Sander Levin

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. I now yield the balance of my time on this bill to the distinguished whip, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. LEVIN. I now call up the substitute amendment.

Mr. LEVIN. I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley).

Mr. LEVIN. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

Mr. LEVIN. It's now my real pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson) who is the chair of our caucus and an active member of our committee.

Mr. LEVIN. I would ask my colleague from Michigan how many further requests for time do you have left?

Mr. LEVIN. It's now my privilege to yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from California, our distinguished leader.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself the balance of my time. There are a few undisputed facts. Small business--97 percent of small businesses will receive all of their tax cut. Don't listen to the propaganda to the contrary. Everyone will receive their tax cuts up to $250,000 of income. Don't listen to propaganda that says otherwise. And income over $1 million, for those who have that, would receive under the Republican bill 70 times more than the typical family. And when the two bills are combined, 150 times more than the typical family. Let me say just a word about tax reform, which I favor. It's being used as an argument for inaction. But, look, let's be realistic. No matter who controls the Congress next year, there won't be tax reform until maybe the spring or the summer. So are you going to use that same argument for tax reform, say, in a lame duck against middle-income tax cuts? Or in January, are you going to use the same argument? Are you going to use tax reform as a shield to protect the high-income taxpayer? In a word, the Republican bill is a path to nowhere for middle-income taxpayers. Our substitute is a sure path. Pass it. The Senate already has. The President will sign it. Act now. Vote for the substitute. I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. So why don't I reserve one more time, and then I'll go forward.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. After seven decades of frustrated efforts, the Congress and the President acted on health reform. It was seven decades that this institution wrestled with health reform. Finally, it happened. The Republican answer: Repeal. First, it was repeal Social Security, then repeal Medicare, then repeal Medicaid by block-granting it to the States. Now it's the same old song: Repeal health care reform. This Republican Party, the party of repeal, captured by the radical right, would now put insurance companies back in charge of health care and repeal coverage for 17 million children with preexisting conditions, repeal coverage for 6.6 million adults now covered under their parents' insurance plan, repeal tax credits for 360,000 small employers covering 2 million workers, repeal ending lifetime caps on insurance for 105 million, and repeal closing of the burdensome doughnut hole for seniors' prescription medicines. The Republican Party of Repeal says: Repeal and replace. Yet there has not been a single comprehensive bill proposed by the Republicans at any point in this session or before. Indeed, the only comprehensive health plan presented by the Republicans was put forward by Mitt Romney when he was Governor of Massachusetts. This is how he described his plan as recently as 2010: Right now, in lots of parts of the country, if individuals do not have insurance, they can arrive at the hospital and be given free care paid for by government. Our current system is a Big Government system. A conservative approach is one that relies on individual responsibility. But in my view, and others are free to disagree, expecting people who can afford to buy insurance to do so is consistent with personal responsibility, and that's a cornerstone of conservatism. Well, the ones who are free to disagree are his fellow Republicans. The Massachusetts plan, with an individual mandate, reflected an original conservative Heritage Foundation proposal. Indeed, bills with an individual responsibility provision have been cosponsored by Republicans for two decades. Now, however, Republicans have been captured by the radical right and taken a 180-degree turn. This repeal bill only deepens and widens the gulf handcuffing this Congress. You know, it's as if we live in two different universes. Let me tell you about the universe that is lived in by people who have sent letters to me. I quote one, for example, from Warren: I am 41 years old, and I was diagnosed with a form of arthritis about 3 years ago. Because the Supreme Court upheld ObamaCare, I don't have to worry anymore. I know that I can't be dropped from my insurance carrier. A letter from Pamela of Madison Heights, talking about the premiums that she has seen. She is a nurse. She has seen how many people have been hurt by these costly premiums. She says: I have watched those who have to undergo painful procedures, or those who have been given a poor prognosis, because they have not had access to preventive or even standard medical treatment due to the cost. She says the Affordable Care Act is right and just. From David in Saint Clair Shores who says: Honestly, I am a Republican, but I don't believe the health insurance bill should be repealed. I would like to see