New Members Working Toward a Common Goal

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for Georgia for yielding. I am so proud to be here today. Before I talk about my district, I just want to say thanks to my fellow freshman class. I am so grateful to be part of the freshman class of the 115th Congress--a freshman class that includes 10 Members with military experience, a sheriff's officer, an FBI agent, two physicians, a dentist, and the rest of the class being mostly businessmen and businesswomen full of real-life experiences, which helps us solve problems with some little common sense.

As my family and I traveled our district of Kansas this last 2 years, traveling 30,000 miles, they constantly identified the three common problems. They were concerned about the economy, national security, and health care.

The first 2 years of those travels, I listened a lot. The last 6 months, I focused on solutions. I thought I would share today some of the common solutions that my classmates and I have talked about, as well as my constituents back home.

First of all, as far as the economy goes, the number one problem with the economy is government overregulation. Overregulation creates uncertainty and consolidation. When there is uncertainty, businesses don't grow; they don't invest.

The overregulation creates consolidations. So instead of having three or four community banks in town, consolidation forces there to be only one bank. Oftentimes, those single banks no longer even make bank loans to people from their own community. Consolidation has occurred in hospitals and with physician practices as well, all too often.

I am so proud to stand up here today and hear that the Senate also approved one of the laws we have passed repealing regulations. We think, as we go down this path, repealing regulation will be a continued path for small businesses to grow. That is where 80 percent of our future job growth is going to come from: small businesses.

It is hard to believe, when I talk about national security, that men and women who live 1,300 miles inland from the nearest ocean, separated by mountains and rivers, are concerned about their own safety.

It is hard to imagine that before there was the Paris massacre or San Bernardino or Orlando that my constituents in Kansas were concerned about national security. I stand beside our President in making our border secure and working through immigration and refugee issues to make our Nation more secure. We think that is vitally important, and that is one of the reasons we elected this President and many, many people from my class as well.

Lastly, I want to talk about health care, something very near and dear to my heart.

For the past 6 years, I have lived the nightmare of ObamaCare. It has caused many, many physicians I know to quit, to give it up. ObamaCare has reduced us to data entry positions rather than physicians who can listen and develop their clinical skills as we try to work with patients to solve their healthcare problems.

ObamaCare has led to consolidation of physician practices. It has led to high prices as well for insurance products. It has led to $12,000 deductibles for most families. It is no longer affordable. It is like having no insurance at all.

Eighty percent of Americans are not happy with the Affordable Care Act, but I want to assure the American public and my constituents that, for every 5 seconds I have spent thinking about repeal, I have spent 5 days thinking about replace.

Though quite often the press wants to talk about this as two separate books, this is one book in my life--a book of repealing and replacing as quickly and efficiently as possible.

I want to assure all my constituents back home that, if you are on an ObamaCare product right now, we are not pushing you off any cliff. We are going to give you a period of transition where you can have a truly affordable healthcare product that works for you without a $6,000 or $12,000 deductible.

We are a party of solutions. If you will look at Dr. Price's bills he submitted the last 6 years, you will see great alternatives and solutions that the party has presented. We do think there are good solutions out there.
Speaking of Dr. Price, I can't help but just stop and say we need to approve him, confirm him as quickly as possible. Dr. Price is a physician, an orthopedic surgeon from Georgia, who has served Congress in multiple ways, including leading the Budget Committee.

I have not met a man I would rather have serve as the Secretary of HHS than Dr. Tom Price, a mentor to me--a mentor to many of us--a kind man, a Godly man, a person who cares about patients, who understands health care, but he also understands government. Before we can take many more steps with health care, we need someone in that position. I believe with all my heart that Dr. Price will do a great job.

I look forward to continuing my next several weeks here working with the freshmen, working with the rest of Congress. We are so optimistic.

We think that great days are ahead of us.
I am going to close with a memory today that I will have forever of going to the National Prayer Breakfast. I have had the privilege of going to many, many events, but this may have been the greatest event I ever attended in my life to see men and women, leaders across the world, praying for our President, praying for our Vice President.

I am just thrilled to be a part of this. I am proud to turn this country back in a positive direction.

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