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WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, April 4, 2017, Representatives Bobby Scott (D-VA) Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), and David Joyce (R-OH) led a bipartisan letter urging President Trump not to eliminate investments in iconic bodies of water. The letter, signed by 31 other Members of Congress, urged the President to reconsider his budget proposal that would completely eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency’s Geographic Programs that provide cleanup funding for the Puget Sound, the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, and other major bodies of water.
The members wrote in the letter sent yesterday: “Collectively, the EPA’s Geographic Program funds have been used by state, local, and tribal governments to implement thousands of on-the-ground projects to improve water quality, protect and restore native habitats, enhance fish and shellfish populations, and combat invasive species. Although every region has shown significant improvement as the result of these investments, there is still a great deal of work to do.”
April 5, 2017
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1304, the Self-Insurance Protection Act, purports to protect stop-loss insurers from being regulated at the Federal level. It appears that we are considering a bill that is a solution in search of a problem.
I am not opposed to stop-loss insurance or the purpose of stop-loss insurance. It can be helpful in shielding employers from unforeseen risks in many instances when they choose to self-insure and want to protect themselves from unexpected and unusually high expenses.
Now, while many self-funded plans, in conjunction with the purchased stop-loss, look like a traditional fully insured plan, stop-loss coverage itself is not regulated at the Federal level. There is no indication or suggestion that the administration would seek to regulate stop-loss insurance, so the bill prohibits Federal regulation of stop-loss insurance.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) received the “Distinguished Statesmen in Education Advancement” award from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation during the eighth annual Avoice Heritage Celebration. The event lauds the legacy of African-American legislators and acknowledges efforts made to preserve African-American legislative history.
Issues:Education
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on President Donald Trump’s Executive Order that would dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, undo key components of the Climate Action Plan, and make it more difficult for the Federal Government to prepare for the effects of climate change:
“After submitting a budget that deeply cuts the Environmental Protection Agency and zeros out funding for the Chesapeake Bay Program, this latest action by the Trump Administration will further harm Virginians and our environment. In Hampton Roads, we have already seen the signs of changing climate through extreme weather, recurrent flooding, and higher than average temperatures. President Trump’s anti-environment executive order will make it more difficult for our community to respond to these challenges and mitigate the effects of climate change.
March 27, 2017
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, the budget is about choices, and those choices involve arithmetic. Apparently, the Republican strategy on the budget does not recognize arithmetic. When you start with a deficit, their strategy to deal with the deficit is to increase defense spending and to pass massive tax cuts. That will not end up helping the deficit.
As we have seen with the choice in health care, they made bad choices. Whatever you think about the Affordable Care Act, their plan was demonstrably worse. Their plan would increase the number of people uninsured by 24 million, bring higher prices and worse policies, but tax cuts for millionaires.
What I couldn't understand was not what were the ups and downs for politics, but who was for that--24 million more uninsured, higher prices, and worse policies?
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after House GOP Leadership postponed consideration of H.R. 1628 – Trumpcare:
“Today is a victory for health care security for millions of families. The bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act was a bad deal for the American people, and even those who oppose the Affordable Care Act recognized the serious flaws with the Republican plan. By every measure, the Republican bill made things worse – by increasing the number of uninsured, forcing almost everyone else to pay more for less, while giving a huge tax cut to the wealthy.”
March 24, 2017
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, as we talk about the Affordable Care Act, I think it is important to remind ourselves of the situation before it passed: costs were going through the roof, those with preexisting conditions could not get insurance, women were paying more than men, and every year millions of people were losing their insurance.
We passed the Affordable Care Act. Since then, the costs have continued to go up, but at the lowest rate in 50 years. Those with preexisting conditions can get insurance at the standard rate. Women are no longer paying more than men. Instead of millions of people losing their insurance every year, more than 20 million more people now have insurance.
The full name of the Affordable Care Act is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
March 22, 2017
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, today we are considering a bill that purports to make it easier for small businesses to obtain coverage, and tomorrow we will vote on a bill that will take away health insurance coverage for 24 million Americans and force everyone else to pay more for less. So not only are we considering a bill today that will make things worse, we are considering it a day before we vote on ruining health security for working families in order to provide tax cuts for the wealthy.
As we debate the possible replacement of the Affordable Care Act, I think it is instructive that we look back at what the situation was before the ACA passed.
Listening to some, you would think that the costs weren't going up at all. In fact, costs were going through the roof before the ACA, and small businesses, particularly, were having spectacular cost increases--and that is until somebody got sick. At that point, you were unlikely to be able to afford any insurance at all.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the White House released an outline of its Fiscal Year 2018 budget priorities, known as the “skinny budget.”
“This budget proposal is yet another broken promise from the Administration to the American people. Cutting $54 billion from programs that help protect and support working families to learn and earn is no way to grow the national economy or put people back to work. Working families deserve a budget that invests in their health and futures, boosts wages, helps them balance work and family life, and levels the playing field for them and their children to succeed. President Trump’s budget proposal eliminates and reduces vital programs for students, teachers, and workers that will endanger public education, make college less affordable, and reduce the availability of workforce training
U.S. Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott met with Peninsula health care providers Monday and said they voiced concerns over losing Medicaid funding under a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Last week, the GOP-led Congress released a copy of a bill to replace the ACA called the American Health Care Act. Provisions in the bill call for eliminating the individual mandate and penalties for not having insurance, and using refundable tax credits to help participants pay for care. It also calls for changes to how Medicaid payments for care for low-income, elderly and uninsured people are paid.
Scott held two meetings in Hampton Roads Monday, one at Chesapeake Regional HealthCare in Chesapeake and one at Southeastern Virginia Health System's Physicians Community Health Center in Newport News. The meetings were closed to the media, but in a phone interview after the meetings, Scott said they were productive and gave him good insight to take back to Washington.
Issues:Health Care