Group of moderate republicans to bridge the gap with the Freedom Caucus to pass the legislation with a vote of to do 17 two with 13 in the house. It is five hours so have your snacks handy. Here it is. In july. [applause] thanks for coming think to the mayor and to the council and there is a lot of First Responders here tonight that are committed to everyone safety. [applause] i would ask before we get started with the what i hope will be a good dialogue and here to hear from you and you to hear from me please stand together and pledge of allegiance to the flag that is right back here. E unit i pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america. And to the republic for which it stands. One nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all. David is 26, a youth pastor and a High School Soccer coach, and he is about to make us grandparents in a month and a half. First son. Firsttime grandparent. And our daughter isabella is 20 and lives in baltimore. And i love my children. Im very proud of them. Theyve had also a deep impact on my life. I was a lifelong business man. Im not in politics but i started my Business Career investigating insurance claims the new york city Housing Projects, making 13,000 a year with a wife and young baby. So, i lived a life of growing through business. I was in business for 30 years and loved it, had a chance later to become the leader of a company, small company. We grew it from about 100 people to many thousands of people. And that has influenced me dramatically because i have seen what happens when people have a decent job, when people feel enthused about their work, feel theyre treat with dignity at work. And ive discovered whether i was in the Housing Project her to young man or the ceo of a company, i discovered most people, all people, want the same thing. People want security, they want opportunity, they want to be treated fairly. I understand i know well talk about health care tonight. People want the same things. I know that. We may have differences how we thought it taught to be delivered but i how it ought to be delivered but people want the same thing. My philosophy Public Service did not start in congress. Started working in any church, my local town on the environmental commission. And then on the open Space Commission and then as a mayor. My Public Service started in a Family Foundation that my wife and i have run now for 13 years. And we have done things that we think matter to us to other people. Supporting wounded warriors. We have now given away over 2500 wheelchairs because our daughter was in a chair her whole life and we have worked on Disaster Relief a lot. Thats what led me into Public Service. I want to got back to my daughter just for a moment. [shouting] i will say, shame on you right now. Actually. Dont tell me what im using. Im going to tell you because this affects my perspective. Im going to tell you this because it affects my perspective on this issue of health care. Im note going to tale you all about her life because you dont care, but i will say this its not all ive said. Not all i say. If you want me to listen to you, im asking you to listen to me. Asking you to listen to me. When my [shouting] [inaudible] well, let me let me finish and i want you to well talk about that, too. [applause] we dont want to hear about you. We know all about you. Okay. We all know about the democratic elevator. Enough. When youre done ill continue. This is not a canned response. I want you to stop for a moment. Because if you think that this doesnt have an impact on how somebody sees things, when my daughter was born we made my wife and i made a choice to have a child when we knew she would be born handicapped. She wasnt supposed to live. And she did live. She wasnt supposed to walk, and she didnt walk. She was in a chair. She didnt talk much but she said a few words. And this child in 11 years has shaped my life more than anybody. So, if i talk about my daughter too much, well, then so be it. This is the one human being that has impacted my life more than anybody. Write a book. Maybe i will write a book. When i used to come home when i used to come home or you able to afford her health care . I had pay for her wheelchair. Thats a really good question. When my daughter was born, we had in 11 years over a Million Dollars of insurance bills. Healthcare bills. Had insurance. But you know what . We didnt have much money in those days. We did not have [inaudible] well come back to that. Well come back to that. Thats why were here tonight. Well come back to that. Im not in a hurry. If you want me to respect you, doesnt it go both ways . [inaudible] when i see the problems in our Healthcare System, if you think that going in and out of hospitals for years, sleeping in hospital chairs because we didnt have bedness those days in a hospital room dish spent days and nights sleeping in a chair and then going my office in manhattan. That was the life i lived. And when my daughter went into a coma, when our daughter went into a coma when she was 11, not long after her 11th birthday, my wife and i had to make the decision no parent wants to make. We had to take ore daughter off life support. That was my life. That was our life. I was there when she was born, and the doctor came out and said we need to do surgery on her brain and i asked to ask the doctor, is boy or girl . That was money life. The moments i lived. When we unplugged live support she used to lie on my chest as a little baby and id rock her to sleep at night some when we unplugged life support i mutt my head on her chest and i listened to her last heartbeat. So if youve thick dont care about health care, its because [shouting] would you like to talk about that bill . Yes. Would you like to . [shouting] okay. You can have your opinion. You can have your views. But im going to say one more thing before we start this dialogue. Some of you tonight have very strong opinions about what you think. There are lot of people in this room and im going to did you you can think what you like about me, but im going to ask you for each others sake to have some respect for each other. Have some respect. If somebody is going to [shouting] if somebody block. [shouting] tell her to shut up. Folks, please. Listen, please. I will not put time limits on your questions tonight. I will not. But if youre going to good on too long because you have something burning inside of you and you just have to a said. Your neighbors will know if youre talking to long. Whatever you think of me i have i am asking you to have some respect for your neighbors tonight. And dont go on and on and on. I will also ask that if you dont live in the third district, you ask a question tonight. This is for people that live in this Congressional District. Other others are here. Im im going to ask you [shouting] im going to [shouting] im going to ask you to state where youre from to ask your question, and im going to ask you to let me answer it honestly without booing to the point that other people cant hear because maybe, just maybe, not everyone in the room shares your opinion tonight. Ill ask you to show respect for one another. Is that fair . Yes. Whatever you think of me to do that for each other. Ill answer honestly, ill answer honestly. I hear you, sir, this is my town hall, took not just yours. Im just trying to lay out some ground rules. Ive taken a few minutes and i told you, youll get all the time you want tonight. So now well good to questions. Ill start right here. I think there are mics wait until you get a mic, please. Good evening, congressman. Yes. C andre daniels, mayor of west hampton township. [applause] prior to wearing this suit i wore the uniform of states airman serving in the gulf war. [applause] incidences in my service, sir, i would have to on four and a half years of what i consider page dialysis, not knowing where tomorrow i suffer from end stage renal disease. The military just told me that they dont know how it happened, but it happened, and it happened on our watch while you serve this great nation of ours. My question simply is this. As a four and a half years of dialysis i would be lucky enough to get a kidney transplant 15 years ago. [applause] and intervening days of maybe at least a week, no one quite knew who was going to pay for the 3,000 to 4,000 of medicines i would need to sustain life, mainly from the imu imu know suppressant dregs. Most americans in the council trihave this question, and it goes to those basic freedoms of education, safety, security, and health care reigning supreme. If have to be somewhat fortunate dish say somewhat because the va system is not always an absolute. However, i do have something and i thank god for that. But there are many other americans who have similar vacations like similar situations like me, and a kidney tran plant is not a cure. Just another means of treatment. Today tomorrow if my kidney were to fail while other americans are struggling with health care, their kidney was to fail, the urgent and most compelling question of the day is, what would happen with them . I wear a suit. I happen to be a representative of dish like to thank noble Public Servant and have a constituency. My question is those unlike me, what will happen to them from a preexisting condition perspective and thats what everybody wants to an answer to. [applause] mayor, first, thank you for your service to the country and you have asked a question i getted a all the time and the answer is depends on a lot of different issues depending on you get your insurance from. My commitment has been and continues to be i hop youll see this as we talk about this particular issue that nobody, nobody with a preexisting condition will either be declined coverage or be priced out of being able to buy insurance. Let me finish. [shouting] folks, you can well, yes, have read it, and if you give me a few moments let me ask you this. Have you read it or responding to advertising . Yes. Okay. So let me answer the mayors question. That is my commitment. Right now, there are a lot of different ways people get insurance. Many of you get it throughorren and if you work for a company with more than 50 people, thats a nonissue. Many of you 2010 it from medicare. Nonissue. Medicaid. Nonissue. Va care [shouting] tricare well, well come back to medicaid. Well come back to medicaid. But were talking about preexisting conditions, and in all of those plan is just described, this bill does not touch that issue at all. At all. Number two it simply doesnt. It doesnt. If you are in if you let me answer the question i promise well get to all of the issues. Let me try answer the question. If you are in any of those Insurance Program i just described, preexisting conditions is not touched by the bill. If you are in the individual market, which is seven percent of the u. S. Population, if youre in the individual market, then theres this question of will you have coverage for preexisting conditions. Heres my concern, after 30 years in insurance, i am watching an Insurance Market that is collapsing, and heres why its collapsing. Hold it. You have here [shouting] [shouting] [chanting] single pair single pair single pair single payer single payer you have not heard you heather heard much of my answer assault because the answer is a little bit more than that. Represent us. Not met me answer the question. Let me answer the question. If youre in the individual market, you have Coverage Today and heres what is happening in that market. Premiums and deductibles have increased all over the country to the degree that many people many people are dropping out. Folks [inaudible question] if you want to talk to each other, thats fine. Ill just to to email. Ow want you to tell us the truth. How about the truth. Tell the truth. Please let him finish. You are showing disrespect to your neighbors who want to hear my answer. Its not right. It is not right. Shut the hell up and let the man talk. Folks, please. We gave him a chance. He goes to congress [inaudible] [shouting] [shouting] you have no idea how he lives. Folks, this debate is raging all over the country, and if we cant talk to each other civilly, about this issues, you can disagree with me all you want. Just give me a few moments to answer the question. Preexisting conditions, if you are in the individual market, that market is going through right now an adverse selectiony Healthy People are dropping out and sicker people are staying in. Want to save that market but if you do nothing, if we do nothing, insurers will continue to drop out. It cannot survive. Now, ill come back to single payer. Thatth that is an alternative that some people want. Im just telling you right now, that the individual market, people who dont get their insurance from their job or medicare or medicaid or va or tricare, military tricare, those people will not be able to find insurance policies if we dont do something. And that is what hat prompted me to act and what i have proposed in my amendment is that in that market, if states want to have some flexibility, to try to bring rates down and get more people insured, that is where these waiver exist. The only place they exist, and they only exist for people that have not had continuous coverage in the individual market, who have a condition like yours, mayor. And it is a lot of people. And for those people, for those people already bet me just fin those people, this part of the seven percent in the individual market who have a preexisting condition, who have not had continuous coverage, because if you stay insured by law no insurer can ever rate you different than anybody else because of that condition. That is the thats in the bill. That doesnt change in this bill. It does not change. Its only if you have had a gap in coverage, and for that group of people, i said to the states in the amendment, you cannot do anything different for preexisting conditions unless you create a risk pool for that very group of people to protect them. Further, further, we set aside 138 billion for that specific group of people. For that specific group of people. [shouting] im going on to another question. Right here. Wait for the mic. Hi. Im kimberly stewart, im actually from willingboro. One of the few arents able to make it in here. [applause] i have a question in regard to russia. We seem to be having a pattern of most people we seem to have a pattern that most people who are investigating it seem to be getting fired. Do you support an independent Group Investigation into russias ties into the 2016 election . [applause] so, director comey got fired less than a day ago. Yesterday. And my view, my view, right now, is the fbi has still got some work to do in their investigation and both the senate me and House Intelligence Committee are still investigating. Obstruction. This isnt the first fbi director that was fire. Bill clinton fired his, too. But my view [shouting] would you like to hear the answer to young womans question . Be quiet. Folks, im not going to talk over you. You have to decide if you want me to answer your questions. Im not going to fight with you tonight. Im not going to talk over you im going to answer your questions and you have to decide whether youre going to respect one another or just going to have your moment of noise. So when the room is quiet, ill answer a question. Yes or no . Were here to listen. The answer is no, not yet. Not yet. [booing] [booing] yes. Question. Im maureen from mow youreton. Was the ware town meeting and you had the same answer morrowton. I was in the parking lot outside trying straining to hear. And i believe you had the same answer then. You wanted to wait and see what the congressional committees would do. Since then we have seen nunes have to recruise him and that committee fall into disarray. We have seen the Senate Committee with not one fulltime staffer on it and theyre not getting our answers to their requests from trump contacts. This week, we listened to a subcommittee hearing in which most of the republicans could not bring themselves to ask even one question about russia. And now we have comey fired. If that isnt enough to convince you that the legislature cannot do thing on its own, what specifically do you need to see before you [applause] [cheers and applause] youre right. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee did recuse himself. But that investigation is now continuing in a bipartisan manner. It is. The senate the senate chair and the Ranking Member have both publicly declared theyre working closely together on their investigation. Publicly. So you asked what i want to see. I want to see the results of their investigation. I want to see i dont think it will take four years. I dont think so. [inaudible question] [applause] well, you asked and i answered. So is there another question . Yes. First i just like to thank any vas in the veterans in the room for their service to our country because if you i can stand here today and n in a free country. Just want to say, congressman, im from new jersey, im here because i am a concerned citizen. I am concerned i have a president that praises vladimir putin. And other dictators robbed the world. Im concerned i have a president that attack his free press and all them the enemy of the people. [applause] i am concerned because i have a president that attacks the independent judiciary when they have a ruling that doesnt good his way. I am concerned that it have a president that says the rules of our government are archaic. I am also concerned i have a president who does not know american history. [cheers and applause] if he did he wouldnt have fired the man investigating him. I am also concerned there is something mentally wrong with donald trump. [cheers and applause] i can see it. Can anyone else see it . Yes why dont you see it, congressman . Donald trump is not a republican, congressman. Donald trump is an authoritarian. Donald trump is the greatest threat in our democracy in our lifetime. [applause] my question to you, how long are you and your fellow republicans going defend this american nightmare . You, mitch mcconnell, open your eyes. