Political Quotes

“House Resolution 173 provides for consideration of H.R. 2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, under a closed rule, reflecting the careful, intricate, bipartisan negotiations which brought this legislation to the floor. The rule provides for 1 hour of debate, equally divided among the chairs and ranking members of the Committees on Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means. As is customary, the rule allows the minority to offer a motion to recommit on the bill. Finally, the rule provides for the customary district work period authority. This bill, H.R. 2, resolves an issue that many of us have worked on for our entire congressional careers. This bill reflects years of bipartisan work, work across committees, and even work across the Capitol with the other body. We brought together Members of all ideological groups, as well as diverse outside groups. We coalesced around a policy that will help patients, help doctors, help providers to get out from under the constant threat of payment cuts under the Medicare sustainable growth rate formula. Everyone agrees that Medicare's sustainable growth formula has got to go. Today, we are considering a bill to realistically accomplish that goal. The SGR formula was enacted as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 in an attempt to restrain Federal spending in Medicare part B. We now know that that is not working.…”