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…

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I rise in very strong support of the Scalise amendment, and let me explain why. One word: accountability. Americans across this country are tired of the lack of accountability. They want to know what is going on…

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

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

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

The deficit commission actually said it should be repealed or corrected.

Are they going to opt in or opt out?

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.

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.

So who should decide?

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

National policy, that is what I am referring to.

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.

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.

Mr. Chairman, indeed, this is a sad state of affairs in which we find ourselves and having to deal with this in the waning days of the 111th Congress. In just a mere 16 days, a massive tax increase--$3.8 trillion--will hit every American…

I just regret to say that we're hearing oversimplifications and many generalizations from the other side. Look, this is not one of those you either pass it or you don't types of issues here. We could pay for this, and the sad thing is all…

I want to remind our friends on the other side that in the past when they did bring the bill up on suspension, it failed, and yet when you did on one occasion bring it up on regular order, it did pass. We all have to work hard to listen to…

Madam Speaker, well, as Yogi Berra said, This bill is like deja vu all over again--and not in a good way. The bill before us today is the ninth extension of unemployment benefits since mid-2008. Benefits recently stretched up to 99 weeks…

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…

Everyone in this Chamber salutes the heroic actions of those countless brave Americans, both first responders and ordinary citizens, who put sacrifice over self in responding to the tragic events of 9/11. In the wake of unspeakable tragedy…

Let me just be clear to start. China's currency policy is wrong, and it is harmful for the U.S. and for China. But it is one of many problems, a whole host of problems that we have heard about: indigenous innovation, IPR protections…

I am from Louisiana and we are no stranger to tragedies, but this is being presented on the other side as an either/or proposition. The bottom line is we could have actually done better, we could have done better, and I am deeply concerned…

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…