Weekly Republican Address Fred Upton 10/26/13 FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT PODCAST VIDEO

Weekly Republican Address Fred Upton 10/26/13 FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT VIDEO Download the MP3 Audio for PODCAST

The problems with Obamacare are more than just website glitches. From broken promises to special waivers, House Republicans are actively conducting thoughtful oversight of this law, while at the same time crafting patient-centered solutions to improve healthcare for all Americans. We want to hear your stories, so if you are having difficulties as a result of Obamacare, please share your experience at www.gop.gov/YourStory.

FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT: Remarks by House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) Weekly Republican Address Washington, DC October 26, 2013

Hey there. I’m Michigan Representative Fred Upton, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Our panel has been active in crafting solutions to improve health care for the American people, as well as conducting thoughtful oversight of the president’s health care law.

Over the last year, we have become all too familiar with the troubled rollout of the law with its broken promises, missed deadlines, delays, special waivers, and now website crashes.

This week, in this committee room, four of the lead contractors responsible for the troubled healthcare.gov website testified about what went wrong.

Next week, we will hear directly from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Despite hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars invested, the website still does not work for most.

At a time when we can do everything from ordering a pizza, flowers, or airline tickets, or banking and paying bills, they expect the same reliable service from healthcare.gov – and it’s still not ready for primetime.

Over the months leading up to the October 1 launch, top administration officials and lead contractors appeared before this committee, looked us in the eye, and assured us repeatedly that everything was “on track.”

Except that it wasn’t, as we now know all too well.

The broken healthcare.gov website has captured the nation’s attention, but this is more than a website problem. We are also concerned about what happens next.

Will enrollment glitches become provider payment glitches?

Will patients show up at their doctor’s office or hospital only to be told they aren’t in the system?

And is the personal information Americans provide as part of the enrollment process safe from cyber hackers and identity theft.

Oversight is not about blame – it is about accountability… transparency. And it’s about fairness for the American public.

In a few short months, families across the country will be subject to penalties under the law’s individual mandate.

How can the administration punish innocent Americans by forcing them to buy a product many cannot afford, from a system that does not work?

And what about the promises that health care costs would go down, and that Americans could keep their health plans if they liked them, “No matter what?”

The reality in communities across America is that premiums are going higher – for some, as much as 400 percent higher.

And millions of Americans are receiving unwelcome notices that their plans are being terminated. Believe it or not, more people are receiving cancellation notices in just three states than are applying in all 50 states.

This is not what health reform promised.

In the past few days, the bipartisan chorus has been growing to delay the individual mandate, to delay the penalty that Americans would face for being unable to purchase insurance through this broken system.

This is good news.

The business mandate was delayed, and it’s only fair that individuals and families receive the same treatment.

Likewise, we should look for bipartisan solutions to allow Americans to keep their current insurance.

After all, that was President Obama’s solemn promise during the health care debate.

We will continue working toward patient-centered reforms that keep costs down for folks, all the while improving quality of care. This is a matter of fairness for all.

If you are facing hardships as a result of the law, we want to hear from you. Please go to http://gop.gov/YourStory to share your experience.

Thank you. And God Bless.
- See more at: http://www.speaker.gov/video/weekly-republican-address-chairman-fred-upton-obamacare-oversight-fairness-all#sthash.7jGQTrAq.dpuf

Marco Rubio: Delay IRS Penalties Until ObamaCare Websites Work VIDEO

Senator Marco Rubio: “It’s pretty straightforward. It’s unfair that on the one hand you are telling people that if they don’t buy insurance next year the IRS is going to come after them with a fine. It’s unfair to say that to them and then turn around and make it so difficult, or impossible, for them to buy that health insurance. So what the bill would basically say is that the ObamaCare website has to be up and functioning for six consecutive months before they can begin to enforce this individual mandate on people. How you can punish people for not buying something that is impossible to buy because of the inability of this website to function because of government incompetence?”

FOX News’ Bill O’Reilly: “How do you see this bill coming? I would imagine every Republican senator would vote for it, but are you going to able to peel off some Democrats to do that? Maybe Manchin of West Virginia would do it, but I don’t know anybody else.”

Rubio: “Well, I think they’re going to have to do this no matter what and it’s a question of when they’re going to finally admit to that. Now look, I actually don’t think this is a partisan thing. I think no matter how you may feel about ObamaCare - I certainly would like to see it repealed and replaced, others may disagree - but no matter how you may feel about ObamaCare, this is not about that. This is about the fact that it is unfair that you are going to punish people, that you are going to send the IRS after people.”

O’Reilly: “Now, will your bill contain the provision that if you want to sign up for ObamaCare now you certainly can, it’s just that you don’t have to and you won’t be punished. So that gives everybody the option of, ‘Yeah, I will do it’ or ‘I won’t do it’, and as you said, when they get the glitches out of the software so that people can efficiently decide what they want to do, then you can do the mandatory deal. That is fair. But politics being as it -- you know, what I said is true: It’s not about ObamaCare. You know that Senator, this is about the whole entitlement culture. It’s a much bigger thing.”

Rubio: “Right. The issue of ObamaCare is about a much broader agenda to inject more government control over our lives and over our economy. But I’m dealing right now with a very focused issue. Let me give you an example. On this very day in Florida, it was announced that 300,000 people are going to lose their individual coverage because of ObamaCare. Now those people next year, they don’t have health insurance. They are going to owe the IRS money in the form of a fine. Where are they supposed to go now and buy that health insurance if the website isn’t working, if Consumer Reports is telling people to avoid the website? So, what this bill does is it says basically this: until that website is certified to be functioning, you cannot enforce this on people. It’s simply not fair.”

O’Reilly: “Did you see the polls today saying, you know, that the Tea Party, 25% of Americans approve, 75% don’t approve and the Republican Party is not much better, maybe 30%, 32% approve? You think that’s a real troubling situation for you guys?”

Rubio: “You know, these polls fluctuate. They come and go. I mean, if we lived our lives based on polls, you know, we wouldn’t be able to do anything else. The bottom line is that we have some very serious issues that this country is confronting. You’ve outlined some of them in your Talking Points Memo tonight. But at the basis of all of this is that the American Dream as we know it, what makes our country special, it’s being eroded and we’re running out of time to do something about it. And I certainly feel like people in my party are fighting on the right side of that.”

interview on “The O’Reilly Factor” U.S. Senator Marco Rubio October 22, 2013

Senator Marco Rubio 284 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC, 20510 Phone: 202-224-3041