Deborah Pryce

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Porter), the author of this very important legislation.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to my last speaker, my colleague, the gentleman from the great Buckeye State of Ohio (Mr. Boehner), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today we are discussing real issues that have real impacts on real families all across this country, whether in my district of Columbus, Ohio, or in any of the other 434 districts my colleagues represent in this body. Americans want to work. They want to provide for their families and themselves. They want to take responsibility for their decisions. Mr. Speaker, we all know that most of the time when someone loses his or her job it is for reasons beyond their control. As we strive to reach the day when all Americans hold down good jobs, the reality is, as it always has been, some people will be out of work on any given day. So until we reach that day, let us give our friends and neighbors who are unemployed the tools and resources they need to make their own decisions about how best they can find work which suits them. Whether that means using their personal reemployment account for a daycare while they are interviewing, or transportation to that interview, or for a computer training class, whatever they believe they need, let us allow them to have it. The key here is flexibility, giving the people the power to make choices that best reflect their own situations. The result will be getting people back to work at good-paying jobs, to begin rewarding lifelong careers. Amendment Offered by Ms. Pryce of Ohio

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I offer an amendment to the rule to fix a technical error.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the amendment and on the resolution.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito), a champion of this cause.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 644 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to my colleague and friend, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 644 provides for 1 hour of debate in the House equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means. It also provides for consideration of the amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in the Committee on Rules report accompanying the resolution, if offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) or his designee, which shall be considered as read and shall be separately debatable for 1 hour equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent. Finally, the resolution waives all points of order against the amendment printed in the report and provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Mr. Speaker, in 2001, Congress passed the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, which put $1 trillion back into the pockets of the American people and led to the strong economic recovery we are witnessing today. Without that package, the beating that our economy took as a result of September 11 would have been even more disastrous. This relief plan expanded the child tax credit initially enacted as part of the Tax Relief Act of 1997, increasing it from $400 to $1,000 over 10 years. The jobs and growth package of 2003 accelerated the credit to $1,000 in 2003 and 2004. Today's bill, sponsored by my friend, the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Porter), addresses the $1,000 tax credit, which is set to snap back to $700 in 2005 if we do not act today. In addition, the bill makes the child tax credit permanent and raises the eligibility limits on those who can claim the credit to include more middle-income parents. Finally, the bill accelerates the refundability of the child tax credit this year to make it available to more of the Americans who need it, low-income families. Mr. Speaker, tax relief stimulates economic growth. In 1997, unemployment was at 4.9 percent, and the Republican-led Congress passed the Balanced Budget Act. Unemployment fell to 4.5 percent in 1998, 4.2 percent in 1999, and a rock bottom 4 percent in the year 2000. In 2001, we passed the Taxpayer Relief Act, putting nearly $1 trillion back into the hands of American families. And given the economic history I will continue with shortly, I am convinced that we would have seen unemployment rates fall even farther. But then September 11 hit, one of the most tragic days in American history. A horrendous loss of life through a murderous act of terrorism; an act that cost our economy trillions. Unemployment jumped to 5.8 percent in 2002 as millions of Americans lost jobs connected to tourism, services, construction, and the list goes on and on and on. But we knew what to do. We knew how to respond. We knew that simply increasing spending would not lead to long-term viability and sustained recovery. Instead, we had to find a way to put money into the hands of consumers and businesses so they could make smart economic decisions that would begin to rebuild our economy. So we enacted tax relief. We passed the Jobs and Growth Act to spur spending by American businesses. And after unemployment hit 6 percent in 2003, we saw the positive effects of these cumulative tax cuts begin to take effect. Beginning last November, unemployment steadily began to decrease. So we passed more tax cuts to speed up the process. And you know what happened? Unemployment continued to fall, all the way to 5.6 percent. Now, some people say that is not good enough. During the so-called tech boom, unemployment was as low as 4 percent. Well, you know what? I agree with them, we must do better. We should always strive to do better. One person unemployed is one too many. And today's bill will do exactly that. It will put $200 billion directly into the hands of American families, families who also happen to be consumers. And every dollar they spend, whether on a package of diapers, a tank of gas, or a car payment, they will be supporting America's jobs. At the end of the day, that is what this debate is all about, American jobs. It is all about the cumulative effect of a Republican revolution that started in 1994 and led to strong and steady growth in spite of the horrors of September 11. Beginning 3 weeks ago, we continued our commitment to strengthening the economy by preventing job-destroying tax hikes, passing permanent extensions of the new 10 percent tax bracket, wiping out the punitive marriage penalty, and relieving many families of the burdensome and unfair Alternative Minimum Tax. Now we have before us the Child Tax Preservation and Expansion Act of 2004. Once again, this bill will make permanent the $1,000 child tax credit, preventing an unfair and unreasonable tax increase of $600 on 30 million taxpayers with 49 million children. After 2010, this bill will prevent a tax hike of $1,100 on 34 million taxpayers with 59 million children. Finally, the bill helps our soldiers serving in combat by allowing nontaxable combat pay to be taken into account when calculating the refundable portion of the child tax credit. Currently, such pay is excluded from the calculation when calculating eligibility for the credit, thereby depriving thousands of our soldiers of a portion of the credit. When we accelerated the child tax credit in 2003, 25 million families received checks totaling $14 billion. That is right, $14 billion was given back to consumers to pump into the economy. Imagine what a typical family can do with that kind of money, and $400 is what each typical family would get, a family with one child. This bill is an opportunity for parents to spend money on their children, whether it is for a vacation, for an education, for diapers, for groceries, for a swingset. Whatever they want, they will have the money, and they can make the decisions. And it will also make our workforce more competitive because we will have that many more jobs. Mr. Speaker, do we support tax relief for families, tax relief that will enable us to save for our children's education, finance a new house, pay for other activities that will continue to strengthen the economy? I do. I think the answer is a clear yes. A ``yes'' vote on this rule and the underlying bill is a vote in favor of American families and a vote to spur more economic growth, so I urge a ``yes'' vote on this rule. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder), my good friend from the Committee on Rules.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Ferguson).

