Chellie Pingree

Ms. PINGREE of Maine

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, thank you to the gentlewoman from California for allowing me this opportunity to talk a little bit about the topic that has taken over our debate about a post office today. Normally, we would be discussing the naming of a post office; but because we are on the eve of this historic vote and very likely to proceed forward on the issue of reforming our health care system, we have been spending most of the day talking about that. And I just want to say in spite of the rhetoric and the anger that flares up across the different sides of the aisle, I personally, as a freshman Member of this legislature, can't imagine my good fortune to be here, to be here this weekend with the hopes that we may finally move forward on reforming our health care system. I feel like the first entire year and a half I have been in office, more than anything else in my district, people say to me, when are you going to do something about that health care bill? When are you really going to fix the system? And much of this comes from people who are struggling in this economy. They are out of work. They are worried about being out of work. They are small business owners trying to figure out how to cover the cost of health care. I have been working on this issue for a lot of years, and I can't believe how exciting it is that we might be here this weekend and finally move forward on reform. I think back to 1992 when I, like my colleague from California, was a former member of a State legislature. And in 1992, I was running for office for the first time as a State legislator, and it was the number one issue that year. President Clinton, the future President Clinton, was running for office talking about reforming the health care system. Every door I knocked on in the 19 towns in the legislative district where I ran, people said something to me about the cost of health care. And think of that, that was almost 20 years ago. If they thought costs were high then, if small business owners thought it was difficult to cover their employees, what does it look like today? I got elected to that State legislature. And for 8 years, my State, the State of Maine, struggled to reform the health care system. We created our own plan, the Dirigo health care system, to expand the number of people we covered. We passed a bill to regulate the price of prescription drugs, to negotiate for a better price for prescription drugs. And what did we get from Congress? We got a failed health care plan in the nineties, and then we got 8 years of a majority party that decided not to do anything. In fact, when they decided to do something about prescription drug pricing, they said you can't even negotiate with the drug companies. They didn't do anything to lower costs, and they decided in the dark of the night to do something about that. But here we are today. We have the chance to begin to close the doughnut hole in the prescription drug plan. That will take effect when we pass this bill. That will begin to take effect and completely close by 2020. We are going to be able to move forward on advances in Medicare, eliminate copays for preventative care under Medicare. We are going to see real savings for our senior citizens, and I can't be more excited than to go back and say to my State legislators, do you know what? We've finally done something at the Federal level. We are going to do something to help a struggling State like Maine.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I can't tell you how happy I will be to go back and tell those State legislators who have tried to carry on in the face of this difficult era in a State where jobs are being lost, where businesses are struggling to cover people, they're saying to me, when I visit the State legislature, they are saying, when are you going help us at the Federal level? When are you going to realize that you are part of the responsibility as our State as struggled to cover those costs? Do you know what is really exciting? I hear every day people say, nobody in America wants this. Well, the fact is when I go back and talk to small business owners, individuals who have coverage, individuals who struggle with their insurance company dropping their coverage, I hear people who say, do something about it. In fact, in my State, people think we haven't gone far enough. When they polled the doctors in my State, these are physicians, and we have heard a lot of talk about doctors today and what they would do, the physicians in my State, over 50 percent of them say, why don't you do single-payer health care? They say this isn't going far enough. So the fact is, I couldn't be more excited to be here this weekend. In fact, I think it's my responsibility, not to complain about being here on a Friday afternoon.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I'm not complaining about being here on a Friday afternoon. In fact, my constituents would say to me if I went back home, why don't you get down to Washington and finish the job? Why don't you get down there and handle this difficult issue, go through all the difficult procedural issues, do what you have to do to pass this bill? And by Sunday afternoon or Sunday evening, I want to see you casting a vote to reform the health care system to change the way our insurance companies do business, to help out struggling State budgets, and to make sure that people in this country once and for all have coverage for health care and we move forward in our system.