Henry Waxman

Instead of strengthening our device laws, Republican members have proposed radical changes to our device laws that could further imperil patients.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this important hearing today.

Our focus in this committee should be on how we can strengthen our device laws to protect patients from these grievous harms.

We should not forget that that is the fundamental mission of FDA.

If FDA is unnecessarily impeding technological advances that improve the lives of patients, we should all be united in doing whatever it takes to remove these unnecessary regulatory barriers to public health.

If passed into law as currently written, the Republican draft would leave public safety worse off than it is today.

We urge swift introduction and committee consideration to move this matter to the House floor.

Construction of a nationwide public safety broadband network remains critical unfinished business.

We can quickly provide public safety with a nationwide interoperable broadband network.

Last September, the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion left eight people dead and many other injured.

I think it is clear that our pipeline safety laws need to be improved and updated.

The discussion draft includes a provision on leak detection. Do you think it is adequate?

During the last 12 months, a litany of tragic failures has reinforced the need for stronger pipeline safety laws.

Well, they are not in the bill now, so I am trying to get the record to indicate that you think they ought to be protected.

The committee will soon be marking up a data security bill. That markup may involve defining what data must be secured.

Firms are stripping away our Internet users' anonymity and gaining the ability to decide whether or not you would be a good customer.

Until they end the program in 2022, the Affordable Care Act is the Republican plan for Medicare excluding IPAB.

Surveys from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and numerous other independent surveys all confirm Medicare patients have access to care, at least as good as the access private insurance patients enjoy, if not better.

I think the right way to reform Medicare is to make care more efficient the way we have started to do under the Affordable Care Act.

The Republican plan proposes to increase premiums and force people to negotiate their care with private plans on their own.

The Republican plan would increase cost-sharing for Medicare beneficiaries, more than doubling their out-of-pocket costs for new enrollees.

The Republican plan would end Medicare's guaranteed benefits, the things like hospital stays and doctor visits.

These are reforms that we should build on to achieve greater cost efficiencies without risking access or quality.

The Obama Administration is already implementing healthcare reforms to reduce the rate of growth in healthcare spending by holding providers accountable.

Repealing IPAB--while preserving the essential health reforms in the Affordable Care Act--enables providers to focus on innovations that will achieve cost savings.