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham).

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Jo Ann Davis).

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham).

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham).

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. When I vote ``yes'' today, I will be voting for America's hardworking families and their children. I will be voting to strengthen the economy and support American jobs, Mr. Speaker. I invite my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in voting ``yes'' today on both the rule and the underlying bill. I cannot think of a better vote to take than a vote for America's children and families, the economy and American jobs. It is the right thing to do. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito), who has such a passion for health care concerns for her constituents.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Weldon), who, as a doctor, has personal knowledge of how this stuff works.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 638 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to my colleague and friend, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 638 provides for separate consideration of three different measures. The rule provides that when these measures are agreed to, each will be engrossed as one bill and sent to the other body. Mr. Speaker, this week communities across this country are participating in activities associated with Cover the Uninsured Week. Why? Well, because almost 44 million Americans have zero health insurance. These 44 million Americans live in sleepy towns and bustling towns all across America in each and every one of our districts. They are children and adults. They are families. The majority are hardworking men and women just trying to make a living, provide for their families and offer their children opportunities they may never have had. Yet nearly 44 million of our constituents are living every day without health insurance coverage. They are living without the security of knowing that they have a family doctor to call upon when they are sick and when it comes to time for their annual checkup. They are living without the security of knowing that when their child is ill, whether it is just a bad bug or a life-threatening ailment, they can access emergency care or see a specialist. Without a doubt, the major reason people do not have health insurance is because they simply cannot afford it. In fact, 71 percent of the uninsured forego health insurance because of the cost. As I have come to find, for every 1 percent increase in health insurance premiums, 300,000 more individuals go without health insurance. Whether in the halls of Congress, at the Washington think tanks, among not-for-profit organizations, in the boardrooms of businesses or at the corner coffee shops, everyone is talking about what they believe is the remedy to one of the toughest questions ever asked: How do we stop sky-rocketing health insurance costs and get more people insured? Quite frankly, I think we have talked long enough. Mr. Speaker, it is time we place on the table the best market-based solutions to provide more Americans with access to quality and affordable health care. So here we are. Today and tomorrow, this House will debate and consider three legislative solutions. These steps in the right direction will address this larger challenge by focusing on the three major pieces to the puzzle: access, quality and affordability. The rule we are debating today will allow us to consider legislation to improve upon and strengthen flexible spending accounts, address the sky-rocketing costs of medical liability insurance, and allow small businesses to join together through association health plans. As I begin to talk in greater detail about each of these initiatives, they may sound rather familiar to my colleagues and to those watching C-SPAN this morning. That is because the House has already considered each of these initiatives in one way, shape or form already, but so far they are going nowhere in the other body. So let us give them one more opportunity. The first part of our health security plan will improve upon and strengthen flexible spending accounts or FSAs. FSAs allow workers to put money from their paychecks into an account, tax free, to pay for health care expenses. Employees spend this money on health services, giving them responsibility over their own health care decisions and spending. While FSAs are a great concept and have worked well under current law, the money contributed by employees have actually forfeited to the employer at the end of the year if it is not used. That means use it or lose it. Our plan would allow up to $500 of that money to be carried over into the following year. If an employee gets to keep $500 in unused money, they will have a greater incentive to make wise decisions about their spending. Mr. Speaker, we see a barrier standing in the way of access to quality and affordable health care so we are trying to knock it down. It is a solution. In the second part of our plan, we will revisit a critical initiative to address a growing and dangerous problem in our legal system that impacts each and every one of us, if not today, then tomorrow or in the future. I am talking about our medical liability system, a system that must be reformed if health care in America is to remain affordable. The medical liability crisis in America is virtually everywhere, but one of the places that we are seeing the most frightening and tangible effects of this crisis is in the area of prenatal care and