On the recordMarch 26, 2015
As an aside, I was inclined to get up and ask that the gentleman's words be taken down. Of course, when we do that, we do it in a different context. With those words, we ought to all be happy today. Whether we are for or against, the Congress is working today as the American people would have the Congress work. Speaker Boehner, Leader Pelosi, our extraordinary staffs on both sides of the aisle, and Members have come together and dealt with some difficult issues. As the gentleman, Dr. Burgess indicated--and I have worked with him on SCHIP for a very, very long period of time as I recall--we are making progress. We are not where we all want to be, but we are making progress. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill and thank the Democratic leader as well as Speaker Boehner, Ranking Members Pallone and Levin, and the chairman of the committee, Mr. Pitts, and others for getting us to where we are today. This bill will permanently replace the broken Medicare sustainable growth rate formula that, frankly, I have been working to get rid of for almost a decade, if not longer, which has created uncertainty and instability in the Medicare program for over a decade. I am pleased that the parties were able to come together and craft a bipartisan bill that will ensure seniors' access to their doctors and incentivize high- quality, high-value care.…
