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Foxx Report |
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This week the House passed legislation that would dismantle President Obama’s deeply flawed health care law. H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, would rescind the mandates for individuals to have medical coverage and employers to offer it to workers or face penalties. It would eliminate the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices as well as the 40 percent excise tax, known as the “Cadillac” tax, on high-cost employer plans.
Additionally the bill would abolish the slush fund that gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services billions of dollars to spend each year with little accountability. It would repeal the requirement for large employers to automatically enroll new full-time employees in coverage they may not want or need.
The so-called Affordable Care Act has proved to be anything but affordable for North Carolinians, who have faced some of the largest premium increases in the country. The simple truth is that the president’s government takeover of our health care system has increased barriers to care, limited patients’ choices and wasted taxpayer dollars. It’s time undo this harmful law.
H.R. 3762 also would bar Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funds for one year and put those taxpayer dollars in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Center (RHCs), which outnumber Planned Parenthood clinics 20 to 1.
We all know money is fungible, and the federal funds that Planned Parenthood receives ultimately subsidize their abortion services. No organization that performs divisive practices like abortion, particularly in such a gruesome, profitable manner, should receive taxpayer dollars. With more than 13,000 publicly supported locations, Federally Qualified and Rural Health Centers are a better investment for the American people.
Default Prevention Act
This week the House passed legislation that would require the U.S. Department of Treasury, in the event that the statutory debt limit is reached, to pay the principal and interest on debt held by the public or Social Security trust funds.
The Default Prevention Act would enable House Republicans to continue to fight tooth and nail over the direction of our country's finances while giving the American people and financial markets certainty that the federal government will pay its debts and meet its obligations.
It is simply common sense that we permanently close out the possibility of default and give seniors confidence that they will continue to receive the funds they rely on.
Renewable Fuel Standard
Today I joined my colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy expressing significant concern with the recently proposed 2016 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The RVO as currently proposed would constitute a breach of the ethanol blendwall (E10), which would adversely impact American consumers and the economy.
The RFS mandates ethanol blending in gasoline and drives up the cost of corn, which increases food costs and threatens the environment. Mandates such as the RFS have a wealth of unintended consequences and should be stopped, which is why I am supporting legislation in the 114th Congress to eliminate the RFS.
National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act
Mineral production provides critical resources across multiple industries, including agriculture, technology, health care, aerospace, defense and critical infrastructure, but domestic mining often faces lengthy permitting timelines and delays of seven to 10 years. Among 25 major mining countries, the United States has the worst record in issuing permits and is dependent on foreign minerals, including rare-earth elements and rare metals from China that are key for telecommunications and military technologies.
On Thursday the House passed legislation to decrease our dependence on foreign minerals and allow the United States to efficiently develop domestic minerals that are critical to our economy, national security and manufacturing competitiveness. The National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2015 would streamline the process for obtaining permits, expedite the publishing of mining projects and mineral exploration to reduce delays and reform the judicial review process to limit frivolous lawsuits that indefinitely delay projects.
Marvin Ward Elementary School
On Tuesday I recognized the students and faculty at Marvin Ward Elementary School in Winston-Salem on the House floor. With news of the destructive flooding in South Carolina on their minds, this Title I school conducted an informal collection of supplies for those impacted by the devastation. In just 24 hours, the school community had come together for the people of South Carolina and collected clothing, blankets, towels, pillows, baby supplies, toiletries, pet food and over 60 cases of water.
In addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, it’s clear that the administration, faculty and parents have also been teaching important lessons in compassion and generosity. Ward Elementary met the call for assistance with extraordinary result. Its students should be commended for their giving spirit and commitment to helping others.
What’s Coming Up
Next week the House will consider legislation, the Retail Investor Protection Act, to stop the Department of Labor’s harmful fiduciary rule.
Sincerely,
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