House Energy & Commerce Committee Issues Report on Affordable Care Act
Excerpts of the report follow:
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The minority seeks to obtain "correspondence between the
1Committee Print, Budget Reconciliation Legislative Recommendations Relating to Repeal and Replace of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; and
The Minority's efforts to obtain "correspondence between the
On
On
At the conclusion of opening statements, a minority member of the Subcommittee on Health raised the matter of "various House staffers and the Administration and transition team and the signing of nondisclosure agreements."2
2Patient Relief from Collapsing Health Markets: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Health of the H. Comm. on Energy and Commerce, 115th Cong. 28 (2017). (statement of
On
3Letter from
On
That the President of
Under clause 7 of rule XIII of the Rules of the
On
* * *
So, I would respectfully request that the Committee be able to divulge whatever correspondence exists between the
* * *
And just to be clear, I did ask about correspondence informally between Committee and Committee staff and the
* * *
Again, just so that the Committee is clear, this was done in a Committee hearing. It was then followed up in writing. There was no response given. So this was as you outline. I would love to work with you and your Committee staff to try to advance this process, if we could get a commitment from you or a clear idea as to what steps are necessary so that we can get this.
But we tried once verbally. We tried again on paper. No response. No response. My nuclear option isn't so nuclear, but I understand your position on that.
This is something, obviously, I think is important to members and I would like to figure out what we can do.4
4H. Res. 154 Markup, supra, note 1, at 1138-44 (statement of
Following the markup and the Committee's vote to report
Chairman Walden on
[O]btain from the President of
5Letter from
It is important to compare
Unlike
[C]opies of each portion of any document, record, or communication (including telephone and electronic mail records, logs and calendars, and records of internal discussions) in the possession of the President or Secretary, respectively, referring or relating to (1) any written or verbal agreement that (A) relates to any of the following bills in the 111th
During the Committee's
I wrote to the
6H. Res. 983, Requesting the President, and directing the Secretary of
Even after efforts to narrow the scope and to obtain the information through other means, Rep.
to be overbroad and premature:
First, the resolution is over-broad. It encompasses any document, e-mail, or records of internal discussions that relate to written or verbal agreements on healthcare reform. This could include notes of conversations between the President and his Chief of Staff and other top advisors, presidential e-mails, and other records of deliberations at the highest levels of the
Second, it is premature to move forward with a resolution of inquiry. The
There is a significant contrast between how the
In 2001,
For 3 years
7H. Res. 983 Markup, supra note 6, at 5-7 (statement of
Similarly,
With respect to timeliness,
8H. Res. 154 Markup, supra, note 1, at 1143-44 (statement of
An investigation into the communications of members regarding exclusively legislative or policy matters is highly unusual and would be detrimental to both the legislative process and relations among members and between parties
The resolution of inquiry is a seldom used investigative tool of the House to obtain information from the executive branch.
The Committee believes the circumstances of
With respect to the legislative process, members would be discouraged from contacting the executive branch for technical assistance on legislation or for information related to oversight matters. This could result in missed opportunities to improve legislation or to improve existing programs.
In addition, collegiality among members is essential to the conduct of the House's business. However, investigations into member communications over mere legislative or policy disagreements would unduly damage the operations of this Committee.
The minority's effort to investigate the communications of members is unwise. The vehicle for this investigation,
COMMITTEE ACTION
On
COMMITTEE VOTES
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII requires the Committee to list the record votes on the motion to report legislation and amendments thereto. The following reflects the record votes taken during the Committee consideration:
OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Pursuant to clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII, the findings and recommendations of the Committee are reflected in this report.
NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY, AND TAX EXPENDITURES
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII, the Committee finds that
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATE
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII, at the time this report was filed, the cost estimate prepared by the Director of the
FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT
The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal mandates prepared by the Director of the
STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective of this legislation is to request the President and direct the Secretary of
ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT
No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this legislation.
APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to the terms and conditions of employment or access to public services or accommodations within the meaning of section 102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION
The full text of the report is found at: https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/115th-congress/house-report/54/1?r=4
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House Judiciary Committee Issues Report on Protecting Access to Care Act (Part 2 of 2)
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