Frank Pallone

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Washington.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, may I ask how much time remains on our side.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Soto), who is a member of our committee.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Stansbury).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I just have to correct two comments that were made by my Republican colleagues. First, the sponsor of the bill said that they are just talking about Federal funds. The fact of the matter is, they are not just talking about Federal funds because this bill prevents States like Washington State--we had two people speak about this--from using State funds for gender-affirming care for minors. It is not just a prohibition on Federal funds. Also, my chairman from Kentucky kept saying that the healthcare bill that the Republicans put on the floor yesterday would lower costs and somehow address the healthcare crisis. It does not. It does not lower costs, and it certainly doesn't extend the tax credits that are necessary under the Affordable Care Act to lower costs. Those expire January 1. Mr. Speaker, I know the sponsor from Texas also mentioned medical professional organizations that oppose this bill, and there are many, but I include in the Record a letter from four of those organizations: American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Physicians, and American Psychiatric Association. December 16, 2025. Dear Members of Congress: We, the undersigned medical professional organizations, write in strong opposition to H.R. 3492 and H.R. 498. These bills would criminalize and dismantle health care for transgender young people and as such represent a direct threat to patient welfare. We urge you to reject these extreme proposals. Families must be able to make personal medical decisions regarding the care of their child in consultation with trained health professionals. H.R. 3492 threatens parents and physicians with imprisonment for obtaining medically necessary health care. Such a proposal harms the physical and mental health and well-being of families and interferes with parents' ability to make informed decisions in the best interests of their child. It also creates an irresolvable ethical conflict that makes it impossible to fulfill their duty to put the needs of the patient first. Health care for transgender young people is individualized, age-appropriate, provided according to longstanding expert clinical guidelines, and supported by leading American medical organizations. Under existing guidelines, medical interventions are provided only after careful screening and joint decision-making including a patient, family, and their care team. H.R. 498 would insert the federal government between patients and physicians. It would also put this care out of reach for families nationwide by prohibiting the use of federal Medicaid funding for its provision and requiring physicians to provide different care to patients based on the health insurance they hold. Preventing anyone from obtaining medically necessary care threatens their physical and mental health and well-being and that of their families. Our organizations are united in opposition to political interference in the practice of medicine. The confidential relationship between a patient, their caregiver, and a physician is the foundation of clinical care. Physicians and other health professionals should never be criminalized or penalized for providing care consistent with evidence-based guidelines and best clinical judgment, and the government should not interfere. Physicians, not the federal government, are best positioned to work with patients and their families to address their unique medical and mental health care needs. We urge lawmakers to oppose these harmful intrusions into the patient-physician relationship and the provision of medical care. Sincerely, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, American College of Physicians, American Psychiatric Association.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I am going to read certain sections of it. They say: ``We, the undersigned medical professional organizations, write in strong opposition to H.R. 3492.'' ``Healthcare for transgender young people is individualized, age- appropriate, provided according to longstanding expert clinical guidelines, and supported by leading American medical organizations. . . . Our organizations are united in opposition to political interference in the practice of medicine. The confidential relationship between a patient, their caregiver, and a physician is the foundation of clinical care.'' Physicians and other health professionals should never be stopped ``from providing care consistent with evidence-based guidelines and best clinical judgment, and the government should not interfere. Physicians, not the Federal Government, are best positioned to work with patients and their families to address their unique medical and mental health care needs.'' Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Landsman), a member of our committee.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I will say that I totally oppose this bill. I think these decisions should be left with parents and physicians, but more than anything else, I will mention today that Republicans need to do the right thing and bring up the Jeffries discharge petition that would extend the tax credits under the ACA for 3 more years. They should not allow them to expire on January 1. It should be brought up now. I oppose this bill, and I ask that the Speaker bring up the discharge petition now. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

