Pete Sessions

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Republicans came to the floor of the House several weeks ago--we've done it lots of times and have probably had 41 votes on ObamaCare. We've talked about how $716 billion was cut from senior care, Medicare. We think that's a problem. We think that was wrong. We think pushing this off on seniors is the wrong thing to do. We know the cost to employers.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, it is my time. I do appreciate the gentleman because I know what he is going to tell me. He's going to say, Well, we used that money in our budget. In fact, we did, because this was an action that was done 3 years ago, and we are trying to repeal the bill that took $716 billion from seniors. We disagreed with it, but after 3 years, you have to use the money. We promised at that time that we would stay after it. Look, the gentleman is the one who voted for it. Not one Republican voted to take the money. I know what their dialogue is, and I appreciate the gentleman. He is a very dear friend of mine. I know they're frustrated when we tell the truth about how bad this bill is. With regard to the cost to employers, Delta Air Lines marched up to the White House in February and said, Hey, guys. Just so you know, you're going to cost Delta Air Lines over $100 million this year. In the first year, it's going to cost $100 million. Trust me. They were listening over there. That may be why they said, Whoops, we'll let business off the hook. They should have done the same thing for everybody. Mr. Speaker, that's part of why we're here--we are here for fairness. What do Members of Congress hear when they go back home? They hear a lot of things, but here is the one that we hear more than anything. What we hear about is that there have been seven part-time jobs created for every one full-time job in America. Now, Mr. Speaker, that is not what we were promised. We have talked a lot about what Republicans have said and not said and what's right and wrong. What is true is that the President of the United States stood right here and said: not one dime of taxpayer money, and you can keep the insurance that you've got if you want it. That's our promise to the American people. Mr. Speaker, since ObamaCare has passed, there have been for every seven part-time jobs that were created, only one full-time job. We're becoming a part-time job Nation. Mr. Speaker, you cannot be the greatest Nation in the world as an economic power, you cannot get kids, our young children, to want to go to college for a part-time job. It's just not working well. That's why the Republican Party is here. That's why we have Members here tonight. That's why we've sent three CRs. That's why we have meeting after meeting after meeting trying to determine how do we best get after this. We didn't stay after the same way. We sent one offer, a second offer, a third offer. We're now asking something very simple: a chance to appoint conferees, get together face to face, talk about the issues and ideas, find room for compromise, and do something better. That's what we're asking for. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ennis, Texas, Congressman Joe Barton, the dean of the Texas Republican delegation.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, our Republican Members come from diverse districts all over this country. Men and women get together, we meet, we talk, we have clear voices. We listen to each other about what people are hearing from back home. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Dallas, Texas (Mr. Hensarling), the chairman of the Financial Services Committee. He is one of the clearest voices in the discussion that we've had. He represents a largely rural district--people who get up and go to work every day, people who have a lot at risk, people who care about this country, men and women who provide for their children, and their children are part of the military. They believe in this country, and they know that America's greatest days need to be in our future. It requires vigilance, and every day you have to stay after it.

Mr. SESSIONS. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. SESSIONS. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SESSIONS. The House has attempted three times to send something over, and it's come back rejected every time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Well, the question I have is, Did the Senate pass the bill?

Mr. SESSIONS. If you put back in the language that we asked for, we will be very pleased to agree to it. And I thank the gentleman from New Jersey.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, you know, our great government, on October 1, was going to be open for health care. Mr. Speaker, all anybody has to do is to go online right now and try to sign up for this after years of our friends in the Obama administration getting ready. And the site says, I'm sorry, your account cannot be done. The system is unavailable. So here we are at the great day of October 1, at 12:30. Mandatory funding by the government can't get in the way of that. Right here, system unavailable for the American public. Why am I not surprised? I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to advise my colleague, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), that I have no further requests for time.

Mr. SESSIONS. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, tonight is a night that we will remember. The things that will be remembered about this night are that our party has attempted to work with, reach out, and deal with our colleagues in the United States Senate. We have sent a CR, a clean CR at sequester levels and defunding ObamaCare. It was shipped back to us. A second CR, a clean CR at sequester levels, a 1-year delay of the entire ObamaCare law. A third CR at sequester levels, a 1-year delay, and removal of certain benefits that we believe is fairness. But the overriding suggestion that we have made tonight goes back to a little bit over an hour ago with the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers), the chairman of the Appropriations Committee. He is asking for the opportunity for us to go to conference to resolve our differences, people working together, people looking at each other. As was suggested by the gentleman, Mr. Barton, yeah, probably a TV would be in the room and the American people would get a chance to weigh and balance both sides also. We think that's important. That's what we're asking for. That's why we're on the floor of the House of Representatives tonight, and this is what we stand for. We're after fairness. We're after an opportunity to get these ideas and the issues resolved for the American people. So I'm going to urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the resolution. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 361 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman and my friend from Worcester, 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. General Leave