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] you spoke, let me respond. Let me respond. The whole world is watching. Do you have a canned answer for that . I want a chance to rebut. Thats how dialogue goes. So, dialogue, right . Dialogue means i get to respond without get absolutely. Respect that. Let me let the man talk. I didnt come here to defend our president tonight. Came to answer your questions. Sounds like you did. I came to answer your questions. And to tell you donald trump is the problem. And to tell you what i think and what im doing. Thats what i came here for. I hear your anger and i hear all of the angst in this room, but, but, when i drive across the pine barren there will be people that totally disagree with you. Totally. I know [shouting] i recognize that. But do you accept that for every one of you theres somebody else that totally disagrees with you is in district in this district. Thats the truth. There are. 80,000 three million i was going to move on to another question. Do you want to respond . [shouting] did you want to respond. Yes, i do. Okay. What does it take, congressman . For you and your fellow republicans to open your eyes and realize what is going on . We need an independent prosecutor. We need a Bipartisan Select Committee to investigate this. When are you going to open your eyes . We all see it. Why dont see whats going on . Dont see it . When are you going to decide to be an american and not a politician . [cheers and applause] im going to ask you to pass it back. I want to talk to other people. And i hear you but there are loads of other people who dont see it that way. Thats the reality. Probably because the watch fox news. All right. Let me im going to ask you to pass it on. Toss it to in other people as well. Want to take a questions . Are we going to come back to this. No, come on. Lets be fire other people. You didnt answer the question. You never answered it. If i fair enough. Maybe i didnt answer it completely enough for you. I swore an oath to the constitution when and if i see were in a constitutional crisis right now. I dont think we are. Dont think we are. When i see what i believe is a violation of that, i will act. But right now, right now, we have three independent groups investigating this and i think we owe them a chance to give us an answer before we jump to i dont think it will take that long. Right here. Ill come to you next. My names al rosenthal. Hello, can you hear me . First. I want to say that columbus, number new york. Wanted to in put a of all the craziness here, most of the anymore Congress North doing what youre doing, coming to an area like this. I think you should be applauded for that. And i would also ask other people, as i am a lifelong democrat, please show some respect so we can get something done here. Since you wrote the amendment on the issue of the health care, id like to ask you a series of questions if you dont mind. Sure. So we can have a dialogue, nice and calmly. So from what i saw, and my view of this, if im not mistaken correct me if eye wrong but i believe polling shows that 18 of americans like what they saw regarding the issue of what the new amendment and the new healthcare bill would be. I dont understand what it is that the republicans do not understand and dont yet about the fact that perhaps you can do it better than what 82 of other americans think itch dont get it. Youre with a severe minority on this issue. When i met you before i had certain issues with this. Thats question one. Question two, i dont understand why theres an amendment in there that allowed people like yourself, a member of congress i know youre dressing this issue not to par take in what youre asking everybody else to partake in. [applause] it literally blows me away that is even an issue. Dont even know how it got in this. Should not be in there. Thats what i saw on this. And the amount of whipping that went on to get the books. I know you had a lot to do with it. And i know youre trying to do what you think is best and understand what is to on a business because that on one myself as i mentioned before. I get it. But all i saw was that with their was a part, whatever, the rose garden, it was deplorable with that message sent to america was really bad, the optics are terrible i cannot describe how bad it was. And the substance as well. Okay . I have a wife that has Breast Cancer. She will always have a preexisting condition. I dont want to have to choose which state i live in in order to get healthcare. [applause] given that, that was the real specialty and the people obviously bring up other issues. Probably have spoken enough this morning and trying to be of civil as possible. And i hope other people will follow what im doing as well. I hope you can respond and everybody give him a chance to self so we can hear what he has to say. Because he truly is really one of only very few people that have the guts to come out to a highly democratic area. And again i reiterate, i have a lifelong democrat. I appreciate we have done and given us this form to talk to. [applause] if i miss one come up to me. I do not want jeff to move to another state to get healthcare. I want everyone. Every american to be able to afford and get and have continuous healthcare insurance. That has been my goal from the beginning. The difficulty is bouncing to requirements. One is that people with preexisting conditions continue to covered. The other is that everyone everyone elses premiums come down. But how do you do that . With people with the worst conditions getting coverage and everyone else not having their premiums skyrocket . And that is whats happening. Thats whats happening now. Thats whats happening now. What i proposed was allowing states to move people that had preexisting conditions. The most costly. Who i was, which is why a study with that story. People that had the highest cost. Some of them from a small group of policyholders like this room for example. If we were all insured together. To move people with the worst conditions from that group to the much broader shoulders of the us taxpayer. Because thats who funds this. And when people, and when people are in these risk goals, and everyone elses insurance comes down and more people can afford insurance. And that is my objective. [inaudible] one question at a time. With regard to members of congress and our staff, i do not think anybody should have special rules. I do not believe that. What the senate said, we have already done it. What the senate told us is that because the healthcare bill is a budget bill, that we would have to include ourselves in a separate piece of legislation. That is not a budget bill. We voted for that separate bill for we voted on the healthcare bill. And that bill, it was voted on 100 percent. Every member of congress voted for it. And it simply says that we have to live by the same rules. As everyone else. That is what it says. So that is my goal. A number of you have sent single parents. Let me address that. And remember, we are talking about small segments, seven percent, the individual market. That is what we are talking about. [inaudible] i understand i want to make sure we are on the same page. [inaudible] many want that, across the board for all. Let me ask you this. [inaudible] let me ask you, im not going to call on you anymore because youre standing and waiting. Im going to finish my answer and i will look around and pick someone. Let me finish. I understand where medicare for all sounds nice. It sounds simple. Wait, wait. In a singlepayer system, where there is no competition, no employers trying to get the best people by offering the best healthcare. There is no Competition Among Insurance Companies. Who gets to decide [inaudible] let him talk. Let him talk. [inaudible] i have not answer the other question and we will not move on until you let me do that. Im not going to do that with you. When you want me to answer and you are quiet i will respond but not until. I will get to you. I will get to you. But i am going to respond to this in the other question that came up. Singlepayer, medicare for all means that there is only one party left to guess to decide what doctors get paid. What hospitals get paid. How long you get to recover from knee surgery. What kind of coverage you get. There is only one party left and that is bureaucrats and the federal government. There is nobody is left there is nobody else left. And it works in edwards and other small countries. Not in countries like this. [inaudible] i accept [inaudible] lets talk about fishing. Folks i accept that you see it differently but you are asking me questions. [inaudible] and i represent other people that do not agree with you. Okay . Other people that do not agree with you. You are asking me questions and i told you at the beginning i would give you honest answers. You do not have to like my answers but im not going to lie to you. I think singlepayer is a bad idea. I think it is a bad idea. [inaudible] i work for you and i work for a lot of other people who do not agree with you. Who do not agree with you. Yes, sir . [inaudible] my name is joseph. I am from where are you from . I am from new jersey could based on a talk about your mother, your daughter, your wife. You consider yourself a proponent of womens rights, correct . Yes. Has it passed your conscious to allow rape to be a preexisting condition forcing women to choose between justice and silence to protect their affordable healthcare . How did i pass your conscience as a proponent of womens rights . [applause] do you understand your contributing to this oppression of women in this country . [applause] when you go to sleep tonight i wanted to think about that. And please, answer my question. [applause] first, any woman who has suffered rape for Domestic Violence, there is nobody in this room. I do not care what party you are. There is nobody in this room that does not want to do everything that we can to help that person. Let me finish. Let me finish. Secondly, secondly [inaudible] he did not listen to me. You can go to the new york times, the washington post, neither which is of conservative thought and you will find both of those papers in the last week have completely debunked this notion that this bill discriminates against women that have been raped or suffer Domestic Violence. But if rape is a preexisting condition that allows Insurance Company to charge them more it has women choosing between justice and healthcare. That is the definition of oppression. [applause] lacks the law elsewhere specifically deals with Domestic Violence and rape issues. Number two, the amendment that i offer specifically says that there can be no gender discrimination and thirdly, if you just go look at the two papers i just mentioned. This is the hysteria, this is the hysteria that makes people not listen but it is. Is on the surface. If the amendment says there cannot be discrimination but in practice there is, but there cant be. There is no discrimination based on gender. There is no, that is true too but gender in both directions. [inaudible] there is no discrimination. Somebody that has been subject of that, there can be no increasing premium. Is it true that rape can be considered a preexisting condition . Is that true . Yes, sir no . You cannot be charged more because of that. My question is, i would like i would like an answer to this one question. Yes, sir no, can rape be considered a preexisting condition . You cannot be charged more because of it. That is the answer. You are talking about a violation of somebody. You are asking me can they be charged more . I say no. Can it be considered a preexisting condition . I have answered the question. No you have not my question is can it be considered a preexisting condition . That is my question. I answered the question. I have answered. Im going to go on to this my question is can it be considered a preexisting condition . Yes, sir no . All right winning the microphone over here. Answer the question, answer the question, answer the question. [chanting] i still have a microphone. Go ahead. Thanks to you for being here. And i think your wife for being here. I am from a part of your district. At 23 years old i was diagnosed with a pretty serious heart condition. It is permanent. I will be on medication for the rest of my life. Fortunately the time i was employed and have had continuous coverage ever since. And so when the aca was passed, i was pretty grateful because i knew that at that point it was a preexisting condition. You dont think about that stuff at 23. But he became a preexisting condition protected under obama care. And i did not think i would ever have to worry about it again. 939 with three Young Children under 10 years old and i am happily married. This is your healthcare bill. I mean it was dead in the water. I could have stayed dead in the water but now it is being brought forward. It was done. And now, your credit, you are a compromise, you left the tuesday group and depressed over to join the conservatives. You got something passed very very quickly. I understand i will continue to be covered because i have continuous coverage. What i am worried about is if i lose my job, i suddenly no longer am in the market. Im no longer covered. My governor who is not a friend of people like me decides to opt out, what happens . This is something that is very real this is not people say dont worry, you live in new jersey. People in other states wont be, dont live in texas but this is something that is very real. This is my life. And so when you talk about healthcare coverage like this, we talk about 8 billion of a high risk pool and say dont wear your red have coverage. You are okay there is no portability to that. If you lose your job, i am fortunate. Unless you heard a rumor i will be able to keep my job. What happens, there will be millions of people that lose their jobs and are suddenly out of the system. And when they come back in, they are not getting back in. Without healthcare coverage, i am dead i am dead i cannot afford it without healthcare coverage. [applause] how do i look like his lehigh at that point, and say dad has a heart problem. And what happens to people . Maybe i am lucky and i keep it, but there are millions of people just like me that lose portability. And they cannot get back into the system once they are out. That is a problem. And this is your amendment sir. Because of the macarthur amendment. You brought this back. You brought it back from the dead. With that amendment, is yours, you own it is your amendment sir. [applause] all right. [applause] first, i appreciate the question. And you [inaudible] [inaudible] let him answer the question i appreciate it and your question shows that you really do understand the issues. And i appreciate that. There are many people that think this preexisting condition is applying across every plan and every person. There are many people that think that. You have nailed the issue. What happens when somebody has a gap . Because if you have continuous coverage, it is against the law, the current law and the new healthcare bill. It is against the law to health rate somebody. You cannot deny or change premiums. So you have raised the issue, what happens if there is a gap . And where i started in my efforts on this bill, started with the realization that if we did not do something to fix the individual market, which we would be the only place you can go. It would not be your job it would be the individual market. What happens if it fails . That is what i was grappling with. And i see the signs of an Insurance Market that is failing. And aside from the single issue, for that to be a market that survives it has to change. [inaudible question] [applause] [inaudible question] because the tax cuts perform the same function. They do. The tax credits. The tax credits. Let me explain. Let me explain. The tax credits that you are talking about, he is asking what happens, how do the tax credits you are saying [inaudible question] fair enough i will come back to that. I see what you are saying. Youre talking about the 800 billion. Okay. I will come back to that. But first the issue with regard to your continuous coverage. One of the things that we did at the end was at the 8 billion that you mentioned. That was specifically for this kind of situation. [inaudible] youre right. But the entire Patient Stability Fund was 138 billion, much bigger than that. And remember you are still talking about this pacific narrow group of people in the individual market. [inaudible] but for all of the it was the intent. But for all of the intent the Affordable Care act, it is failing right now. This is what this is attempting to do. [inaudible] that is what we are attempting to do. It is going up in some states over 100 percent per year. In some states, it is not just iowa. Is virginia, maryland, arizona, iowa. So this is an attempt to fix that very issue so that you [inaudible question] this is how it is paid for. The whole change in this. And this gets to the medicaid issue that somebody asked me for. This is where the savings and this bill came from. Medicaid was started in 1965 right alongside of medicare and was meant for initially, pregnant women that had very low income. For disabled children, blind people were specifically mentioned in the bill. But it was meant for the most needy. Today, about 25 percent of the Us Population is on medicaid. And it is on its way to being a 1 trillion a year expense. [inaudible] [inaudible] i am [inaudible] [applause] [inaudible] i have family in canada, they get coverage under government. They are taken care of and nobody has this and they live in all different areas. Urban and rural. This is all about Insurance Companies taking money at our expense. [applause] [inaudible] i will come back to you. I do want to address this. You can disagree with my answers but i do care. I care and that is why i am doing this. You can disagree but im trying to do what i can to save a health Insurance Market that is collapsing. That is what i am trying to do. [inaudible] hold on, wait for the microphone. You can have my mike but give it back to me. I will, i promise. I am been well behaved. You mentioned medicare as a Program Going up and costs approaching 1 trillion. A man in your own party, Sandra Portman from ohio. One of the concerns with the bill was that these medicaid rollbacks were going to really be devastating to programs that combat the Opioid Crisis. And like i said, i commend you for your work. I noticed something passionate about. As a major problem with in our district. I do not mean that as a joke. I may not respectfully. It is a serious problem. Ive been to funerals, and not making light of that. I promise. But if medicaid rollbacks are going to hurt something that you are so passionate about, how do you reconcile this program and cutting medicaid when people in your own party argue that it will dramatically turn the war on this really terrible crisis that is affecting so Many Americans right now . [applause] the simple answer to that is, i understand portmans concern. This bill does not reduce anybodys medicaid payment. It does not, that is not what is aimed at. What it does, it says to the states as we are approaching and heading toward 1 trillion expense. It says to the states, you have to participate in getting a grip on this course. [inaudible] folks im trying to be patient too. But if you ask a question and im trying to answer please stop shouting out. Im trying to answer. This bill says to the states will give a per capita, based on todays cost, a per capita charge for medicaid and allow for inflation. But we are not going to give an open checkbook because right now, right now the states pay less than one third of the cost of medicaid across the country. And the cost is skyrocketing to the point where it is putting at risk the people that need it. And what this does i believe, what this does is it puts pressure on the states to do reform, to do fee for service reform, to get medical costs down, to bring down the extreme cost of drugs. It says to the states, youre not getting an open checkbook. You have got to be a participant in bringing the cost down. That is where the savings come from. That is where they come from. That is my answer to your question. [inaudible] [applause] wait a minute how many of you, just if you raise your hands. How many of you pay insurance premiums today . Okay, the largest tax cut you just mentioned eliminates the three percent tax on your Health Insurance plans. Yours. How many of you. [inaudible] how many of you have investments in the stock market . Any stock, 401 k wait a minute the second largest tax eliminates a tax on those, this this is tax cuts for everybody. [inaudible] i will come back i will come back. I picked him. Ralph hendrickson. I just notice on my phone that flynn has been subpoenaed for all of his records. [applause] subpoenaed by . By congress. That can be checked. My question is this error. Bill clinton was investigated and impeachment proceedings went forth or something that was on a blue dress. We are now in a crisis where, and i know you will agree, that the russians in fact interfered in our election. And our president , even encouraged the russians to be involved with that. Is not the reason of treason important to your party . [applause] and someone that we are relying on, you sir, stand up for us we want an investigation into this very serious matter of potential treason. [applause] i did not read the report yet. But that is a very investigation that i referenced earlier. The senate or the house has subpoenaed mr. Flynn. That is appropriate. He has to respond. And i want to see, to see what the result of that is. Everyone is hanging their hat investigator who by the way, gets hired by the justice department. When right now, your elected officials in the house and the senate and in the fbi are investigating. Dont you want to see what they say . Dont you want to see . [inaudible] i do i do. [inaudible] [inaudible] thank you congressman. Thank you congressman macarthur for coming. My name is anastasia gray. Can i speak . [inaudible] okay so what i wanted to say is i am from westhampton. I have two parts. The first part is that i am a nurse. Anna take care of those people who are [applause] disenfranchised. I take care of a population that was hivpositive. And these are men and women who work and you do not work into our society has frowned upon. Many of them are poor but they are the working poor. And they depend on medicaid. They are not slouching around, they have jobs. Many of them have to work two jobs and they still cannot afford healthcare. What will your act do for that population . The other thing is, i agree with you that we need to let the senate in the congress do their investigations. But they cannot do it parttime. They need to hire more people to do this. As long as they do it parttime, it will go well beyond the 2018 election and im afraid that is what the republicans want. [applause] i can tell you this is not what i want. I want to see them finish their work and i want to see what they find. And i am not rushing to judgment. Im not blind either. And i will keep my eyes open and see what they come with. With regard to the other question, i there are many people that are working poor and i know they depend on medicaid. We are talking Medicaid Expansion in particular. One of the efforts early in the build process was to stop Medicaid Expansion immediately and roll it back. And basically cancel it. One of the first things i insist on if i was going to support the bill was that we not do that. So anybody who is on medical or Medicaid Expansion today, can remain on it as long as they are eligible. The states can continue that and i would hope that the state would continue Medicaid Expansion. And people can continue to be added with the full federal match until 2020. To help that very group of people. But you said it depends on the state. There may be state that decide not to do that part. But that is the way it is today under the law. The Supreme Court ruled that he cannot mandate that to the states. It is