Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of this important bill, H.R.
3762, which addresses some of the most pressing and important issues
certainly to folks in Michigan and around the country: the deficit and
the President's healthcare law.

Rarely a day goes by when I am back home in Michigan that someone
somewhere doesn't stop me and say, whether it be in a coffee shop, on a
plant floor, or the local service club like a Rotary or a Lion's Club,
you name it, asking what we are doing to address the broken promises,
the high cost, and the surprises and the lack of choices associated
with ObamaCare, and what are we doing to get spending under control.

There is a lot of misunderstanding on what this bill does or does not
do, so let's set the record straight. This bill would repeal the most
harmful, damaging, and unpopular provisions of the health law.

This bill would repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund. Don't
let the name fool you. The administration views it as a veritable petty
cash fund that has been raided for wasteful projects, including
building support for ObamaCare.

This bill would, for a period of 1 year, prohibit any Federal funding
to States for a 1-year period for prohibited entities like Planned
Parenthood. At the same time, the bill would increase funding for
community health centers like the Family Health Center in Kalamazoo or
InterCare in Benton Harbor, two cities in my district, to help provide
access to women's health care. Stalwarts in the life movement,
including the National Right to Life, the Family Research Council, and
Susan B. Anthony List support that approach.

Mr. Speaker, the bill would repeal the unpopular individual mandate,
which forces Americans to purchase coverage of the government's
choosing, the exact opposite approach that we need to create a patient-
centered healthcare system.

The bill would also repeal the employer mandate. Repealing this
provision helps encourage economic growth and improve the job outlook.

The bill would also, as we know, repeal the medical device tax. This
job-killing tax has hurt Americans across the country, including in my
district, certainly, Kalamazoo, where folks have lost their jobs
because of the harmful tax.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, the CBO has found this bill would reduce the
deficit by nearly $130 billion over the next 10 years, spur economic
growth and the creation of jobs, and cut taxes on literally millions of Americans.

Today we say to folks in Michigan and around the country: We hear
you. Yes, we do. We are addressing what matters to you most.
I would ask my colleagues to support this important bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I really thank Chairman Price for the budget process
that we have seen this year. One of the toughest votes any Member has,
whether the Republicans are in charge or the Democrats--either side--is
the passage of a budget. For a lot of years, at least on our side of
the aisle, we complained bitterly that the Senate was never able to
pass a budget for, probably, 4 or 5 years, I want to say.

It didn't happen this year. We passed a responsible budget in the
House, and the Senate passed a budget.

I don't think many Americans realize that the budget, itself, does
not go to the President for his signature or veto. It is just the
roadmap for us, and it sets up the stage where we can use
reconciliation. This is a process, I want to say, President Reagan used
for the first time back in the eighties. I worked at the White House
then.

This is a way that you don't need the 60-vote threshold that most
bills require in the Senate. You only need 50 votes. So that budget
process, by getting a conference agreement, was nurtured through the
two bodies--the House and the Senate. Then began the process of
reconciliation within the authorizing committees. Our committee--Energy
and Commerce--Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, and others
can come up with a real savings to match that budget target that we set
last spring.

That is what this is. It is reconciliation. It is a coming together
based on the budget, and this, in fact, is a bill that goes to the
President. In the Statement of Administration Policy, we are expecting
a veto, but at least we are getting the job done. We are delivering on
what we said we would do, and we are getting the bill to the President
for action either way.

I just want to take this time and again thank Chairman Price and
others and my fellow committee chairs for their hard work because it
is. It is hard work to get a bill to the House floor, particularly one
that actually does reduce the deficit, something that many of us on
both sides of the aisle actually support.

Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Tom Price), and I ask unanimous consent that he be allowed
to control the balance of my time.

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