Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014
Floor Speech
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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of amendment No. 1 to the continuing resolution, the bill that is bringing us to the floor tonight, and how vital it is that we address the funding needs of this Nation and how vital it is that we do it in a manner that is respectful of the American people and of our constituents. One of the things they have repeatedly said is they want to make certain that we delay the onset of ObamaCare, and that is what we are going to do.
Included in the amendment would be the delay of the 20 new taxes of ObamaCare. It would delay the individual mandate and the costly surtax for noncompliance. It would delay the employer mandate, the Medicaid expansions, the new exchanges, and all those subsidies to try to get people to enroll. It would delay the dozens of enforcement powers which ObamaCare gives to the IRS. And it would delay the collection of all your personal information and data by the navigators and those seeking to put this program into effect with these exchanges.
So that is what this amendment would do.
Why are we doing this? Number one, this is a program that is too expensive to afford. We have seen that already it has tripled in cost. From its $860 billion estimate, it is up to $2.6 trillion. We know that it is making $600 billion in cuts to Medicare. We know that it is not ready for prime time. There have been 1,200 waivers given to this program. People that are friends of the administration were seeking to be opted out. And it's not good for the American people.
There have been 19 administrative and Presidential delays of this program. We also have learned that there are missed deadlines. We see the impact that it's having on our hospitals. They're laying off people. Hospital doors are closing. Jobs are being lost. Insurance costs are escalating. They have missed 47 percent of all their deadlines as they have sought to put this into place. And the list goes on and on.
But most important is what we hear from our constituents, what we hear from the American people, and the rate shock that is out there. And among my constituents I have a small business owner who wrote me this week. Her insurance cost is going up five times over what it is right now; a teacher with a husband and two children, 105 percent.
We also have people that are writing in and they're talking about how disappointed they are. They had a plan they liked, but they can't keep it now. One said, ``Our insurance would cost more than what we make. We would be paying our employer $71.50.'' Another said they have lost their insurance. The reason they were given is because of ObamaCare. Discontinued due to ObamaCare. This is what we're hearing from our constituents.
Parents of children, a family, a child, type 1 diabetes. They need those reimbursement accounts. They're being cut in half. They're not able to keep that. For an employer whose employees are seeing their out-of-pocket expense go up, do you know what that amounts to for this family? It's a $7,600 pay cut.
So what we do is come to the floor tonight to say it's not ready. We are seeing the impact of delay after delay that is being done by this administration. And what we are saying is that it is time, as a fairness issue to the American people, to delay the whole thing. Delay it for a year. Continue to work on it. Make certain that we listen to the American people and respond to their wish.
Delay ObamaCare.
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