up to the states now whether they want to participate. Some have, i forget the number but some have not. This state has. And i want to see Medicaid Expansion and medicaid continue to be strong. For the very people that need it. What i said a few moments ago, i would ask you, do not let that be lost on you. For medicaid to be strong for the future, we have got to get the states involved in bringing cost down. Nobody thinks drug prices are fair. They are obscene today. Doctors do 10 tests because they are afraid it will get sued if they do one. We need to change that and see for service. Hospitals and doctors get paid for people coming in and out, not for results or outcomes. Those things, the states are the only ones who can change that. And with the medicaid changes do is it puts pressure on them. It says will continue to give you the money that youre getting today for the medicaid population. Will even indexed it for inflation. But we are not going to give you a blank check book and youre only paying one third of the cost. That is what we are trying to fix. Unfortunately i have to take issue with that. Because when you look like me, what happens is you get if you look at our society and all the chronic diseases, africanamericans are more impacted than any other group. So who do you feel will feel the impact of that . [applause] and in the clinic i worked in, they were people who suffered. There were people who could not even get medicaid. There were people who could not find i cannot even begin to tell you the distress and disparity in healthcare today. If i depend on the state like alabama or kentucky who really do not care about how or who i am as a person, im not going to get healthcare. [applause] i will go over here. Disabling your questions. Be civil in your questions. I am 17 but i will be able to vote in the midterm elections. Im here with my friends from high school. Where do you live . West i live in north hanover. First of all i would like to say thank you. 19 but the people have asked questions and came to voice their concerns. [applause] we came here because we feel the need. Not because we are having fun. We are not children we are seriously concerned with ourselves and the people around us. We are the future and that we are going to vote. I would like to go back to a question that my friend joey asked you that you neglected to answer. Is rape considered a preexisting condition under your amendment . Yes or no . Yes, sir no . One word, please. Folks, you get to ask the questions and i get to answer them. Then answer them some of correct me if i am wrong, i am not trying to spread false information. I believe one in five women will be the victim of a completed or attempted rape in the first year of college. I cannot even fathom that. And the fact that that may be considered a preexisting condition and you call that not discriminating against women . What do say about that . Thank you. How can you say that and still not answered to me whether rape is a preexisting condition or not . Here is why i will not answer the way you want. Then answer it my friends and i plan to continue editing involved. You will answer to us. You are our representative. We are voting against you [applause] i will answer the question if you let me. I have given you multiple pauses and nothing. It is possible that someone that has been subject to rape in this room. It is possible. I will not reduce that to calling it a preexisting condition. But your bill will. My bill will not. What i said before, if you listen to what i said. You cannot be denied or charge more because of rape. Youre not answering my question. Im not going to reduce this violent act as a preexisting condition. You are not answering questions about likelihood and how it will affect sexual abuse victims. Im trying to answer how it will affect them. Somebody asked a question about a preexisting condition. You asked about a heart condition. No, it was me and it was about rape. I will not describe a violent act against a woman as a preexisting condition. That to me, but what i will say is that this bill does not allow discrimination in Health Insurance based on that. At this point you can say what you want but i think we all know the truth. Now thank you. If you are so intent on silencing women. Are you . By not letting them speak out against rape . Would you like to continue silencing women . Yes, sir no . My name is daisy. Not stacy. Okay. Daisy, i have been the father of two daughters. [inaudible] [applause] [inaudible] we need a microphone over here. All right. Thank you. My name is daniel kolbert. I am from lumberton new jersey, this is my community. I understand that you have a personal situation with your family. These children are mine. They are my legacy, my generation, this new generation coming up my concern is that when they get older, they have preexisting conditions already. My son at three months of age had my younger son three years old now was almost on the cusp of having autism. And because i had to because i have access to healthcare they are healthy and they can speak. What happens when there 17, 18, 20, 30, 40 or 50 and are denied healthcare. Because the state of new jersey is losing jobs at an alarming rate. And medicaid is on skyrocket. I understand you have the delegate and you had to cater to everyone. What im asking you to please understand where we are all coming from and to consider us. Because what is going to happen, we are going to be lost and everything. I have heard donald trump and many congressmen talking about everybody. The middle class, the rich, they are not talking about the working poor, impoverished, elderly. The children are disabled. We are losing, from what im understanding donald trump is saying is fake news. But the point is this, i am hearing that we are getting cuts from kids with special needs which is what my children needed. Im hearing Mental Health is getting cut. I mean where is the future in this . To me this seems i can attack. An attack on obama more than helping us as a whole. [applause] [inaudible] let me respond. [inaudible] you are right, this is the future. This is the future. I know what youre hearing because i see it on t. V. Also. I know, i see the as is a 129 Million People with preexisting conditions are going to lose their coverage. I am just saying, this is not what the bill does. It does not focus, it doesnt it doesnt do that and i would just ask you, instead of just believing the worst news that you can possibly here, take a look. The Affordable Care act did not affect most people. Actually most people get their insurance elsewhere. But the people that are getting it [inaudible] what the [inaudible] the Affordable Care act was trying to do three things. Theyre trying to get people insured and there was some success with that. There was. [inaudible] i am not undermining. Let me go back to you. Because you asked the question. The Affordable Care gave more people insurance. Millions more people. There are 23 million who do not have insurance today because they cannot afford it. Why is that . Because at the same time, that the Affordable Care act gave more people insurance, millions of others had their rates go so high they cannot afford it. We had to do both. It is not folks, i am not here to defend the Insurance Companies but theyre leaving because theyre losing money. They are losing money we are trying to create a situation so your kids will have insurance. We are not trying to take insurance away from anybody. We are trying to make sure that every person can have it. As i see it, i know you disagree, as i see it, the only way to make insurance available and affordable for most people is to help those with the costliest situations get coverage on the much broader shoulders of the taxpayer. That is what these risk pools are for. And yet, is a singlepayer. And yet when i say what it went over the people with the most costly situations, why dont we pay that with the taxpayer but you are objecting to that [inaudible] i will come over here next. I will, i will come over there next. [inaudible] i will come over there next. Right here. I will. I already picked this person. Thank you my name is michael mcguire. Im coming from the other side like this individual. My story does not end as well. I may be a little emotional i will try not to. My wife of 22 years died from brain cancer. After a 19 month battle. I basically compare that to cancer, a less and parkinsons disease all rolled into one horrible ball. It literally takes your mind, your body, she lost the ability to walk, to move her hands, to swallow, breathe and live. That was about two months ago. I am absolutely lucky and blessed because i have great insurance. I sell insurance. I have been an Insurance Broker for 20 years. Annuity risk pool is, i know exactly what modified community debating is, i know what an individual mandate can do when it is put in and done properly. Okay . The Affordable Care act has plenty of laws. The problem is the law has a lot more flaws. Okay . [applause] i know exactly what this does. Okay . I am lucky because i have good insurance. My bill was well over 1 million. My wife had two surgeries at the university of pennsylvania. Thank god we can get there. If we were on medicaid i dont know if i can do that. So this weekend i am going to be taking my kids on a vacation for mothers day. To take them away from feeling the pain of their mother not being here and having all of their friends and all their families have the mother there. If i did not have that, if i was like other people potentially in this room i would be selling my home and living god knows where. So the question is, with this law you are allowing people to fall through the cracks. I get it is seven percent. Of 330 many people that is a lot of people. It is a lot of people. I am only one person. I did not fall through the cracks because i work myself i have a great job and i barely got by during that timeframe. So what you have to say to all of the other people that are not as lucky and as blessed as i have been in the last two years . [applause] and i would like to add, i decided three months ago when my wife was in the last months of her life, the thing that scared her the most and upset her the most. She was dying and knew she was dying but this impacted the kids, that their kids out there that have brain tumors. There is 700,000 People Living in this country with a preexisting condition known as a brain tumor. There are tens of hundreds of thousands of kids with conditions called a brain tumor that their lives last months once they are diagnosed. Not years, months and i know you know from your own personal experience. So what i did, once my wife got to the point where an issue is not going to survive and we did everything from chemo to radiation and multiple surgeries. We tried to get into immunotherapy trials. Everything we can do. We would take her anywhere he could. Thankfully we have the resources to do that. It still did not help. What we decided to do is i started a foundation in her honor. It will support kids and families that are dealing with brain tumors. [applause] i would like to know what you and your family are going to do in that regard. Thank you. [inaudible] first, thank you for sharing that. I cannot imagine what you and your kids are going through. [inaudible] i can but [inaudible] well and that gets to be a question. Why . It is a fair question. Because i believe what i am doing as somebody like you has spent my life in insurance. I believe unless we fix this, people will fall through the cracks. They will fall through the cracks. [inaudible] look, i am not so will i. So would i. [applause] because first remember, members of congress do not vote on the bill that they which was in front of them. They vote on the one that is in front of them. This is not [inaudible] this is not a perfect law. But i will correct one thing. I dont think this much people fall through the cracks. I think this is protecting people from the current crack. The current crack is a system that is running out of money. [inaudible] what i think the answer is, is to move people like your situation. Like my situation. Move them to taxpayerfunded pools which are much broader. Much broader [inaudible] they are not more money the federal, let me talk. Let me talk for a moment about the federal high risk pool that we created in this bill. I think there misunderstood as well. I worked in many highrisk pools over the years in many states. Ive seen good ones and bad ones. The main pool, people would buy insurance. When you buy insurance, if you had a preexisting condition, he did not even know that you put into the risk pool. Your premiums were no different than anyone else in the general categories. Your age, your geographic location, you are moved to the risk pool without you knowing it. Your doctors did not know it. The hospital did not know it. Most of the people at the Insurance Company did not know it. You got an insurance card just like everyone else. Except that your health bills are paid out of the risk pool. What that does, and that is what we funded in this bill. That allows everyone elses premiums to be normalized. That is what we have done. [inaudible] the risk pools in the Affordable Care act are getting smaller every day that is the problem and not just funding, it is that young people are not buying insurance because it is too expensive. That is the issue. That is what i am trying to fix. [inaudible]. [multiple speakers] when multiple people are yelling out they cannot hear what youre saying. Im going to come to the lady over here. I will come back to you. I cannot resist. I am ruth, we have met before. I give you a hard time before too. I remember. I have to say i have a great deal of respect for your tolerance of masochism. Youre really taking a beating tonight and no, i do not say good. But i do not agree with you. And we went on this singlepayer conversation before. This is the only country that has decided not to go with that, well they do not have it in afghanistan either. [laughter] but in western civilization. But that is something that would really level the playing floor. Because one of the problems with obamacare where they had to make some concessions to the Insurance Companies in order to get it passed in the first place. [applause] that is where the problems were and that is the problem that needed to be fixed. And you said what i like bureaucrat in washington to make decisions about my health care if we have a singlepayer . And i say what makes anything worse than some employee of an Insurance Company with minimal education making the same kind of decisions. [applause] let me respond to both things. No, i do not enjoy getting yelled at. Anymore than anything you would if you were standing where i am today. However, i do answer to you. I know that. I answer to everyone in the district. And that means people that see things your way and people that see things a different way. I do. I answered all of you. And that is why i am here tonight. Whether it is enjoyable or not is not the issue. And as only i read today, only 13 members of congress Holding Republican members Holding Town Halls this week. Im doing it because whether it is fun or not, i oh you that. You asked a good question again about singlepayer. I know that you feel the way i gather most people in the room feel that way. But i think there is a difference. What i have found in 30 years in the private sector and not a couple of years in the public sector, is that government bureaucrats can be very dangerous when they have power. [laughter] it is very difficult. [inaudible] let me finish let me finish let me finish when have you when have you ever had success with federal bureaucrats solving a problem for you . Since i have been in congress, we have had thousands of residents. Thousands come to my office is because they cannot get anywhere with the va or with Social Security administration. [inaudible] let me finish we have recovered over 6 million for people who did not get the time of day from a bureaucrat. At least in a somewhat private market your competition. If one company does not treat you or you can go to another one. I do not want, i do not want a Healthcare System where there is nobody left to make decisions other than federal bureaucrats. I think that is a terrible mistake for this country. That is my belief. That is my belief whether you agree with it or not. I honestly feel that way. And that is why, that is why i am trying to make this market. This individual market actually work for people. I dont want situations like we just heard here. Hartford situations. I do not want that for anybody. I do not want that my fear is that if we do not fix this people are going to start losing their insurance that they desperately need. Im going to the gentleman right here. I know what you have been yelling out all night and he has been quiet so im going to him. You been talking a lot about your constituents on the other side. And how they affect your policy physician. When our the ideas on this side going to affect your policy decisions . [applause] everyone here is talking about singlepayer youre still trying to push his other stuff on this. You will want to come to another term you might want to listen to these people have to say to that of just the other side. [applause] that is fair. 60 percent of my constituents are in burlington county. 60 percent. So look, whether i come back or not you need to understand something. I did not go there to take up space. I went there to do things that i thought mattered and to try and solve problems. And whenever the people of south jersey do not think i am doing that, i will not be there. That is just the reality of it. That is the reality of it. And my job, youre asking a great question. I am always trying to find the intersection of what i believe and with the people i represent believe. And hearing you over here reminds me of something. It was a question that you asked before about last week. If you watched my remarks in the rose garden, you will find they were quite subdued. Quite subdued. Because i did not think cheering was appropriate that they and i did not think that jeering was appropriate either. I do not think singing on the house floor was appropriate either. [inaudible] did you have a question . Where is the microphone . I picked this gentleman. Here it is. Here it is. I will come back over here. Based on the healthcare as it was stated in the room, it was a bunch of white men who did this. The women were involved. Looking at the book, there is no democratic participation from 217 to 213. With that being said, how do you explain. It looks like youre just trying to rush the bill through to get a victory. Without really taking into consideration those who it would affect. Once the bill goes to the senate and have artie said theyre going to restructure. Once it goes to the house, would you consider changing some of the optics or the view that you had based on the townhomes that you are having . [applause] first with regard to the process, i agree with you. That is not ideal. That is why i voted no in january when this thing came out and the process started. I thought it was being rushed. And i did not like that it seemed to be, it seemed to be dissed into mediating nylon democrats to participate. Which by the way is how the Affordable Care act got passed in the first place. [inaudible] folks, folks this is part of what you are hearing here is part of the problem in washington. They have their view and they do not want to hear anyone elses view. The Affordable Care act passed with their republican votes. And this bill cassidy zero democratic votes. That unfortunately is the way that it happens. If you look at, if you look at how members actually vote. Not just on one issue but on all issues. [inaudible] this gentleman asked a question and i think he ought to have the respect of having his question answered. [inaudible] i understand you angry. I understand that but im trying to answer questions. If you look at bipartisanship. That is what you are talking about. Why is this being only done by one party . If you look at a graph, and i have, of every member of congress. All 435. You will find me right in the middle. Right in the middle there are very few go to the website and you will see that i am not lying. I tell you the truth. I vote in the middle. Last year there were only two members of the new jersey delegation abutted even close to me with the other party i try very hard. Unfortunately the healthcare bill is, it seems to be present subject. It was seven years ago, it is today. You hope that we get back to a real bipartisanship. Other than it being republican and democratic just seems it was not bipartisan when it came to the people. Once again, it was more of a rush to get it through before the midterm. And i just do not think that was fair. Okay, i hear you. I can tell you that i worked on a bill that cannot support when i came out of committee. And i tried to make it a better bill. I added in the end about 160 billion for groups i thought were not getting enough