Jan 23, 2017
Two leading doctors at Harvard Medical School have concluded that 43,000 people will be killed annually if the ACA is repealed without a replacement.
Pete Stark
The Public Record
Most widely reported
by number of sources- I rise in strong support of pay equity. The Supreme Court's ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear was absurd. If I broke the law for nearly two decades--as the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company did when they stiffed Lilly Ledbetter out of the pay she deserved for 19 years--I couldn't turn around and say that I didn't owe anything because no one caught me during the first 6 months. Yet that's exactly what the Supreme Court allowed Goodyear to say to Ms. Ledbetter. The existing law is unfair. Many workers don't even discover that they're being discriminated against until the existing 180-day statute of limitations has passed. In every other area of American tort law, the clock restarts with every new violation. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act simply fixes existing law so that sex discrimination is treated the same way. My Republican colleagues love to call up the ``frivolous lawsuits'' bogeyman to scare hard-working Americans out of their rights, but there's nothing frivolous about equality and justice. The wage gap in the United States has remained stagnant over the last 7 years. Women in the United States still make less than 78 cents for every dollar a man makes. Women of color have it even worse: African-American women earn only 68.7 cents and Latin American women 59 cents for every dollar an American man makes.2 sources2009govinfo.gov
- I wish today to support H.R. 621, designating the James C. Corman Federal Building. Jim Corman was a true statesman who served his constituents in California, and indeed, the people of the United States, with great distinction. Jim cared passionately for the poor and worked to see that their interests were heard in Washington. He was one of the great leaders in the Congress seeking health insurance for all and he worked hard to enact a decent, humane social policy for the disadvantaged. Jim rejected the voices in Congress who seek to help those already blessed with wealth while neglecting those who cannot put food on their tables. "I don't think there is anything uplifting about hunger," he once said. Jim was a tireless advocate for the uninsured and he passed on his sense of passion to his colleagues, including me. When I was first assigned to the House Ways and Means Committee, Jim taught me "how things were done." I am grateful to have served with Jim Corman and I know his constituents were grateful for his service. Naming this Federal building after Jim Corman is a proper tribute to a man who dedicated his life to public service. Jim will be best remembered, however, for his tireless work on behalf of those who are less fortunate.2 sources2001govinfo.gov
- as dean of the California delegation, I often wonder what it gets one besides old age and the infirmities that come with that, but I must say that it is a great pleasure today as dean because I have the honor to recognize officially the true accomplishment of the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) as she takes over the position of minority whip and becomes the highest-ranking woman ever in the U.S. House of Representatives. I offer my congratulations to her and her family on this tremendous achievement. Our State is proud of Nancy, as are all the women and men throughout the country. Nancy's a trail blazer for women and for our State, but she is not the first. She joins a long line of women leaders from the State of California. Throughout American history, California has sent more women to Congress than any other State. The first woman, Mae Ella Nolan, was elected to replace her late husband and sworn in January of 1923, shortly before I got here.2 sources2002govinfo.gov
- I rise today to oppose this misguided legislation. Don't be fooled by the title of this bill. It would lead some to believe that Congress is standing up for the average American--modifying certain inequities in our judicial system. Instead, it is a Republican sponsored hoax unfairly threatening the very people we are all elected to protect. I don't think that the American public would be satisfied knowing that if H.R. 1115 passes, the accountability of such companies as Enron, WorldCom, and Arthur Anderson and pharmaceutical giants like Eli Lilly, Aventis Pasteur and Abbott laboratories would be held less responsible in pending class action cases against them. This bill will adversely affect low-income groups and consumers to effectively assert their rights against large corporations. Why should corporations reap the benefits of our judicial system by avoiding civil penalties? They are the ones committing crimes. The intent of pursuing a class action suit in court allows redress for average Americans financially unable to launch a judicial battle on their own. Class action suits empower consumers to challenge wrongdoings by wealthy corporations who would otherwise ignore their appeal. We know that truthful law-abiding citizens are the ones who will lose if this bill becomes law. Apparently, in America today, you must contribute a significant amount to the Republican Party's campaign pocketbook to be considered protected under the law.2 sources2003govinfo.gov