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 361 provides this body with an expedited procedure necessary to ensure that all legislation needed to prevent a government shutdown can be expeditiously considered without delay. That is why we are here today, Mr. Speaker. Additionally, this resolution allows for consideration of legislation designed to ensure that our government does not default on its debt obligations. Finally, House Resolution 361 provides the necessary framework to move forward with consideration of the farm bill, with our friends in the Senate. Mr. Speaker, at midnight on Monday, just 2 days from now, the Federal Government would shut down if Congress does not act to provide the necessary appropriations. There are varying schools of thought on what these appropriations should look like, but I believe that all Members, regardless of party affiliation, are united in the understanding that a government shutdown is detrimental to this Nation and to the American people. Over the next couple of days, there will be much deliberation over how to appropriately fund this effort and the government. This resolution before us today is necessary to ensure that once a decision is reached, this body can quickly react without undue delay to prevent a government shutdown. I recognize that this is an important time, as do all of my colleagues. Even the House Chaplain is here on the floor of the House today because he has great expectations that we, as a body, can work together to do the things that will ensure that our government is seen in the light by the American people as doing the right thing for them, because that is what our job and our oath of office is, to make sure that the American people are protected and that we, as one Nation under God, will move forward together. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. With great respect for the gentleman from Massachusetts, we have been debating these issues for a long, long time--not just the closed rule and the way that the ObamaCare bill was rushed to the floor of the House in March a couple of years ago, but since then, a complete denial about what really the real impact of ObamaCare is. And the gentleman is right, the gentleman is absolutely correct: Republicans, 100 percent of us, are absolutely opposed to ObamaCare. But there are reasons why. It's not some narrow political ideology. In fact, it's reality. And the reality is--and I will lay these out in several different formats, Mr. Speaker, just to make it easy for the American people to understand what we're talking about--the cost to taxpayers. And I know we were told there won't be any cost to taxpayers; but, in fact, there was a $716 billion cut to Medicare. That means senior care. This ObamaCare cuts seniors' care. It takes $716 billion out of Medicare to pay for ObamaCare. That's wrong. That is taking this out on America's seniors. Next, there will be $1.8 billion that we know about that we will be spending over the next decade alone to fund ObamaCare. The cost to families. I'm from Dallas, Texas. On average, Texas families face a potential premium increase from 5 to 43 percent in the individual market and a 23 percent increase for small groups. That's the little bit that we know about the announcement that came out the other day. It could be up to a 43 percent increase. The cost to employers. Well, the cost to employers is also a cost to their workers. It's a cost to the economy. It's a cost to stock prices, which people have their pensions in. Recently, Delta Airlines announced that ObamaCare will cost the company $100 million in increased premiums in just 1 year. That's a huge cost, $100 million. The impact on health insurance coverage. Americans are losing their current health insurance. Employers have begun dropping spouses from their health insurance. Just last week, UPS also announced an extra 15,000 spouses of its employees will be dropped from their health insurance plan. ObamaCare's impact on American jobs: fewer jobs. According to the CBO, ObamaCare will shrink employment by .5 percent. Well, let's see what that does. It doesn't just decrease it by .5 percent. It really means that full-time workers are becoming part-time workers directly as a result of ObamaCare. ObamaCare puts 3.2 million jobs at risk in the franchise industry alone. Fewer hours and more part-time jobs. Since ObamaCare was passed, there have been seven part-time jobs created for every one full-time job. That's simple. I get that. As a former employer, I understood if you put rules and regulations on who is required to pay for full-time workers, they simply understood that and ducked out by hiring part-time employees. Full-time growth has only expanded by .23 percent. That's two-tenths of 1 percent since ObamaCare has passed. This is not the direction America ought to be going. The Republican Party is opposed to ObamaCare. We are here on the floor of the House of Representatives again; and I think we are gathering support across the lines of the American people, including union leaders who say this is the wrong way to go. I don't know that this is the last time to say ``no.'' But we are taking every opportunity we can, as the Republican Party, to say that where we are headed with this costly health care change, which will diminish and destroy America's greatest health care system in the world, is what we are going to stand up for. Mr. Speaker, I believe that the facts of the case are a daunting task for our American economy to overcome. And that's why the Republican Party, the party of full-time jobs and careers, is on the floor of the House of Representatives, thoughtfully articulating here and to the American people about why we're doing what we're doing. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Ten days ago, we had a debate on this floor where we heard about what the Republican Party was doing: Taking food away from disabled people; that's not true. Today, we hear about how Republicans want to repeal all laws that are related to clean water, clean air, all of these onerous things that they talk about; not true. We're for clean water; we're for clean air. I, myself, and many of my colleagues, are outdoorsmen who believe in not only the wilderness of this country but also the freedoms that come with that. We're for clean water and clean air, but we're not for the rules and regulations that kill jobs like the Democrats' war on coal, and that's when Republicans do stand up, Mr. Speaker. We stand up and say: We're not going to tolerate taking away our constitutional rights nor the rights of free people to have their jobs by rules and regulations that are based upon premises that just aren't even true, that cannot stand the test of sound science. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess), who is one of the brightest Members of our body and who also sits on the Rules Committee.

Mr. SESSIONS. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. SESSIONS. I certainly can, and I appreciate the gentleman yielding.

Mr. SESSIONS. We're gathering our ideas together, and we're going to come to this floor of the House this afternoon and, with resolve, help the American people.