credit enough though. I made my last amendments because i was concerned about people with preexisting conditions having the market evaporate before them. Right now. Because that is whats happening. My efforts have been to try and improve the bill. Whether people agree or not agree, that is what i am trying to do. Thats what im trying to do. Im trying to go, i said i will be here next. Then i will come back to you. Im sorry. I will come back to you, i promise. My name is Priscilla Robinson this is my sister joanna. We are both from toms river. We are also part of an organization a lot of Republican Voters and a lot of us that have concerns about the healthcare bill being rushed through the house and senate. I want to give my sister a chance to share her story and concerns. Hello my name is joanna. I am from toms river, new jersey. I have been struggling with addiction and Mental Illness for a long time now. I have been clean for two years. [applause] thank you. And i you know have been in rehabilitation centers. I need Mental Illness help, i need to see a therapist and counselors. With this disease and without this medicaid, i would not be where i am at today. I came back from the depths of hell pretty much to the bottom and im struggling still. It is not easy. It helped that i am receiving and medicaid, it kept me clean for this long. And i feel for the women and other men that are struggling with this addiction. Whats going to happen to us if you cut this bill . What is going to happen our recovery . Because is not enough. We need people in the medical field to help us with this. And without it, we are going to all just like either, jailed, institution or death. [applause] i want to appreciate my sister being brave enough to share that and tie it back to the high risk pools and the waiver for Community Risk and everything like that. I think it is really dangerous to put people in a position to be stuck in a risk pool. Youre saying it depends on what kind of risk pool it is. But there is literally no oversight in place for this when the bill gets passed. And that is really scary. It will really screw a lot of people out of coverage. My second question has to do with the National Flood Insurance Program. I know youre focusing on that. We would like to know your thoughts on deprivatization and trying to get over profiteering and fraud claims from happening again. Thanks. I admire your courage are coming out in sharing that. I want to reassure you that the medicaid hope that you have gotten, nothing in this bill is coming up. Nothing i do not know what people are saying or why people say that it is being cut but we are not cutting medicaid benefits for things like [inaudible] sure. [inaudible] yeah, yeah. [inaudible] i am not looking to stop that. Maybe you know or maybe do not know but im the chairman of the heroin task force. This is an area of focus for me. Just in the last year, we passed 21st century cures. We added 1 billion for just, just for this issue of addiction recovery. I know, i know that. But i am saying with medicaid, we have not cut this kind of issue. We have added in 21st century cures, 1 billion over two years. The bill that we passed last year, which is trying to help with, we added funds there. We are trying desperately to do with the federal government to do to help people like you. But we are not cutting, we did not cut medicaid. [inaudible] [inaudible] i can either choose my Mental Health or paying the rent. That is what im choosing over. And i can easily relapse like that. And i see it because i have been there. I see all of my friends relapsing. [inaudible] i am Strong Enough for now but i need that. I need the Mental Health and medication for that Mental Health. All of my friends need it. It comes down to a sickness that we trying to fight. But we cannot find it alone we are all in a pickle because nobody wants to hire us. Because of our addiction. Or because we werent proper citizens. And now that we are trying to become a community, nobody wants to give us a chance. When not going to get that job in a corporation where we need that insurance. [inaudible] you can say over and over than they are not cutting away but we know it is being taken away. [inaudible] [applause] look, i hear the fear. I know it is real. And as i said, i think it is tremendous courage peter, ensure that. I am trying to save a system so it continues to help you. That is all i can tell you. I am trying to make sure that medicaid is Strong Enough to continue to help you. [inaudible] that is what we are trying to do, fix the system. [inaudible] i do not want to get lost and other issues. Right now i want to say to you that quite the opposite. We are trying to invest more and trying to help communities deal with this. Trying to help people deal with this. That is what we are focused on. I understand the fear and part of it has been whipped up by, there is a lot of fear mongering going on. But we are not trying to cut, we are not trying to cut that for people like you. [inaudible] wait a minute, wait a minute. I know that is the fear. But the law does not allow anyone to deny your unborn child. To deny you let me finish. It does not allow anyone to deny you a renewal. And the whole reason for the risk pool is to make sure that there is a safety net for you. If these markets collapsed and we are kind of bouncing back and forth between medicaid and the marketplace now. But the whole idea here is to make sure that these markets are Strong Enough and that there is a safety net to protect you. If these markets fail, which they are in some states. They are that is the problem. Look, i cannot speak for other members of congresss notice. I can speak my own. I dont care why they are failing. Thank you for a different subject. I do appreciate that. You are right, new jersey is the worst state in the union and this Congressional District that i represent actually is among the worst areas in the country. So there are a couple of things. Im on the Financial Services committee and im on the housing and insurance subcommittee and we are talking through issues of how do we help Community Banks . They are going out of business and they have been for some years now. People arent able to get loans. We are trying to make sure there are Consumer Protections in place so they can go to a local bank, get a loan on a home and be treated fairly and have standards that are kept. I have started to talk to the realtors about things we might do with people who are currently in foreclosure because sometimes they go on for years. I dont know if you are familiar with short sales issues but they go on a long time. People are trying to sell their homes or maybe less than their mortgage. They need the banks approval to do it and i understand and im not trying to force banks to Sell Properties when they have loans but i have started talking to realtors about what can we do federally to shorten the timeframe, to give people some basic rights so they can get answers, straight answers about whether they are going to be able to sell their homes and get out from under a mortgage. It is an area thats on my radar i was also asked about the flood and i didnt remember to answer that. This is another area where people are losing their homes in this Congressional District still because of standard related issues. That causes a lot of foreclosures. We have people out of their homes because of sandy. I have worked very hard on accountability to fema, the flood reauthorization bill. I wrote part of it and i believe we will introduce you to a suite a part that deals with accountability and making sure fema can never do again what they did in this area of south jersey after sandy. I want to go to the back. I have a question. Thank you very much. Im a sitting School Board Members on my question is about education and that question is what program do you support for Public Education and what are your feelings for funding programs that will deter youth balance and that my third question has to do with the removal of funding for historical black colleges and universities from the department of education and recently i read that your president is trying to defund they are trying to defund historical black colleges and universities and i want to know what you were going to get due to make sure those colleges remain financially stable. [applause] first with regard to education broadly and supporting it i have supported a number of bills funding at the primary level, special education level. I am a strong believer that our future depends on how long how well we educate our children. I had to grandparents were principals and superintendents. My mother was a librarian. We grew up in a house where we didnt watch tv monday through friday. We read folks and i studied history and i studied education thats what a major dent in college. I have a strong sense that we have got to invest wherever its necessary. Im also very concerned about Higher Education costs. For students to borrow that high Interest Rates and have no ability to refinance makes no sense. We have a Public Policy interest in helping students be able to afford education and not be saddled with debt for decades. Its even worse today. Even worse today. I will continue to look at things like that. With regard to the historical black colleges this is the first i have heard of that. I had not heard of the funding. I had not heard of an effort to defund the historical black colleges but i will look into that. I appreciate it. I think im answering her question right now. Its a fair question. Would you let me look instead of responding to a hypothetical would you let me actually look at whats going on and then give you my response . I appreciate it. I think i said this gentleman back here. Congressman my name is Arnold Arnett and i live in new jersey just across the creek. Now they you are off the health care hotseat i think we are going to put you on another one. See that put the lie closer. You publicly stated that nobody is above the law. No president has refused to release his tax returns in 40 years. No prior president has had such expensive international and domestic holdings. The president has on numerous occasions stated that he would release his tax returns after his alleged tax audit. We dont have any proof that he is really under audit and even if he was the irs has indicated that there is no reason barring him from releasing his tax returns now. The most recent statement from secretary mineta and was mr. Trump had no intention of ever releasing his tax returns. Its obvious to even the most naive of us that there is information his tax returns that would create Serious Problems for him carrying out his president ial duties without enriching himself by virtuous this Foreign Holdings and financial entanglements. You voted seven times to Block Congress from forcing trump to release his tax returns. [applause] and he refused to sign a letter by signed by many of your colleagues were rude requiring him to release his tax returns. Why if you demanded that trump doesnt release his returns and why would you not cosponsor the president ial transparency a. C. T. H. R. 305 that would require trump to make his tax returns public . [applause] i do believe the president should release his tax returns. He said he would numerous times and i think he should. I dont think its congresss role to force that. Thats my answer. I think i said you sir next. Im going to stop before you speak. Its very interesting to me, i hear people calling out, i understand they are our different views but i hear people calling their congressman idiot trait i hear people shouting out bull garritys. I wonder, i really wonder how anyone of you would perform in congress if you were there with that attitude. I wonder. I wonder. Because you have to work, you have to work with people that agree with you and disagree with you and friends this is part of whats wrong in america. There is no civil discourse. There is no, well you know what . [inaudible] [applause] and what i would say, i will respond. You lied to us. You voted yes on a bill that cut our health care. I said i dont believe i have. What i would say regarding that what i would say regarding that is you may be right but two wrongs dont make a right. I am here, i told you i would be here as long as you want. Im here because i want to hear from you and my views do get shame but im asking you to consider is this what american politics is going to be . You dont like what somebody says. Is this what you want in your country. You dont like what somebody says so they are an idiot and they are a fraud. I hear you and im giving you my honest opinion. I said we would go to this gentleman. Im just asking you, ask yourself is this what you want america to be . I am giving you my time and my honest answer. Thats what im giving you. Sir, you were next. My name is allen. Im a teacher and ive been a teacher for going on 23 years. [applause] in this state its not often looked upon very fondly particular from our governor. While it is by me. Before i start i teach history and i have a little History Lesson here. Back when i was in college back in the 70s the teachers of the state colleges i was a student at the time. I went to a forum where there was a professor there that decided to cross the picket lines. And there were ones from the unions that were asked to discuss it with the students. He basically said he couldnt see doing that or striking because he didnt want it to impact the students. It was all about the students. I had an opportunity to ask him a question and my question to him was if its all about the students you are getting paid right now for crossing a picket line. Also whenever your salary increases those teachers on the picket line you get that benefit too so if you are willing for the teachers then why dont you take that extra money and put it aside for a scholarship for the students. If thats what you mean thats what you should do and of course refuse to do that. Its to all the people here and whoever else listens. Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words and we all have voices. One thing im grateful for for donald trump is this, he has woken up people. People have gotten off their couches and stop watching reality tv. I was so impressed by what i saw out there. So let that be a lesson. Its time to wake up. My second thing, you can say what you want here and im going to follow your actions because actions speak louder than words. You can make all the promises you want and ive heard them for many politicians but its what you do. You can tell anybody how passionate you are what i have seen this before where republicans got up before the veterans and everything and people should wear their lapels with the flag but when it came time to support them they voted it down. Actions speak louder than words. Now to my question, its coming. My School Districts just last month voted to cut all of our they fired them. They basically fired them because the money they would save because of health care they are now going private. We spoke up. The people spoke about how valuable they were and why are we going for poor forprofit company that actually served in philadelphia and failed. Why are we doing back . It was basically money that they were saving but heres the bad news about this. Since that time, that was just last month one of the teachers assistants husbands who is covered under her insurance just had a massive heart attack and died. Another one just discovered her husband discovered a lump on his neck and hasnt done that worth going to be. They are going to lose their job they are going to lose their insurance. They now have a preexisting condition. They are going to have to find insurance somewhere else and of course as they always do the republican response we are going to give you 2000 to cover your insurance. Now heres the thing. This is not a question. This is an invitation. I would like you to come out to my school and talk to the teachers assistants and tell them how this is going to take care of them. I would gladly set up a time for you to come out to my school and talk to those assistants and those aides. I have one aide coming to me just about every day in tears because she is losing her job and more importantly she is losing her insurance. This is a question other than will you come out to my school and speak to these people . I was at preschool sedan i would love to come to your school and we can talk about it. I would tell those people exactly what i have been saying all night, the effort here is to try to make sure that there is insurance available for them. That there is coverage available. Thats exactly what im trying to do. I get that you all dont agree with me but that is exactly what im trying to fix. The way it is right now they might not be able to find coverage that they can afford. Millions of people arent. Thats the problem. Millions of people in that exact situation under the current law are not finding the coverage that they need and thats what im trying to fix. One other thing i would like to say and i want to thank the woman over there that spoke up and had the courage to speak up. That was very brave of her. The thing is we are always told to be a connable for her actions and the Supreme Court ruled that corporations or individuals. In this Opioid Epidemic in this country i would like to know how we are voting these pharmaceutical companies responsible for this catastrophe in this country. Why are we making them pay . Well because we dont want to take away their prophets. This gets to what i said earlier. Thank you. This is why i have supported a part of this buildup puts more pressure on the state because the states are the ones who can get feeforservice under control and they are miss it a coat there are Different Things that drive generic prices so high and that drive proprietary drug so high. There are Different Things. I want to make the states participate in getting a grip on those costs. [inaudible] look there are a lot of causes for the Opioid Crisis and my focus now is not trying to point fingers but trying to find solutions. Armor cynicals need to be part of it. They need to be the ones who find the miracle painkiller that is not addictive. They need to do that. They need to do things like helping people not have cravings i want them to be part of the solution. They should be. Of course it does come as most things do. I said the woman behind you is next. Thank you. My name is jan cannon and im from mt. Laurel. You shared your story about your daughter and how you and your wife had to make a very difficult decision about what to do. I think its wonderful you had a right to make that choice. I have one other comment and a quick question. None of this in this room whether you are a multimillionaire or a 1000 air or a 100 air is going to get out of this life a life so the things we do affect other people the choices that we make, whether we impact 7 of the people or one person. Those decisions that we make, thats how we will always be remembered. When you make choices that hurt other People History will not be kind to you. The question i have unrelated to health care but related to russia, the russian situation is i cant help but think that if there was a different president and the white house, perhaps a woman with a d after her name and she had fired the person that was in the investigation on her, somehow i think that you would be of a different opinion about whether or not a special investigation or a special prosecutor would need to be convened. [applause] and i just want to know if thats true. Actually i wouldnt have a different opinion. I wouldnt because my opinion is the same that it has been. If the investigations that are continuing. Obviously we found earlier that the senate has subpoenaed the records of mr. Flynn. If the investigation suggested more concerns, obviously russia has interfered and need to pay a price for that but if it runs deeper than that i swore an oath to the constitution. I swore an oath to the constitution and i take that very seriously. That to me is sacrosanct. I wouldnt see this any differently. What i said before that i try to see things through a bipartisan lens, i do. I vote that way. The lugar center is the group that it violates whether members vote match their words. They put me in the top 15 of the most bipartisan and congress. Thats how i vote and thats how i see this issue. If it was a different president , Different Party and it was the same circumstance i would say the same thing. Let the elected officials that are charged with this, but the f. D i, the senate, the house finished their investigation. I dont think its going to take years. And you are confident that they can do this investigation because there has been an awful lot of obstruction going on. You could say the benghazi hearings went on too long but even day wrapped up. Even they wrapped up. I have knowledge in it. You might say they were party driven but even that had a lifespan to it. These things dont go on forever. Im just saying i think we should give this a chance and see what they say and