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from California, for yielding her time to me and thank you for this great bill. We are veering from the conversation a little bit. But first I want to talk about the Capps bill and just say how important it is to a State like mine, with a tremendous amount of ocean coastline, with an enormous number of young people who grow up on the waterfront, who are fishermen, who work in waterfront communities. This is a great program. I wholeheartedly endorse this particular piece of legislation. I know it's going to be great for our coastal communities, and I commend you for doing it. So thank you very much for what you're doing on the floor today. I just wanted to take a little bit of time to answer my freshman colleague from Utah, who is also my office neighbor, and just talk about how seriously we disagree on this topic of health care. I, for one, am thrilled that we are here this weekend to finally take up an issue that is of such great importance to my constituents. I mean, frankly, when I go back to my district, I find that the more people hear about this health care bill, the happier they are. They are thrilled to know that as a small business they're going to start receiving subsidies to help support the cost of health insurance. My seniors are saying, Thank goodness we no longer will have to pay for preventive care under Medicare. Thank goodness we're going to get rid of the doughnut hole that was created by the other side, predominantly when they passed the Medicare prescription D plan. We hear a lot about process, but I just want to talk a little bit about the process of insurance companies because that's what makes my constituents mad. When they hear about the fact that people are constantly denied coverage because of a preexisting condition--in many States, being a woman, a woman of child-bearing age is a preexisting condition. That will be gone with this bill. Immediately we'll say children are not a preexisting condition. None of them can be denied coverage. And by 2014, no one can be denied under this piece of legislation. We're going to get rid of lifetime caps, people who have a long-term illness who find that their insurance runs out in spite of the fact that they've been paying these high premiums.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I want to read a letter I got from a doctor talking about the disproportionate effect of our health care system on women. She says, ``As a health care provider, I see patients in my office frequently who need surgery or medicine but who cannot get the health care they really need because they do not have insurance. ``These are young, otherwise healthy women who are coping the best they can with their personal health issues. It doesn't make the national press, but the idea of these women suffering day after day tugs at my heartstrings. ``We all have sisters, daughters, and cousins without insurance. We are all touched by someone who does not qualify for government insurance or cannot afford a private policy. At what point do you decide that enough is enough and that private insurance companies aren't doing their job?'' That doctor is right. That is why I support this bill. There are many provisions in the health care bill that we will be taking up this week that make sure that women are not disproportionately affected by the lack of coverage. I look forward to voting for this bill.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Madam Speaker, I couldn't be more pleased to have spent the last year and a few months working on this issue and to be here this month where we may get the opportunity to vote on this bill. Because I want to tell you, Madam Speaker, what I hear from my constituents is get this bill done. When are you going to move forward on this? It is not a perfect bill. In fact, 50 percent of the doctors in my State wish we were passing a single-payer health care bill. But this is going to go a long way. We have heard a lot of talk about process. When are we going to talk about the process of insurance companies? The process that denies my constituents coverage because of a preexisting condition. The times I hear from people who say their health care was cut off. And in my State, where Anthem Blue Cross wants to continually raise rates. You know, last year they asked for a 23 percent increase. When our insurance commissioner said no, you know what they did? They sued the State of Maine. Well, I am ready to make sure that we are standing for our constituents, passing this health care bill, and doing away with the bad process of the insurance companies.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I have no further requests for time, and I will continue to reserve my time.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Well, thank you so much for yielding your time and for allowing me to address this topic, and even though we are here to address algal blooms, I appreciate the chance to go back and forth on this important topic.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Thank you. And just to answer your point, I, too, think it is essential that we continue our research and development here in this country. Frankly, much of it is done around the world on research and development. But I don't think that negotiating for a better price, that lowering the prices to our senior citizens, would cost us research and development. And, frankly----

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. First off, I would prefer to answer you on my own time, because it seems to me when you yield me your time, you usually answer for me. So I would rather wait until I have my time.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I have to say I am unprepared to answer your question about the research and development tax credit for the pharmaceutical industry--I know that I have industries in my State that benefit from that tax credit--before I say yes or no about the solution that you are proposing. But I do want to go back to one other thing----

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. See, I don't think you are letting me finish my answer, so you go ahead.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Madam Speaker, I will just say a couple of more things again. I am thrilled that the President has decided to focus all of his energy on health care. I think that the people of this country have waited long enough for health care reform, and I am anxious to see it come to this floor. I am anxious to see us bring it to final passage. