Joe Barton

It is not complicated if you are an elected member of Congress and all of a sudden Medicare recipients start showing up at their town, town hall.

Then we should just stiff the Medicare recipients?

Well, then the manufacturer doesn't have to give the coupon. If they don't give the coupon to the doctor, the doctor doesn't give it to the patient.

It is always good to have hearings like this to try to, through bipartisan basis, get facts on the table.

I think it's good to have this and I think it's very good that we try to work to tighten up and, as the gentlelady just said, let's determine what the real intent is and then legislate accordingly.

It's obvious that, to me, anyway, this program is being abused.

There's a saying that a lot of us use quite a bit. It's called no good deed goes unpunished.

I helped lead the fight, and a lot of Members on the committee did, to repeal the ban on crude oil exports 3 or 4 years ago.

I can't tell you how excited I am to have this hearing. It's really exciting for me.

Can I inquire how much time I still have. The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Texas has 1 minute remaining.

The bill has already passed the House on a bipartisan vote. I think I am right that it passed with 261 votes the last time we sent it. The House bill is a little bit better bill than the Senate, but the Senate bill is better than no bill…

I would think it's not possible unless you increase the output.

This is a very complicated issue. The average person doesn't understand the difference between a New Source Review or whatever else we are talking about here.

You are going to have a way to begin, if this bill becomes law, to get the waste that is now stored on-site at deactivated, in some cases, nuclear power plants, consolidated to interim storage, make a decision on Yucca, ``yea'' or ``nay,''…

But Part 2 provides stronger protections for individuals. Most Federal laws don't.

I want to appreciate you and Chairman Walden honoring your word at the markup where this bill was not marked up, but you promised to hold this hearing.

I am opposed to just unilaterally overriding the individual's right to privacy by requiring written consent.

Part 2 regulations provide stronger protections for substance use disorder treatment records than do most other Federal and State health privacy laws.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Administrator, you're not the first person to be the victim for lack of a better term, Washington politics.

I think it enhances transparency and the confidence of the American people as we do rulemaking.

If you can't debate the policies in Washington, you attack the personality and that is what is happening to you.

Administrator Pruitt's ethical violations as the head of an Agency with a mission to protect the public's health demonstrate a concerning lack of integrity.

If it is actually accepted, we will actually get to see what the science is behind the support for the regulation.

I think it is an excellent idea and it is long overdue.