knowing from one month to the next what they will be getting paid by Medicare. As doctors are making decisions about whether or not to participate in Medicare next year, I want them to know that a Republican House will not leave them twisting in the wind as they have been this past year. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HERGER. Madam Speaker, I would like to mention to my friend, the gentleman from New Jersey, that the legislation he speaks of, which they offered, had a $200 billion, non-paid-for bill on that. We have to begin living within our means, and through our legislation that we will be offering, we will be working to do that. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HERGER. Madam Speaker, while I intend to support this bill and urge its passage, our work does not end here. We must find a long-term, stable and fiscally responsible solution to this problem. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, there is broad agreement that more needs to be done to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare. In fact, fraud is such an issue in Medicare, that the chief counsel to the HHS Inspector General, Lewis Morris, who testified before the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee this summer, said, ``A lot of career criminals and organized criminals have decided that building a Medicare fraud scam is far safer than dealing in crack or dealing in stolen cars, and it's far more lucrative. Right now, it's a good bet that you can take millions from us, and chances are you're not going to get caught.'' Mr. Speaker, it's clear more must be done to ensure that taxpayer dollars and seniors' premiums are being used wisely and efficiently. That is why Chairman Stark and I authored the legislation before us today, H.R. 6130, the Strengthening Medicare Anti-Fraud Measures Act. When Mr. Morris testified at our subcommittee, he identified ways in which the current law could be improved. This legislation seeks to address those areas. The bill makes two improvements to current law. First, it provides authority to exclude from Federal health programs executives whose companies have been convicted of fraud. The HHS Office of Inspector General would be allowed to exclude executives who were in positions of authority at the time the fraud was committed but subsequently left those positions. Because the current statute is written in the present tense, it only punishes officers, managing employees, and owners at the exact time OIG levels punishment. Therefore, the individual who was the CEO of a company that engaged in criminal fraud can evade Medicare penalties if he or she resigns before the company is convicted. The ex-CEO is then free to take on jobs with other health care entities and commit fraud all over again. Under H.R. 6130, OIG could exclude the individuals who are responsible corporate officials at the time fraud was being committed, regardless of where they are employed later. The second change this bill makes prevents companies that are convicted of fraud from hiding behind corporate shells and evading punishment. The bill does this by strengthening OIG's ability to impose penalties on corporations affiliated with convicted entities, or to use ``permissive exclusion'' authority to exclude them from program participation. Currently, corporations that engage in health care fraud can resolve the criminal case through a guilty plea of a non-operating subsidiary. OIG's only remedy in such a case doesn't allow for any meaningful punishment against the company that's actually behind the Medicare fraud. This legislation gives OIG the authority to exclude corporate parents or other affiliates from the Medicare program so that OIG will be better positioned to require significant changes at these companies beyond the remedies that are generally required in civil cases. This would provide a significant incentive to corporate parents to promote compliance and police the activities within their corporate families. With these additional tools, OIG will be better able to stop those individuals who commit fraud but who have been able to stay one step ahead of law enforcement, saving taxpayer dollars and protecting seniors. Medicare fraud is a crime that hurts senior citizens, law-abiding health care providers, and every American who pays taxes. I thank Chairman Stark for working with me on this legislation and urge the support of my colleagues. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HERGER. In closing, I urge all Members to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 6130, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. Madam Speaker, I urge the House to defeat the previous question on the rule so we can vote to end the advanced Earned Income Tax Credit. This year, the Federal Government is running a $1.5 trillion deficit with 43 cents of every dollar we are spending being borrowed money. The American people want us to get spending under control and the Republican YouCut initiative enables the American people to actually vote on specific spending cuts. This week YouCut participants have asked Congress to consider eliminating the advanced EITC. A Government Accountability Office report found that the advanced EITC is unpopular with eligible taxpayers and disproportionately subject to fraud, with 20 percent of the claimants lacking even a valid Social Security number. Repealing the advance option would not affect low-income workers' eligibility for the EITC, but it would save taxpayers--not the $500 million that is less than the last budget, as my friend Washington just stated, but double that, more than double that, $1.1 billion by cutting down on fraud and abuse. Madam Speaker, this is a bipartisan measure. In fact, President Obama included it in his budget for this year. By taking up this commonsense proposal, we can cut more than a billion dollars' worth of fraud out of the Federal budget. Let's take this opportunity to show the American people that Congress is finally serious about tackling the deficit. Vote ``no'' on the previous question.

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this bill. It has now been almost a year and a half since the stimulus became law, and the American people continue to ask: Where are the jobs? The American people have made it very clear that they want Congress to move in a new direction and focus on creating stable, private sector jobs. Yet this majority continues to offer up more of the same. The bill before us does nothing to help small businesses. It actually raises taxes on the worldwide American companies that have created millions of American jobs. Instead, virtually all of the money--some $30 billion in total--is directed to State and local governments. There are a few provisions in this bill that have merit and that might be worth considering in a different context, but the basic premise of this bill is that we are going to take another $30 billion out of the private sector and use it to finance more government spending. That is not the path to economic recovery. It is the path to Greece. The American people are tired of this same old tax-and-spend agenda. It is time for Members of this House to stand alongside the people we represent and say, ``No more.'' Let's vote down this bill and get to work on real private sector job creation.

