Glenn Thompson

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, this week marks the 56th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling of Brown v. Board of Education. It was a landmark case known throughout this country for putting an end to segregated schools. The case was argued before the Supreme Court by the chief counsel for the NAACP, Thurgood Marshall. The decision by the Justices was unanimous when they declared that the State laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students was unconstitutional. There followed a period of national debate and unrest over the decision. Then, in 1965, Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which emphasized equal access to education and established high standards and accountability in schools. Fifty-six years after Brown and 45 years after the first ESEA, we are not finished with our common goal of education equity for all students, whether they attend schools in the inner city or rural America. As we contemplate ESEA reauthorization, I call upon my colleagues here in the House to support a world-class education system that provides every student with the opportunity to live up to his or her individual potential regardless of race, class, or geographic location. This would be the greatest and best remembrance of this landmark case.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, a reputable health firm did a survey that they announced this month. Jackson Healthcare in Atlanta, Georgia, surveyed 1,400 physicians on the practice of defensive medicine. Their survey found that the vast majority--83 percent--of physicians between ages 25 and 34 reported being taught to practice defensive medicine. The survey defined defensive medication as medically unnecessary tests and treatments physicians ordered to avoid lawsuits. Only 19 percent of physicians over 65 were taught defensive medicine in medical school or during their residencies. The conclusion of the Jackson Healthcare survey was that defensive medicine is negatively impacting physicians and patients beyond just costs. It is limiting patient access and quality, slowing the adoption of medical innovations, and discouraging future generations from pursuing the practice of medicine. Jackson CEO Richard Jackson said, ``The U.S. is the only major country in the world where physicians are personally financially liable for mistakes.'' He said, ``This is a systemic problem that needs to be addressed at State and national levels.'' Republicans proposed to do that with medical liability reform, but the new health care law did not address it. That is too bad for all of us.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, philately, or stamp collecting, is a hobby that teaches history, art, geography, and even heraldry. As stamps have branched out into film and iconic figures, there seems to be no limit to the subjects they cover, from Elvis to dinosaurs to Laurel and Hardy. I rise today to honor Stamp Camp USA as it celebrates its 15th year in Elkland, Pennsylvania. The camp is the brainchild of Cheryl Edgcomb, who is the local postmaster in Nelson, Pennsylvania. Her camp introduces stamp collecting from basics, like sorting and handling, up to beginning exhibiting using both creative 3-dimensional and traditional formats. As the children learn, they earn ``stamp camp cash,'' which they use to purchase supplies for their hobby. There is a whole network of supporters of the camp, including 4-H, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, YMCA, YWCA, public libraries, Experience Works, AmeriCorps VISTA, Head Start, and others. Stamp Camp USA has expanded to other regions of the country. This month, we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the camp in an attempt to break a new Guinness world record for the largest evident collection of rainbows on stamps. We wish them luck in the competition and continued success in teaching children to love collecting stamps.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, this week is Police Week, which has a particular resonance here in Washington, home to the National Peace Officers Memorial. Tuesday, there was a Blue Mass at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in honor of the men and women killed in 2009 in the line of duty. On Thursday, there is a candlelight vigil in the memory of the 117 police officers who gave the last full measure of devotion to protect us from criminals. In my State of Pennsylvania, seven officers died in the last year. Among them was State Trooper Paul G. Richey, who was killed in Oil City in my congressional district. He left a wife and two children. Only Texas, Florida and California had more police deaths than Pennsylvania. The number of deaths from gunfire is up 21 percent, from 38 last year to 46. Many of the events of Police Week help raise awareness and funding for Concerns of Police Survivors or COPS, a nonprofit organization. Proceeds help the family members of fallen officers--a worthy cause.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. The medical device tax that is being levied on medical devices has such a wide range. And people don't understand what medical devices are. We are a country that has just benefited tremendously from innovation in terms of medical devices and medical advancements. Our health care system as we currently have it, now see what happens to it under ObamaCare, but as it currently has it, this is a country that develops innovations, life-saving techniques, diagnostic procedures, pharmaceuticals. With medical devices, it is not just wheelchairs. It's everything from bed pans to prosthetic arms. It's insulin pumps. Medical devices is a term that really has many, many different applications. And those devices really go towards maintaining quality of life, maintaining maximal independence for people. Most taxes I would put as immoral, but you start putting a tax on electricity for everybody, and you put a tax on medical devices, it's hard to imagine anything that's going to be more immoral than that. At the panel today with the small businesses, I asked a specific question about where are we in terms, what's the impact, given that even before these taxes we have got a tax out there in terms of corporate income tax, second highest in the world. And what does that do to our small businesses, that alone? How are they supposed to compete? Especially, you know, those businesses that are formed as corporations. And there are many of them that have to pay that. I see my good friend has a great chart there that addresses the economic freedom index. The response was that where we have the potential for trade, it really puts us at a tremendous disadvantage where we have got this tax burden. That's just one more thing that keeps businesses from growing, jobs from being created, and for economic prosperity.