John Sarbanes

I just wanted to thank you, Kevin. You mentioned your 16 years of service to the residents of Baltimore County.

I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, President Trump and the Republicans are looking for a win. They want to put points on the scoreboard. But why would you want to win by taking healthcare coverage away from 24 million…

Otherwise, the rug is being pulled out from under them.

Ten years ago, I was proud to lead the effort here in the House and we teamed up with Senator Kennedy on the Senate side to create the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

The huge sums of money that pour into our campaign system from special interest have probably more of a distorting impact on making good public policy than just about anything else.

We need to start talking about how Congress can free itself of dependence on oil industry campaign contributions.

There is a 2014 study out there that estimates that for every $1 that the fossil fuel industry invested in campaign contributions and lobbying, it got $59 back.

Last election cycle the oil and gas industry alone pumped over a hundred million dollars into Washington.

This is a terrible bill. It is a terrible bill. It is wrong for the country. Why would the President, why would the leadership on the Republican side here in Congress, why would they choose as the first order of business taking healthcare…

I will not go back on my commitment to the public to make the air safe and healthy to breathe.

I do not believe the American people want more air and water pollution.

You are my all-time favorite witness. I just want you to know that.

Our constituents are not interested in breathing dirty air or drinking dirty water.

Culture change can't happen if it doesn't start at the top, all the way at the top.

I think that might give us some additional context and perspective on the potential impact that this freeze is going to have going forward.

Obviously, a hiring freeze and other kind of resource restrictions on the VA that are imprudent can have an impact

You impose this draconian hiring freeze when you have thousands and thousands of positions that are open, and that's going to aggravate a situation in which the agency can't deliver at the level that it should be able it to deliver.

The hiring freeze and the impact that it's going to have on the ability of the agency to function at a high level and to meet the needs of the populations that it serves is obviously at stake here.

I would rather see an outcome that would be achieved with more innovation at that level, working with our private-sector friends.

I authored, in the last Congress on a bipartisan basis, a bill that would encourage and provide resources to the Department of Energy...

I think the effectiveness has been significant in terms of enhancing care and there is actually savings as well.

But generally speaking this idea of trying to reduce the exposure that our seniors have to the prescription drug costs which the ACA addressed through this effort to close the donut hole, is that something you think we ought to hold onto?

What are some of the pieces of the Affordable Care Act that you think we ought to keep in place?

I think there is a recognition by the experts that there is many, many pieces of the Affordable Care Act that it would be regrettable to leave behind.

It is unfortunate that our Republican colleagues seem to want to take parts of the Medicaid program that really do represent innovation and flexibility