Tom Price

Mr. PRICE of Georgia

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I am now pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg).

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Posey).

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I have to admit, I am puzzled. All this bill does is say that Members of Congress ought to have more information about the decisions that we are making here on behalf of the American people, not less. That is a pretty simple concept in the real world. Only here in Washington do we not want more information. I guess we want to stick our heads in the sand. The gentleman who just spoke said that this bill's purpose is to trot out and continue to put in place a failed theory. This bill doesn't do anything about the outcome of the results that CBO would give us under this bill. We don't game the system at all. What we do is want the Congressional Budget Office to give us more information. If the gentleman is correct, then that is the information that we will get. Why would he not want more information? What else has been said here this morning, Mr. Chairman? We had a scientist take the floor and say that he was against using more information. A scientist. As a physician, I can tell you that I never met an individual--any of my medical colleagues--who didn't want all of the information that they could get. In fact, that is what happens in the real world. In families and in communities and in businesses, people want as much information as they can so that they can make wise decisions. And that is what this bill would do, give us more information so that hopefully, hopefully Congress would be able to make more wise decisions. I will tell you, I am puzzled by the gentleman from Maryland who stands up over and over and talks about the benefits of dynamic scoring on a particular piece of legislation that he supports. But then he doesn't want dynamic scoring or a macroeconomic analysis of legislation on anything else, just what he supports. You talk about being duplicitous, Mr. Chairman. I am telling you. The gentleman from Maryland keeps talking about slower growth in the budget that we are going to be talking about next week, and he always adds ``over the next few years'' because he doesn't want to talk about the outyears, where the growth explodes, and we have that pro-growth economy and getting people back to work and the jobs that are going to be created. So, Mr. Chairman, this really is pretty doggone simple. Either we want more information or we don't. Republicans in this House at this point want more information. In fact, in the Senate, a piece of legislation that is similar to this--asking for macroeconomic analysis, offered by Senator Portman--was voted on in a bipartisan way. The Senate, in a bipartisan way, supported that amendment. So I call on my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, to stand up today and say to the American people, yes, we want more information, so that, hopefully, we are able to make more wise decisions. And I urge adoption of the underlying piece of legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), a senior member of both the Appropriations and the Budget Committees.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, this truly is a great idea. There is no question that Congress ought to have more information about the legislation that we are going to consider and how it affects State and local governments. Far too often, we in Washington decide that we are smarter than everyone else and choose to impose burdens on those governments that are closer to the people. Frankly, far too many of us here in Congress simply don't take the principle of federalism seriously. In fact, this is such a great idea that a Republican Congress passed it and a Democratic President signed it into law in 1995. It is called the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act or, more popularly, UMRA. This law requires CBO to analyze every piece of legislation for the burdens that it imposes on State and local governments. Here is how CBO describes their work under the law: In 1995, the UMRA was enacted to ensure that the Congress receives information, during the legislative process, about Federal mandates--requirements that would be imposed on State, local, and tribal governments and on entities in the private sector. So, as with this amendment we are debating, the job is already done; and, as with the next amendment, the job is already done. The issue is already addressed. So I appreciate the gentleman's interest in the issue, but there is simply no need for the amendment, and, consequently, we will have to oppose the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, although I don't oppose the amendment, I ask unanimous consent that I may claim the time in opposition.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan), the chairman of the Budget Committee.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentlelady for offering this amendment and for recognizing the value and importance of economic analysis for legislating here in Congress. Too often, we hear from the other side of the aisle these taunts about magic asterisks and phony numbers, but your amendment rightly recognizes that legislation can make a difference on the economy. However, what we can't accept about the amendment is the idea that CBO should try to estimate its effects on only small sections of the country rather than the Nation as a whole. Instead of dictating every detail of the macroeconomic analysis for CBO, we think that we need to give them the flexibility to adapt their analysis to the specifics of particular legislation. This amendment would unnecessarily limit that flexibility, so we urge its defeat. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I have very good news for my friend from New Hampshire. The underlying bill would include macroeconomic analysis on all of these items: education, infrastructure, employment, growth, and so much more. Therefore, we must oppose the MTR, as it is redundant and unnecessary. I urge a ``no'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 105 I was not able to participate in this vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. PRICE of Georgia