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. It's deadly in the end.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. They are. And I heard you use the word ``uncertainty.'' I guess I kind of fall back on my health care background, and when it comes to jobs in this country, my diagnosis is we have a psychological problem. We have a total lack of confidence and a lack of trust in the Federal Government. And it is earned. It is the things you have there on your chart as job killers. It is the individual small business people who normally every year take a portion, usually a part of their profits, and reinvest it into their companies. When they do that, they expand product lines, they expand locations, they expand service lines, and they create jobs, good jobs. Well, these people are sitting on the sideline right now because they are concerned with all the things they have seen for some time, especially these past 16 months, many of the things that you have identified there, and I heard that message again today. I sit on the Small Business Committee, and we had a hearing with five or six witnesses that came in that represent small businesses. And we were there to talk about specifically the role of taxes in small business and what that does to really hurt small businesses.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Yes. This panel that we heard in the Small Business Committee just reaffirmed that chart that you have. Each of those bullets came up in the discussion today. When you look at the taxes, tax increases have been levied in the past 16 months. Our colleagues across the aisle said, well, we are going after the wealthy. We are going to increase taxes on the wealthy. Well, at least 40 percent of the individuals who are experiencing and will be experiencing, especially next year come January 1, 2011, significant tax increases, are small business owners. They are people who are organized as limited liability corporations, S corporations. They pay their taxes as individuals, but frankly, they make a payroll out of their income, and they create just tremendously important jobs.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. If the gentleman will yield, in terms of the cap-and-trade, cap-and-tax, or the light switch tax, I guess, in Pennsylvania the Public Utility Commission sent a letter to the Pennsylvania delegation adamantly opposing cap-and-trade because they did their analysis of that bill, and electricity costs in Pennsylvania would rise by 30 percent. Now, that 30 percent tax, that increase will not discriminate. It will hit the most wealthy of Pennsylvania citizens, but just as much, and I think more severely even, it's going to address those who are just living paycheck to paycheck today. And even people that aren't getting by financially, to see a 30 percent increase in the cost of electricity, that's immoral to me.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. I share your concern. In fact, I guess the artificially induced high from the crack cocaine description that you used, I think that's going to describe 2010. I think that because we have infused a tremendous amount of taxpayer money, and I think in a very careless and reckless way into the economy, that's going to help mask the symptoms of the problems that we have in terms of jobs for 2010. And we may all feel better in 2010. Here is my concern. I think with the amount of deficit spending that we have done that come January 1, 2011, this country falls off a cliff financially. The tax increases that will be implemented, the ramping up of an Environmental Protection Agency that has been tripled in size. We have already seen abusive behavior on their part in terms of them trying to legislate through their authority as an agency, redefining what a hazardous gas is, superseding all of their normal procedures they use in terms of scientific process to decide that carbon dioxide is a hazardous gas. All those things, I am very concerned with where that takes us in 2011. I think deficit spending, things never work out well when you do that type of borrowing, that type of debt, especially when we are indebted principally to other countries with much of that debt.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. That kills jobs.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. I think so, too. I talked with a constituent of mine from Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, today, and he was calling to talk about the unemployment because he has been without a job. And as we got talking, it was very clear that what he wanted was not so much the unemployment check, but he really wants a job. We got talking about the things that go into that and why we are not seeing the job growth. We are still bleeding to death in terms of our jobs in this country. As I go around the district and I talk with job creators, the job creators are, I think as you know, our small business owners. The large majority of work is provided through small businesses.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Give him a job. And that is what we have not been doing.