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. Madam Speaker, I find it ironic that we are here today creating one more commission to study a problem and report back with possible solutions some time in the future when we could be taking action right now today that would reduce our trade deficit and make a real difference for American workers. One of the findings in this bill states the problem very clearly: ``While the United States has one of the most open economies in the world, the United States faces significant tariff and non-tariff trade barriers with its trading partners.'' For example, over 90 percent of Panamanian and Colombian exports enter the U.S. duty free. Additionally, the average Korean tariff for U.S. exporters is more than four times the average tariff that Korean products face in the United States market. We could slash these high tariffs on U.S. exports and level the playing field for American workers by passing the current pending Free Trade Agreements with these three nations. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to continue the bipartisan tradition since World War II of supporting trade and call for passage of the pending FTAs with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. If we really want to create jobs, pass these trade agreements. If we want to increase exports, pass these trade agreements. If we want to reduce the trade deficit, pass these trade agreements. We don't need another commission; we need action.

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government must do more to dismantle Mexican drug trafficking organizations operating marijuana plantations on our Nation's Federal lands. This is a severe and growing problem in the northern California congressional district I represent. These traffickers pose a threat to the visitors of the national parks and forests, and local law enforcement, and the Federal Government is fundamentally responsible for addressing it. I have introduced a resolution that I hope will garner sufficient support to focus more attention and begin a process of greater cooperation and coordination among the agencies responsible for protecting our Federal lands and the citizens who want to enjoy them. Mr. Speaker, it's essential that we stay focused on addressing this important issue.

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. Madam Speaker, the Federal deficit has topped $1 trillion, and there are still 3 months remaining in the fiscal year. Spending is out of control, and the President and Democratic leadership have shown no sign of slowing down. Americans are still asking, Where are the jobs? Unemployment stands at near 10 percent nationally, and the administration's massive spending increases are harming the small businesses that are so crucial to our job creation. President Clinton's former chief of staff has said, ``The debt is like a cancer . . . it is going to destroy the country from within.'' Madam Speaker, we must reject Big Government and embrace fiscal responsibility and the pro-small business policies that have guided our Nation out of troubled times in the past.

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the majority is again bringing to the floor more fixes to the fatally flawed health care overhaul. The health care law was riddled with errors; some were oversights, the likes of which we are here today to address. However, the majority has failed to rectify the fundamentally flawed policies that threaten our economic stability and America's health care, all the while driving Federal and State budgets down a further unsustainable path. Mr. Speaker, where is the fix for the up to 117 million Americans with health insurance from their employers that, by the administration's own estimates, will not be able to keep the plan they have and like? That promise was repeatedly made by President Obama and the Democratic majority to assure to the American people that health care overhaul would not force them into a one-size-fits-all government- approved insurance plan. Unfortunately, this has repeatedly proven to be false. Where is the fix for the millions of small businesses that will be forced to file 1099 tax forms for each business from which they purchase more than $600 worth of goods and services during this year? The National Federation of Independent Business, NFIB, describes these new requirements as crippling, and they will further divert investment away from jobs, which should be our number one concern. Mr. Speaker, where is the fix for seniors whose Medicare coverage is threatened by the health care overhaul? Medicare's own actuaries found that the $500 billion in Medicare cuts could jeopardize access to care for seniors. Furthermore, the actuaries predict millions of seniors will lose their Medicare plan because massive cuts to the program will result in ``about 50 percent'' of seniors no longer being in a plan. Unfortunately, the merits of today's legislation pale in comparison to the merits of addressing the needs of the millions of Americans losing the plan they have and like, the small businesses facing burdensome new costs and regulations, and seniors relying on Medicare. When will these pressing needs be addressed? Mr. Speaker, while I support the bill before us, it is not enough. We must move beyond mere technical corrections and fix the fundamental flaws of the Democrats' health care law by repealing it and replacing it with solutions that work. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Terry).

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support passage of H.R. 689. This legislation is the result of a collaborative and bipartisan effort to limit government bureaucracy and improve the management of federal lands in Northern California. For years, many of my constituents raised concerns over difficulties in dealing with two federal agencies in order to use the Chappie-Shasta Off-Highway Vehicle Area in Shasta County, California. Though the Bureau of Land Management has managed the majority of this area, Forest Service holdings within the area have led to such issues as duplicative permitting and even different opening dates for the same area. This situation has led to increasing frustration from thousands of users who come from across California and elsewhere to enjoy this OHV area. This simple legislation provides a commonsense solution by allowing the BLM to consolidate the OHV area while the Forest Service will benefit by receiving jurisdiction over small tracts of BLM land that are already contiguous to the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. This bill first passed the House by unanimous consent, and after a few technical changes, again received unanimous support from the Senate. Concurrence with the Senate's changes will finally allow for more efficient management of the Chappie-Shasta OHV Area and greater enjoyment of its users. This legislation represents a win-win for taxpayers and their enjoyment of our federal lands. I thank Senators Feinstein and Boxer for their work in supporting this effort and I urge my colleagues to support it as well.