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Ryan for his leadership on this issue and so many others and for allowing me to join him on this resolution. Madam Speaker, under our current system, every farmer buying crop insurance gets a subsidy. The question is, How big should that subsidy be? Should all farmers receive a 62 percent crop insurance subsidy or more? Or should 1 percent of the most successful folks in agriculture receive a 47 or a 48 percent subsidy, which is exactly what this resolution would do? While I support many of the reforms found in the House versions of our farm bill, unfortunately, no provision has been included which would limit crop insurance subsidies, and this resolution rectifies that glaring oversight. This commonsense resolution will save the taxpayers nearly $1 billion by instructing conferees to implement an economic test for those farmers with adjusted gross incomes over $750,000. Those with incomes which exceed $750,000 will see their crop insurance premium subsidy reduced by 15 percentage points. We all understand and recognize the need for having a safety net in place for our Nation's farmers. This resolution does nothing, nothing, to undermine that safety net. We all know the need for serious reforms also to our crop insurance programs. Last year, it cost more than $14 billion, and without reforms, it is projected to be more than twice as expensive as the conventional commodity subsidy programs over the next decade. So agreeing to this resolution would put into place the same provisions put forward as were mentioned in the Coburn-Durbin amendment in the Senate. That passed the Senate with significant bipartisan support earlier this past summer. Currently, Madam Speaker, 4 percent of farmers receive 33 percent of the benefits of crop insurance. A stunning 73 percent of subsidy dollars goes to the top 20 percent of agribusinesses. That just doesn't make sense. In a time of fiscal challenge, programs like crop insurance need serious modifications, and this is a step in the right direction. Though an incremental step, and a small one at that, it is, indeed, a step in the right direction. Also, at a time when there is little bipartisan agreement in this town, this is just such an opportunity to enhance bipartisan cooperation. Now, most folks on our side of the aisle, this side of the aisle, have been strongly supportive of an economic test for most taxpayer- subsidized programs. More actions like this are necessary in order to avoid this Nation's fiscal ruin. So, Madam Speaker, I urge support of the resolution.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to honor the La Vista Lions Club of Atlanta for sixty years of outstanding service in the Atlanta community. Since 1953, the La Vista Lions Club has supported numerous organizations in Georgia that provide essential services to individuals with vision and hearing impairments. In its most recent history, the La Vista Lions Club has dedicated its time and resources in support of the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, which provides hearing tests, hearing aids, vision tests, eye glasses, and eye surgeries for Georgia residents in need. Plus, the La Vista Lions Club sponsors activities for children with vision and hearing impairments including the Georgia Lions Camp for the Blind and the Mike Glenn Hearing Impaired Basketball Camp. Over the past sixty years, the La Vista Lions Club has been a vital asset to our community by providing these services to fellow Georgians. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating the La Vista Lions Club of Atlanta on sixty years of outstanding work in the Sixth District of Georgia.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, on rollcall No. 438, I was unavoidably detained and not able to vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.'' Personal Explanation