then i will do my duty. Everything this president has done with regards to the Russian Investigation should give you cause for concern. It actually keeps me up at night. The actions of Michael Flynn give me great concern, great concern. But this president was praising him. You might see, you might see a special prosecutor that is some magic wallet. A special prosecutor is appointed by the president s attorney general. I dont think i dont see that as some Silver Bullet. I would rather see what the fbi and the senate and the house come up with first. Thats what i would rather see. Let me ask you this. I see a bunch more hands. I can go until there are no more hands or we can put a limit on how many more questions or we can put on a time limit. You have been up for a while so we will come back to you. I will get to you sooner or later. My name is judy mattox and im from willingboro. [applause] first of all i wanted to know why did they put us in this little room when we had Willingboro High School where everybody could attend. Everybody could have been here. We could have gone over there in the auditorium. All 200 people in all those people outside. Why did they put this in this little small room . The answer is simple, because i cant have a conversation when people are 150 feet away. Thats why they do these in the round. I dont mind doing a lot of them. I do it in this setting because i want to have a conversation and what i have seen with those auditoriums as they ceased to be conversations and i think thats healthy. Thats the way that i do this. This makes it look like not that many people showed up. We had about 300 people here. There are a whole lot more outside. I can see everyone of you and you can see me and we can have a conversation. Maybe its not perfect but this is what i find the best way. By the way we were and auditorium with 1000 people, 90 of them, 95 of them would never get to ask their question. You are in a situation now where you have some chance. Okay, back to health care. I was a Health Care Provider for 37 years. I worked on the streets of camden as an emergency medical technician so health care is very important to me. I have seen people with and without and he here i have what is actually in the g. O. P. Health care bill. Im just going to read you, it imposes a mandate by another name. Im not going to read all of this. Who published it . He gives tax breaks to the wealthy, two funds planned parenthood for one year and now Older Americans will be charged and sick americans can be charged for. Like me and pulled me in and of the cuts for medicaid recipients, or cause states to cough up or money. Thats what we are we are talking about when it goes back to the states. Cut School Services for disabled children. Thats the medicare cut and could weaken employersponsored insurance is what i have. I am retired. I just retired a year ago. As far as Social Security i got my Social Security in three days so a shoutout. And i take medication. Hopefully i wont be affected. It costs 7000 a month. I have ms so my medication, some of them are trials and when it comes out of the trial they give it to us but im taking it now. My Health Insurance is covering it. I pay 37 for a 90day supply. Is that going to be affected . Semigoing to be affected because i will die you know because my medication stops my flareups. Thats why i can walk and come up here and talk with you. Because of the expensive medications that i take. That list of things that you mentioned, i know those are peoples concerns. I read all of the detractors, people saying you work putting this, you are cutting this, you are cutting this. I get that. I could go down that list that you put in front of me and give an answer to each item. I probably answered most of those tonight. I dont believe that this is what it does at all. What this whole effort is for is for people like you to make sure that you do have that coverage. Right now if we dont find a way to cover those who are the most expensive and break down premiums for everyone else, if we dont do both a large group of our population is not going to have what you are talking about. That is the reality of it and you can disagree with the how but what i propose is trying to thread the needle. That is difficult. People talk about it but how do you do it . How do you make sure. A lot of you stood up before that you have a preexisting condition. I know you want to be covered and i want you to be covered but i want your children to be covered too. I want the 25yearold who is not buying insurance today because its 6000 they have an 8000dollar deductible. They are saying why do i have to buy insurance . So all i am trying to do is to make sure that people with preexisting conditions, people who have the worst conditions and the highest cost are taxpayerfunded. Taxpayers very much Broader Group than policyholders and by the way we have the progressive tax system which means when you have people with preexisting conditions the most expensive costs when they are paid for by taxpayers those with more are paying more. Thats how the tax system works. That is why i have proposed moving those people to a different system and that allows everyone off to have much lower premiums. We have 23 million americans right now who do not have Health Insurance. They pay a penalty. Thats true and that was the success of the Affordable Care act. It did reduce the number of uninsured and i applaud that. I applaud that. But it never got at the cost and the problem is now you are going to see that number start to go up. We are seeing it go up now because people are dropping out because they cant afford it. What is left are the people with the highest cost in plants that are beginning to implode. Thats what im trying to fix so that we can cover you, cover me when i had issues in my family which is why i shared that story. It was 20 years ago. Im not looking for sympathy. Im trying to make people understand i get it. I get it. I have lived it and i want people with high cost to be covered and i want everyone else to still be able to afford insurance. If we miss missed something, if we missed something and we find more people are uninsured i will be the first on line to fix that. Im not saying this is a perfect solution. The Current System isnt perfect either and thats what we are trying to fix. One more question. Go ahead. Why do you and other Congress Members and senators consistently listened to donald trump lyme . Eliades, he lies and the lies and you all know he lies. You cover your ears but you have to know he is lying. He will Say Something one day and say well i didnt say that. Call me told me i wasnt being investigated. Thats a federal offense to say that but nobody is saying anything. [applause] the fbi director told me i wasnt being investigated. Thats illegal but nobody says anything. They let him have karp launch. I hear you. Im either going to defend nor a tack everything that our president says. I havent been over here in a while. I didnt ignore it. I actually said im not going to defend or respond to everything our president says. Im not going to do it. Look, there are lots of issues that im trying to work on. Congress is it so equal separate branch of government. We dont oversee the executive. The American People elect wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. The American People elect their president and they elect congress. Let me just finish. There are checks and balances. Congress is not the board of directors of the white house and im not going to answer for everything he says or does. Doesnt mean that i agree with it all. I will make sure that if things are done but violates the separation of powers, things that go too far i will do my job as a member of congress. That is what i have said to you about these investigations. I dont know whats going to come out of it. I dont know. I have concerns. I dont know whats going to come out of that but if things that come out of these investigations tell me that its a more serious problem i will respond to those brea dam not going to rush to judgment though but im going to wait and see what they come back with. Somebody new. Im sorry, you. Im sorry. Congressman my name is lisa foley and im from new jersey. I actually first have a complement for you before i start. I will take it. I would like to compliment you on your work on getting everybody at fort dix and mcguire equal pay. That was appreciated because the new jersey side was definitely getting the wrong end of the stick on that one so thank you for that. Also thank you for bringing additional contracts at fort dix and mcguire, so thank you. [applause] i do have something to say about health care. My husband and i have preexisting conditions and i hear what you are saying. We are currently covered by our employers however my job is very volatile. I lost my job for a year and a half a few years ago and had to use my entire 401 k takei the roof overhead to make sure that my daughter was able to stay in school. If i lose my job today because the mortgage industry is very volatile with rates and i could wake up tomorrow morning with no job. That means no insurance. My preexisting condition at that point will not be covered and if i take a job with another employer they have the opportunity to not cover me. Thats what i understand about the bill. My second part is as far as being for single play i get highrisk pools to my father was in the Insurance Industry his entire career. My husband is an analyst for an Insurance Company so i understand highrisk pools. If i choose to be a reckless driver, to drive under the influence i deserve to be in a highrisk pool. I did nothing to cause my fibromyalgia. My husband did nothing to have hodgkins has a 3yearold and our repeat of cancer at 52 and also being diabetic. So why do certain people deserve Better Health care than others . [applause] what i have tried to say and i will say it again just to make it clear. I have tried to make it that folks like you dont have to worry about that. If you lose your job the whole idea is to have help from this health plan so you can continue to buy cobra benefits get to the next job. When you get to the next job people can deny you coverage to go to another group plan. Whats back . That was the last bucket of money we added to the bill because we were responding to what you asked and what you asked earlier is how do we make sure that people dont suddenly not have continuous coverage . Thats why we added those funds but your suggestion that you can go to another employer and they can deny you, that is against the law. It cannot be denied for a preexisting condition. In the current law or the new law. We have a change that. There are a lot of things in the Affordable Care act that we did not touch. You cannot be denied coverage. Let me make this crystal clear. You cannot he denied insurance for preexisting condition under any circumstances. You cannot be denied coverage. You cannot he denied folks let me finish. I get that and i will come to that in a moment that im trying to unpack this. You cannot be denied or thats called guaranteed issue. That is the law be havent changed it. You cannot he denied a renewal. That is the law. You cannot have your premiums if you are in an insurance plan, you cannot be denied or get out of your premiums while you are insured. Its against the law. It is now out of a continue. The question i heard over here is a fair question. What about if i get priced out of the market . Thats a fair question. That is precisely what im trying to fix, to make sure that you have these risk pools that pick you up before those rates skyrocket. I didnt mandate this but we created a federal risk pool as a model and states can participate in it with federal money. That is exactly what i prescribed earlier. You would buy insurance. You wouldnt even know that is handled by the risk pool. You have a card like everyone else and your doctors dont treat you any different. People let the Insurance Companies for the most part dont see that you were in a risk pool but its paying your claims because they are higher than others people. It protects you and it keeps everyone elses premiums affordable. That is what im trying to balance. Its not easy. I understand another solution to that is singled pay her. I get that. I think thats ultimately not a good solution for the American People but i get that it is a solution. Im trying to deliver a i get that. I dont want you to pay higher. The whole idea here is that the risk pools dont discriminate against you because of her preexisting condition. How it gets funded may be different but it wont make your premiums skyrocket. Just because somebody says it doesnt make it so. I hear you but just because somebody says youre premiums are going to go through the ref doesnt make it so. That is not what this does. [inaudible] we put 138 billion dollars, by the time it was all done, some say let me ask you this at 230 billion is necessary for preexisting conditions that the Current System is going to collapse much faster than i suggested. If you need that now the paper the same people if you need that now Healthy People are not getting insured. They are dropping out. Im not making it worse. We have set aside monies that didnt exist then. 138 billion is for the exact people you are concerned about. The individual market who have not had continuous coverage, those are the exact people that im trying to protect. If it turns out that its not enough i will be the first on line to make sure that it is enough. When you spread this across the whole Taxpayer Base its much deeper, there is much more Funds Available that if you tried out the Smaller Group of other policyholders paying for it. That is what is breaking broken is market today. Thats what we are trying to fix you have been waiting. Your arm must be getting tired so i will go over here. Im. I am jeff. Im a constituent. Im from pine beach. In march you told us you practically broke your arm patting yourself on the back for not voting in january to a lemonade the aca. You told us that was because you didnt think health care could be solved in a couple of months. Too complicated. It took you three weeks, three weeks to go from its too complicated and it cant be done quickly to ive got a huge pile of excrement here that is a horrible mess of the bill and 17 of the pop of the poplis wanted. The cbo said it would take 24 Million People off of Health Insurance. Three weeks, congressman. Three weeks tommy boy, thats all it took for you. Im not going to do that quickly two i have a yes vote in my pocket and im going to use it. They took that photo of the bill because they knew it was not going to pass. I thought, thank god. Thank god we are not going to have to do that. It took a couple of days. A couple more days and we got the macarthur amendment. Congratulations, you are in history now. You are in the National Spotlight and thats one thing i want to talk about, the National Spotlight or you keep talking about all the constituents that you would hear two and in this county they believed one thing and over in this county they believed another thing in your turn to thread the needle. You havent read it at all. Everyone that is going to be losing from this you have not not addressed. You have not adjusted properly and you have not adjusted fully. You have ignored us pray to have called your office incessantly and i get people who dont know whats going on. I dont get any return phonecalls. If i get effexor and e. Malaga to form level that informs me about what i contacted you about and why you cant do anything about it because still in committee. You look forward to taking my opinions into consideration. You have not taken my opinions into consideration. Its too complicated. Its not going to get done in a month, three weeks. What is your question. We havent even begun. Im not done with you yet pray you yet pray that got the mic and im not going anywhere. Turn up the power. Ive got a very loud voice. This aint over yet. My wife was diagnosed with cancer when she was 40 years old. She beat it. Every day, every day she thinks about it. Something going on somewhere is this cancer . Do i have a good to kill me this time . Is it going to take me away from my children speaking of which my children both have preexisting conditions. One cardiac, one tirade. You have been the single greatest threat to my family and the entire world. You are the reason i stay up at night. You are the reason that i cant sleep. What happens if i lose my job . I have a really good job and i have really good Health Insurance and we can all have peace of mind. But now my wife every day is wondering if shes going to get cancer. Now she has to contend with what if i husband loses his job . If i lose my job we can afford cobra. We cannot afford to get insurance. We get it from my employer. If i lose it, its gone. If i lose my job on a monday if im lucky enough to find a job on a tuesday which never happens they will not have insurance ready for me. I will not be eligible for three to six months. If i lapse my coverage within 63 days suddenly im in a highrisk pool. My preexisting conditions which i dont give a [bleep] about. Come after me i dont care but you came after my wife. You came after my kids. I have sympathy for your mother. I have sympathy for your daughter. You did not learn the lessons they were trying to teach you because this is what you did to us. And this district you do not listen but your actions affect the entire country. There is no one in this country that your actions are not going to affect. So everyones voice is important and went 17 of the population said dont do it, you did it. This man is correct when he said that you brought it back from death. Ryan said instead, trump said its dead and you said ive got a better idea. Last time you told us he went to congress to fix the problem that you didnt want to decorate a chair, do you did and want to choose between being an obstructionist and i want to get something done. That was the keenest of your intellect that you only had two choices in front of you. Dont be an obstructionist or make Something Better. That was a horrible bill available to you from a horrible group of people who believe that we dont deserve Health Insurance. They have said it on tv and you are not paying attention and thats your responsibility. They said it. They said if we get sick its our fault. These are the people that are in your party that you are working with. These are the people that came up with a plan thats going to kill millions ofeople. The cbo scored it, 24 Million People off of Health Insurance and they call that choice. Choosing not to have Health Insurance if we cant afford it, that is insulting and detrimental to the Mental Health of us in the nation. But all of this, all of this totally misses the point. You do not buy Health Insurance the same way you buy a car come the same way you buy a house. Those are already complicated things to do. You have to know about cars, you have to know about houses a little bit that they are reasonable ways to be educated on those things and make reasonable choices. I work in health care sir. It is complicated or the only one that doesnt believe in a comp is complicated is the fools sitting in the white house. [applause] and you are working with him to take something that he does understand that he wont be responsible for because hes going to be fine. You are working with him and you are working with ryan and working with people who dont care about us. If you want to make Something Better you could have made the aca better directly. You could have made sure that all the funding that youre saying we need right now, just put it in there. Show me what you are doing and show me whats going on that you can do something instead of fighting with people that clearly by their own words do not care. They want their money back. That is their version of compassion. [applause] if you were bipartisan u. Would have worked with the democrats. But the point is, health care is not like buying anything else. You cannot expect people to be good consumers of health care. A wonderful talking point. Thank god for the g. O. P. We need to be better consumers of health care. Youre supposed are supposed to be vetting doctors embedding hospitals in knowing what an mri cost in knowing what it costs and if i need a cardiac catheter how much is at cost and does it cost different if i had this doctor for this doctor . Its completely immoral and this is the point congressman, this is the point because Health Insurance is a forprofit business and is immoral. You insist that i pay before you you that is immoral served. You have no leg to stand on. You want to make money off of me. Your insurance come you want to make money off of me and the reason we dont go to singlepayer is not because you dont believe it, its because you know the Insurance Companies have a powerful lobby and they would decimate you. [applause] 30, 40 years and we have been slowly going to sleep. Just watch your reality tv. Its American Idol at 8 00. Thats whats important. No more. You came for me, they came