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I thank my colleague from California. We have had a lively debate this morning on a whole variety of issues. I had no idea I was going to have the pleasure of coming to the floor to talk about the bus trips with senior citizens, about the prescription drug debate in the middle of the night and many of the things that have been part of our process for years before I was ever here. And I thank you for that opportunity to go back and forth on those issues. I appreciate your thoughts and our differences of opinion on this issue of health care reform. I want to reiterate we are here today on the issue of algal blooms and red tide and a variety of things that are important to my constituents here in Maine. The reason this bill is here on this floor today is because many of those on the other side of the aisle, including my Republican colleague, whom we have been going back and forth with today, Mr. Dreier, voted ``no'' on the bill when it first hit the floor and we are taking up again. I would like to close and stick to the topic for a minute and let us move forward with our business today making sure that we continue to bring more bills around jobs here, and I hope that we have some Republican votes on our future jobs bill and certainly on our health care bill. In closing, I just want to say that the 2009 red tide in Maine hit our coastal communities hard. Most shellfish harvesters are self- employed and make the majority of their living in the summer months. Every day, shellfish harvesters were calling the State agencies and asking for help with mortgages payments, utility bills, doctor bills, car payments, and even food. In my State and in many coastal States, these are jobs. These are jobs that keep families working through the summer and help them get through the winter. The economic impact of closing much of the coast to shellfish harvesters, aquaculturists and related businesses was conservatively estimated to be between $1.6 million and $2.5 million each week. This is real money to coastal States in every corner of this country. This bill will make a difference for coastal communities. With improved testing and tracking, scientists will be able to accurately identify localized areas. This means that smaller portions of the coast will be shut down instead of entire regions. In addition, it will build on so much of the good work that has already been done, improve our prediction and monitoring capabilities, and take steps to mitigate the impact of red tide and other HABs. We need a national program dedicated to coordinating and integrating Federal resources to minimize or even prevent HABs in both fresh and saltwater. Enhanced coordination will help resource managers make better decisions, and with better decisions will come less economic hardship in our coastal communities. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule. I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1168 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier). All time yielded during consideration of this rule is for debate only. General Leave

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials into the Record.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 3650, the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2009, under a structured rule. The resolution waives all points of order against consideration of the bill except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI. The resolution provides 1 hour of debate on the bill. The resolution provides that in lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Science Committee, the amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in the Rules Committee report shall be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. The rule waives all points of order against the bill, as amended. The resolution makes in order the amendment printed by the Rules Committee report if offered by Representative Flake or a designee. The resolution waives all points of order against the amendment except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI. The resolution provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Madam Speaker, harmful algal blooms, or HABs, are a growing problem along U.S. coasts and they impact almost every coastal district. Some algae, like red tide, produce toxins that contaminate shellfish and shut down shellfish beds to local harvesters. Severe red tide blooms can be harmful to tourism across the country. When red tide affects an area, people can't go in the water, seafood isn't bought and sold, and stores and hotels along the coast are empty. Over the past few decades, harmful algae have begun to bloom more frequently and with greater intensity. HABs are one of the most complex and economically significant coastal management challenges facing the Nation. We know that algae growth is influenced by a number of factors, including light, water temperature, salinity, and nutrient availability, but the factors that drive outbreaks like red tide are not understood as well, and additional efforts are needed to monitor, control, prevent, and mitigate these outbreaks. A professor at the University of Maine has done research that shows that the blooms start offshore and are blown towards shore by easterly winds. This sounds simple enough; yet in the field of red tide research, this was groundbreaking work. Addressing HABs on a national level requires a coordinated approach that involves a number of Federal agencies, including the EPA and NOAA. The underlying bill oversees the development and implementation of regional research and action plans to help coastal managers understand and deal with HAB outbreaks. New England, and Maine in particular, have been especially hard hit by outbreaks. Severe red tide events occurred in 4 of the last 5 years, causing tens of millions of dollars in lost income to shellfish harvesters. The shellfish industry is vital to the Maine economy, Madam Speaker. Over 2,000 harvesters and dealers depend directly on access to healthy shellfish beds to make their living and support their families. Maine's Department of Marine Resources estimates total annual economic value of the shellfish industry in Maine to be about $50 million. Last spring and summer, the shellfish industry in Maine was shut down because of severe red tide bloom. At its peak, the density of the red tide toxin was nearly 100 times the federally mandated quarantine level and closed 97 percent of the State's shellfish beds and 100 percent of the offshore beds in Federal waters. Many shellfish harvesters were stuck on land for months with nowhere to go. This all occurred during the peak of the tourist season, and the results were devastating. Coastal families rely on the income generated during the short summer months to carry them through Maine's long, cold winters; and the timing could have not have been worse for these hardworking harvesters. Not only were they missing out on the best time to sell their product, but they had no way of knowing when it would be okay to return to the mudflats. The uncertainty made it impossible to know whether to look for other employment or to wait and see if the next week would bring clear water. Predictions for 2010 indicate that it could be an even worse year for red tide in the Gulf of Maine. According to a recent NOAA report, the cysts that cause red tide are at some of the highest levels ever measured, 60 percent higher than what was observed in the sediments prior to the historic red tide of 2005. While red tide in Maine is a coastal issue, HABs are increasingly occurring in our inland lakes and rivers. Blue-green algae blooms in some Midwest lakes and the Great Lakes have killed dozens of dogs and poisoned people all over the region. Frequently, these freshwater algae blooms are caused by a combination of droughts and fertilizer runoff. These outbreaks lead to rashes, sore throats, and other health concerns. This bill helps address algal blooms in lakes as well. