Build Back Better Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, with the passage of this bill, Medicare will finally be able to negotiate for lower drug prices. The bill extends the American Rescue Plan's reduction in the cost of insurance under the Affordable Care Act, which has helped us reach the lowest number of uninsured people ever.

The bill will make the largest ever investment to address climate change. I am especially pleased with the bill's provisions to turbocharge the development of offshore wind.

As chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, I am encouraged by the permanent extension of the black lung excise tax. The extension will fund future benefits in healthcare for miners in southwest Virginia and across coal country who are suffering from black lung disease. Extending the tax will protect the long-term sustainability of the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund by ensuring that the coal industry does not shift the cost of benefits from coal companies to miners, families, or the taxpayer. All of this while simultaneously reducing the Federal deficit.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation.

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