for my wife. I will not forgive and i will not forget. I dont want to hear you respond im not interested. I have heard it already. I have been watching you on tv and i read the bill that you sponsor could i read the one that you are willing to say yes to. I know exactly whats going on congressman. Im not an idiot. I see it and everyone here knows whats going on and everyone in the country knows whats going on. You owe it to everyone, your fundamental principle is flawed. I dont have any choice with the Insurance Company. I have no value to an Insurance Company. I cant do anything to their ceo. I cant do anything to their employees. I can argue until im blue in the face but a singlepayer run by the government oh yeah its got problems with its also got elections and you are going to find that out in 2018. [applause] thats it, thats it. Go ahead and have your conversations but i will tell you another thing not you, not you, not you, no one in this room can tell me with 100 certainty that the person in the white house works for us and doesnt have interest in russia that he is answering to. And you sir said he is drumming up business to take us into war in it with north korea. The first words he said to us were im not donald trump. I have an orange wig. You may so put it on. You will do less damage. You are done. [applause] get the mic. Get the mic. No, no. Get the mic. I will give you a chance when i call you. We are not going to turn this into a freeforall though. If you are done having a civil meeting then the meeting has gone on for hours and it will be over. If you have one more questions, if you have more questions i will answer them. If you dont then the meeting will be over. It will be over. The lady over here. You have spoken once tonight. Im going to go to somebody new. I will answer your question. Wait for the mic, please. Wait for the mic. Veaux im going to answer to more questions. I think we are at that point. I think we are at that point. I will remain with those of you that have questions that this is not going to turn into a freeforall. Which is close to now. Right here. Did you have a question as well . I will come to you soon. My question to you, do you believe in our judicial system . Do you believe in our judicial system . Of course. You to . How come then you dont believe when the people were stopped at the airport, how come you didnt voice europe union to say this is wrong when actual citizens were stopped at the airport . Do you believe in the judicial system . You said yes. Then how come you are not speaking up for donald trump who is finding out something is wrong with our country. How come you are not saying what he did yesterday was wrong and you know that today he kicked out all of these abc cnn whoever was standing but he allowed the russian reporters so if you dont believe in our system thats why you dont speak up. He created something there was many ended to help other people but i have not seen you try to help the other people. You raise the benghazi issue but donald trump is doing something wrong. And you are not even speaking up greg. Led me respond. With regard to the people i did speak up by a net with Muslim Leaders that very week to talk to their concerns and i did speak up how that we needed to be focused on security not of people that our citizens. I agree. There is no place for having american citizens were caught up in that. So all i said a the time is a do support trump to beef up security to make sure the borders are safe. I have said that over and over. The president has the right to choose the people that will serve in his the ministry shin. And i talk about it a little but to give the lie fortune to this foundation and giving away a lot of money and not looking to boast but we have given away lot to help people in need for this is an for show. Or has this gentleman did to have the blood of people on my hands is simply not true. Is not true and it is not fair either. What i say yes you may have done that on the side that is one thing that i do respect. But. To show that you are looking after us or the head person who is making money. I hope you tell your wife. [applause] i is angry as everybody else but i promise to be civil and not condescending. I am was from westhampton by the way. We saw earlier when everybody was standing up with racing conditions i was not able to stand up by cannot hold the microphone because my a preexisting condition is muscular dystrophy we have had to watch my muscles deteriorate for the past 20 years to get to this point. And i imagine you can empathize with a severe disability but actually have to questions but this goes back to single payer. If you say if it is the solution now works Running Health care and to me that says it is taken at face value in this inherently corrupt not lobbying incs including Insurance Companies also with the interests of the American People also the ac a because you and many of your colleagues address importance of repealing the ac delaware that it wasnt too much government but Insurance Companies that are the problem. And washington is there cannot even be a conversation about Health Care Without including Insurance Companies and that says to meet news side are theyre really on . Talk about having government mandates, it will be allowed Insurance Companies to consider preexisting conditions . Of much of a tax break do they get to offset the high premium . If that is so k. There to involve government than why cant we trust them to run the health care themselves . Butted doesnt seem that way if youre not one of these people to turn the other cheek about the rules of the Supreme Court justice. [applause] but then you sat by and even changed the rules for voting so with seems to me it is a blatant attempt to force the constitution to one side of the aisle for many years. So do you support the blocking of judge garland and acknowledge it is clearly a partisan act . I will answer the second one first. Cannot in the senate to. I dont get a choice if the initiative taken the nomination. That is not something i am involved in. I dont weigh in publicly on every last issue. So why pick and choose others wish i would pick and choose but that is the job after figure out where i can be effective. Theater question this insightful is if the government can create the rules how insurance is sold like can they run that . We also heard insurance is immoral to nine to help people pull the rest one of the things that has made the economy because after the of baddie vendor have insurance on homes and cars it helps us to help each other. I was proud to be in there because they saw lot of good for people after that even to. Live answering his question. [inaudible] i think government for health care absolutely. But the best role for government is to be the entity that says you cannot just do whatever they want you cannot raise the rates because they get set up. The result water for rules and the vast majority set in place is still in place. There is an absolute rule but when the government starts to be the only one who delivers the service of lot of my staff tonight they are the ones who have to go to the Social Security it ministrations if you cannot even get a phone call back. But she could not get a return call i am rising bureaucrats are spending like that but that people have a incredible capacity for compassion. That limited accountability i dont Want Health Care run that way. Medicare does but i do bill lot of complaints on medicare issues. And that is a whole different context which is Employer Sponsored Health care. That is enormous competition let me finish. [inaudible] i gave you 10 uninterrupted minutes in is my turn. The reason why medicare worked so well it is a small part of the overall environment that employers are competing with those arguing with Insurance Companies and those with the goose deviations with doctors and hospitals with what they will charge. And then to be better for the American People to create the rules of engagement. And that is a far better result than the government controlling the lot stock and barrel. Im not trying to go back to obamacare. [inaudible] that is what you have and is failing. And today were hitting the limits because the way it is setup is unsustainable. I am not going back. [inaudible] health care is approaching 20 percent of gdp it is getting close to 20 if we dont find ways to bring down the cost it will swallow a saliva. Single payer does not do that. And no new hire the government and then they become potentially paid by bureaucrats and then eight would decide if you have knee surgery only get there be for a weeks what if you needed for 13 weeks . Im not saying its perfect but what this effort that is its takes the Affordable Care act in place if you know, about the title one requirement it is all as a federal standard. That is great. I like with delaware have it laudable for those that failed for decades now to the other big question. But money does not grow on trees we cannot do with the cost of welfare we cannot let this continue to rise i hear your fear and anger i am trying to create system. But what i did i believe does that. And maybe i have been insurance 30 years it is possible but it will help. With his possible. Cement this is fundamentally immoral. Put it down you dont believe it. I did ask to allow for the fact i am working on it every day. Could i have a minute please . My name is claudia i m mainers for 27 years. Nurses are at the patients bears bedside. I went to washington to talk about the affordable air care act we are sorely disappointed in the amendment to strip care from those in need it the most this is National Nurses week where were obligated to protect our patience or the shortsighted policies in congress but i saw a number of patients died because they could not afford health care. I saw when they were really hospice patients in just diagnosed. Also seeing hospitals closing in the hospital could not meet their bills. Right on the cusp of collapsing. And then many patients received a delay in treatment. And to have very Good Health Care coverage but that might employers cobra was way too expensive on the fixedincome to qualify for those disability benefits in the maximum is only 10 percent. So without be a california i could not have afforded to have insurance and that is what i have no. A lot of people dont realize when you become disabled with a security benefits you use a half to wait two years before you get Social Security. To have bases thing will not say preexisting but the existing problem. And could not afford my medication and in addition i take 10 better not even covered that our doctor ordered it is not that i just decided to take supplements it is a result of what the doctor ordered. Some people were not given Jeans Holding my arm up tonight was difficult i am a survivor of Breast Cancer. Only one arm can go up very well. I also am a member of the Health Professionals in the state and we represent 13,000 members. So that is a lot of your constituents. But what really bothers me i dont think anybody would really know. That a lot of this is for a tax break for the rich. Wonder the things i always used to say is that you took out the profit margin. And that this was the i saw every day. I remember when i started to do home care before anybody was talking about the hca. Those who had to choose with medication six weeks later was dead and that was not to be by the medication i have a daughter and grandson is she has only been able to get parttime work in was so most of highschool therein is only about six or 12 months until she finally got hersey dl and now she is a truck driver during the for one year. And then hopefully i can move to an apartment. [laughter] but most importantly the point that i want to make is that you need to listen to doctors and nurses also you have heard from a couple of nurses to night and they agree it is not good the hca is not perfect but it is better than what you are proposing so i hope and when this comes back from the senate because i am sure that it will to take some time to talk to the doctors and nurses about what is important not worry about keeping up the industry that is profitmaking. And it is beyond that profitmaking single pair would also solve that problem to make that expense equal with everybody. Thank you for your time you dont have to respond but to say they listened to me as sanders i have been in those situations as your daughter or your father. I do hear you. [applause] first of all, i want to think your wife. She is walking around. Deal had been a plans were released your tax returns or how much of her personal fortune is invested in the Insurance Companies your trying to save . [applause] i have to file annual and monthly disclosures and congress has very strict rules how we report. Was then head on have to do but i have done on the arms Services Committee i sold the interest in any companies in defense when i got to financialservices i did the same thing. I did not have to but i did not want conflict of interest and i divested myself not only insurance but other financial companies. Can you pull a more specific information on your website . Yes. We can do that. With the office in a phone call san the staff. I cannot ask for more because we have a very limited budget with a lot of people calling sometimes they will get 1,000 people to call our office arne the issue ended ties up the phone lines. Were doing well we can to help constituents on cases. This is the reason we exist. I was sending personal letters to every person that wrote to. But the problem is we cannot keep up with the volume at this point so we are sending out a response on every letter but i can bite them i think we had 40,000 people contact us in my first term were just approaching that now in this term i dont know the number of the and by saying we are trying to respond to a lot of input. We give them credit for working hard to respond to people. I dont know the answer to that. I f bin living and working with the stage for Breast Cancer over four years. I have the Employer Sponsored Health care to my husbands job like the gentleman with a heart condition nipping slip could change that. So those premature babies before with the the hospital already beating the of maximum amount. Minders standing that plan that you proposed to restore the ability of the companys to reinstate that limit . There is a lifetime cap that was not touched by this bill. So the Affordable Care act, this is where rumor becomes fact and in the worst possible solution they can imagine is the new fact that without lifetime caps. And as you found out with your daughter it isnt that hard to spend 1 million on health care. With research at the nih but that it gives me hope. One of uh produce both cycas was 21st century cheers and did did the opposite and authorized a great deal of new funding specifically for the most common diseases like cancer cancer, alzheimers, diabetes to crack the code and then added funding for the are Rare Diseases like what my daughter had. Now we have to fight to appropriate. And then to find solutions not only the human suffering in to find the cure for that to. The cost is in the trillions of what theyre proposing or suggesting of alzheimers will costain newly if we dont find a cure. So to me this is critical funding budgets are all about priorities. We cannot spend money to the fold decree. This is why i said i thought reforming medicaid to get the states involved in cutting costs how do we spend 1 trillion on medicaid or medicare or Social Security . Education there is not enough money in the country. So to find ways to find those other suffering it to keep the costs down. The Insurance Companies are getting richer, the pharmaceutical companies are getting richer, the people invest in the companies are getting richer. As a part of this bill, theres 1 trilliondollar tax cut for those groups. The richar richard households ae saving 200,000 and youre saying theres nothing you can do about it. To me, you regulate these companies, you regulate the Insurance Companies, you regulate the pharmaceutical companies. That is Something Congress can do. Theres no reason for them to charge of person with a preexisting condition more. They are not losing money. For every person with a preexisting condition, theyre probably thousands of people who pay premiums yearly and never have any condition or have to do anything except go to the dr. Theyre not going to lose money, theyre just make a more more. The biggest part of our budget increases every years Health Insurance. Is the biggest portion. Its not right. Theres no reason. Theyre making more money, youre giving them more money and tax breaks him i dont get it. Explain it to me like in five years old. I wish it were that simple, but its not. In the group market they are enough people that it works the way you described it. In the Employer Market theres enough people, covered 61 of americans. Theres enough people there that the worst conditions are balanced by the millions more, but not in the individual market. Insurers are not making money hand over fist. Theyre leaving hand over fist because they say theyre losing money and voting with their feet. Thats a concern i have. When he tried to prejudice people are separate out people with preexisting condition, see opposite. Im trying to make sure those people are protected on their pools to help the. Unfortunately while we are heading toward is is balancing out therell be no insurance for either group. Thats where were heading. Im not talking about everywhere, im talking about in this part of the market. This individual market. Im sorry, its been a long night, i did not mean to forget you. Go ahead. I want to thank all of the News Reporters who are here. This question is related to you. It does not have to do with fake media, my name is laura, im in city and my husband and i are Small Business owners. We own we run an online website. He is actually still probably outside. I dont know if he can hit this or not but weve heard you talk about your support for Small Businesses which is nice. A crucial part of Small Business develop it about accessing the internet whether through website, social media podcast. In regard to that, what are your stances on Net Neutrality . When the current chairman wanted to take down the regulation we support Small Businesses in your constituents who on the or let Internet Service providers control what we can access. [applause] it is been a while since i looked at this issue. I think the issue i had with the way internet providers would be in regulated is there are being treated like utilities. They are not utilities. I think there are issues about people having access, but people paying for speedier access to people having basic access. The last time i looked at this issue it was a matter of not feeling to recognize that companies that invest in faster fiber and ways of connecting need to be able to recoup that investment. The concern for hours for future when it comes up because it inevitably will, we are concerned that our isps can delegate which websites will come up on searches first. That means our business may suffer. We may benefit but we also may suffer. Its not a free market or fair market. We want to make sure the internet stays that way saw the News Reporters, we havent Massive Networks here in smaller, people are probably in every single part of their website trying to get this news up. We want to make sure that we all have access. I would love to sit down and talk it through. Sometime in the last Congress Last time the issue came up. I would love to sit down with you and your husband and talk about it from the perspective of Small Business. Seven of ten new jobs come from Small Businesses. We have to make sure that those businesses are thriving and treated fairly. Thats an invitation. We can make that happen. I was over here. Hello, im nervous. Im ellen and also a valid cheer for our. One of the things i was asking is when people call up and they ask if theyre going to use lose coverage and you say yes there will be people who fall through the cracks. But i want to Say Something, as a volunteer for aarp, i heard you speak prior to the election and i was so impressed i walked around and told everybody to vote for you. I thought the were the best thing since cream cheese. I was totally blown over. Mostly because of you tell me how you always work with the democrats. And how every bill you did was with the democrats. Then unfortunately i dont like him he scares me more than anything in the world, President Trump was elected. I was sitting in my seat and you called for a town hall meeting. And i listened and i was really upset because everything that President Trump did you backed. You backed the ban the travel ban you supported, the one thing nobody ever talks about was the check on Mental Health when you voted to no longer check Mental Health. And i thought hes afraid of the people coming from the countries we dont see any terrorists, not saudi arabia or pot pakistan which we agreed with by you voted to stop having Mental Health checks on people getting