Ron Kind: “I thank my friend and colleague for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation before us…”

“I thank my friend and colleague for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation before us today not because I believe it is a perfect answer to a problem that needs to be fixed but in order to make sure that the process moves forward. I want to commend my colleagues who have worked tirelessly over the ensuing weeks to try to address the concerns--legitimate concerns, I view--of some of the shortcomings of the legislation before us, Mr. Nunes and my good friend, Mr. Carney from Delaware. This is, I think, emblematic of how we should be addressing reform within the health care system, having the wisdom as a body to recognize what is working with health care reform and what isn't working and then try to deal with that with fixes and needed adjustments along the way. This was an unintended consequence affecting expat health insurance plans. In my view, there are competitiveness issues from those insurance plans offering expat coverage compared to what other foreign plans are offering, but also the ability of people to be able to work and live effectively abroad. Even the administration has admitted in their Statement of Administration Policy that there is a problem that needs to be addressed.…”