Lynn Jenkins

Ms. JENKINS

Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Renacci), our colleague and friend on the House Ways and Means Committee.

Ms. JENKINS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Young), our friend and colleague on the Ways and Means Committee.

Ms. JENKINS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe), my friend and colleague.

Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia, Eric Cantor, our current Republican House majority leader.

Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana, Steve Scalise, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee.

Ms. JENKINS. I see no other speakers, so I am prepared to close.

Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, in closing, this bill is about fairness and about providing relief to all hardworking Americans just as the administration keeps giving to businesses. It is about leveling the playing field for the millions of individuals and middle class families who are forced to comply with this health care law. Just last week, a stunning poll found that only 6 percent of Americans claim ObamaCare is working and want it kept intact. Opposition to this law is at an all-time high, and even the President admitted that the launch of this law was fumbled. Add that to the millions of Americans who are losing their health insurance that they like, are losing access to the doctors they have always seen, are submitting their personal data to an unsecured system, are paying higher premiums they can't afford, and clearly, we have a law that is not working and is not fair to the American people. The court of public opinion is a powerful thing. The House will listen, and it will continue to listen, and it will continue to provide relief and fairness to middle class families. I hope the Senate and the President will also do the right thing for the American people. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve a point of order against the motion to recommit.

Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my point of order and seek time in opposition to the motion.

Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, once again, the Democrats are simply missing the point. The President is the one who has delayed the employer mandate, the President has said this law is not ready, and the President has declined to extend the same flexibility to individuals. This is about basic fairness. It is only fair that hardworking taxpayers are given the same treatment as businesses. Like so many other provisions of the law that have been delayed, repealed, or declared unworkable, this is just another example that, despite the administration's promises, ObamaCare is not working for the American people. I reject this motion. Please support H.R. 4118, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JENKINS

Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, investigations by the Ways and Means and Government Reform Committees have uncovered numerous examples of what appears to be a concerted effort by the IRS to target conservative groups and develop new regulations that could essentially silence conservative groups. If allowed to take effect, these proposed regulations impact groups that have always been allowed to voice their positions on public policy. Notably, one group exempt from these proposed regulations--even though they do similar types of outreach--is labor. Mr. Speaker, our Nation is founded on the freedom of speech, and any effort to hinder grassroots advocacy by the IRS must be stopped. At the very least the IRS regulations should be put on hold until investigations into the agency's prior misconduct are complete. I urge my colleagues to support the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act, to ensure the administration does not use the IRS as a weapon to silence groups based on political beliefs.

Ms. JENKINS

Ms. JENKINS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Ms. JENKINS asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. JENKINS. Madam Speaker, I am proud to stand before the House today in support of H.R. 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. I supported this legislation last Congress because the message I have consistently received from my constituents is that they do not want their taxpayers dollars funding abortions. Period. It is time to put this issue to rest once and for all. The majority of Americans, regardless of where they stand on the larger issue, do not want their taxpayer dollars paying for abortions, but for too long, we have had a patchwork of provisions when it comes to Federal funding, which has created potential loopholes and confusion. H.R. 7 solidifies the longstanding provisions of the Hyde amendment, which are especially needed when it comes to the Affordable Health Care Act. Madam Speaker, I don't have time to stand here and list all of the problems with the President's health care law, but one of these problems can be fixed through the passage of this bipartisan bill, which simply states that taxpayer dollars will not pay for abortions. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. JENKINS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume simply to note that, according to the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, the bill would have negligible effects on tax revenues. Similarly, the CBO estimates that any effects on direct spending would be negligible for each year and over the 10-year budget window. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the author of the bill.

Ms. JENKINS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly), my colleague on the Ways and Means Committee.

Ms. JENKINS. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks).

Ms. JENKINS. Madam Speaker, I don't see any additional speakers, so we will be prepared to close.

Ms. JENKINS. Madam Speaker, we are not interested in raising taxes. This bill does not do that. We are simply ensuring that hardworking Americans who pay taxes and oppose abortion don't see their taxpayer dollars going to fund abortion. We have had legislation similar to this bill in place for over three decades. This legislation is not a new idea. The majority of Americans have long held that taxpayers should not be forced to foot the bill for abortion practices that they do not believe in. I would ask everyone to support passage of H.R. 7, Madam Speaker, and I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.

Ms. JENKINS

Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Health care is a personal issue, and many Kansans are worried about submitting their sensitive and private information into a system that can't protect them against the devastating consequences of security breaches and fraud. Experts have repeatedly raised red flags about the security of the information people are submitting to the ObamaCare exchanges, and a former Social Security Administrator even described the Web site as a hacker's dream. Important questions about the Web site security remain unanswered, and Americans, especially those who have lost their plans due to the President's health care law, deserve some piece of mind that their information is safe from cyber thieves. I urge my colleagues to support this bill that requires HHS to notify Americans within 2 business days if their personal information has been compromised. Much more is required of private sector companies whose products are not mandated by law. The least the administration can do is notify Americans if their information has been stolen or unlawfully accessed through the ObamaCare exchange.

