Joe Pitts: “I sorely wish I were here getting ready to vote on a bill that would permanently repeal and replace the sustainable…”

“I sorely wish I were here getting ready to vote on a bill that would permanently repeal and replace the sustainable growth rate. In this Chamber, we passed a bill that would do that and that would have fully offset the cost of the repeal by delaying a provision of the Affordable Care Act that the administration just keeps delaying itself. In fact, it was partially delayed again just yesterday. Unfortunately, we have reached another doc fix deadline. I believe that we must act to protect America's seniors and ensure that they can continue to see the doctors whom they know and trust. That is why I have introduced legislation that represents a bipartisan-bicameral agreement that will give us additional time to work out our differences and pass permanent repeal. We are closer than ever to reaching that goal. We have an agreement on policy. We need to overcome our differences about the responsible way to pay for those new policies. I hope that we can act before we reach the new deadline of March 31, 2015. In fact, we should try to reach a bicameral agreement before the end of this Congress. I am glad that Speaker Boehner has offered his continuing support to this effort. With the House's having acted, we hope that the Senate can also pass an SGR repeal that has real pay-fors. Then we can begin the process of working through our differences in a conference committee.…”