Jason Smith

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3797) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an alternative manner of furnishing certain health insurance coverage statements to individuals, as amended.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I appreciate the opportunity to say a few words about the Employer Reporting Improvement Act before us today, introduced by my good friends, Ways and Means colleagues, Representatives Adrian Smith and Mike Thompson. This is a straightforward and effective bipartisan solution to provide small businesses with relief from cumbersome Affordable Care Act reporting requirements. Under current law, every year, to determine compliance with ACA requirements, employers have to report to the IRS information about the health insurance coverage they have provided for their employees. As part of that process, employers are required to submit their employee and their spouse or dependents' personal tax identification numbers or Social Security numbers. However, here is the catch: If, during this process, the employer unknowingly submits incorrect information, or if the IRS believes that an employee is wrongfully claiming a premium tax credit, the employer faces a significant financial penalty. Making matters worse, the window of opportunity that employer has to appeal is short, while the statute of limitations on that violation is limitless. On average, the IRS takes anywhere between 18 to 24 months, 2 years, to crunch the numbers on all this data they receive. That means the small business is left in limbo waiting to hear whether the government will find them in violation of the law. The bill before us today gives employers flexibility about what personal information they have to provide on behalf of their employees and their families. It extends the appeal window for any potential violation and establishes a statute of limitations so those small businesses, who have limited resources to begin with, can navigate these waters with less of a burden. I thank my colleagues on both sides of this aisle for supporting this measure to provide relief to our small business job creators. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3801) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to streamline and improve the employer reporting process relating to health insurance coverage and to protect dependent privacy, as amended.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Chairman, when Democrats expanded ObamaCare subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act, those billions of dollars flow directly to large health insurers. CHOICE arrangements, however, allows small businesses--small businesses--to reimburse their own employees directly for them to shop and purchase their own health insurance. This is how Washington should be empowering small businesses, not bailing out large health insurers. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Chairman, I remind the body that Build Back Better was never signed into law because neither the Democrats in the Senate nor the White House would even support it. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman from Texas has no further speakers, I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, we are here today considering this legislation because we have listened to the American people and are taking action on their behalf. The Ways and Means Committee has traveled over 5,000 miles to hear directly from working Americans about the impact today's economy has had on them and their communities. Whether it be in a lumber mill in West Virginia or a cattle ranch in Oklahoma, workers, families, farmers, and small businesses have told us the same thing: They need relief from the Biden economy. The legislation before us today will help make life a little bit easier on small businesses. It allows them to provide more options to their employees when it comes to health insurance benefits. The CHOICE Arrangement Act gives small businesses more flexibility to provide health insurance benefits to current and future workers. Introduced by Representative Hern, this legislation codifies a Trump administration rule allowing small businesses to reimburse employees for buying their own health insurance on the individual market. Washington should not stand in the way of workers getting the healthcare coverage that is best for them and their families. Just as important, workers should be able to take their insurance plan with them if they leave their current job. This bill gives small businesses the opportunity, if they so choose, to shed the administrative burden of managing traditional insurance coverage. At the same time, it gives workers more options for their own healthcare and makes the coverage portable. Also included in the underlying bill is a provision from Representative Tenney that ensures small businesses are made aware of the flexible, tax-advantaged insurance coverage options available to them and their employees. We have heard that 70 percent of small businesses are not aware of the various health insurance options out there, such as CHOICE arrangements, qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangements, or the small business healthcare tax credit. This bill would make sure small businesses are notified about the availability and tax benefits of these options so businesses can make more informed decisions about how to support their employees' healthcare choices. This legislation also includes important provisions to increase access to stop-loss insurance and expand association health plans, which will create more choices for American small businesses to offer health benefits to their workers at lower costs. Mom-and-pop stores did not set out to be paper pushers and benefit managers, and we should not force them into that role. I urge my colleagues to support this bill to help small businesses support their workforce and let them focus on what they do best: serving their customers and employees. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Chairman, the CHOICE Arrangement Act will expand coverage for more types of workers by allowing employers to offer a CHOICE Arrangement to different groups of employees who may not have been offered health insurance previously, such as part-time or seasonal workers. Under this policy, nearly 1 million workers will have health insurance coverage for the very first time. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Tenney), who is an author of a piece of this legislation.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time. Congress has an opportunity to help small businesses by making it easier for those who choose to provide health insurance for their employees. This bill is the best of both worlds for small businesses and workers. It relieves many small businesses of the burden of administering a complex health insurance plan by allowing them to instead offer meaningful financial support to employees so that they can buy their own insurance. It takes some of the guessing game out of offering coverage by making sure small businesses are informed of the various options they have. It gives workers the freedom to choose the best possible coverage for themselves and their families. By passing this legislation, we will allow small businesses to get back to the basics, helping their customers, taking care of their employees, and serving their communities. I want to address the misleading claims we have heard from our Democrat colleagues. At our markup, one of my Democrat colleagues called the health plan options under this bill junk plans. That is unequivocally false. These funds can only be used to purchase plans that cover preexisting conditions. Regardless of what you hear on the other side, this covers plans with preexisting conditions. It covers plans that cap out-of-pocket expenses and guarantees coverage during open enrollment. They also claim that we are opening a backdoor for businesses to discriminate in the health benefits offered to their employees. CHOICE arrangements provide the opposite of discrimination. They provide equal contributions to all employees with the same employment status, only adjusting for age and family size. In fact, many businesses today don't offer health benefits to any of their part-time employees. Through CHOICE arrangements, these employees may be seeing their first offer of meaningful health benefits. Today, we are taking another step forward to cut the bureaucratic red tape holding back small businesses. We should make it easier, not harder, to give America's workers, families, farmers, and small businesses access to flexible healthcare options. Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Chair, all CHOICE Arrangement Act plans must cover preexisting conditions, cap out-of-pocket expenses, and cover key health benefits. CHOICE arrangements do not allow employers to discriminate against any group of employees. They require equal contributions to all employees with the same employment status, and only adjust contribution amount for age and family size, to make the record straight. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Hern), the sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous material on H.R. 3799.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Oklahoma.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow for legislative business.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Licking Wildcats Baseball Team on becoming the Missouri Class 3 State champions. On June 1, 2023, the Licking Wildcats Baseball Team made it to the championship game for the first time since 1994, and for the first time since 1989 they brought home the championship. It is clear from the scale of celebrations that followed the victory, which included an impromptu parade with an escort from the Sheriff's Department immediately following the game, and their appointment as the grand marshal for the Rodeo Parade, that the effects of this victory rippled through their community. The Class 3 State Champions, Derek Mendenhall, Karson Walker, Cole McCloy, Keyton Rinne, Cole Wallace, Malachi Antle, Kannon Buckner, Garrett Gorman, Brently Morris, Silas Antle, Kale Cook. Logan Gorman, Austin Stephens, Jordan Ritz, Rusty Buckner, Keyton Cook, and Kellar Davis, led by Assistant Coaches Cole Roark and Chris Harris and Head Coach Harv Antle, deserve to be praised for all the hard work and dedication that led to their state championship Victory. This achievement is a testament to the excellent leadership of the coaching staff and the skill, drive, and passion of all the players on the team. It is my great pleasure to honor the Licking Wildcats Baseball Team for their momentous state victory.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this veto override supports American workers and manufacturers in the solar sector, but it also helps protect American workers in every sector that face unfair competition from China or any other country. Our trade laws are designed to level the playing field so that American workers can compete and win. We have hundreds of trade remedy orders in place to do exactly that for many American industries. These laws aren't worth the paper they are written on unless they are enforced. Overriding this veto is an important way for Congress to show that we will insist on strong trade enforcement for American workers, farmers, and manufacturers of any product that faces unfair competition from China or any other country. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Malliotakis).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, there are few times that I would have yielded time to the gentleman from Michigan, but I would have for that opportunity to finish. Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle know well, the Chinese Communist Party has an egregious human rights record. There is a clear connection between these human rights abuses and the CCP's solar industry. Mr. Speaker, I call attention to the full and complete testimony of Nury Turkel, a Uyghur human rights lawyer and chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which was held before the Committee on Ways and Means during a field hearing in Staten Island, New York, on May 9, 2023, titled: ``Trade in America: Securing Supply Chains and Protecting the American Worker--Staten Island. The testimony can be found on the Ways and Means Committee website. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Turkel's testimony highlights the ongoing human rights abuses and religious persecution being perpetrated against Uyghurs by the Chinese Communist Party. I am disappointed that President Biden vetoed this important resolution. This is unacceptable. We must step up to hold China accountable for its human rights abuses. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Posey).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. For years, China has been engaged in a long list of unfair trade practices. It is these practices that are harming American workers. They cost communities their jobs and create an unfair playing field. We are here today to end the misguided reward that the White House gave China for one of those unfair practices: shipping solar products through four Southeast Asian nations to dodge paying U.S. tariffs. That is simply what we are talking about here. That is it. That is how you protect American workers. It is not allowing the Chinese, the CCP, to have a competitive advantage over our manufacturers and over our American workers. But if it is for solar panels, wait, it is okay for the Chinese to subsidize that. It is okay for American workers to lose their jobs unfairly because we don't want to put a tariff on the CCP. It is extremely important that even the Department of Commerce, President Biden's Department of Commerce, is the one that suggested there should be tariffs on these four countries because they are the ones that identified these four countries being misused by the CCP. That is what we are trying to do, is to follow Biden's Department of Commerce. Unfortunately, Biden himself is not even following his own Department of Commerce because he is more on the side of his special interest groups instead of the American workers who are losing their jobs because this resolution, his veto, basically allows more Chinese solar panels in without tariffs, and they are not doing anything about it. That is why, in a bipartisan measure, both in the House and in the Senate, we voted to reverse President Biden, including the Finance Committee chair over on the other side, a Democrat, who voted to reverse the President's proposal. The problem is we don't have enough Democrats that will join us. We have just a few, but I am thankful for the few who want to stand up to the CCP. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of overriding President Biden's veto of H.J. Res. 39, a Congressional Review Act resolution disapproving of the rule submitted by the Department of Commerce relating to Procedures Covering Suspension of Liquidation, Duties, and Estimated Duties in accord with Presidential Proclamation 10414. Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago, the Ways and Means Committee held a hearing at the Port of Staten Island in New York to listen to working Americans who are on the front lines of the impact of our trade policies. Witnesses highlighted for the committee the troubling reality that the Chinese Communist Party continues to engage in a wide range of unfair trade practices that rip off American workers, farmers, and businesses. Today's resolution highlights one of the most prolific of these unfair practices--massive subsidies for the CCP's favored industries. Today's resolution is focused on the solar industry, but make no mistake, the CCP's industrial policy impacts all sectors of the American economy. The United States has had tariffs in place since 2012--during the Obama administration--to provide a level playing field for American manufacturers who face unfair competition from unfairly priced and subsidized solar products coming out of China. Now, President Biden's own Commerce Department has found that Chinese companies are shipping products through four Southeast Asian countries--Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam--to avoid paying these same tariffs. China has set up a solar panel export scheme that cheats American workers and consumers. Instead of standing up for American manufacturers and workers, the White House rewarded China for exploiting them by issuing a proclamation that allows the CCP to continue to avoid paying the tariffs they owe for an additional 2 years. The sad truth is the solar panel industry in China is historically one of the most prolific users of forced labor. This body stood together not too long ago to pass the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. We should do the same thing now when it comes to actually standing firm against products and industries which have a proven track record of using such terrible practices. Republicans and Democrats in this Chamber and in the Senate came together to block implementation of the White House proclamation on solar panels just a few weeks ago. In doing, so we also sent a message to President Xi: We will not allow China to abuse our trade policies and hurt American workers. Unfortunately, President Biden doubled down on his misguided decision and vetoed our efforts. America must stand up to China and stand up for our workers. Small businesses and U.S. manufacturers already have to deal with inflation, rising interest rates, and a worker shortage. The least Washington can do is level the playing field for American workers competing against Chinese state-subsidized companies. China's unfair trade practices have left behind a trail of shuttered factories, lost jobs, and stolen intellectual property all across America. When we voted to roll back the White House's misguided decision on solar panel tariffs, Congress spoke with a bipartisan voice in both Chambers. I hope today we can do the same. I urge my colleagues to once again support this effort to turn out the lights on China's economic exploitation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Trade of the Committee on Ways and Means, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. General Leave

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the veto message of H.J. Res. 39.