guns when every mass shooting has been people with Mental Health. And everything that the republicans are doing, everything youre backing and youre not working with the democrats. As far as the Affordable Care act, there are many things wrong with it. And you keep talking about it being wrong. Hillary clinton and her campaign acknowledged that. Hillary clinton acknowledged that. They said theres things wrong with it so why reinvent the wheel when you could fix that. Hillary was going to fix it, my doctors do not get involved in politics. For my doctors have talked to me about how scared they are. One comes from penn to come from penn the doctors are terrified of this. I see something that happened to you and it scares me, because you were outstanding before trump came in. Now, now you are a really big shot. Everybody knows who because of this bill. It was done boom, boom, boom. All these people are upset with you. What happened to . What about whats happening, this man just fired the fbi director, my daughterinlaw comes from key have ukraine, my baby grand to his half ukrainian. Putin went into that country. Putin was involved in our election. This is scary thing. What are you going to do about it, im gonna wait see what happens, come on, what is going on in America Today . This is what happened with nix nixon, this is a time when you and the rest of the republicans have to stop worrying about party and start worrying about our country. Are you scared . We know the russians were involved in the election, arent you scared . Do you really have faith in mr. Trump . The fbi director, do know the fbi director asked for more money for the investigation . This is after they were campaigning about flynn i just cannot believe that youre not afraid of this. This is no time, this is the time he should be bipartisan. That may respond, first, i do respect the judgment of the American People. The American People elected the president that we have. They really didnt. The population wise they didnt. Hillary one. Can i just say, the irony of the reason for firing is that he says he was firing her because he said he was firing him because he outed hillary by saying he was going to investigate her but the reason why she lost was because he auditor. Thats a ridiculous. Im not oblivious to these things. It happened 24 hours ago. What ive said all along is that you need to let things, not rush the judgment. Im not going to respond instantly to everything, you have stated when as most people here have, that you dont like this president , you dont trust him and therefore everything he does you are willing to rush to judgment because thats your starting point. Thats not my starting point. Im trying to work with this president , i havent stopped working with democrats the only issue for me that is become poisonous if you will is healthcare. This one is too far gone. It was passed in the first place by one party alone and now its been changed by one party alone. I believe its unfortunate. But i havent stopped working with democrats. I were constantly, i have worked with donald locally. Ive worked with other members of congress on heroin issues. I chair the most of Bipartisan Committee in congress, the heroine task force with the democratic cochair. Annie custer from new hampshire. And we do not do anything in that committee unless both parties agree. We dont proceed on any legislation or efforts of muscles bipartisan. So i understand what youre saying they are concerned that ive agreed with trump on a number of things. Look, its only four months into this administration and much of what i voted on to not emanate from the white house, it emanated from congress. Do you really agree there shouldnt be a mental check on guns . Thats a good question. Thats talk about what i voted on. The same day voted on the bill your talked about i press for more funding for the instant background check. I dont believe anybody thats a danger to themselves or somebody else should have guns. Theres nobody in this room that wants people that are a danger to themselves or others to have a gun. But what i voted on was a rule that got past by the Obama Administration seven years and nine months into the administration. It was not a high priority it was done at the last minute. What it said was Senior Citizens and Social Security, if they need help with financial forms and i need to have an appointed person to help with reforms, that got reported to the federal government with regard to them being able to own a firearm and i did not see the connection. I thought that was an encroachment on peoples rights. A lot of people need help with financial forms. They suddenly have lesser Second Amendment rights . I do not think that was fair. The same week youre talking about that vote, i was pressing for more money for the instant background check. Havent changed in that regard. With a lot of these things you hear one side in the media any think thats it, thats the truth. I have all the respect in the world for the people behind the scammers, but they are not the arbiters of absolute truth. Whether you go for your news to msnbc or cnn, fox, people go to the newscasters they agree with and then they believe everything they hear. I dont. I go to msnbc, cnn, fox, i listen to all of them in my truck. I dont listen to just what one person says. Thats part of the problem. You hear that you think suddenly i have change course, i havent. My commitments have been the same. I believe people have a Second Amendment right to protect themselves and their families. But i also think you need reasonable protections that they dont become a harvard for themselves and others. Ive i spent in the same place. Who is not asked a question . Trying to get to everybody. Thank you congressman. I appreciate you finally letting me ask a question again. Before i ask i have of fact check. One of the things came up earlier is were discussing meet hundred billion dollars been cover medicaid. The other thing that came up is out of that 850 been cut, 765 billion is going to be used for tax cut. Out of that 765 billion, 64 of the ghosts of the top 1 . Earlier you asked who has investments, who would like a tax break . A lot of people did say they had investments. The problem with her, was the text were talking about, 3. 8 Investment Income is part of this tax cut. A. 9 payroll tax cut. The issue is that only applies to people making over 200,000. My question is who in this room is making over 250,000 a year, thats not me. The tax cuts that youre saying apply to everybody, dont. In terms of dollars, that was one of the smallest ones there. Just to be clear, all of the taxes from the Affordable Care act, without exception all of them have been cut. Dealing point i was making us theyre not targeted at wealthy people. 64 of the taxes go to the top 1 . I is doing it as a fact check. Again, im not talking about alternative facts here. This is a fact that most of those tax go to the richest people. So i know you are very wealthy individual so congratulations on your success. That is awesome for you. But based on what i know about your finances, your personal tax cut per year for the next ten years is going to be somewhere between 37000. 250000 depending on where you fall. I know you probably wont have an exact answer on how much your tax cut is until the final score comes out but youre gonna fall into that tax bracket. A person like me, my annual tax cuts from this is going to be roughly about 100. That is based on what is currently available right now. Thats without a final cbo score. My question for you is that one of the big things talked about so far in healthcare as preexisting conditions. The other thing that hasnt got much attention is what states can ask for a waiver on any of the ten each piece, the essential Health Benefits. Is that true thats one of the waivers . So, how in good conscious can you allow certain states to dictate the type of healthcare those residents get. One of her comments earlier was that you dont want single payer healthcare is you dont think the bureaucracy should be in charge of determining healthcare for individuals. Isnt that a contradiction for you allowing certain states to say what it states can or have to cover. In addition whites a bigger issue is theres a mechanism that allows private employers to go ahead and get their underwriting in a different state that might have reduced each piece. If employers do then it doesnt just affect the people in the private market it affects most of the 64 thicken Insurance Coverage to their employer. My employer could decide they want to go ahead and underwrite their planet mississippi and decide things like emergency care, maternity care, Prescription Drug coverage, all those things are not necessary for Insurance Coverage. How is that okay . [applause] its okay for this reason. The only way states can do the is in the interest of driving down cost and increasing the number of insured. Theres no way that if you take out those ten each piece that will drive down cost. Heres the problem. For that particular state, not the individuals who live in that state. When the federal government requires every single insured, every single one in the entire country i the same by the big same big bucket of benefits whether they need them or not, that drives up the costs were people are not buying insurance. See you say thats not fair, somebody might buy a policy that doesnt cover maternity, heres whats happening now. A 26yearold single male is required to buy maternity coverage to buy pediatric dental coverage, to buy all kinds of other things that he has no use for. A 55yearold woman past childbearing. Were getting off track. What if we start with something more basic and i know you want to answer but isnt it the same you set on your website and every other statement. Lets start this way then, in your mind what exactly is insurance . Insurances grouping people that have an interest in the same risk. Thats what insurances. So americans dont have an interest in ensuring other americans. No, youre back to the same, if you want to put every single american into the single payer pool than what you say makes sense. Your spreading risk and cost. This sounds great but when you make people pay for coverage they dont need and dont want many of them, 23 million to be exact dont buy insurance. I dont want to pay for all of that stuff. Thats the problem with that. By the way, lets be real about right here, new jersey has essential Health Benefits that exceed the federal standard anyway. Think out i live here but what if i wanted to move. One of my employer decides to underwrite their plan in a different state . The first thing i did a my amendment, the essential Health Benefits have been removed in the bill. They actually come out altogether. The first thing i did in my amendment was restore them to the federal standard. So that any state looking for a waiver had to do it in the bright light of day against a robust federal standard and do it because maybe in their state the mix of citizens is an unnecessary expense for all the people in the state to be buying things they dont need, dont want. As a result of not getting insured at all. See say its not fair that 26yearold doesnt have everest single possible benefit they could have an ear solution is that 26 or has zero benefit. Lets talk about the maternity coverage that is one of those chps. That is something i could say i dont want to pay for that is that discriminating against women . Have yet to meet a woman who can get pregnant on her own without some sort of mail and ultimate, someway, somehow. Except for the fact that the amendment that i often specifically prohibits discrimination based on gender. States have to balance those. Maternity care is in ehb you could get away from. But it doesnt allow you to discriminate against women. In the fact that they were removed from the first bill before your amendment do you think that might be a reason why the first build ever got to the boat. I think that was part of the problem. I agree with you. I think the essential Health Benefits are perfectly good federal standard. I also think states have got to have some flexibility for going to drive cost down. They have to if they can get cost down this is unsustainable. But at the sake of the health of the people in the state. No. Thats not what im saying. You have to balance both things. You wont wanted the other, all or nothing, you have to balance cost and coverage and care. You have to do all of it at the same time right now the system has been good more insurance, dont forget, the cbo score seven years ago had 22 Million People in the Affordable Care act marketplace this year. You know how many are in their . 10 million. They were up by hundred 20 . Why . Cost is going through the roof. What is the cbo score . [inaudible question] 22 additional states shouldve signed up thats what the issue was. There are wrong on that too but the issue is wide. Wires dates putting more and because the federal government to spend 90 , thats why. And the problem with that is what . My state tax bill versus federal tax bill, still taxes. 750 billiondollar tax cut, 64 going to the top 1 . Thats whats wrong with that. Thats why he wants what he wanted. Listen, its getting late. Im going test the questions be brief and i will give brief answers. Were going to try to move through the remaining people. And give you a chance. I will make this quick. Thank you for having the town hall. I wanted to meet you at the town hall that we invited you to earlier. I went there with my husband in february and since you werent there he wrote you a letter, we had it delivered to and he works for a Large Telecom company and he works with a lot of vendors. One of the vendors is based out of canada and this person is of middle eastern descent. They usually come to mount laurel frequently for meetings in person. When the person saw the news that these people are being stopped get enough of airplanes and borders and being detained unlawfully, he was scared and decided he no longer wanted to come to mount laurel or to the u. S. At all. Were to do business with the company. So for now he would do business through phone calls. My husband told me the story and concerned him that it would affect his business. Hearing that it concerned me that, it concerned me for these people. I feel like its racist, its scary for the people who are having their families broken up for the children its awful. But for it to affect business as well, how do you feel about that . I think we have to do two things. Im not they were doing these perfectly. We do have to protect our borders and citizens, that is the number one responsibility of government is to protect her own citizens. But we have to be humane about the way we do that. I will never support breaking up families and seen people deported whose only offense is that they are here illegally, but otherwise are living lives contributing to society. Theyre working, ive had people come to my office on this very issue. I cosponsored legislation that would give right now an american citizen who is married to someone illegally to have very limited hearing rights before court. I cosponsored legislation to try to experiment so they would have their day in court and try to get relief. Theyre afraid. They did not even want me going to immigration because theyre afraid they will be on somebodys radar. Its difficult. A difficult issue. We do have to protect our citizens. There people who want to take advantage of our generosity, sneaking into damage to our people. That concerns me. At the same time we cannot be humane to people that are here. I get asked the question all of the time, can he promise you will not vote for a budget or big appropriations bill that does this were doesnt do that . I cant. I can tell you im committed. This is the same answer i masses on any issue. Im committed to that issue, served on the Natural Resource committee. A very focused on Environmental Issues and been involved in number of them both here and on the other side of the district including funding the Delaware Valley studies. The pipelines are different issue. Funding the National Estuary programs and increasing that. Committing to those issues, but the budget includes every bit of spending in the federal government. I will look at the budget in its entirety and look at the things i agree with and disagree with and i will have to make a judgment about whether i can support them. [inaudible question] thats important to me. But i cannot say that one issue will cause me to vote no on the funding of the entire for federal government. I will say that on anyone issue. But that is an issue i look at. The budget is not the only time i vote on that. I vote on issues affecting clean water, our environment all of the time those issues come before congress. You have plenty of areas where you can look at my votes and see how i vote on those issues. Usually we dont agree on how you vote. Fair enough. But my point is, i cannot turn one line item into the budget for the litmus test for the budget. Even things that are very important to me i want to that. Yes concerned. Im eric, a registered democrat. You and i dont a grand healthcare. I have a request for you. I would like you to go and find file footage of donald trump in the 1980s and see his level of being articulate in those interviews. Compare that to the way this man speaks today in terms of sentences, vocabulary, et cetera. I want you to consider whether or not he is fit to serve. Because something has gone up there. I dont know why, i dont know if its his age or something. Between the impulsive behavior and the fact that the only words he seems to know are great and big and bigley, dont need trimming to be flip about it. But if you see his step before the apprentice, something has deteriorate immensely. I think that you the congress and the tablet owed the nation to evaluate that. Im not saying the answers invoking the 20 fifth amendment, but i think you should at least be aware of it. Its really scary. I appreciate you sharing. [applause] i will come back. Thank you. I live in barnegat. Ill be making the drive tonight. I have been fortunate that im one of the people in the room that if i lose my job tomorrow so of Health Insurance. My husband and i are retired from the air force. Ive had government involvement in my Health Insurance for the last 35 years. Currently i am on my employers Health Insurance i can ensure my 25yearold daughter, i cant do that and try care. My husband is still and try care. Between the insurance i have now in my company and try care, i dont notice a difference in the quality of care. I have great insurance with my company also. What im wondering is, when you were trying to think of ways to bring the cost down of insurance, do we ever think of a public option something similar to try care where is administered by the government but run by the health Insurance Company. My experience is that it has worked very well. Im wondering did we think of a public option to drive down cost or increase competent titian to increase the marketplace. Also, is there any changes to that in your bill . No, this bill does not touch tricare at all. I very familiar with the five, is the vice chair of military personnel in the last congress. That is the committee that dealt with tricare. Its a thought. I will bear that in mind. This is something that nobody has talked about, but it really affects communities like this one and similar communities around the state. What are your feelings on changes in the penal system, especially when it comes to mandatory minimums and what you plan on doing if you do change that to help these people thats coming out to be productive citizens . Where are your feelings of that . [applause] have not spent a lot of time on criminal justice issues. The Committee Areas i am on are not those. But certainly i been on the hair went task heroine task force. Ill say a few things as for as i can say them. I do believe that mandatory minimums can result in people being in the system that could be treated in other ways. I think that can be a problem for people. Particularly younger people can make mistakes in the life and you dont want it to be a reversible for the. That just becomes a slippery slope and they go in deeper and deeper. Im open to changes in criminal justice to try to avoid that. I am open to things like drug courts. One of the bills we pass question that i was involved in actually created and funded veterans drug courts in particular because this is been a problem. We have a lot of people in our prisons suffering from Mental Illness and acted out in ways that have landed them in the system that becomes a slippery slope for them. Im open to it. I have a great relationship with corey booker. I know thats an area very important to him and that he works on that regularly. Im open to seen changes in things that can improve and support those. [inaudible question] people are getting trapped into being criminal. Nothing that we get lax on cri crime. We have to be serious about it. Take drug dealers for example, i have almost no tolerance at all for people that are stealing other peoples lives by dealing drugs. I think we should have extremely harsh penalties for dealers. I also recognize a lot of people sitting in jails and prisons today who are addicts and they could be better handled through treatment not through incarceration. My name is lavon, former mayor and im really proud of the audience that i wish there still here to hear this. This is one of the most educated audiences ive ever been around. And i was on counsel here eight years in school for three years. I applaud the fact that because of the current president i think people have really educated themselves very quickly. For that i am grateful and im glad you are here to see that and all the temperatures got hot you also saw how serious we are about these issues. Very briefly talk about what the gentleman said. You will have your hands full battling attorney general sessions who has decided he will double down on things like marijuana another drug arrest and Law Enforcement and the president of his of the same mind. That brings me to the point of checks and balances in this country. I know you do not feel like you need to be here to defend the president one way or the other because youre here to handle your own job for one of the jobs in this country is a checks and balances. I want you to get this book on tierney by Timothy Snyder it list 20 symptoms or signs or worry points of how tierney comes about in a society. I can tell you from reading the book what you can do in an afternoon, our current president has done or is doing every single one of these things. Number one is the first thing hes gone after is the media and getting the citizens to not trust the media any longer. Its one of the first things you do to dismantle a democracy. Get people fearful of fact and get them so confused and disturbed about what theyre hearing and seeing either give up or just not know it to be. He has done that and is doing that. Its up did and the second thing that hitler did. Many more items in here. Another one of the things is defend our institution. Congress is an institution that is in the constitution but it has to be defended and it is delicate. When we sit back and let things happen it can dissolve. If you dont take up the mantle as a congressman your other congresspeople will be leery about the gentleman said about our presence Mental Health and about the way he has invested in russia and his Corporate Holdings across the entire globe. The fact that he is breaking clauses every single day that hotel is a couple of blocks from his white house. Theres so many things going on and he seems to be learning day by day that he can continue to do whatever he pleases and nobodys bringing him to account for it. He did whatever he wanted to do through his campaign and nobody held him to account and he got elected. He is not doing what he wants to do as president and nobodys holding him to account. He will keep on doing that and making it worse. This is the road to tierney. I need you to read this and your staff to read this. Its only 6. 