Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011

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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be rescinded.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. BARRASSO. I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 10 minutes as if in morning business.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

SECOND OPINION

Mr. BARRASSO. I come to the floor, as I have each week since the health care law was signed, with a doctor's second opinion about the health care law because it does seem that each week there is more information that comes out about this health care law that is bothersome to the people of this great country. The more they learn about it, the more concerned they are. And, as Nancy Pelosi said last year: First, you must pass it before you get to find out what is in it. Well, the people of this country continue to learn what is in this health care law, and they continue to be opposed to it.

Last Friday, the administration released another round of waivers from the President's health care law. They issued waivers to another 117,000 people, a total of 62 new waivers, which brings the total waivers to well over 1,400 covering 3.2 million individuals. What does that mean if they have a waiver? That means they don't have to live under the specifics of the law the President signed.

Over 49 percent of these waivers have gone to union employees, to people who get their insurance through union plans. These are many of the people who actually lobbied to support the health care law. So isn't it interesting that these are the same people who have come out and, after they have read it and found out what is in it, have said: We don't want this to apply to us. And it is interesting because that many union members have gotten these waivers when the number of people in this country who work as members of the union is actually a much smaller percentage.

But then let's not forget how the President said in a radio interview while the 2010 elections were going on that he would remember and would reward our friends, he said, and punish our enemies. Well, by issuing these waivers each month, this administration has reminded the American people how flawed the President's health care law is. Waivers have turned into a nightmare for this administration.

In May, I explained that the waiver recipients got a waiver for 1 year, and they would have to then apply again for a waiver year after year, all the way through 2014 when ObamaCare fully kicks in. We just learned last Friday that the administration is switching course. In fact, the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services just announced that employers and unions, even those with the 1-year waivers, must now apply again by September of this year for a long-term waiver to take them all the way to 2014. It seems to me this new scheme is designed so the administration can dodge issuing more waivers leading up to the 2012 Presidential election so the American people aren't reminded month after month of the significant flaws of the health care law.

It is clear that continuing to issue waivers in 2012 was going to be an embarrassment for the President.

It is also clear that this new change in policy means that even the administration admits that the new health care law does not work. The President promised--promised all of us in Congress--that if we like the health insurance plan we have we can keep it. But what he meant was that to keep the coverage that we have today we will need a waiver from Washington mandates. We will need to get permission from the Obama administration to keep the insurance we like.

Companies and businesses across the country must apply before September if they want to avoid the health care law's crushing costs. In my opinion, I think we are going to see a tidal wave of waivers before this deadline in September. In fact, I predict that 5 million people will eventually have to get waivers from this top-down government mandate. There is going to be increased demand for waivers as more and more people see that they will lose what they have today. As business owners look into this and see how the health care law will cause their cost of providing insurance to go up over the next 2 years, they are going to be lining up for waivers over the next few months. Once again, we are witnessing the horrible economic impacts of this new law.

I also want to talk for a minute about what happens after this September deadline, after the door closes on waivers. Let's take a look at the economy--9.1 percent unemployment and job creators sitting on the sidelines due to the significant expenses of trying to open a business. Hard-working Americans who want to start a new business are going to be forced to choose between two less desirable choices. No. 1, they can offer high-cost, government-approved health insurance, making it much more expensive for them to try to open a new business and hire workers or, No. 2, they will not offer any health coverage because they cannot afford the health care law's out-of-touch and expensive insurance mandates.

With the skyrocketing debt we are facing in this country and 9.1 percent unemployment, this administration's signature piece of legislation, the President's health care law, discourages America's best and brightest from starting new businesses and providing for their employees. That is what the President's health care law does. It stifles innovation, strangles the free market, and saddles the American people with more debt.

Once again, this is another example of how the President's health care policies are making things worse. His policies are making the economy in America worse. His policies are making the standard of living in America worse. His policies are making health care in America worse. And his policies are making America's debt worse.

Just this week we learned of another enormously expensive error in the law. This has to be what Nancy Pelosi meant when she said: First, you have to pass the bill before you find out what's in it. It turns out now the President's health care law will let several million middle-class people get insurance meant for people with low income. It would allow 3 million, by the estimates--3 million members of the middle class to receive Medicaid. The Associated Press reported that this would be like letting middle-class families get food stamps. The Medicare Chief Actuary, Richard Foster, said the situation keeps him up at night.

This health care law is not fixable. This health care law is bad for patients, it is bad for providers--the nurses and doctors who take care of those patients--and it is terrible for the taxpayers of this country. This health care law needs to be repealed and replaced. That is why I come to the Senate floor week after week with a doctor's second opinion about the President's health care law.

I yield the floor.

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