delivery. This crisis is turning the very necessary treatment of prenatal care into a luxury, sometimes totally unavailable to far too many women. It is estimated that about one in 10 obstetricians nationwide have actually stopped delivering babies. The crisis is most acute in rural areas where obstetricians are already in short supply. In my State of Ohio, professional liability insurance premiums have increased by 60 percent in the past 2 years. Sixty percent. According to a recent survey, more than 58 percent of responding Ohio OB-GYNs have been forced to make changes to their practice, such as quitting obstetrics all together, retiring, or relocating because of the unaffordability and unavailability of medical liability insurance. Fifty-eight percent of Ohio's obstetricians. These statistics reflect the reality of real people in our cities and towns who are cutting back their practices or closing up all together. Just last month, an article ran in my local paper about a baby doctor in Columbus, Ohio, facing the prospect of a third year in which he and his OB-GYN partners have seen their malpractice insurance rise by 40 percent or more. He is leaving his practice to teach residents at the local hospital. His two other partners are leaving too, one to an early retirement and the other to Utah, where she will not have to pay malpractice premiums as large as the ones in Ohio. They say they do not have a choice, they have to leave. Together, just this one practice will leave 4,500 patients looking for new doctors. That is 4,500 women who have relied on these talented doctors for years, in just this single practice, with no one to turn to. One of these women is 7 months pregnant with her fourth child. At 7 months along, she is looking for another doctor to deliver her baby. This example is not uncommon to my State. It is not only affecting the doctors who currently practice, but it is affecting future doctors and patients. Recently, the chairman of an OB-GYN residency department in Ohio said he is even unable to train future OB-GYNs. He said that due to high liability premiums, it is difficult to find faculty to teach obstetrics residents. When counseling his students, he encourages them to still choose obstetrics as a profession, but now he offers a warning: just pick the right State, a State with good medical liability reforms. He also said in the past 2 years not a single one of his OB- GYN residents set up practice in Ohio. The strides our country has made in reducing maternal and infant mortality rates through quality prenatal care are now being jeopardized. Across America, too many expectant moms are foregoing essential prenatal care, and they are asking, who will deliver my baby? I am concerned that without a change, the future of pregnant women's health is in serious jeopardy. The American people are fed up with abusive personal injury practices, aggravating frivolous lawsuits, and a health care system that is getting more expensive and less accessible as a result. That is why we are here today. That is why we must pass this important initiative. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that when our plan is enacted, premiums for medical malpractice insurance ultimately would be an average of 25 to 30 percent less than they are now. Mr. Speaker, we see a barrier standing in the way of access to quality and affordability in health care, so we are trying to knock it down. It is a solution. And the third piece of our puzzle will help address skyrocketing health care costs where they hurt the most, small businesses. When you consider that small businesses employ 50 percent of employees across our country, it is troubling to learn that 60 percent of the uninsured work for small businesses. They are uninsured because small business owners cannot afford to pay the cost of health insurance for their workers. The Small Business Health Fairness Act brings the benefits enjoyed by corporate America to these small businesses. This important initiative will allow small businesses to create association health plans, or AHPs. AHPs will enable small businesses to join together through existing trade associations to purchase health insurance for their workers at a lower cost than what is available to them now. It is the wholesale strength-in-numbers approach that will allow these groups of small businesses to band together to negotiate for lower prices on health insurance than individual employees could secure on their own. AHPs will save small businesses an average of 13 percent on their employee health care costs, which means more small business employees will have access to affordable health care coverage. And there is no question that 13 percent will be better spent by employers expanding their businesses by hiring unemployed Americans. Mr. Speaker, once again we see a barrier stand in the way of access to quality and affordable health care, so we are trying to knock it down. Once again, it is a solution. We have laid our common-sense solutions on the table, and now it is time to put them to work. I urge my colleagues to join me in implementing these critical initiatives that will help control the cost of health care in this country. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, buttressed by our colleagues in the other body who are holding all these bills hostages, certainly they would like to have us give up, but when 58 percent of the OB-GYNs in Ohio are changing or leaving their practices, it is exactly the right time to turn up heat on these bills, and that is exactly what we are doing. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson).