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this important bill, and I am glad that Senator Snowe from Maine is a leader on this issue in the Senate and is the author of the Senate companion legislation. I look forward to continuing to work with her to improve the economic health of our coastal communities. This bill will help shellfish harvesters in every coastal community by improving our knowledge and ability to predict red tide blooms. We need a national strategy to address HABs and to provide for the development of regional action plans to reduce HAB outbreaks. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the rule and ``yes'' on the underlying bill. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I appreciate my colleague's yielding, and I appreciate his thoughtful comments about red tide and hypoxia research. I can only answer for the residents of my home State, who are deeply concerned about algal blooms, red tide, the economic impact in our communities, and the importance of passing this legislation so that the research is done.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Madam Speaker, I had no idea that we were here to debate health care this morning, but I appreciate that the gentleman, my friend from California, has brought up the differences between us. I would like to make a couple of points. First off, we are here today to take up this bill that could have been done under a suspension; but as I understand, my colleague voted ``no'' when this bill originally came to the floor, which is why we're back here today--to pass what is a relatively simple, I agree, piece of legislation but what is very important in coastal districts like mine. Yes, we do have a disagreement on health care legislation, and I wish that your caucus were doing what my caucus is doing right now, which is going through the health care legislation that we hope to bring to this floor soon, line by line, to make sure that we are confident this is excellent legislation to move forward the cause of health care reform, something on which he and I don't agree. I support very strongly and am looking forward to the debate that we will have on this floor about that health care legislation, and I am thrilled with the year and a half that I have spent here and with the number of hours that the committees and Members on both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, have put in in crafting health care legislation. Now, we may not agree on the final product, and that will come down to a vote. You're right. It will depend on making sure that we have enough votes on our side of the aisle, and I am glad that we are making sure that everyone feels confident about that vote. You know, it was interesting. I, as you know, am a freshman, so I wasn't here in previous years when you were. But when you talk about arm-twisting and about getting votes, I am reminded of the stories that I've heard about passing the prescription drug legislation, and about what it took for the other party, in the middle of the night and with a vote open for many hours, to pass a piece of legislation. I have to say, from my perch as a former State legislator from a State where the cost of prescription drugs is crippling the health care costs for many of our senior citizens, I was shocked to see what that final piece of legislation came to be. I am thrilled that our health care legislation, which I believe will be on this floor soon, will fix some of the problems in there, but, I'm sorry to say, not all. I remember hearing about that legislation. Was it 2 hours or was it 3 hours in the middle of the night when people were convinced to change their votes so as to get the votes, and when every minute counted to get one more vote? That was the legislation that left us with this tremendous doughnut hole of which our senior citizens talk to me every day. Frankly, that's the public opinion polling that I hear about when I go back to my district. Yet it's not a public opinion poll. It's senior citizens who come up to me and ask, Do you see what it costs me to buy my prescription drugs? Do you see what happens when I get into the doughnut hole? Here is what they really ask me. They ask, How could the Republican Party, in the middle of the night and in twisting arms for every vote, pass a piece of legislation that doesn't allow us to negotiate with the pharmaceutical manufacturers for the price of prescription drugs? I can tell you, in my home State of Maine, this was an issue for years. When I first got elected in 1992 to my State legislature, senior citizens came up to me and asked, Do you see what it costs me to buy my prescription drugs? Then, every year, it got worse and worse and worse as the pharmaceutical manufacturers, which are some of the wealthiest corporations and multinational corporations in this country, were able to sell their drugs at the highest prices in the world to senior citizens in America. Those people had to pay cash for their prescription drugs. Those people had to decide whether to put heating oil in their tanks to keep warm or put food on their tables. The Republicans came to the point where they could have changed the law like they've done in Canada or like they've done in virtually every other country in the world. They could have done what they're always telling us: Be like a good business, have good business practices. You know, I own a small business. I wouldn't think of buying something I didn't negotiate for. Well, that's what that bill said. It said we won't negotiate. In fact, we'll give them sweetheart deals. We'll say to our senior citizens, You know what? You're