John Kline

Mr. KLINE

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Gowdy).

Mr. KLINE

Mr. KLINE. I appreciate my friend having me do that, and we're glad to comply, Mr. Speaker. So at this time, I'm pleased to yield 1 minute to another member of the committee, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson).

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte).

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I have two more speakers and myself. May I inquire as to the time remaining?

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce).

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Duffy).

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, can I inquire as to the time remaining on each side?

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a member of the committee, the very distinguished gentleman from Tennessee, Dr. DesJarlais.

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I would now like to yield 1 minute to a member of the committee, the distinguished gentlelady from South Dakota (Mrs. Noem).

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a member of the committee, the distinguished gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson).

Mr. KLINE. Is the gentleman ready to close?

Mr. KLINE. I am pleased to yield 1 minute to a distinguished member of the committee, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri).

Mr. KLINE. I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to a very distinguished member of the committee, the gentlelady from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert).

Mr. KLINE. Do I understand that the gentleman from New Jersey is the last and only speaker remaining?

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6079, the Repeal of Obamacare Act, and yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, on June 28 the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a devastating blow to the American people. In a sharply divided opinion, the Court upheld the President's decision to tax individuals who don't purchase government-approved health insurance. If Washington can dictate that private citizens must buy health insurance and impose higher taxes when they fail to do so, it is difficult to conceive of any limit on Federal power. While I disagree with the Court's ruling, that is not the focus of our debate today. We are here instead to overturn a flawed and failed law. The government takeover of health care is destroying jobs. It is raising health care costs. It is the wrong prescription for an ailing economy. It must be repealed. We promised the American people no less, and we owe it to them to keep our promise. The need for repeal has grown more urgent in light of Friday's disappointing jobs report, which marked the 41st consecutive month of unemployment greater than 8 percent. A close examination of the health care law explains how it's contributing to the jobs crisis facing this Nation. Hundreds of additional boards and bureaucracies, thousands of pages of complex regulations, billions of dollars in tax hikes, and trillions of dollars in new government spending, these are the burdens the health care law has piled on the backs of working families and job creators. For more than 2 years, the law has crippled our economy and undermined employers' ability to grow their businesses and hire new workers. This is not just my opinion. We see evidence from job creators across the country. Gail Johnson, an employer from Virginia, said the law will ``ultimately slow or stall the growth of small and midsized businesses as we struggle with the costly new requirements.'' Speaking of the law's draconian tax on medical devices, Denis Johnson, vice president of a medical device manufacturing facility in Indiana, said it will ``undoubtedly force us to cut critical R&D funding and inhibit job creation and retention.'' And Will Knetch, president of a family-owned manufacturing company in Pennsylvania, testified that ``the sheer monstrous size of the law intimidates most Americans and provides so many unknowns for the business community, it is scary.'' Without any doubt, Mr. Speaker, Americans are concerned about getting this economy moving and putting people back to work. As these and other employers have accurately described, one of the greatest obstacles standing in the way of economic growth and prosperity is the President's health care law. Through his government takeover of health care, the President has created a destructive roadblock to lowering health care costs and private sector job creation, and he has disrupted the careful balance of power between the people and their government. Whether at congressional hearings, in public forums, or at the ballot box, the American people have spoken. They want their elected leaders to repeal ObamaCare so we can pave the way to private sector job growth and lower health care costs. I urge my colleagues to stop defending a broken law and start standing by the American people. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 6079, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the chairman of the Workforce Protection Subcommittee, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg).

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Farenthold).

Mr. KLINE. I yield 3 minutes to the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions, the distinguished gentleman from Tennessee, Dr. Roe.

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, we have heard a lot of the same debate, the same rhetoric we have heard before this bill was turned into law, passed on Christmas Eve, jammed through Congress. Now we have had a chance to look at the results of that law. The reality includes higher health care costs, fewer jobs, and even more government meddling in health care decisions of private citizens. We have now had over 12,000 pages of regulations and it is still writing. It's no wonder that America, American employers, American employees, American families are afraid of what's next. We have heard on this floor today a suggestion that everybody should be in Medicare. No wonder they are afraid. We have heard about millions of new jobs added, and yet we're in the most anemic recovery since World War II. We need jobs. We need to get Americans back to work. And we believe that the first important step to helping those employers put Americans back to work is to repeal this awful law. I urge all my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on repeal of ObamaCare so we can stop debating a failed law and start advancing real commonsense health care reforms. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I inquire again as to the time remaining on both sides.

Mr. KLINE. I yield the gentleman an additional 15 seconds.

Mr. KLINE. I would now like to yield 2 minutes to another member of the committee, the gentlelady from Alabama (Mrs. Roby).

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. We've heard a couple of times today from my distinguished friend and colleague from New Jersey and again from the well about how small employers aren't affected by this. If you have 50 or fewer employees, you have to do absolutely nothing. But of course if you have 51, if you hire just one more employee, you have to pay $42,000 in penalties, I mean taxes, or whatever that is after the Supreme Court ruling. It's having an impact on our employers. There's a reason why they're not hiring. There's a reason why they're scared, and there's a reason, frankly, why they want us to repeal this awful piece of law. I am now pleased to yield 2 minutes to a member of the committee, a physician, the distinguished gentleman from Indiana, Dr. Bucshon.

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to another member of the committee, an emergency room physician, the very distinguished gentleman from Nevada, Dr. Heck.