On the recordJuly 25, 2012
I don't know where to begin. I don't have enough time to respond to everything that was said by my colleague on the other side of the aisle. What I will say at the outset is that this has nothing to do with the Carter administration, that it has nothing to do with any previous regulations, that it has nothing to do with cost control. This is a very simple amendment. I think, if one reads the amendment, one will find that there is absolutely nothing in the amendment that is feared by the gentleman from the other side of the aisle. It's that simple. In fact, it's this kind of debate, if we want to call it that, that is something that is very upsetting to the American people at this time and is something I hear in Iowa all the time. We've got to have a rational debate that is based on fact. There is nothing in this amendment whatsoever that the gentleman referred to. The amendment, itself, because it is so simple and because it is open-ended, would allow for many of the very same things that the gentleman on the other side of the aisle suggests that we ought to do and that I may very well be open to doing myself. I think that's what's important about this amendment. It's simple. It's open. In fact, it allows for the very kinds of things that he mentioned to go forward. If this amendment is adopted, I think it would vastly improve the underlying bill along the lines that the gentleman, himself, argued. With that, I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting CHAIR.…
