Hatch, Heinrich Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Help Protect Sagebrush Habitat
Washington, D.C.— Today, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced the bipartisan Sage-Grouse and Mule Deer Habitat Conservation and Restoration Act, S. 1417—a bipartisan proposal that streamlines important vegetation management projects to conserve or restore the habitat of the sage-grouse and mule deer.
“Sage-grouse and mule deer populations are suffering from the dangerous encroachment of invasive Piñon and Juniper trees,” Hatch said. “To help safeguard and reinvigorate sagebrush habitats, we need to cut down the lengthy, cumbersome review process for vegetation management projects that benefit the environment. This bill gives the Bureau of Land Management the tools it needs to better preserve precious habitats for both sage-grouse and mule deer.”
“Sagebrush habitat is declining in New Mexico and across the West, and with it, species that depend on sagebrush like sage-grouse and mule deer," Heinrich said. "This bill will make it easier for land managers and wildlife organizations to work together to restore sagebrush habitat and support these iconic Western species.”
Statements of Support:
James L. Cummins, Co-Chair, Boone and Crockett Club’s Conservation Policy Committee
"This commonsense legislation will remove needless red-tape delaying effective restoration and care for sagebrush habitats. It will benefit mule deer and antelope as well as sage-grouse. When enacted, this bill will drive additional voluntarily contributions by federal, state and local governments, sportsmen-conservation organizations, members of the oil and gas industry and others. This cross-section of interests is already united behind a shared goal of ensuring sustainable and healthy populations of these iconic species. We applaud Senators Hatch and Heinrich for their leadership in introducing this important measure for the West and all conservation.”
Miles Moretti, President and CEO, Mule Deer Foundation
“This bill will allow conservation partners to move quickly on landscape habitat restoration projects that are proving to have a tremendous impact for mule deer, sage-grouse and other species dependent on sagebrush rangelands. The Mule Deer Foundation greatly appreciates Senator Hatch and Senator Heinrich for working together to craft this important legislation and we look forward to working with them to move the bill through the Senate.”
Lawrence Keane, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, National Shooting Sports Foundation
"The National Shooting Sports Foundation strongly supports the Sage-Grouse and Mule Deer Habitat Conservation and Restoration Act. We appreciate the efforts of Senators Hatch and Heinrich and their staffs who engaged sportsmen-conservation organizations, state wildlife agencies and industry stakeholders while drafting this important legislation. This bill is an opportunity for Congress to work on a bipartisan basis to help ensure healthy and sustainable populations of wildlife species that depend on sage habitat. Doing so will benefit communities throughout the Mountain West that rely on sportsmen and responsible natural resource development as their primary economic drivers."
Erik Milito, Upstream and Industry Operations Director, American Petroleum Institute
“API supports measures like those contemplated in this bill that would remove administrative barriers to restoration and improve habitat for sage-grouse and for mule deer while ensuring responsible energy development.”
Background:
According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, Piñon and Juniper forests have been encroaching on key sagebrush habitat at a rapid rate. This invasion erodes and fragments sagebrush habitat and provides artificial roosting and nesting sites for sage-grouse predators. Tree removal also carries widespread ecological benefits. Wildlife managers in the West have long worked to convert Piñon and Juniper stands to sagebrush because doing so increases forage and soil water availability, which improves wildlife carrying capacity and benefits big game populations, particularly mule deer.
Although tree expansion is a natural process normally controlled by wildfire, fire suppression efforts over the years have allowed expansion to go unchecked. As a result, trees have spread to areas they have not historically occupied, increasing the risk of large-scale, uncontrollable wildfires. Fortunately, federal restoration projects have been successful in removing these trees without threatening the natural habitat, and this legislation helps build on these successes.
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Video: Hatch Reacts to the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017
“Over the last few months I’ve held countless meetings with Utahns on healthcare. I’ve met with patient groups, disabilities groups, providers, and healthcare experts to gain a better understanding of our states unique needs. I believe this discussion draft reflects those needs.”