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Nethercutt).

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I may have misheard my colleague earlier when I thought she said that CBO estimates on the premiums for medical malpractice insurance would be very small. If that is the case, I am sorry, but let me just let the record stand that CBO estimates predict that under this very act, premiums for medical malpractice insurance ultimately would be an average of 25 to 30 percent below what they are under current law. Twenty-five to 30 percent below the premiums that we have currently is not a small amount. It is very, very significant. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I cannot stress enough the importance of moving forward with these solution-based initiatives. We have a chance here now to make a difference in the lives of hardworking Americans across this great Nation. So let us put a stop to the politicizing of the plight of the uninsured. Let us help the small business owners insure their employees. Let us help Americans have more say about how their health care dollars are spent. Let us help these pregnant women and their babies who have no doctors to deliver them and care for them. Let us help the 58 percent of OB-GYNs in Ohio that have to leave or change their practices than stay in the profession they have chosen. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues in the strongest way to support this rule and the underlying legislation.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, beginning May 3, seniors across the country can take the first steps towards a much-needed prescription drug benefit when they enroll in the new Medicare prescription drug discount card. The plan gives seniors the power of choice. Seniors will select from a host of prescription discount drug cards and choose the best option suited to their very own needs. On average, seniors will save 10 to 25 percent on their prescriptions. Not only that, but choice encourages competition. Private companies will be making their prices available for seniors to compare. This, in turn, will foster new, lower prices in an effort to secure seniors' business. We already see this happening. By giving the seniors the choices they need, we also give them lower prices. Mr. Speaker, the Medicare prescription drug coverage card is long overdue. I am proud of Republicans for providing a viable solution to America's seniors, and I encourage seniors across the country to take advantage of these added benefits.