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Well, I thank my good friend from Missouri for leading this very important Special Order where we are talking about jobs. You know, I don't want to misquote, I believe it was President Reagan--I will give him credit at this point anyway--that made the statement that the best welfare program there is is a job.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, last week, the Republican members of the Education and Labor Committee sent a letter to Chairman Miller asking that the chief actuary at the Medicare agency testify before the committee. The report from Richard S. Foster estimating the financial effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes a number of adverse implications for employer-sponsored health care plans which make it worthy of consideration by the committee. The report shows that the act will cause health expenditures to grow by $311 billion over the baseline projections. The report raises the possibility of a substantial cost shift to private payers, such as employer-sponsored plans, as health care providers will seek to recoup underpayments to the Medicaid program. I am concerned that small businesses would be inclined to terminate their existing coverage and companies with low average salaries might find it to their advantage to end their plans, allowing workers to qualify for heavily subsidized coverage at taxpayer expense. As a member of the committee, I urge the chairman to allow this request for the chief actuary to testify on this new law and its implications for business.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, this year celebrates the 100th year of the Boy Scouts of America. And that means there has been a century of youth living the Scout law and the Scout promise. Scouts have made a difference in their communities with their dedication to five of scouting's core principles: leadership, character, community service, achievement, and love of the outdoors. Today, Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate two men from Centre County who will be honored at the Boy Scouts' annual Good Scout Dinner in State College on Friday, May 7. Local homebuilder Robert Poole will be presented with the Good Scout Award by the Nittany District of the Boy Scouts of America. And longtime scouter Glenn E. Smith will be awarded the John M. Kriner Community Service Award. Poole will be honored for his charitable work because he says, ``The three things I really care about are: one, kids; two, health care; and, three, education.'' He has been chair of the Centre County United Way's 2004 campaign, co-chair of the State College YMCA's capital campaign, and supported the development of the S&A Stadium and baseball fields at the Shaner Sports Complex. He served for 12 years as chairman of the board of The Second Mile, a statewide nonprofit organization for children who need additional support and who would benefit from positive human contact. Bob Poole is a distinguished alumni of Penn State and currently sits on the Smeal College of Business Board of Visitors and Schreyer Honors College Advisory Board. The Good Scout Award has been presented to local residents who have made a commitment to giving back to the community through charitable works since 1974. Past recipients include Joe and Sue Paterno. Glenn E. Smith from Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania, affectionately is called ``Scouter Glenn.'' He has been in scouting for more than three decades as a youth and an adult. The John M. Kriner Community Service Award is scouting's way of saying thank you for his service to youth and the community through scouting. Smith has served on boards of review and has been the troop committee chairman for Troop 66 in Pleasant Gap. He has served on the Nittany Mountain District Committee and as a unit commissioner. His love of cooking is well known, and he has served as head cook for such events as the Order of the Arrow and at National Jamborees. And for many years running, he has organized a Nittany Mountain District Memorial Day weekend trip to a Canadian Scout camporee. Smith is the recipient of another of scouting's coveted awards and recognitions. For outstanding service to the community and youth, the Juniata Valley Council of Boy Scouts of America presented Glenn Smith with the Silver Beaver award. His service to youth extends beyond the Boy Scouts to include being an assistant leader in Girl Scouts and working with youth in his church. It is my great pleasure to recognize these two outstanding individuals for their service to the community, and I will be present as the Boy Scouts award them their service award on Friday.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, revered scientist Albert Einstein once said, ``It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.'' I believe when we look back on our lives, certain people come to mind who have inspired us and given us the joy of which Einstein speaks. There are teachers who have touched our lives in remarkable ways and led us to a career path or opened us to the thrill of discovery and research. The Chinese proverb reads, ``Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.'' It is the rare teacher who is never bored or boring and takes his or her students on a creative adventure each day. We ask much of our teachers today. They must be babysitters and counselors, surrogate parents, dieticians, and police. We ask them to teach our children what they need to know to do well on SATs and other tests; and, in between, we ask that they inspire our children to learn, to create, and to invent. Teachers have one of the hardest jobs around. So today, on Teacher Appreciation Day during Teacher Appreciation Week, I salute and appreciate our teachers.