going to pay the highest prices in the world, so there will be no cost savings. These are the same Republicans who tell us now there aren't enough cost savings in our health care bill. They use it as an excuse, but that was what was done in the dark of the night, for 3 hours, in holding open a debate. Do you know how I first found out about this? I got on a bus with senior citizens from the State of Maine. Let me tell you how it worked. We'd stop in Biddeford, Maine. Then we'd go to Portland, Maine. Then we'd go to Lewiston, Maine. We'd stop at places all along the State of Maine, and we'd drive all the way up to the Canadian border. We'd get all the way to the Canadian border, and we'd visit with a duly licensed physician so that they could have their prescriptions rewritten and they could take them across the Canadian border legally. So then we'd go to a Canadian drug store. This is a busload of senior citizens. We'd go into that Canadian drug store, and they'd buy their prescriptions. I want to tell you about one person I sat next to on one of the many bus trips. I sat next to a person who had to take Tamoxifen, which is a wonderful drug that we're glad we have for breast cancer, but this person takes 30 pills a month. At that point, I think it cost her about $150 a month for her 30 pills. When we got across the Canadian border, it was $12.35. In my opinion, that was highway robbery. Do you know why that was? Because the Canadian Government, just like every other Western nation, requires that they negotiate for the best prices possible. So, as far as I'm concerned, that's what should have been in that prescription drug plan that was decided in the middle of the night when arms were twisted to get every last vote. That is what should be: closing the doughnut hole and lowering prescription drug prices in the health care bill that we will debate soon. As far as I am concerned, I am thrilled that members of my caucus are here today to go through line by line, to make sure that we are getting the best possible health care plan we can get. And I will say, it is not going to be everything I want in a health care plan. I come from the State of Maine. Our doctors think that single payer ought to be the health care plan in Maine, and I am right there with them, but I know that is not what we are going to get to vote on here on the floor. But I am anxious to make sure that we get the best possible compromise, and I would be thrilled if some of the members of your caucus would vote for that bill. I would be thrilled.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to come together and finally pass a health reform bill that provides Americans with the stability, affordability, and access to high quality choice in coverage they so richly deserve. We must act now. We absolutely cannot afford to wait any longer. Over the last year, we saw what happens when you give pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and entrenched special interests time to spend millions of dollars on ad campaigns that spread misinformation, fear, and confusion. In my home State of Maine, our largest insurer, Anthem, used this time to demand a 23 percent rate hike on individuals. And they weren't alone. Last year, profits for the five biggest insurance companies rose by 56 percent over the year before. Enough is enough. Americans are counting on us. They sent us here to work hard and make difficult choices, entrusting us to represent them with integrity and to set aside partisanship and pettiness to do what is best for the American people. And I, for one, look forward to showing them that their trust was not misplaced.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Thank you very much to my good friend from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for yielding me the time, for his excellent opening statement, and for his response to our colleague from the Rules Committee as well. And I thank him for being here today. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this rule and the underlying concurrent resolution. It is a rare occurrence that Members of this body have the opportunity to devote 3 hours of debate to such an important issue, and it is even more unusual that Members are given a chance for a clean up-or-down vote on ending the war in Afghanistan. Each time an emergency war supplemental, a Defense appropriations bill or a Defense authorization bill has come to the floor, continued funding for the war in Afghanistan is hidden behind spending to create jobs, to provide humanitarian relief or to increase medical benefits to our troops, all of which I support. And privileged resolutions like this, which exercise the constitutional right of the United States Congress to decide whether or not to continue the use of the military force, rarely sees the light of day. This country has spent over $250 billion, Mr. Speaker, on the war in Afghanistan. The share of my home State of Maine is almost $700 million. And in the next few months, the administration will likely ask this Congress to spend another $30 billion to fund a surge of troops in Afghanistan. At a time when we cannot find $30 billion to create jobs, continue unemployment benefits or help small businesses, we need to ask ourselves, Is the cost of this war worth it? Is it right to spend more money and lose more lives on a strategy that isn't working? Can we afford to turn our backs on the challenges we face at home and to pursue failed policies abroad? I am an original cosponsor of this concurrent resolution because I firmly believe this war needs to end. We have asked our men and women in uniform to return to combat again and again. They have fought with bravery and helped the people of Afghanistan with compassion. They have risen to meet every challenge and paid every price to defend this country. But the cost of this war is too high. The economic situation in the country is too dire, and the lives of our brave men and women in uniform are too precious for this war to go on and for this issue to be muddled and tucked away in large spending bills. It is time to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home. It is time for this Congress to demand an open debate on Afghanistan and a clean vote on any future bills that fund this war. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this rule and the underlying concurrent resolution.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Garamendi).