Washington, D.C.— Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) today released the following statement regarding the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 discussion draft:
“For the past seven years, Obamacare’s high costs and burdensome mandates have had devastating effects on the American economy, small businesses and middle-class families trying to find affordable, quality care. Today, after years of discussions and hearings, Senate Republicans are putting forth solutions to rescue the American people from this devastating law. The discussion draft released today is an important step in our effort to replace Obamacare with patient-centered reforms that address costs, provide more choices, and ultimately put Americans – not Washington – back in charge of their health care. Over the last few months I’ve held countless meetings with Utahns on healthcare. I’ve met with patient groups, disabilities groups, providers, and healthcare experts to gain a better understanding of our states unique healthcare needs. I believe this discussion draft reflects those needs.”
“The Better Care Reconciliation Act maintains protections for those with pre-existing conditions. It repeals the burdensome individual and employer mandates, gets rid of the Obamacare taxes, and helps to stabilize collapsing insurance markets – all to make health insurance more affordable. The proposal strengthens Medicaid, giving states the flexibility to implement healthcare programs that best meet their needs and levels the playing field between expansion and non-expansion states. It further preserves coverage for children with disabilities and individuals with substance use disorders and mental illness. And, it does not touch Americans’ Medicare benefits. While this discussion draft will help move the effort forward, I will continue to review this proposal and work with my colleagues to provide better care for all Americans.”
Hatch Secures Critical Utah Victories in Healthcare Bill
ü A stabilized insurance market that will provide for more options and lower premiums
ü Continued coverage for Utahns with preexisting conditions
ü Continued coverage for dependents until age 26
ü Special coverage for children with disabilities that have high medical costs
ü Preventative health benefits for children throughout the bill
ü Increased state flexibility to care for people with mental health and substance use disorders
ü New flexibilities for hospitals and funding to care for poor Utahns
Most importantly, the bill repeals Obamacare, which has raised healthcare premiums in Utah an average of 30 percent and limited Utahns in a majority of counties to just one insurance provider. President Obama’s disastrous healthcare program has also reduced Utahns’ quality of life and increased out-of-pocket expenses. In response, the Republican plan seeks to lower costs and increase flexibility, giving Utahns more freedom to spend their hard-earned income. It also repeals Obamacare taxes and the individual mandate, empowering states to tailor programs to meet their needs instead of forcing them to accept a one-size-fits-all government plan.
Senator Hatch spoke about this critical effort on the Senate floor yesterday.
Overview of the Senate Republican Health Care Discussion Draft
· Help stabilize collapsing insurance markets that have left millions of Americans with no options.
· Short-Term Stabilization Fund: To help balance premium costs and promote more choice in insurance markets throughout the country, this stabilization fund would help address coverage and access disruption – providing $15 billion per year in 2018 and 2019; $10 billion per year in 2020 and 2021.
· Cost-Sharing Reductions: Continues federal assistance – through 2019 – to help lower health care costs for low-income Americans in the individual market.
· Free the American people from the onerous Obamacare mandates that require them to purchase insurance they don’t want or can’t afford.
o Repeals the individual and employer mandates.
· Improve the affordability of health insurance, which keeps getting more expensive under Obamacare.
· Long-Term State Innovation Fund: Dedicates $62 billion, over 8 years, to encourage states to assist high-cost and low-income individuals to purchase health insurance by making it more affordable.
· Tax Credits: Targeted tax credits will help defray the cost of purchasing insurance; these advanceable and refundable credits - adjusted for income, age and geography - will help ensure those who truly need financial assistance can afford a health plan.
· Health Savings Accounts: Expanded tax-free Health Savings Accounts to give Americans greater flexibility and control over medical costs; increased contribution limits to help pay for out-of-pocket health costs and to help pay for over-the-counter medications.
· Repeals Obamacare Taxes: Repeal costly Obamacare taxes that contribute to premium increases and hurt life-saving health care innovation, like the taxes on health insurance, prescription drugs, medical devices, and “high-cost” employer sponsored plans.
· Empowers states through state innovation waivers (Obamacare 1332 Waiver): Provide states additional flexibility to use waivers that exist in current law to decide the rules of insurance and ultimately better allow customers to buy the health insurance they want. Allow the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to fast-track applications from states experiencing an Obamacare emergency.
