As of last Friday, Kentucky, obviously operating its own Exchange, 48,000 Kentuckians are enrolled in new health insurance.

Mr. Speaker, opponents of the Affordable Care Act in Congress have spent the past few weeks reveling in the problems of the Federal exchange Web site, healthcare.gov. In my State of Kentucky, where we have created our own exchange, we have…

Kentucky is doing a great job with our exchange. As of this morning, we have 350,000 people that have explored the Web site.

The idea that somehow this is going to be bad for businesses is not borne out in Kentucky.

We must also consider the impact on the communities that are downwind.

I have enormous affection for that region and the people in it.

According to the title of this hearing, we are going to hear about the perspective of coal communities, but let me assure you, the concerns of residents in the coal communities of Kentucky do not stop after they open their utility bill.

We knew that then. And yet coal-mining employment still increased from 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012.

I know better than anybody perhaps what is like to lose that amount of jobs, but we need a comprehensive solution and we need a bipartisan solution.

They are interested in their health and the harm mountaintop removal mining is doing to their families, friends and neighbors.

if he is actually engaged in a war on coal as it affects coal miners, he is not doing a very good job of it because coal mining employment has actually improved.