compromise towards improving the legislation, rather than destroying it entirely. From Nancy of Clinton Township, who writes this: The part of the CARE Act that is most important to my family, even my Republican husband, is the provision for our college-age daughter. Our insurance dropped her at the age of 19, and we had to buy a separate policy that was very expensive and had poor coverage. Now we can save several thousands of dollars a year, which helps with her education. And it makes me sad that more people don't understand how wonderful this is. I would like the message to get out to more people. It makes me sad, she says, that more people don't understand how wonderful this is. You know, middle class families have had lots to worry about since trying to recover from the worst recession in decades. So instead of making it harder for them, putting insurance companies back in the driver's seat, we should let reform proceed. I'm the ranking member on the Ways and Means Committee. The chairman is here, too. We've had jobs bills thrown into the hopper that never come forth. Today we're going through the motions of repealing health reform for the 31st time this Congress. What we need instead is to get the bills that are lodged in Ways and Means on jobs out on the floor and work together, instead of against each other and against the interests of the American people. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself 15 seconds. If repeal occurred in California, it would mean the loss of coverage for 435,000 young adults. It also would mean over 12 million Californians would lose the ability to be sure that their lifetime limits would not kick in. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York, a very distinguished member of our committee, Mr. Rangel. (Mr. RANGEL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEVIN. I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished member from Washington, a member of our committee, Mr. McDermott. (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself 10 seconds. The gentleman from Louisiana voted for the $500 billion in Medicare savings twice. You come here and criticize, I guess, yourself. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia, a distinguished member of our committee, Mr. Lewis.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds. In Tennessee, as of December 2011, 59,000 young adults in Tennessee gained insurance coverage because of ACA, and almost 800,000 with Medicare received free preventive services--almost 800,000. I now yield 2 minutes to the very distinguished colleague of mine from Massachusetts, a member of our committee, Mr. Neal.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself 30 seconds. There was a reference by the gentleman from Illinois about facts. Let me mention the facts. As of December 2011, 125,000 young adults in Illinois gained insurance coverage. Since it was enacted, ACA, Illinois residents with Medicare have saved a total of $155 million on their prescription drugs and 1,350,000 people with Medicare in Illinois have received free preventive services. Those are the facts about health care reform. I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), another very distinguished member of our committee.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself 20 seconds. While there is a reference to disaster in Kentucky, here are the facts: 48,000 young adults in Kentucky gained insurance coverage; Since ACA was enacted, Kentucky residents with Medicare have saved a total of $68 million; 538,000 people with Medicare in Kentucky received free preventative services. That isn't a disaster; that's progress. I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California, our distinguished colleague on the Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Thompson.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield the gentleman an additional minute.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself 30 seconds. The gentleman from New York voted on the $500 billion Medicare provision twice, voted for it. As of 2011, 160,000 young adults in New York gained insurance coverage because of health care reform. Since it was enacted, New Yorkers with Medicare have saved a total of $270 million on their prescription drugs. In 2011, 2 million people with Medicare in New York received free preventive services. Since 2010, over 3 million New Yorkers with private health insurance gained preventive insurance. Mr. Speaker, how much time is there remaining on each side?

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

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself 30 seconds. Twenty-five percent of the people of Texas go to sleep every night without insurance--25 percent. And people come here defending the status quo? As of December 2011, 357,000 young adults in Texas gained insurance coverage. Since it was enacted, Texans with Medicare have saved a total of over $220 million on prescription drugs, and over 2 million people with Medicare in Texas have received free preventive services. That's progress, in contrast to the status quo, 25 percent uninsured. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, if you would tell the two of us from Michigan how much time there is on each side.

Mr. LEVIN. I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Wisconsin (Mr. Kind), another distinguished member of our committee.