- I rise today to oppose H.R. 4275, the reckless Republican bill permanently extending the 10 percent individual income tax bracket, and in support of the Democratic substitute that provides real, fiscally sound relief for middle-class families who deserve it most. Expanding and extending the 10 percent tax bracket is a great benefit to many low-income Americans. But, let's not forget that this bill also benefits the wealthy who get more of their income taxed at a lower rate as well. Low- and middle-income Americans deserve this tax break. But, the Republicans are unwilling to pay for it, leaving a $200 billion hole in lost revenue. Even worse, when this proposal is added to the other tax bills that have recently passed or are being proposed, the price tag is over $500 billion in new debt thrown on the backs of our children and grandchildren. The Republican plan is also flatly unfair to a lot of taxpayers because it refuses to spread benefits out equally. Just last week, the Republicans passed a one-year patch for the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) that helps the wealthy but fails to protect lower-income families while driving the country further into debt. Unfortunately, the Republicans' bill today does not apply to anyone who pays the AMT, which means a full one-third of all taxpayers cannot benefit from this tax cut at all. Some deal if you ask me.…2 sources2004govinfo.gov
- as the dean of the California delegation, I offer this privileged resolution expressing the profound sorrow of all of us within the House of Representatives at Bob Matsui's passing. I am honored to sponsor this resolution in an attempt to memorialize Bob's contributions to Congress and to our Nation. Like all of us, I was shocked to hear the news that someone as vibrant as Bob Matsui is no longer with us. He has been a forceful leader in Congress, and he will be missed. I will miss his counsel and his friendship, having been honored to serve with him during his time in Congress as a fellow Californian and on the Committee on Ways and Means. But first of all, my thoughts and condolences go to his family, Bob's wife Doris, his son Brian, daughter-in-law Amy, and granddaughter Anna. I just got around I guess to opening his Christmas card a day or so before the sad news came and was reminded of a night early on when Brian, who is now an adult with an adult life, and he could not have been more than 5 or 6 at the time, and he was at a reception with Bob and Doris and myself and choked on a chicken bone, and the consternation we all had, patting Brian on the back and getting him through the chicken bone incident. So as I say to Brian and to Doris, Bob's memory will live with them and give them great support as they move ahead in their lives. In his time here, Bob demonstrated and embodied the utmost integrity.2 sources2005govinfo.gov
congress.gov
Jan 23, 2017
I strongly agree with that and yet, here we are where repealing the ACA without a replacement as the Republicans have already begun to do, would cost roughly $350 billion through 2027.
Jan 23, 2017
Those 43,000 people are not just anecdotes. They are people too, who will lose their care if this is repealed.
Jan 23, 2017
What is shocking to me is that you want to spend even more than that and yet leave 30 million people without health care.
Jul 11, 2016
In 2007 Pete Stark wrote that he believed that, on balance, the law may have done more harm than good.
Jul 11, 2016
It gave every shyster and promoter a loophole. . . . We now have to keep rewriting the laws like the tax code.
Jul 11, 2016
I think we have to ask ourselves, how do we do more good than harm in eliminating the compensation arrangements.
Jul 11, 2016
It gave every shyster and promoter a loophole. We now have to keep rewriting the laws like the tax code.
Jul 11, 2016
turning a physician's decision to refer a patient into a marketable commodity.
Dec 12, 2012
I want to thank the gentleman for yielding. One of the previous Speakers, Mr. O'Neill, mentioned that, and you forgot to mention this, but Tip O'Neill said that I probably had one of the best 5-minute speeches of any new Member of…
Sep 20, 2012
But these projections have turned out to be incorrect. And since the passage of the ACA, Medicare Advantage enrollment has increased, and the premiums have decreased.
Sep 13, 2012
I would first of all like to try to make it the protocol in this committee--I am not succeeding too well--that we strike from our lexicon the word 'disability.'
Jul 19, 2012
I'd like to first thank my friend, Ms. Lee, for bringing up this important amendment. She knows so well that the less experience people in this body have had with the military, the fiercer they are. That goes to the Republicans wanting to…
Jul 10, 2012
I don't think I look much like Bill Murray, or have his wit, but I sure feel like him in his role in ``Groundhog Day.'' There are pressing issues facing our country--mainly the need to get our economy back on track and start creating jobs…
Jun 20, 2012
The Republicans want to kill Social Security and Medicare and turn them into voucher systems.
Jun 20, 2012
I strongly oppose these budget cuts which are kind of like the cable company starting to bill you for a service while you are at home waiting for them to show up and connect it.
Jun 20, 2012
Social Security has been there for Americans for 77 years. I hope we can continue to work to make it strong for another 77 years.
Jun 20, 2012
Without the Affordable Care Act, the health insurance trust fund would expire eight years earlier, in 2016.
Jun 20, 2012
$8.6 trillion. Do you have any idea what the two wars we are fighting and not paying for costs over the same period of time?
Jun 20, 2012
we are not being asked to contribute anything to pay for that war. Lower income people maybe are.
Jun 20, 2012
Thank you for holding this hearing and thank our witnesses for their service.
Jun 18, 2012
Medicare is one of our Nation's best programs, but it has always been a work in progress, and it needs ongoing fine-tuning and changing to keep it relevant.
Jun 18, 2012
The home health copayment, for instance, I think is largely ascribed to be used by old, sick, poor widows, and raising the price that they have to pay is just one more Republican effort to deny equal rights to women.
Jun 18, 2012
I am concerned about the proposals or any proposals that would shift costs to beneficiaries. Doing so I think would devastate them.
Politicians like Pete Stark
