Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Chair, today I rise in strong support of the Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act. This important legislation repeals the failed government-run long-term care insurance program, known as the CLASS Act, which was included in the President's Health Care Law, PPACA.

Nearly two years ago, with total disregard for the will of the American people, Congress passed and President Obama signed the health care reform overhaul into law. This law, which I voted against, is defined by federal regulations, mandates, a myriad of new big government programs, and a significant increase in federal spending and debt at a cost to our country too high to bear.

The CLASS program is a prime example of the inherent problems with this new law. In fact, the Obama Administration announced in October that they would halt implementation of the CLASS program, recognizing that the program was unsustainable despite claims that it would save as much as $80 billion over 10 years.

Today the House has an opportunity to pass the Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act, which is an important piece to dismantling the President's Health Care Law and allows Congress to consider new long-term care reform proposals that work for the American people without busting the federal budget.

Madam Chair, I intend to continue working to repeal and defund the new health care law that kills jobs, raises taxes, threatens seniors' access to care, will cause millions of people to lose the coverage they have and like, and increases the cost of health care coverage. While we can all agree that our current health care system needs to be reformed, the new health care law was not the right way to do it. Instead we must focus on a positive, patient-centered strategy that puts patients, families and doctors, not Washington bureaucrats, in control of personal health care decisions.

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