Mr. PRICE of Georgia

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I want to commend the chairman for his work on this and in so many vital areas of the issue of health care on our committee, and I want to thank him for the time and the opportunity to bring this bill forward. Mr. Speaker, the Republicans' goal in health care is to make certain that we have the highest quality health care in the world. That's our desire. We simply want it to be patient-centered health care, not government-centered health care. We believe that patients and families and doctors ought to be making medical decisions, not Washington, D.C. So this bill, H.R. 2009, grows out of the IRS's activities that have come to light in this country over the past number of months. As the chairman mentioned, we've been doing a lot of oversight hearings in our committee. The American people have drawn a conclusion about the IRS at this point, and that conclusion is that it cannot be trusted now. The chairman mentioned that the IRS has targeted groups that have come to the IRS asking for a tax-exempt status. It has targeted groups for their political ideology. The IRS has leaked donor information to those groups, and many of us believe--and I think it will come out--that the IRS has, in fact, targeted donors to those groups for audits to those individual Americans. Mr. Speaker, this is chilling activity from the Internal Revenue Service, so the American people have lost their faith and trust in the Internal Revenue Service. That's why this bill is so important. This is a very simple piece of legislation--two pages, in fact. All it says, simply, is what the American people believe, and that is that the IRS should not be charged and have the authority to either implement or enforce the Affordable Care Act. I want to commend over 140 Members from this House of Representatives for being cosponsors, and we have hundreds of citizen cosponsors from across the country. Some say that this isn't necessary, that it is not going to accomplish anything, that there is no reason the IRS would want that information anyway. The fact of the matter is that that's exactly what they said about what they did for the tax-exempt groups. They said, Well, it wasn't necessary for them to get that information about political ideology or beliefs or prayers that prayer groups were offering. That wasn't necessary either. So, if that were not necessary, Mr. Speaker, how can the American people have faith and confidence that the IRS won't do something that also is unnecessary, and that is to engage in implementing themselves into that trusted relationship between patients and physicians? Then another piece of evidence, Mr. Speaker, I would suggest is the individual who's running the IRS division that is charged with the enforcement of the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Speaker, that individual is Sarah Hall Ingram. You don't have to look too far back in her biography to recognize that she was the individual who was, in fact, in charge of the tax exempt group in the IRS at the time when the challenges to the IRS had been focused. Mr. Speaker, the overwhelming percent of the American people understand and appreciate that the IRS should not be involved in the health care of this Nation. We believe patients and families and doctors ought to be making medical decisions, not Washington, D.C., and certainly not the Internal Revenue Service. I reserve the balance of my time

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I insert into the Record a letter from The Seniors Coalition in support of H.R. 2009. The Seniors Coalition, Washington, DC, July 30, 2013. Hon. Dr. Tom Price, Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC. Dear Congressman Price: I am writing to you today on behalf of the over four million members and supporters of The Seniors Coalition in support of your bill H.R. 2009, ``The Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act.'' The Seniors Coalition was originally founded as a public advocacy group fighting to repeal the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act. Since 1990, TSC has grown rapidly and expanded its advocacy to include any issue that concerns America's senior citizens. Today the Coalition is one of the largest grassroots advocacy organizations in Washington, D.C. in terms of number of supporters nationwide. TSC currently has over four million supporters representing every state in the union. The Obama Administration, including the IRS, has betrayed the trust of the American people. Allowing the IRS to enforce ObamaCare is opening up the door to more abuse, more targeting and more harassment of American citizens. The vast majority of the American people do not support ObamaCare, and President Obama is ignoring the will of the people. That is why The Seniors Coalition is writing today to fully support H.R. 2009. Clearly, the IRS has proven itself either unwilling or unable to prudently and impartially enforce the law, and we certainly cannot trust them with our health care. Thank you for all your hard work Dr. Price, and please don't hesitate to contact me directly if there is anything that The Seniors Coalition and its over four million members and supporters in all 50 states can do to assist you in your effort to de-fund/repeal ObamaCare. Sincerely, Sean Ferritor, Executive Director. I'm now pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Carter).