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

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call on Speaker Johnson to immediately bring the bipartisan 3-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits to the floor. This bill now has the support, pursuant to a discharge petition, of a majority of House Members and should get a vote immediately before the ACA tax credits expire. Mr. Speaker, without this tax credit extension bill by Mr. Jeffries, health insurance premiums are going to skyrocket for more than 20 million Americans across the country. They will see prices double, triple, and even quadruple. It will leave millions with the difficult decision of going without coverage because they simply cannot afford rising costs. Just days before prices skyrocket for American families, Republicans are bringing a bill to the floor that does absolutely nothing to lower prices. Instead, Republicans are using this affordability crisis to prop up junk health insurance plans that discriminate against people and leave them hanging when they get sick. Mr. Speaker, the American people are desperate for our help, and this Republican bill doesn't do a thing to provide it. This bill is a sham, and a majority of the House knows it. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.'' We should take real action immediately by passing the Jeffries bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, before I yield time, I will make sure that the gentlewoman from Iowa knows that without the ACA tax credit extension, a middle-class 60-year-old couple in her district is seeing their premium go up by $1,422 per month. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark), the Democratic whip.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, before I yield time, I will make sure that the gentleman from Texas knows that without the ACA tax credit extension, a middle-class 60-year-old couple in his district is seeing their premium go up by $2,049 per month. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Matsui).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I want to make sure the chairman from Kentucky knows that a middle-class, 60-year-old couple in his district is seeing their premium go up by $1,711 per month unless we extend the ACA tax credits. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Energy.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko), the ranking member of our Subcommittee on Environment.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Barragan), a member of our committee.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Mrs. Trahan), also a member of our committee.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Mrs. Fletcher), the vice ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 3616, yet another Republican bill that puts large corporate polluters over people. At a time when American families are struggling with rising monthly energy bills, this legislation does nothing to address the affordability crisis. Electricity prices continue to go up. They have increased by 13 percent just since President Trump took office, and they are about to get worse as the Republicans' big, ugly bill is expected to increase those prices another 61 percent. You would think Republicans would want to do something to address the affordability crisis, but this is just more of the same from them. They refuse to address healthcare affordability, and this afternoon, they continue to ignore the crisis with regard to electricity. I guess we shouldn't be surprised. After all, they just blindly follow President Trump, who simply does not care. He does not believe the affordability crisis is real. In fact, he recently said: ``Affordability is a Democrat scam.'' That is what he actually said. The President should tell that to the hardworking families who are facing skyrocketing prices across the board. It is a crisis, and Republicans are simply ignoring it. This bill is basically a thinly veiled attempt by Republicans to obstruct any future administration's EPA regulations that keep our air, lands, and water clean. This bill would allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, to block any regulation from any other agency under certain circumstances. It takes what should be an apolitical process, a neutral review of the reliability of our Nation's electric sector, and twists it into a fully partisan exercise. That is why we should reject this bill entirely. Right now, a number of Federal agencies have authorities that could impact the power sector. FERC and the Department of Energy have the ability to comment on those regulations if they have concerns and work through the interagency review process to ensure that those concerns are heard. FERC Commissioners in recent years have not been shy about using their powers to publicly highlight and comment on Federal actions that they deem flawed or insufficient. Agencies can, and do, respond to that feedback, as we saw with the EPA during the previous administration. What no agency has the power to do now is to arbitrarily block another agency's regulations that Congress gave that agency the power to make. That is simply ridiculous. If Republicans have their way, agencies would not only have to seek review from the Office of Management and Budget but will also have to ask permission from FERC to see if FERC likes the regulation or not. If not, even if the White House likes the regulation, the agency can't finalize it. If that is not bad enough, FERC testified before the Energy and Commerce Committee that it does not even have the capacity and expertise necessary to investigate every other agency's regulation for the impacts that they will have on electric reliability. That was before the staff attrition that has hit FERC over the past 10 months. The agency has lost over 11 percent of its staff through September. Who knows how many additional staff have left over the last 3 months because you know that the President is wanting to fire everybody. Let me just review this, again, because I don't want to be too bureaucratic here, Mr. Speaker. House Republicans want FERC to do something it has no ability to do, that would politicize our Nation's electric reliability regulator, and that would make FERC into a super- authority with powers rivaling those of certain White House offices. This is all to kill regulations that keep our air clean and our water drinkable. That is what this is all about. Let's not pretend that House Republicans are worried about regulations coming from the Trump administration. They knew those regulations were all going to destroy whatever clean air or clean water we have. Instead, they are worried about the next time we have a President who actually cares about protecting public health and the environment, a President who wants to restore the bedrock environmental laws that the Republicans have gotten rid of. Republicans then want to use this bill as a shield to protect polluters. If the polluter now, under a new President, isn't going to have the protection, and the public is going to have the protection to make sure that the water and the air are clean, then they want to make sure they have some shield to protect the polluters. We shouldn't let them do that. That is not what we are supposed to do. We are supposed to worry about the public. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor), the ranking member of our Subcommittee on Energy.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Balderson), who just spoke, but the bottom line is that I think it is dishonest for Republicans to claim that the cost of compliance with environmental regulations is driving up utility prices. The regulatory chaos that the gentleman from Ohio mentions is created by the Trump administration. Since President Trump took office, his administration has created tremendous regulatory uncertainty through DOGE, senseless tariffs, and unprecedented executive actions. As a result, as I mentioned, electricity prices are up 13 percent, and natural gas prices are up 8 percent since the President took office. Mr. Speaker, this holiday season, Americans are struggling to afford record-high utility bills and skyrocketing grocery prices. Donald Trump and the Republican Party were elected on their promise to bring prices down. Instead, the Republican Party is about to become the grinch who stole Christmas. They want to let the Affordable Care Act credits that kept health insurance affordable for families expire on January 1. This bill, the Reliable Power Act, would let the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, kill any environmental regulations they don't like. In other words, this bill would make Americans sicker as health insurance prices are skyrocketing. Republicans in Congress are just not delivering on their promise to bring down prices. The big, ugly bill will increase electricity prices for American families by 61 percent. Instead of passing partisan bills this week that would increase energy prices, Republicans should be working with us and Democrats on bipartisan proposals that can decrease energy bills. Mr. Speaker, Americans are just begging for relief on skyrocketing prices, and President Trump's only response has been to call the affordability crisis the ``Democratic hoax.'' His rhetoric is an insult to the American people, but my Democratic colleagues and I are taking the affordability crisis very seriously. We hear the concerns of the public, and we strongly urge our Republican colleagues to come to the table to pass commonsense legislation that brings prices down for the American people. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.