98 on amazon. Its a very simple book. I bought this book for four people, she sent a copy to me before i got hers in the mail. Thats how serious the feelings and fears in this room and across the country are. Its not just because were democrats and the republicans. Im 70 years old. Ive never in my lifetime felt the fear that i have felt in this country since he has been elected. My daughter cry for two weeks after he got elected. Shes on disability, she is scared to death she will lose her medications for her anxiety disorder and her asthma. She is in a constant state of fear. I can even have the tv on if shes on or the news is on. If she sees his face she practically collapses. This is real fear. Im not a hysterical person, im the farthest thing from that. I have started to become historical. My daughter jumped about nuclear war last night. Shes never dreamt about that ever in her life. I have jumped about nazi salutes with the group and some alley in sun city. This is how fearful we are of what is happening because of the president. I know he is not your personal responsibility, but you and all of the 435 of you in the 100 senators can do something about it. You need to look at number 25. [applause] hello. My name is mark i live in lumberton. I am one of these young, single male so you been talking about. Im 24 years old under my mothers Health Insurance. She gets it to her employer. October next year i will be 26. Given the state and the way it cost to live in the state im sort of looking at a place where i have to decide between paying rent or paying utilities or paying for healthcare or whatever the case may be. I understand the fears and concerns of those here tonight. Any of my friends have preexisting conditions. Ive had several people go through cancer, fight and come out of it. My question for you coming from a personal standpoint is, would you be willing to support a policy where you would allow people to purchase insurance across state lines . Insurance that would benefit their needs more than if they were stuck in a state where the purchasing insurance that doesnt cover anything they need. Yes, i would support that. I dont think its a Silver Bullet everybody thinks. You have to have networks to be able to sell insurance in another state. I would hope that networks would start to be independently run a Different Companies could tap those from across the country. That would create competition. I would support that. Thank you sir, this ladys been waiting a while. Okay. Hello. Shes been waiting about a slice i have. My name is aaron, i am from new jersey. The first question i have is i want to make sure that you know roebling is a part of your district because last few times my parents and i have tried to interact with you and your staff, we have been told that roebling is not a part of your district. I had to have them go in check and confirm that roebling it was a part of your district to come in here tonight even though i rsvped to. I just want to make sure this doesnt keep happening. One thing i have not heard a lot tonight about is seniors. You may think that i dont have a lot to do with seniors but my parents moved in with me seven years ago. They had to choose between oil to heat the house, food on the table, medicare, so they moved in with me. As ive gotten older theyve had Health Issues and they really are that old, but due to experiences in their life they are aging faster than others her age. My big concern is that i am their main caregiver, they dont look at me like that yet, but i know thats what im doing. I have a very small home. We cannot afford to move. I watch them and they are pinching pennies, Social Security is not helping them a lot. And they paid in it their whole life, its not an entitlement program, it is their retirement. Unfortunately or fortunately due to varying reasons. And then, they have medicare and the price goes up in there lucky if that equals the increase in Social Security every year. Then were looking at the fact that as they get older living in the house with me may not be the best option anymore. Thats her medicaid comes in. Then we see medicaid being changed in funding, what everyone a call it. How, as our Elderly Population is growing because the baby boomers overwhelmed the Education System in the 50s and 60s, are now overwhelming not Just Healthcare but nursing homes, senior care, everything. What is going to be done . To take care of our Elderly Population . You are highlighting one of the great challenges. This baby boomer generation which im at the end of is overwhelming everything it touches. What we do as Social Security, medicare, medicaid, how do we fund these programs . The only way that i see is to try to bring some of the cost down. As i have said and i will say again tonight, to me i agree with you. Social security is a sacred pact, not some gift to people. The sacred pact from one generation to another that todays generation of workers pay Social Security needs of the generation that is now retired. We have got to get more people into the workforce. We have the lowest Labor Participation rate today that weve had since late 70s. Thats a problem. Thats why Social Security and medicare are in such strain. It was rated in the 80s. Maybe so, it has not walled off even today. So this is the challenge of our day, getting more people into the workforce and bringing down the cost of healthcare, not just making sure everybody has insurance, but the cost continue from 20 or 25 , the nation will go broke and everyone will lose if that is what we do so, there is no easy answer. We have got to get people working we have to get companies growing, we have to get the cost of healthcare coming down. Those are the things i work on and i spend most my time working on and will continue to. I think we have two more. You get to be the closer. Hello. Im a resident here, so the reason i came out tonight is my concern with the cuts to medicaid. I dont know how you justify cutting cuts to medicaid when these are the most Vulnerable People they cannot afford housing, they cant afford food, and now if you take with their healthcare they will not be able to afford healthcare. You say that you want to drive down cost so you know what that means when you are driving down cost this population of people will no longer have the other services they had like workshops and things that they have now to make them feel like theyre part of society and give them some dignity to their lives. So when the states are going to cut and they have already started to cut, we see their way or their quality of life will suffer even more because of all of these cuts. I dont know how you can justify cutting from these people who most need it. I have healthcare, i have a down syndrome son and he also has healthcare. He will keep his healthcare, but the programs hes involved in will start to cut the programs. What does he do all day . Right now there are tons of programs for people like him but they are based on medicaid. If you have medicaid. When they start to cut the Medicaid Budget one habits to this population when their programs . That is my biggest concern. Im concerned about that too. Thats not where i want cuts to be. In fact, the amount per person doesnt go down, et cetera is a perperson amount, he goes up your after year. It just doesnt go up with a blank check mark. This is where, as i said earlier tonight, a program was created for people like your son. It was created for disabled people, applied, pregnant women that were low income. If we dont get a grip on this cost, it will be at risk for those very people. Right now the program that was created for the most needy among us now has nearly 25 of the u. S. Population in it. It is on a trajectory to a trillion dollar per year expense the states have to be part of fixing this. There things states can do. When a dr. Does every test possible because they dont want to get sued, when one test wouldve done and instead they do it or nine different tests because they dont want to get sued thats a problem and we all pay for that. States can fix that. Most of the money in these lawsuits is spent at the state level. States can and must fix that. States. For Service Today without looking at outcomes are thinking of new ways to pay doctors and hospitals. Federal government cant fix all that. The states have to. Same thing with drug prices, the their example i gave. Prices are obscene today. Drugs that cost 1 dollar to if you dont have insurance they retail for 150. States can fix that. That is where i see not cutting a program that helps someone, we will never cut our way into fixing the problem on the back. The only way the states can fix this is go after the big buckets. Those are drug costs and the way feeforservice goes in the things that ive talked about. Those are the big issues. The cost of not fixing the is that these programs are not sustainable. So there will be an oversight where the states will be able to only cut in these areas. No. Im not saying the federal government is dictating every little bit. That would be truthful. I dont think the federal government to protect people or should protect people from every action of their own state government. I think the states are the better wants to decide. The states answer more directly to the people they represent. Its more local. Governors, state legislators, those people need to answer to all of us for what they do. I think the states have to be participants. We cannot control all of this in washington. If we try, we will fail. I think a lot of people havent be honest the cuts come from people like her son because people like her son dont have a voice. They dont come from Drug Companies because Truck Companies can treat so much money to the process. It hurts their profit margin. Where is her son its much easier to take. And thats what will happen and is starting to happen now. Programs he used to have are starting to be cut already. Like you said,. That is where you need to advocate, i need to advocate. Local officials need to become involved. I hear you. We dont have the money to advocate the same with the Drug Companies to. As you look to washington, washington cannot fix every last item. Clearcutting money from the program now. Overdoing is capping. Were not cutting, were saying when the states are only pay less than one third across the country of medicaid costs, worsening you cannot have an open checkbook could to keep on spending. Were not cutting, were saying if you do not control future cost is going to be a new. So the 80 billion is not being cut . No. That is, over time projected reductions in cost over the ten year timeline based on the fact that states are going to have to get control of these cost and cannot continue to let them escalate. We are setting a perperson right. I think that was based on the 2016 and it has Health Inflation built into it. It is not a cut from today, it is taken away the open checkbook from the future. Thats what the changes are meant to do. I cannot let that happen in good conscience when i think there are better ways to get at this. I am not saying this is perfect but we have got it projected been a goal and a different direction that we expect then it is on me and others this is my second town hall meeting but i did not get to ask a question at the first one. First of thank you for showing up because i expect he thought he would come here it take a beating in for the most part you did. I am not saying that i agree but base for showing up in giving us the opportunity to voice our concerns directly with their own congressperson. Faq for that. [applause] i came here originally to tell you about my Health Care Story but i think ill tell you a different story. You mentioned a couple of times not wanting government bureaucrats in charge of your health care but i do want government bureaucrats in charge of Real Health Care because i used to be a government bureaucrat. Then it was the Union Representative and they get to mention most dedicated professionals who really want to do a good job in probably would if the political people above them would let them so heres what i would advocate for to tie everything up in a nice little go. Go. Yoda pages cost of health care and i will advocate you invest in government bureaucrats because things like clean air and clean water and water and air is still have a far greater effect in the General Health of the population probably anything else i know nobody ever wants to put tax dollars at these agencies they see them as a waste of time i used to hear reagan early from doctors and other professionals that so they did more ruth for health in any doctor. So think about it in these terms if you will, indulge me, if youre seeing of dioxin from the reverse and sediment is really tedious think about paying for 3 Million People with cancer. I will just leave it at that [applause] thank you those that remain, thank you. [inaudible] im sorry. Im not stopping now. We have been here all night. We all have been here all night. And i am here today with a statement by the deeply deserve disturbed about the Patient Protection in the Affordable Care act which your partnership with your ability or your inability to understand and have chosen to care for people by working in health care. Also worked at the pediatric trolled year and this is devastating for all of my patients. Leading us a wafer will this with the quality of care of life. To fled the Emergency Rooms and those who have lost access to the Health Care Coverage to choose to help people and not harm them. And also to take away Medicare Coverage from my daughter in she also is caring for her two boys. She is raising them as a single parent. Shame on you. Our children are watching this very closely. Your children would be watching you also. Send a new litters and emails in behalf been calling you and your office constantly we have good writing your offices in telling you about these issues that are coming up in congress with the bills said proposals and i want to know what you plan to do and your vote from we the people of the third Congressional District of the state of new jersey plan to do with your vote . Will you vote your conscience or hours i have pasted trust in you and i am disappointed in your actions. [applause] i will respond to that. I always try to fill both conscience and the people that sent me to washington what me to do. When the room was full you would think every petty in the room agrees with you everybody sees it the way you see it. I heard people stop big scoffing when i reminded them this district not just a shame county elected donald trump by a 7. Margin. This Congressional District voted for donald trump. So as you all feel as strongly as you feel there is more than you that feel the other way. I dont think necessarily you dont see that i really dont. In this and how strongly you feel but there are a few more hoodoos agree the than agree. That is reality and that is the reality i have to look at. So i vote by conscience and dallas of both the district. If you think it bounces off it does not. But dont think that i dont hear Different Things. Last night i was with the group. Is a group of 60 or 70 people it was just the opposite. That felt completely different. So it isnt easy for all different groups just please bear that in mind that is the nature of the job no matter what i do half of the people will be disappointed half the time but i am doing the best i can to represent you well to make a difference i will disappointing people in this district no matter what i do. Most districts are not like that but that is part of a problem that the districts better right or left with this one has not. You are the last one. Have i forgotten anyone . Eight understand your point of view with this amendment to give the states the greater power to ask for waivers i got a fought the fight when hundred 60 years ago when they were given an excuse to oppose slavery. Though we still have a problem again and your attitude toward the state governments is in your opinion to be so much wiser than the federal government which i completely disagree with that. Also with a . Comment. So when you have the chance with a tuesday group of conservative groups that our more moderate than the caucus but then you would stop would cater to the very conservative group in those the would harm more people them their health care. And those who defended government bureaucrats and i wish you would remember those that protect us against a foreign threats members of for a services with Police Officers or other lawenforcement people across this country. So lets get government bureaucrats i think that is disrespectful toward Government Employees all over the country that were employees in the private and nonprofit sector. I appreciate you sharing that. I certainly dont mean to disrespect people who work for the government. I work for the government i just dont want to be the only game in town. But this is been a long night for all of us. I appreciate the passion i spoke my piece about some new life felt went over the line with disrespect that is a problem in my view in this country that we cannot have civil discourse it got more civil less across smaller event we have a trouble with civil discourse and as i said at the beginning with those progressive democrats for mother and a republican for a father but they loved and respected each other and i learned from that respect i think this nation needs to do better at disagreeing without demonizing the person you disagree with and i hope that through this night i have not demonizing anybody because i believe that is what we need to do in the country or we will not solve the problems that face us. That is what i stand for and will continue to stand for and continue to be available and meet with constituents whether it is where i got 12 percent for another town right 75 percent i do have towns like that i will continue to meet with people in all of those places and all of them in between. Thank you and good night. [applause] [inaudible conversations]