Hank Johnson: “I oppose this amendment because it would make the REINS Act thoroughly problematic insofar as the Affordable Care Act is…”

“I oppose this amendment because it would make the REINS Act thoroughly problematic insofar as the Affordable Care Act is concerned. One of my principal concerns about the REINS Act is it would jeopardize the health and safety of Americans by substantially delaying and possibly derailing critical regulations from ever going into effect. As currently drafted, the REINS Act only applies to major regulations, that is, regulations having an annual effect of $100 million or more on the economy; regulations causing a major increase in prices or costs for consumers, individual industries, governmental agencies, or geographic regions; and regulations having a significant adverse impact on competition, employment, investment, and productivity. This amendment, however, would subject all regulations, not just major regulations issued under the Affordable Care Act, to the REINS Act's burdensome requirements. It is obvious that this amendment has a different purpose. It is yet another attempt by the majority to undermine the implementation of the comprehensive healthcare reform legislation that was enacted in 2010, the Affordable Care Act, which, I might remind my colleagues, has been upheld not once, but twice, by the United States Supreme Court. We cannot allow the majority to do through this antiregulatory bill what it has repeatedly failed to do during the last 4 years, namely, to defeat healthcare reform.…”