Sander Levin

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, how much time is there remaining, please?

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, we may have one additional speaker who is not here yet, so I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott). (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, this came from the President. The President said, when he ran for office, ``Yes, we can.'' He came here and eventually secured a majority to pass a bill to rectify 75 years of inaction, 75 years for Americans without health care by the millions, and so we did it. Mr. Speaker, the Republicans have said, ``We will,'' but they never have. We have never seen a bill that addressed this issue comprehensively. Now, they are on the run because millions and millions of people have now benefited for a variety of reasons who never had a single hour of health care for themselves or their children. Now, the Republicans say, ``We will come up with something.'' It is too late. Health care reform is here to stay. We can improve it, but Republicans will never destroy it. The American people know it is complex, but they know their health needs. We responded. We responded. That should be and is respected, not the disrespect of coming here 56 times to say ``no'' when they have never come up with anything. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. Speaker, well, the majority leader says we need a new system. This has been for 4 years their new system--a total blank page. Their problem is that it is working, that health care is working. It is working for these people: 12 million uninsured Americans who got coverage; over 10 million enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP; 3 million young adults, 3 million who are now covered because of their parents' health policy. It is working. It is working for the 129 million Americans with preexisting health conditions, so many of whom were out in the cold; for 105 million Americans who no longer have a lifetime limit or an annual limit; and for seniors who got the benefit of filling the doughnut hole. There is some reference here to increased health care costs. It is a lie. Health care costs have been going down. It is a fib. It isn't true. I think what bothers Republicans most of all is that it is working, and their ideology is blind to success, or they don't want to see it. We are going to vote ``no.'' What is this, the 56th time? We have lost track of how many times we voted ``no.'' We are voting ``no'' because of the millions of people who were left out by our insurance coverage, who now have the decency of health care coverage and the protection of health care coverage. We are proud of health care reform, so we stand up to say ``yes'' to it by voting ``no.'' Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) who has worked on health care for how many years, Mr. Rangel?

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), another distinguished member of our committee.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield the gentleman 30 seconds.

Mr. LEVIN. It is now my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley), a member of our committee and also the vice chair of our Caucus.

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

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Brady, are you ready to close?

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Brady, are you ready to close?

Mr. LEVIN. And then you will close?