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. Madam Speaker, for the first time since 1974, the House has failed to pass a budget resolution. Instead of making tough decisions, congressional Democrats have chosen to keep their heads in the sand. A problem won't go away just by ignoring it. It will require real leadership and a commitment to fiscal discipline to tackle the out-of-control spending and debt that threatens our economic prosperity. Failure to even propose a budget fundamentally means that congressional Democrats have no plan and are content to ignore our skyrocketing debt. Madam Speaker, the American people know it's a failure of leadership to ignore the massive tax increases and the crushing burden of debt Washington is leaving our children and grandchildren.

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. I thank my friend from Wisconsin for yielding. Yesterday, the Supreme Court delivered a victory for our constitutional freedoms by upholding the right of individual citizens to keep and bear arms. To fully honor the Second Amendment, we must also be vigilant against regulations that place unnecessary burdens on manufacturers of guns and ammunition. The requirement for manufacturers to pay Federal excise tax biweekly is costly and does not improve tax compliance or public safety. H.R. 5552 is a commonsense bill that doesn't add to the deficit and will help ensure law-abiding Americans have access to American-made firearms. It is supported by the NRA and a number of hunting and conservation groups. I urge the passage of this legislation.

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to applaud the inclusion in this bill of a provision that enhances information sharing between the IRS and State prisons. Recently, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration issued a report, finding that at least 1,295 prisoners received $9.1 million in home buyer tax credits for homes they reported purchasing while incarcerated. We must put a stop to this fraud. I am a long-time supporter of increased data sharing among agencies to ensure that prisoners do not illegally obtain taxpayer-funded benefits. In the 1996 welfare reform bill, I championed a program that authorized incentive payments to penal institutions for providing information on newly incarcerated individuals. This data sharing gave the Social Security Administration the information they needed to prevent checks from going to jailed beneficiaries, which saved taxpayers over $5 billion. Currently, the IRS shares information with Federal prisons but not with State prisons. The bill before us would change that, and I support its passage. General Leave

Mr. HERGER

Mr. HERGER. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe), who is also a physician.

Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. For the fourth time in 6 months, Democrats' inability to properly manage the Medicare program is causing doctors to confront a 21 percent cut in their Medicare reimbursement rates. In fact, this cut went into effect on June 1, forcing Medicare to pay claims for physicians' services with the 21 percent cut. In practical terms, this means that for a standard office visit, physicians are now being paid $8 less than they received in 2007. This is unacceptable and irresponsible. As a result of the Democrats' failure to address this issue in a timely manner, tens of millions of taxpayer dollars will be required to reprocess these claims and send new checks to doctors, all because the majority Democrats could not finish their work on time. Physicians' practices, like most small businesses, are hurt by the dereliction of duty. Dr. Joel Bolen from Montgomery, Alabama, said about the delayed payments, quote, ``We have already eliminated one staff position, and that has resulted in a major reduction in some services.'' Dr. Jen Brull from Plainville, Kansas, had to juggle a $10,000 temporary drop in revenue while claims were held up when payments were delayed for 15 days in April of this year, a major stress on a small practice. Senior citizens have been hurt as well. Earlier this week, one of my constituents visited my office in Redding, California, to share his story. His doctor is not accepting any more Medicare patients until Congress deals with the 21 percent cut. As a result, he has been forced to postpone an essential surgery. The new president of the American Medical Association, Dr. Cecil Wilson, said, ``This is no way to run a major health coverage program. Already the instability caused by repeated short-term delays is taking its toll.'' The newspaper Politico declared that ``never before has Congress allowed such a deep Medicare cut to go into effect at this scale.'' The legislation before us provides physicians with a 6-month reprieve of the 21 percent cut by providing them a 2.2 percent rate increase through November. But after November, the 21 percent cut returns. And 1 month after that, the cut goes even deeper, totaling 26 percent in January. Perhaps my friends on the other side of the aisle believe this will be someone else's problem in December. Mr. Speaker, ironically, the bill before us today uses the same bill number as the Democrats' health bill that passed the House in November of last year. It's ironic, because Republicans argued for months that the Democrats should address the flawed Medicare physician payment formula in their health care overhaul. After all, if they could find more than one-half trillion dollars in cuts to Medicare, you would think they could find a couple dollars to fix the SGR; except, they didn't, allowing them to shield the true cost of their trillion-dollar government takeover of health care. It's one of the many reasons we should replace that flawed law with reform Americans can afford, and then we can address a true long-term fix for our doctors. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.