· Preserve access to care for Americans with pre-existing conditions, and allow children to stay on their parents’ health insurance through age 26. (There are no changes to current law as it applies to Veterans, Medicare, or Social Security benefits.)
· Strengthen Medicaid for those who need it most by giving states more flexibility while ensuring that those who rely on this program won’t have the rug pulled out from under them.
· Targets Medicaid to Those Most in Need: In 2021, begins gradual reductions in the amount of federal Obamacare funds provided to expand Medicaid, restoring levels of federal support to preexisting law by 2024 while providing fairness for non-expansion states.
· New Protection for the Most Vulnerable: Guarantees children with medically complex disabilities will continue to be covered.
· Provides additional state flexibility to address the substance abuse and mental health crisis.
· Flexibilities for Governors: Allows states to choose between block grant and per-capita support for their Medicaid population beginning in 2020, with a flexibility in the calculation of the base year. Allows states to impose a work requirement on non-pregnant, non-disabled, non-elderly individuals receiving Medicaid.
· New Protections for Taxpayers: Curbs Medicaid funding gimmicks that drive up federal costs.
=============================
Hatch Secures Critical Utah Victories in Healthcare Bill
Washington, D.C.—Today Senate Republicans unveiled their bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, called the Better Care Reconciliation Act. As Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was closely involved in the drafting process and secured a number of critical healthcare victories for Utah.
ü A stabilized insurance market that will provide for more options and lower premiums
ü Continued coverage for Utahns with preexisting conditions
ü Continued coverage for dependents until age 26
ü Special coverage for children with disabilities that have high medical costs
ü Preventative health benefits for children throughout the bill
ü Increased state flexibility to care for people with mental health and substance use disorders
ü New flexibilities for hospitals and funding to care for poor Utahns
Most important, the bill repeals Obamacare, which has raised healthcare premiums in Utah an average of 30 percent and limited Utahns in a majority of counties to just one insurance provider. President Obama’s disastrous healthcare program has also reduced Utahns’ quality of life and increased out-of-pocket expenses. In response, the Republican plan seeks to lower costs and increase flexibility, giving Utahns more freedom to spend their hard-earned income. It also repeals Obamacare taxes and the individual mandate, empowering states to tailor programs to meet their needs instead of forcing them to accept a one-size-fits-all government plan.
Senator Hatch spoke about this critical effort on the Senate floor yesterday.
Overview of the Senate Republican Health Care Discussion Draft
· Help stabilize collapsing insurance markets that have left millions of Americans with no options.
· Short-Term Stabilization Fund: To help balance premium costs and promote more choice in insurance markets throughout the country, this stabilization fund would help address coverage and access disruption – providing $15 billion per year in 2018 and 2019; $10 billion per year in 2020 and 2021.
· Cost-Sharing Reductions: Continues federal assistance – through 2019 – to help lower health care costs for low-income Americans in the individual market.
· Free the American people from the onerous Obamacare mandates that require them to purchase insurance they don’t want or can’t afford.
o Repeals the individual and employer mandates.
· Improve the affordability of health insurance, which keeps getting more expensive under Obamacare.
· Long-Term State Innovation Fund: Dedicates $62 billion, over 8 years, to encourage states to assist high-cost and low-income individuals to purchase health insurance by making it more affordable.
· Tax Credits: Targeted tax credits will help defray the cost of purchasing insurance; these advanceable and refundable credits - adjusted for income, age and geography - will help ensure those who truly need financial assistance can afford a health plan.
· Health Savings Accounts: Expanded tax-free Health Savings Accounts to give Americans greater flexibility and control over medical costs; increased contribution limits to help pay for out-of-pocket health costs and to help pay for over-the-counter medications.
· Repeals Obamacare Taxes: Repeal costly Obamacare taxes that contribute to premium increases and hurt life-saving health care innovation, like the taxes on health insurance, prescription drugs, medical devices, and “high-cost” employer sponsored plans.
· Empowers states through state innovation waivers (Obamacare 1332 Waiver): Provide states additional flexibility to use waivers that exist in current law to decide the rules of insurance and ultimately better allow customers to buy the health insurance they want. Allow the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to fast-track applications from states experiencing an Obamacare emergency.
