United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for her long career helping working men and women throughout the Nation.
I rise in support of this historic legislation. Under this bill, we were able to secure expansion of Pell grants to make it easier for students to access aid by streamlining the free application for Federal student aid. We were able to eliminate the ban on Pell grants for incarcerated students. We were able to discharge debts for many historically Black colleges and universities. And we were able to invest $82 billion in schools and colleges.
I am particularly proud that we were able to provide an end to the legal prohibition of the use of Federal funds in transportation to promote school integration. That is right. It is still illegal until this bill passes.
Finally, I want to praise the inclusion in this legislation of the fact that we are finally ending surprise medical bills and the problems along those lines.
Mr. Speaker, I hope we will pass the bill and do a lot for students and workers.
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, The House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 133, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, includes many important provisions. Among them is Section 203 of Title II, Division BB, based on H.R. 7539, the Strengthening Behavioral Health Parity Act--an important step forward in improving the effective enforcement of mental health parity laws that govern group and individual health plans and coverage. I am pleased to see this legislation advance as part of our continuing efforts to ensure the promise of parity is realized for all.
As Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, which has legislative jurisdiction over employee health benefit plans (including provisions of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act or ERISA) as well as oversight jurisdiction over the United States Department of Labor, I would like to provide additional clarification for the record regarding the interactions between this legislation and existing enforcement and compliance efforts by the Secretary of Labor.
First, no provision of Section 203 in any way restricts, alters, or otherwise interferes with the existing enforcement and oversight authority of the Secretary of Labor, including the Secretary's authority to investigate, audit, and seek equitable or other relief to enforce any requirements of federal law. The requirement that the Secretary examine the comparative analyses of at least 20 plans annually serves as a floor, not a ceiling, on the Department's enforcement actions, and the Department remains authorized to continue to utilize its broad authority under Sections 502, 504, 506 of ERISA and other laws to enforce all requirements of this bill, Part 7 of ERISA, and any other requirements of federal law.
Second, no provision of Section 203 in any way restricts, alters, or otherwise interferes with the rights of group health plan participants to bring an action to enforce their rights under Section 502 of ERISA, nor does it impact judicial review of any statutory violations. This bill also should not be interpreted to create any additional presumption in favor of health plans and issuers during judicial review of nonquantitative treatment limitation (NQTL) determinations, and the Secretary remains authorized to seek equitable or other relief, including relief regarding the re-adjudication of claims. All provisions should be interpreted to ensure the broadest access to relief for plan participants.
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