Ms. JENKINS

Ms. JENKINS. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for his leadership on this critical issue. I will note that I am a proud cosponsor of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I grew up on a family farm in Holton, Kansas. However, as anyone from a tight-knit community knows, folks see it as a civic duty to pitch in where help is needed. This means that many folks choose to be volunteer firefighters. These volunteers give freely of their time and well-being to help ensure that, when disaster occurs, folks in the community are safe. I know this well because my daddy served as a Kansas State fire marshal for many years. I have spent significant time on the House floor talking about the unintended consequences of passing the President's health care law, which allows the government to take control of the health care industry. This is another one of those unintended consequences. The President's health care law will penalize volunteer firefighters and EMTs by counting them as full-time employees and possibly subjecting their departments to the employer mandate tax. Penalizing volunteer fire departments should not be the intent of the President's health care law, and the effects could be disastrous. In Kansas alone, there are 550 volunteer fire departments that are staffed by 13,000 volunteer firefighters. It would be a terrible mistake to jeopardize the status of these departments and the communities they serve by penalizing them under the Affordable Care Act. Given the commonsense nature of this legislation and the bipartisan support of it, I remain committed to ensuring that this gets fixed.

Ms. JENKINS

Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize my constituent and friend, Pam Trusdale, on the occasion of her 15th anniversary as Executive Director of the National Association of Trailer Manufacturers. From NATM's headquarters in my Congressional District in Topeka, Kansas, Pam leads advocacy, outreach and safety-promotion efforts on behalf of the light and medium duty trailer industry, one that is responsible for hundreds of thousands of American jobs and several billion dollars of positive economic output. The great work NATM does on behalf of its members and the industry at large would certainly not be possible without Pam's 15 years of leadership and vision. When she joined the organization in 1998, it was a fledgling group of a handful of companies who joined together to better the industry's future. Since that time, membership has expanded dramatically and NATM's advocacy on behalf of its members in Washington, D.C. has, as well. Soon, NATM will move into a new headquarters building in Topeka in order to accommodate its growth in staff and continue serving its members. Among the many initiatives in which Pam's leadership has been instrumental is the creation of NATM's Compliance Verification Program. Through the Program, NATM's technical staff visits members' manufacturing plants to ensure the proper procedures are in place to build trailers that are in accordance with federal safety regulations and best industry practices. Pam has guided the Program from its creation through a unanimous vote to make participation mandatory for membership in the Association. When consumers across the country see the NATM decal on a dealer's showroom floor, they know instantly they are purchasing a safety compliant trailer. In addition to her efforts leading NATM, Pam has also been active in serving the Topeka community. She currently serves on the Board of Regents of Washburn University, her alma mater, and is active with the Kansas Society of Association Executives. She is also a member of the Stormont-Vail Foundation Advisory Board and past chairwoman of the Stormont-Vail Foundation Board of Trustees. Congratulations, Pam, on this milestone. May you and NATM enjoy many more successful years.

Ms. JENKINS

Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, ``Stop talking; start doing.'' That is what Gabriella Miller, a passionate childhood cancer advocate asks of our Nation's leaders. As an original cosponsor of the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, I encourage my colleagues to honor her request and support this piece of legislation. The bill directs $126 million to fund a new pediatric research initiative at the National Institutes of Health. These dollars will fund research, clinical trials, and medical advancement aimed at discovering better treatments to help kids fight their battles against childhood diseases. In my State, the University of Kansas Medical Center is making great strides in the fight against pediatric illnesses, including plans for a pediatric blood cancer program, research to prevent severe behavior disorders in children, and efforts to establish an institute for children's health and development. Although Gabriella lost her battle to brain cancer in October, this bill supports programs that will find cures for brave kids like her.

Ms. JENKINS

Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the House Republican Conference, I send to the desk a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Ms. JENKINS

Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, on November 20, during critical negotiations in Geneva about Tehran's nuclear program, Iran's supreme leader tweeted this disturbing statement: ``Israel is the sinister, unclean rabid dog of the region.'' That same day, he added, The United States and Israel are a ``threat to the world'' and ``enemies'' that ``should be resisted.'' This is the Iranian regime we are dealing with. They have ignored diplomatic efforts for years, and they cannot be trusted. An interim deal might seem like good news, but it does not make our Nation or our allies in the Middle East safer, especially when Iran claims the agreement is a victory over the great aggressor--the West. This rhetoric leaves me skeptical that any progress has been made, and I encourage our leaders and international partners to take the necessary measures to halt Iran's nuclear program, not only for our own security, but that of our allies and democracies around the world.

Ms. JENKINS

Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, across Kansas, folks are struggling from the effects of ObamaCare. This cancelation letter is from Greg and Linda in Osage City, who wrote to tell me their son was losing his health care plan. Linda spent hours each night for weeks trying to sign up for a new plan on the Web site. She tried the online chat. She tried calling the number, and no one could answer her questions. They were forced to add their son to Greg's more expensive employer plan, and now their son's health insurance bill is going up 50 percent each month. After years of knowing about these problems, today the President tried to make good on his promise: if you like your plan, you can keep it. But for Greg and Linda, it is likely too late. The deadline to switch to Greg's employer plan just passed. They had no good options. We must continue to work for hardworking American families who are paying the price for this unworkable law.