· Preserve access to care for Americans with pre-existing conditions, and allow children to stay on their parents’ health insurance through age 26. (There are no changes to current law as it applies to Veterans, Medicare, or Social Security benefits.)
· Strengthen Medicaid for those who need it most by giving states more flexibility while ensuring that those who rely on this program won’t have the rug pulled out from under them.
· Targets Medicaid to Those Most in Need: In 2021, begins gradual reductions in the amount of federal Obamacare funds provided to expand Medicaid, restoring levels of federal support to preexisting law by 2024 while providing fairness for non-expansion states.
· New Protection for the Most Vulnerable: Guarantees children with medically complex disabilities will continue to be covered.
· Provides additional state flexibility to address the substance abuse and mental health crisis.
· Flexibilities for Governors: Allows states to choose between block grant and per-capita support for their Medicaid population beginning in 2020, with a flexibility in the calculation of the base year. Allows states to impose a work requirement on non-pregnant, non-disabled, non-elderly individuals receiving Medicaid.
· New Protections for Taxpayers: Curbs Medicaid funding gimmicks that drive up federal costs.
=========================
Hatch Speaks on Process and Necessity of Senate Healthcare Bill
“Everyone is going to see the bill. And everyone is going to get their chance to say their piece about it.
Washington, D.C.—In a speech on the Senate floor today, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, addressed a number of claims about both the process behind the Senate’s current efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, as well as the history behind Obamacare itself. As Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over healthcare issues, Senator Hatch and his staff have been involved in the drafting process for several weeks.
[Video via YouTubehttps://youtu.be/983lMRRB32s?t=5m10s]
Between all the relevant committees, there have been at least 66 health care hearings in the Senate since Obamacare became the healthcare law of the land. More than half of those were in the Finance Committee.
Committees have conducted countless oversight investigations and inquiries into these matters over the years.
Mr. President, few matters in the history of our country have received as much of the Senate’s attention as Obamacare has received. Very few laws have been examined as extensively as the Affordable Care Act.
Obamacare is the very definition of well-covered territory.
The Majority Leader has made clear that members will have an opportunity to examine the forthcoming health care bill, and I expect that to be the case.
He has also made assurances that, when the bill is debated on the floor, we will have a fair and open amendment process, as required under the rules. There’s really no reason for anyone to expect otherwise.
Hatch also reiterated Republicans’ commitment to rescuing the American people from the failures of Obamacare and highlighted the need to address the skyrocketing premiums that are crushing middle-class families and small businesses.
Under Obamacare, the average health insurance premiums in the U.S. have seen triple digit increases. This is the burden Obamacare has placed on patients and families throughout our country, and people are feeling that burden whether they vote for Democrats or Republicans. The only difference is that, for seven and a half years, my Republican colleagues and I have been talking about the failures of Obamacare. And, for seven and a half years, Senate Democrats have done virtually nothing to address these problems.
The complete speech, as prepared for delivery, is below:
Mr. President, for the last several weeks, we’ve been hearing quite a bit about process here in the Senate, particularly as it relates to the ongoing debate over the future of Obamacare.
My friends on the other side of the aisle have apparently poll-tested the strategy of decrying the supposed secrecy surrounding the health care bill and the lack of regular order in its development. They’ve come to the floor, given interviews, and even hijacked committee meetings and hearings to express their supposedly righteous indignation about how Republicans are proceeding with the health care bill.
Of course, hearing Senate Democrats lecture about preserving the customs and traditions of the Senate is a bit ironic, but I’ll get back to that in a minute.
Last week, the Senate Finance Committee, which I chair, held a routine nominations markup to consider a slate a relatively uncontroversial nominees. That same day, several of our colleagues and congressional staffers had been viciously attacked by an armed assailant and a member of the House of Representatives was in a hospital in critical condition.
I opened the meeting by respectfully asking my colleagues to allow the committee to use the markup as an opportunity to demonstrate unity in the face of a violent attack against Congress as an institution. And, even then, my Democratic friends were apparently unable pass up an opportunity to try to score partisan points and rack up video clips for social media by playing for the cameras as they lamented the committee’s position in the health care debate. Once again, Mr. President, the situation is dripping with irony. Like I said, I’ll get to that in a minute.
