Charles Boustany

Well, it is bizarre. And again, Americans want to compete. And we know, if given the opportunity to compete, we can win in the global economy. And we've got to have energy production in this country to allow our companies to compete. Now…

It's ridiculous. And these taxes are indiscriminate; they hit oil companies, those drilling for oil, but also natural gas. And there are many--even our friends on the other side of the aisle will admit that natural gas usage is a very…

We have basically shut down our production in the Gulf of Mexico, and it's a boneheaded policy to do that. But not only that, the administration in its budget proposal is now proposing nearly $50 billion in new taxes on small, independent…

I have deep concerns as somebody who has really worked in delivery system reforms and quality issues in that area;

The deficit commission actually said it should be repealed or corrected.

The U.S. Chamber, the President's own deficit commission both have called for repeal of the program before implementation.

Are they going to opt in or opt out?

Many Americans are really opposed to the idea of being required to purchase or to have insurance or Washington-mandated insurance.

And we heard some platitudes about innovations in reimbursement, but no specific detail.

Right. So if that is the case, that is clearly going to hurt access for Medicare patients and most likely be very acute in rural areas.

So you have real concerns about the solvency of this program as it is constructed today.

But if indeed these premiums were to go up, clearly folks that are on Medicare, who have looked for some way to provide for their long-term care needs, will suffer.

It is my understanding that the insurance experts, many insurance experts outside of government, all conclude that the long-term care program in this law, the so-called CLASS act, is likely to suffer from severe adverse selection.

National policy, that is what I am referring to.

So who should decide?

But we have seen those specifics. Those are platitudes.

But also, your solution in expanding Medicaid coverage is also a hidden tax. And it's basically an unsustainable situation.

We are starting to see the makings of a currency war out there, where others are devaluing their currencies at our expense. That's why this needs to be addressed at a multilateral level. I feel we can do this in a responsible way. So…

I am glad we can work together on this bipartisan bill. It is an important step in improving access to clinical trials. I thank my colleague from Louisiana for sharing his personal story. It is a very poignant story, and it highlights the…

I will say this, there is an even bigger tragedy, it's the moratorium that's in place today which is leading to a hemorrhage of jobs. Just a couple of days ago, 300 jobs in my hometown gone, 300, and each day it's ratcheting up to a…

These changes are actually hurting the competitiveness of U.S. businesses. Again, we don't need to do this kind of ad hoc, harmful tax reform. We need a comprehensive approach. The responsible approach is what I think we probably all agree…

If we lower our corporate tax rate at least down to OECD averages, that will enhance U.S. competitiveness. And we do have a different tax system than other countries utilize that I think actually hurts our competitiveness. But if we…

I will reclaim my time, and I will remind the majority leader that we have the opportunity to go forward now and not cast blame on the past. So I would say that President Obama actually got it right in a statement of administration policy…

I remind my friend, the distinguished majority leader of the House, that in the 1990s, during the Clinton administration, there was a great bipartisan effort that led to those balanced budgets because there was a Republican majority.

I can tell the gentleman that I do know the fishermen, the oystermen, the shrimpers, and those who run boats down in my State of Louisiana. If they were here on the House floor today, they would say, ``Please do not kick us when we're…