Frank Pallone: “I want to thank my colleague from Massachusetts, not only for having to deal with the ordeal in Rules last night but…”

“I want to thank my colleague from Massachusetts, not only for having to deal with the ordeal in Rules last night but every day, but also for what he said about the lack of regular order when this Upton bill--this bill by the chairman, Mr. Upton--came to the Rules Committee. Mr. Speaker, I am a member of the Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee. I said in Rules last night--and I will say it again today--that we have had many hearings in the Health Subcommittee and that we have had hearings in the full Energy and Commerce Committee. Over the last 2 or 3 weeks, there was ample opportunity to have this bill proceed with regular order with a subcommittee hearing markup and with a full committee hearing markup. None of that was done. This bill just comes here to the floor directly from Rules, and it is a flawed bill. I want to stress that. I really believe, Mr. Speaker, that this legislation is just another attempt by the GOP to undermine the Affordable Care Act. In fact, I will call this the 46th attempt at repeal. My GOP colleagues have zero interest in helping people gain and keep their health insurance. They have zero interest in fixing any problems that may be occurring with the rollout of the law. They simply want to demonize the President and his policies, as you have heard over and over again, and they will go to any length to do so. At the top of the list are their efforts to sabotage ObamaCare and to force its failure.…”