Tom Price

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen), who serves on the Education and the Workforce Committee.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady), the chair of the Ways and Means Committee, a gentleman who has dedicated so much time and effort to responsible, appropriate health care for the American people.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Guinta), a champion of patient- centered health care.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, one of the saddest days that the American people remember on the floor of this House was a day in March of 2010. It was when this House voted in a hyperpartisan way to pass a healthcare bill that took away patient-centered health care and put Washington in charge of health care across this country. I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus).

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts), the chair of the Health Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), a champion of patient- centered healthcare reform, the Republican leader.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), a pro-life champion in our Nation.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Black), a fellow healthcare professional and a member of the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the Republican majority whip.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Roskam), the chair of the Oversight Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Palmer), a fellow member of the Budget Committee.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from the great State of Indiana (Mr. Bucshon), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and a fellow physician.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), a fellow member of the Budget Committee.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I would simply say that what we are interested in is expanding health care for the American people that actually responds to their needs. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe), a fellow physician who is the chair of the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the Education and the Workforce Committee.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, this is a historic day. It is not often that the House has the opportunity to so clearly fight to defend the will of the people. This is a day that embraces our Constitution and one of its fundamental tenets, our system of checks and balances. This issue, the issue of health care, is vital to every single American. Health care is so very personal. The American people are offended by a Federal Government that says that they know best, that they know and should dictate to folks what kind of health care we should have, who should be treating us, where we should be treated, and on and on and on. The American people have always opposed the current law. From the very day it was passed and was signed into law, a majority of the citizens of this country opposed this law. In fact, Mr. Speaker, more people oppose the law now than they did when the bill was passed. This is truly remarkable. More people oppose it now than did when it was passed, which is why we have worked and fought so very hard to represent them, to represent our constituents, and to carry out our solemn responsibility as their Representatives. The House and the Senate voted to veto this destructive law, a law that is not only destructive to the health and well-being of our citizens, but destructive to the health of our economy, taking jobs away, forcing people into part-time work, forcing businesses to downsize or limit who they hire. It is remarkably destructive. In fact, the House voted to repeal it by larger numbers than it voted to pass it originally. However, the President vetoed our repeal. The President is the only person standing in the way of what the American people want. Let me repeat that, Mr. Speaker. The President is the only person standing in the way of what the American people want. So our job now is to stand up for them, to demonstrate for them who is on their side, and who is standing in the way of positive, patient- centered reform. We favor a healthcare system where patients and families and doctors are making medical decisions, not Washington, D.C. We favor a healthcare system that gets everyone covered with policies that they want for themselves and for their families, not that the government forces them to buy. We favor a healthcare system that embraces the principles of health care, accessibility, affordability, quality, responsiveness, innovation, and choice, principles that are all violated by the current law. So today, Mr. Speaker, we stand with the American people. We will vote to override the veto of the President, an action that runs absolutely counter to the will of the majority of our country. I urge my colleagues to support this veto override vote and stand with positive solutions based on the principles of health care that we all embrace. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on the veto message of the President of the United States to the bill, H.R. 3762.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. General Leave

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize and celebrate an outstanding educator, Bob Rumble. For more than 30 years, Bob has taught history and civics in high schools around Atlanta. Over the years Mr. Rumble has been an active participant in Close Up, an organization that brings students and teachers from around the country to Washington D.C. to promote interactive civic engagement. This week marks Mr. Rumble's 30th student trip to D.C. Mr. Rumble first took over the Close Up program at Stone Mountain High School in 1985. In 1993 he led the Close Up program at Heritage High School. Later in his career, Mr. Rumble chartered the program at both Roswell and Cambridge High Schools. Most recently Bob brought Close Up to his current position as a history teacher at Kings Ridge Christian School in Alpharetta. Through the Close Up program, Mr. Rumble has given his students a hands-on experience of what he taught in the classroom. Some of his former students and Close Up participants were able to join him this week on what may be Bob's last trip. Mr. Speaker I want to commend Mr. Rumble for his years of dedication and service to our community. Democracy requires active and informed participation and through these Close Up trips Mr. Rumble has been able to share that with his students. Due to educators like Mr. Rumble, our Nation's future is bright.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia

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

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. It seems, whenever we have a serious issue to talk about on the floor, the distortions and the utter false statements come out, and that is a shame because the American people deserve better. ObamaCare is harming real people, not just from an economic standpoint across this great land but from a healthcare standpoint. As a physician, I can tell you that I hear about it daily from my colleagues. We hear from the other side of folks who tout the numbers of increase and of folks who have gained insurance. The fact of the matter is, of the folks who have gained insurance and of those who had insurance, many of them now have coverage, but they don't have care. If you earn $30,000, $40,000, or $50,000 and if your deductible is now $5,000 or $10,000 or $12,000, you may have coverage, but you don't have care. In fact, individuals are denying themselves treatment right now because they can't afford the deductibles because of this law. That is the real world out there. That is the harm that this law is doing. We heard over and over and over that we want to remove healthcare coverage from 22 million people. That is utter nonsense, Mr. Speaker. It is absolutely not true. In fact, my friend from Maryland quoted the CBO report, and he quoted it accurately, but he skipped over--kind of glossed over--the part that said that this would be relative to current law projections. That is right. We want to repeal this law, and we want to replace it with positive, commonsense, patient-centered solutions that put patients and families and doctors in charge of health care, not Washington, D.C., solutions that respect the principles of health care: accessibility for everybody, affordability for everybody, choices, and higher quality care--the things that ObamaCare has destroyed. That is why the majority of the American people don't like this law and oppose this law. It is because it destroys the principles of health care that the American people hold dear. Mr. Speaker, this is the first step and the next step in the process of repealing ObamaCare and of making certain that we move forward with positive, patient-centered solutions in which patients and families and doctors are making medical decisions and not the Federal Government. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining on both sides?

Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman), a conscientious U.S. Member of the Committee on the Budget.