Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CRENSHAW. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding the time.

Let me first just say thank you to Chairman Camp, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, for his hard work in bringing this bill out of the Ways and Means Committee with a unanimous vote. I thank him and his staff who have worked long and hard to bring this bill to the floor today.

On a personal note, as Chairman Camp leaves the Congress this year, I want to express my thanks and gratitude for his friendship over the years and for his leadership not only for the people of Michigan, but for the people of America. You will be missed.

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about the ABLE Act, I think that this is a great example of what can be accomplished when people work together. People say we don't always work together, but here is a case where people have come together--Democrats and Republicans, the House working with the Senate--for the common good of the people of America.

I think all of us probably know somebody, either a family member or maybe a friend of the family--somebody--who has a disability. It might be Down syndrome, or it might be autism, or it might be some other disability, but sometimes, I don't think we understand the difficulty and the challenges that those individuals and their families face. They are beyond our comprehension sometimes because we are lucky in the way that we can live.

The ABLE Act seeks to address that inequity. It seeks to help those people who so often society overlooks or maybe the government overlooks. The ABLE Act is very simple, it is very straightforward, it is understandable, and we have come to this after 8 years of hard work.

When I first filed the bill in 2006, there were very few cosponsors of this legislation, but over the years, an awful lot of people on both sides of the aisle have worked long and hard to make this legislation better. Some of the individuals who have these disabilities come to Washington every year. They have gone out, and they have talked to their individual Representatives.

That is one of the reasons we have 380 cosponsors in the House. It is because those individuals have gone to an office and have sat down and have said, ``This is something that would make a difference in my life.'' And those Members have said, ``We want to help.'' The same thing has happened in the Senate.

You heard Chairman Camp talk about how that takes place. Individuals with disabilities can create a tax-free savings account, put their own money in that account, and have a chance to actually save for their futures.

Those dollars grow tax free, and as long as they are used for qualified expenses, such as medical expenses or maybe educational or job training expenses, they can use those proceeds. We already allow folks to help themselves by setting up tax-free savings accounts to save for college. It is called a 529.

We allow people to save for their retirements through a tax-free savings account called an IRA or a 401(k), and we allow people to save for their health insurance by the creation of health savings accounts. It only seems fair to me and to all of us that we would provide the same sort of treatment to those individuals who are less fortunate than we are.

Now, we have a situation in which the ABLE accounts will open a door to a bright future to millions of Americans. It will give those individuals a chance to realize their hopes and their dreams, to be part of the American Dream, and to be able to achieve their full potential.

I can't think of anything that is more rewarding. I can't think of any greater privilege than to speak out for people who can't always speak for themselves. This ABLE Act will bring justice, and it will bring peace of mind to millions of American families who live with disabilities every day. I think that is something worth fighting for.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source