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I insert in the Record a Statement of Administration Policy. Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC, February 2, 2015. Statement of Administration Policy H.R. 596--Repealing the Affordable Care Act (Rep. Byrne, R-AL, and 48 cosponsors) The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 596. The House has now attempted to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act more than 50 times. H.R. 596 would take away critical benefits and health care coverage from hard- working middle class families. In addition to taking away Americans health care security, the bill would increase the deficit, remove policies that have helped slow health care cost growth and improve the quality of care patients receive, and detract from the work the Congress could be doing to further job creation and economic growth. The Affordable Care Act is not only working, it is hilly integrated into an improved American health care system. Discrimination based on pre-existing conditions is a thing of the past. And under the Affordable Care Act, we've seen the slowest growth in health care prices in nearly 50 years, benefiting all Americans. Repealing the Affordable Care Act would mean that Health Insurance Marketplaces where millions of Americans now compare private insurance plans and get tax credits to purchase them would shut down. Tax credits for small business owners who cover their employees would be taken away. States would lose substantial Federal assistance under Medicaid to provide coverage for the neediest Americans. According to the most recent projections by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), 27 million Americans are expected to gain coverage due to the law. Repeal will likely result in most of these individuals remaining uninsured or losing their insurance altogether. An estimated 10 million Americans gained coverage during 2014, and repealing the law would erase most of these coverage gains and strip these Americans of the security and peace of mind they now have. Further, repealing the health care law would have implications far beyond Americans who have or will gain insurance. More than 250 million Americans with insurance private insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid would lose the benefits and protections they receive under the health care law. Insurance companies would no longer have to cover as dependents millions of young adults who have been able to stay on or sign up on their parents' plans. Lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on coverage could be reimposed. Women could be charged more than men and up to 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions would be at risk of not being able to access or afford health coverage. Policies that promote efficiency and accountability in health care and health insurance would be erased. Reforms that strengthen Medicare's long-term finances also would be repealed. Seniors also would lose the more generous prescription drug coverage provided under the health care law, as well as free preventive care, and Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund would become insolvent years earlier. Moreover, by repealing these reforms to Medicare and other reforms that encourage doctors and hospitals to provide efficient, high-quality care, the legislation would drive up costs and worsen patient care throughout our health care system. CBO has previously estimated that repealing the health care law would add more than $100 billion to the deficit over the ten years ending in 2022, and more than $1 trillion in the following decade. This not only hurts the Government: it hurts State and local economies, job creation, and the Nation's long-term prosperity. The last thing the Congress should do is refight old political battles and take a massive step backward by repealing basic protections that provide security for the middle class. Right now, the Congress needs to work together to focus on the economy, helping middle-class families, and creating jobs. If the President were presented with H.R. 596, he would veto it.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Chair, we need to be clear about what is happening here today. The Republican Majority in the House is putting our national security at risk by threatening to shut down the Department of Homeland in order to advance their mean-spirited, anti-immigrant agenda. House Republicans don't like President Obama. We get it. The Majority also disagrees with the actions the President has taken on immigration. Look, if you disagree with the President on immigration, let's hear your plan to fix our nation's broken immigration system. Bring your bill to the Floor and let's debate it. But we shouldn't let down our guard on national security by playing games with the bill that funds border security, immigrations and customs enforcement, FEMA, and the Coast Guard. We have a bipartisan Homeland Security funding bill that could easily pass the House and Senate. We could pass that bill today and the President would sign it into law. Instead, the Republican Majority is preparing to load up the bill with a number of divisive, poison pill amendments that the President will never agree to. Unless House Republicans change course, funding for the entire Department of Homeland Security will cut off on February 27. So the message to my Republican colleagues is clear. Stop playing politics with our national security and send the President a clean Homeland Security funding bill.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, as he retires from the Foreign Service next week, I rise today to recognize the outstanding work of the U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mozena. He led a distinguished career of public service to the United States, capped by his impressive efforts over the past several years to promote workers' safety and advance fundamental labor rights in Bangladesh. Following a string of tragedies in the Bangladesh garment industry, including the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory that took the lives of 1,138 workers in 2013 and the factory fire at Tazreen Fashions that took the lives of 112 workers in 2012, Ambassador Mozena has advocated for workers' safety and their right to freedom of association. He has urged Bangladesh to transform its garment sector from a model based on a race-to-the-bottom in labor standards, to one where a ``Made in Bangladesh'' becomes a label valued for the country's commitment to workers' rights and high standards for safety. Following the U.S. Government's decision to suspend trade preferences and issue an Action Plan focused on labor rights and factory safety, Ambassador Mozena convened the embassies of other garment importing countries (Netherlands, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union) with the responsible Bangladesh Government Secretariats on a monthly basis to track progress. This model for joint advocacy is one that merits recognition and replication as our Embassies work to elevate labor rights in developing economies. Ambassador Mozena worked with the U.S. Department of Labor to bring the first Labor Attachee to Bangladesh, and he leaves an institutional framework to help advance labor rights in this young and developing country. Under Mozena's leadership the U.S. Embassy became a place where workers could turn to for help when they faced coercion, repression, and anti-union violence. Of course, there is a tremendous amount of work that still needs to be accomplished in Bangladesh to ensure that workers are safe and that their fundamental rights are respected in the workplace. Ambassador Mozena has fought to ensure that momentum is going in the right direction in Bangladesh--we must continue this work moving forward. Ambassador Mozena's accomplishments extend beyond labor rights. Since presenting his Letters of Credence to the President of Bangladesh on November 24, 2011, Ambassador Mozena has strengthened relations between the United States and Bangladesh by promoting a Bangladesh that is peaceful, secure, prosperous, healthy, and democratic. He emphasized understanding the diversity of Bangladesh, making visits to each of the country's 64 districts. In the United States, he has visited Bangladeshi-Americans across the country. During his time as Ambassador, Mozena oversaw the largest aid budget in Asia outside of Afghanistan and Pakistan, bolstering Bangladeshi food security and nutrition, improving health, and increasing capacity to cope with climate change, natural disasters, and security challenges. Beyond Ambassador Mozena's current posting in Dhaka, he had an impressive career advancing U.S. interests in South Asia and Africa. He previously served in Bangladesh as Political/Economic Counselor from 1998-2001 and as a Deputy Political Counselor in India and Pakistan. A member of Senior Foreign Service, Mozena was U.S. Ambassador to Angola from 2007-2010 and previously worked in the Office of Southern African Affairs from 1993 to 1995, during South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy. Previous postings include Lusaka and Kinshasa and a year as a professor at the National War College. Ambassador Mozena's family has stood by his side as he has pursued his career overseas. His wife of 40 years, Grace, is a retired elementary school teacher who served with him as a Peace Corps volunteer in then-Zaire. Their two children, Anne and Mark, followed their father throughout the world. I understand that Mozena also looks forward to spending time with the newest addition to his family, a granddaughter named Mira, as well as his mother Edna. As Ambassador Mozena returns to his family in the United States, we recognize his work in Bangladesh and throughout his career as a Foreign Service Officer.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), who is now the ranking member on Education and the Workforce.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds. To say this restores the 40-hour week is pure sophistry. What it does is undermine it for hundreds of thousands of workers in this country. That is the basis of the Joint Tax Committee report. It is pure sophistry to say otherwise. I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), our distinguished whip.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, would the Chair say again how much time is remaining?

Mr. LEVIN. I yield 2\1/2\ minutes at the most to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott). (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), another active member of our committee.

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