Appropriations & Budget

On March 23, 2010, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law historic health care reform legislation: the Affordable Care Act. At the two-year anniversary of this landmark law, new data demonstrates the benefits that the law has already provided to seniors, young adults, small businesses, and many others in Congresswoman McCollum's district. As a result of the law:

This Republican budget is a political document. It is the House Republican's platform for November. This GOP platform puts our economy and millions of jobs at risk. They gut protections for seniors and families in need. And, they abandon local communities at a time when Washington should be a partner for opportunity and economic growth.

Today, in the House Budget Committee we are debating the GOP/Ryan Budget for 2013 which the Washington Post called, "dangerously wrong for the country." The GOP budget repeals the health care reform law – undermining women's access to quality, affordable, comprehensive health care, and once again empowering insurance companies.

[as prepared]

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

Women deserve access to affordable, quality health care. Unfortunately before the Affordable Care Act, women didn't have this access.

[as prepared]

Thank you, Mr. Zients.

I'd like to shift gears here a little bit and talk about part of the budget that we usually don't ever discuss here in the Budget Committee. I'm hoping I can capture the Chairman's interest, and we can talk about this some more in the coming months.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the so-called Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act (H.R. 3630). The title of this bill is misleading at best. H.R. 3630 does not create jobs or relieve the struggles of the middle class. Instead, it drastically reduces federal benefits for the unemployed and slashes health care funding by over $17 billion.