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I now insert into the Record a letter from the group Let Freedom Ring that endorses H.R. 2009. Let Freedom Ring, July, 2013. Dear Friend: You have no doubt heard by now that senior members of the United States Internal Revenue Service were involved in a politically-motivated effort to blunt the impact of the tea party movement and other organizations not in sync with President Barack Obama's agenda for America. We don't yet know all the facts but we do know that some groups had their applications for non-profit status ``slow walked'' through the process, existing groups were subjected to comprehensive audits, many were loaded down with intrusive and inappropriate questions about the prayers of their members and other activities, and that tax returns of major donors and conservative operatives were audited. Things are so bad that one senior IRS official who appears to have been involved ``took the fifth'' before a congressional investigating committee. If that were not enough, some of the same people that look to have been involved in the effort to politically harass potential opponents of the president's agenda have now been put in charge of expansion of the IRS's role in monitoring individual and corporate compliance with Obamacare. Our good friend Dr. Tom Price, who represents Georgia's 6th Congressional District, is taking the bull by the horns--but he needs our help. He has introduced a bill--H.R. 2009--that would prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from implementing or enforcing any provisions of the president's health care law. Congress needs to act--now--and they need pressure from you to do so. They need to get behind Dr. Price's bill before the IRS can do even more damage. Will you please take a moment to write to your member of Congress and your two Senators and urge them to support Dr. Price's legislation? Tell them to cut off funding for the expansion of the IRS for Obamacare unless and until the American people have all the answers about how President Obama and his subordinates politicized the IRS to harass their political opponents. The whole business is suspicious, especially since the IRS has for the last three years been denying to Congress that any such activity or any activity like it was occurring. Congress is now asking questions and the Obama Administration has become evasive--despite a report by the IRS's own inspector general that the agency had committed wrongdoing. The IRS can no longer be trusted to behave in a non- partisan manner. It should not be given extra authority until it can prove once again that it will not abuse the public trust. Thank you for all you do on behalf of freedom. Sincerely, Colin Hanna, President. I'm pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to a Member from the great State of Michigan, Dr. Benishek, and a fellow physician.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I now insert into the Record a letter from the group Americans for Prosperity which endorses H.R. 2009. Americans for Prosperity, Arlington, VA, July 15, 2013. Dear Representative Price: On behalf of more than two million Americans for Prosperity activists in all 50 states, I applaud you for introducing the Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act (H.R. 2009), which would prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from implementing the President's health care law. The health care law grants the IRS an alarming expansion of new power, essentially granting the agency the authority to oversee every American's health insurance decisions. The IRS will be responsible for enforcing the health insurance mandates on individuals and employers, collecting the 21 new taxes created in the law, and cross-referencing individuals' health insurance exchange applications with IRS records. AFP is deeply concerned that all Americans will now be asked to turn over the private health insurance information about their children and families to a disgraced organization that has admitted to abusing its power and processing applications in a biased, political manner. How can the American people trust that the IRS won't also target American citizens who disagree with the President when enforcing the health care law? Your legislation also affirms the common-sense principle that control over health care decisions should remain between American families and their doctors, not Washington bureaucrats like the IRS. Americans for Prosperity is proud to support H.R. 2009, your legislation to prohibit the IRS from enforcing provisions of the health care law. I urge your colleagues to support its passage, and I look forward to working with you in the future. Sincerely, Christine Harbin Hanson, Policy Analyst, Americans for Prosperity. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Culberson), a gentleman who's a member of the Appropriations Committee, a fellow who has led on this issue for his entire career.

Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I insert into the Record a letter of support for H.R. 2009 from the organization Restore America's Voice. Restore America's Voice Foundation, Houston, TX, July 12, 2013. Dear Representative Price: Our more than two million supporters are grateful for your efforts to strip the IRS of any authority over the Affordable Care Act as embodied in H.R. 2009 which you have introduced. Our organization fully endorses this legislation. We note with discomfort that this agency seems not only beyond the control of those tasked with oversight but willfully resists full disclosure of questionable practices and abusive methods in Congressional testimony. We have concluded, based on the evidence at hand, that this agency is being cynically used for political purposes to frustrate and intimidate law-abiding citizens who disagree with Administration policies. This distortion of the proper role and functioning of the IRS makes turning over responsibility for the Affordable Care Act subsidies, penalties and, significantly, access to private insurance and medical records, a frightening prospect. We are therefore in complete agreement with the purpose of H.R. 2009 and fully support passage as the only responsible and prudent course of action. Thank you for leadership and hard work in developing this legislation and for representing the best interests of not only your constituents but the American people. Respectfully and gratefully yours, Ken Hoagland, Chairman. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor), the majority leader of the House of Representatives.