Washington, D.C. – Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), the Republican Leader's designee to the House Budget Committee, delivered the following opening remarks while managing the House Floor debate on the Rule for the Democrats' socialist spending scam known as The Build Back Better Act.
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As Prepared for Delivery:
"This rule provides for consideration of H.R. 5376, the Democrats' so-called Build Back Better Act. The final text of this bill does not have a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score, has not been available for more than 24 hours, and does not provide for the American people.
"Let us go over the series of events: in an emergency August session, the House deemed passed the Budget Resolution setting topline reconciliation levels. In September, the thirteen committees of jurisdiction marked up their portions. The Budget Committee then held a markup on a Saturday evening on zoom to put the budget text together – without a CBO score. Speaker Pelosi, Democratic Senators, and the White House then engaged in a new round of negotiations – guaranteeing that after over a month of work – albeit partisan work – this bill would become wholly new legislation before heading to the House floor.
"With only a few hours’ notice, the Rules Committee met last week on rushed reconciliation text that didn’t even include language for every title. And in the middle of this hearing, Speaker Pelosi decided to abruptly end testimony as her hastily crafted agreement fell apart.
"We were then called back yesterday to restart consideration on even newer text, with only 1 hour to review it. I wish I could tell you what all was in this bill, but we haven’t had the time. I guess we’ll have to follow Speaker Pelosi’s lead and pass the bill in order to find out what’s in it.
"Without time to fully read the bill, we cannot possibly be serving the best interests of the constituents we represent. This bill will almost certainly overheat an economy already experiencing high inflation. It includes $4.5 trillion in new spending, $1.5 trillion in new taxes and fees, and $3 trillion in new debt. It also creates over 150 new government programs.
"This is the most expensive piece of legislation in the history of the United States. The spending in this bill is five times America’s annual defense budget, seven times the cost of the interstate highway system, five times annual Medicare spending, and more than the Gross Domestic Products of Canada and Mexico combined. If enacted, new spending will be more than the total combined annual wages of the American people.
"A large portion of how we fund the programs and services administered by the federal government is through tax receipts – Democrats seem unconcerned with this discrepancy.
"This bill includes a Methane Emissions Reduction Program. Methane is indeed a pollutant if released into the atmosphere, but it’s also a valuable commodity in the form of natural gas. Domestic energy production has skyrocketed over the past few decades, yet methane emissions fell 15% during that same timeframe.
"Instead of building on this progress, this provision would provide millions of taxpayer dollars to create a new natural gas tax increasing the cost of residential natural gas by up to 34 percent.
"During our Rules meeting, I submitted an amendment that would strike this Methane language and instead provide incentives to build the infrastructure necessary to get this valuable product to consumers. Unfortunately, it was not considered.
"This package also provides billions of dollars to roll out electric vehicles and electric vehicle infrastructure - mostly enjoyed by the wealthy. There are also subsidies for electric vehicles manufactured using union labor. Ironically, these “pro-labor” provisions could put thousands of non-union auto workers out of a job. These subsidies would also breach international trade agreements. I submitted an amendment to remove this language, but it too was not considered.
"This bill also contemplates an expansive drug pricing provision. This proposal claims to protect research and development, yet the Secretary still has the ability to set the price at any level. There is no judicial review of arbitrary decisions. Additionally, disagreeing with the prices set by the Secretary will result in a 95% excise tax. I am concerned that under this bill, the government will be the deciding factor in determining which drugs and cures can come to market.
"I am specifically concerned about funding for disproportionate share hospitals (DSH) being cut from 100% of what is expected to be provided to 87.5% and will prohibit non-expansion states from implementing uncompensated care pools.
"DSH was established to support hospitals with either high rates of Medicaid utilization OR high rates of low-income populations.
"Apparently, Democrats have decided that they only care about supporting DSH hospitals with high rates of Medicaid patients by penalizing states that have lower rates of Medicaid patients but similar rates of low-income individuals as expansion states. This is a blatant attempt to coerce states into expanding Medicaid.
"When the American Rescue Plan was signed into law, it included a vast expansion of ACA premium subsidies. While these subsidies were intended to be temporary, this bill creates a cliff by expanding them to 2025.
"Additionally, the American Rescue Plan eliminated the eligible income cap for ACA premium subsidies, permitting those with high incomes to qualify. Experts estimate this will cost $34 billion over the next two years and incentivize businesses to stop offering group health coverage.
"I am also concerned that during last night’s rules meeting not one Chairman or Ranking Member could tell me if there were citizenship requirements for the many social benefits created or expanded in this bill. With a crisis on our southern border, and reported payouts to settle family separation cases, this will only incentivize further unauthorized immigration.
"The magnitude of the changes contemplated in this reconciliation package require the full input of Congress, not just those on one side."
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