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Well, I thank my good friend from Missouri. The other part of that is, what they are paying, what my good friend, Dr. Roe from Tennessee, talked about how Medicare pays today less in costs. Commercial insurance on the average nationally pays 130 percent of cost. And there is only one reason--well, there's two reasons for that, but it all comes from the government. The government pays Medicare 80, 90 cents on the dollar, if we're lucky. Medical assistance, which has been expanded tremendously under this bill, only pays 40 to 60 cents for every dollar cost. The President's own agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in their actuarial report--so that's taking the folks at Medicare and taking the brightest and the best in terms of determining the economic impact of this bill, the section that talks about how will this impact our hospitals? Right in that bill, and I'll quote: ``Medicare cuts could drive about 15 percent of hospitals and other institutional providers into the red'' and ``possibly jeopardizing access'' to care for seniors. That's a significant risk. My background was working in rehabilitation therapy as a manager within rural hospitals. And most rural hospitals--and, frankly, underserved urban hospitals--in my experience, if they're having a banner year, make a margin of about 1 to 4 percent. And out of that 1 to 4 percent, we hope that they can give cost-of-living increases because we want them to keep the best and the brightest and be able to recruit and retain--and that's a challenge when it comes to recruiting health care professionals.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. And you don't. When you're looking at difficulty recruiting and retaining health care professionals, especially to rural areas and some urban areas, when you look at escalating costs of medical liability insurance--which our colleagues across the aisle refuse to deal with--they allow $39 billion annually to be spent for medical malpractice insurance. That's $39 billion that could be reduced out of the cost of providing health care, let alone the impacts of defensive medicine practice. So you've got that 1 to 4 percent. You also have hospitals under pressure to continually invest in new technology because we want them to have the technology to save lives.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Actions as we know, speak louder than words.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Yes, and not just from my constituents. When I get home, I am out all over my district. My district is a great snapshot of Pennsylvania because it is actually 22 percent of the landmass of the commonwealth State, so it is a fairly large piece of Pennsylvania, and consistently, people are very conservative. Yet it's not just the people. Their State representatives are concerned as well. I just received a resolution that is being put forward in the Pennsylvania State House by members of that chamber. It is essentially expressing their concern over this health care mandate. You know, Pennsylvania, with the expanded roles of Medicaid, is expected to have a bill of somewhere in excess of $3 billion between 2014 and 2019. Three billion dollars. I've got to tell you that, financially, Pennsylvania is strapped right now. We were the last State to get a budget this past fiscal year, and this year's budget is not going to be much better, I don't think. These are very, very challenging times for States, for a lot of States, not just for Pennsylvania.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. That is correct. They're estimating up to 15 percent.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. The question is for the President, Mr. President, when did you have this report? And why did Congress not have it? As the actuaries put it: ``Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that a significant portion of the increased demand for Medicaid would be difficult to meet, particularly over the next few years.'' They continue: ``For now, we believe that consideration should be given to the potential consequences of a significant increase in demand for health care meeting a relatively fixed supply of health care providers and services.'' In other words, there will be shortages of both physicians and hospitals. That really amounts to having less access to quality care.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. After the vote.

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. I want to reach back into the past, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, where similar cuts were made to the Medicare program, because we have been accused of making this things up on this side of the aisle when it comes to rationing of services by our Democratic colleagues. And they just don't know how to deal with the facts. They don't know how to deal with the reality. The Medicare part B cuts have been made. Today in this country we ration health care services. But we ration government health care services. Medicare part B. My background was rehabilitation services, licensed as a nursing home administrator. An older adult that is going in for therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, you are going to an outpatient clinic or into a skilled nursing facility because you have had some type of a disease or disability that disabled you that you need rehabilitation services, did you know that today the Federal Government under Medicare part B rations those services? There is a cap that is placed on how much therapy services you can receive on an annual basis. I know that because, unfortunately, I was the person that was responsible in my facilities to track where those patients were in terms of that cap. And when they reached that cap, we had to serve them notice and their family members notice that they were no longer eligible for Medicare, for Medicare part B specifically, for those rehabilitation services. And you think about the people who wind up in skilled nursing facilities, they are the sickest of the sick. These are people who have no other place to go for the type of compassion and care that they need to receive. Yet there is an example of how we ration already. Going forward, I want to read from a report from the actuary on this Medicare part B so we have that language. This is according to CMS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.