If my Democratic colleagues are going to continue grandstanding over the health care debate, I have a few numbers I’d like to cite for them.
Under Obamacare, health insurance premiums in the state of Oregon have gone up by an average of 110 percent.
In Michigan, they’ve gone up by 90 percent.
In Florida, they’ve gone up by 84 percent.
In Delaware, they’ve gone up by 108 percent.
In Ohio, they’ve gone up by 86 percent.
In Pennsylvania, they’ve gone up by 120 percent.
In Virginia, they’ve gone up by 77 percent.
And, in Missouri, they’ve gone up by 145 percent.
Now, Mr. President, I have not picked those states at random. Each of these states is currently represented by a Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.
Of course, those trends extend well beyond the committee.
In Illinois, where the Senate Minority Whip resides, premiums have gone up by 108 percent.
In West Virginia and Wisconsin, both of which are also represented by Democratic senators, premiums have gone up by 169 percent and 93 percent respectively.
Montana is in a similar situation with premiums rising by 133 percent under Obamacare.
Now, just so people don’t go thinking I’m picking on the Democrats, I’ll note that in Utah, health insurance premiums have gone up by an average of 101 percent.
In Wyoming, they’ve gone up by 107 percent.
And, in Nebraska, they’ve gone up by 153 percent.
I can go on, Mr. President, but I think my point is clear. Health insurance premiums have skyrocketed all over the country, by an average of 105 percent.
I’ll repeat that: Under Obamacare, the average health insurance premiums in the U.S. have seen triple digit increases.
These are the fruits of the so-called Affordable Care Act. This is the burden Obamacare has placed on patients and families throughout our country, and people are feeling that burden whether they vote for Democrats or Republicans.
The only difference is that, for seven and a half years, my Republican colleagues and I have been talking about the failures of Obamacare.
And, for seven and a half years, Senate Democrats have done virtually nothing to address these problems.
For seven and a half years, Republicans like myself have pleaded with our Democratic colleagues and with the previous administration to work with us to address the failures of Obamacare.
And, for seven and a half years, it’s has been virtually impossible to get any Democrat in Washington to even acknowledge that there were any problems with Obamacare to begin with.
As the cost of health care in this country has skyrocketed out of control and the system created by the so-called Affordable Care Act has been collapsing under its own weight, Democrats in the Senate have been cherry-picking what few positive data points they can find and telling the American people that everything is fine and that Obamacare is working.
Yet, by no honest or reasonable measure is Obamacare living up to the promises that were made at the time it was passed. And, as a result, the American people are saddled with a healthcare system that has been poorly designed and recklessly implemented.
Sure, it has made for partisan political theater for my colleagues to express shock and dismay at current state of the health care debate. I’m quite certain that the strategy has poll-tested very well among the Democrat base and the Senate Minority Leader clearly has an elaborate media campaign in mind.
But, before they began berating Republicans, I hope my Democratic colleagues were able to come up with something to tell their constituents whose healthcare costs have exploded as a result of Obamacare.
I hope they have answers for their voters who are wondering why they only have one insurance option available to them, if they even have that.
And, most importantly, I hope they have an explanation as to why they’ve been more or less silent while the law they supported – and still support – has wreaked havoc on our nation’s healthcare system.
Until they can answer those questions and provide those explanations, my friends should spare anyone within earshot their lectures about what’s currently happening in the Senate.
Finally, let me address the irony of my Democratic colleagues’ process complaints. Some of them have selective memories when it comes to the history of Obamacare.
We’ve heard our colleagues talk about the number of committee hearings held in advance of Obamacare’s passing. What we don’t hear is that there was not a single hearing held in the Senate on the Obamacare reconciliation bill, which was an essential element that ensured passage of the Affordable Care Act in the House.
We’ve heard our colleagues talk about the markup process in committee and the number of amendments that were filed and accepted. What we don’t hear about is the fact that the bills reported by the Finance and HELP Committees were tossed aside so that the healthcare bill could be rewritten behind closed doors in Senator Reid’s office. The final product was only made public a few days before the Senate voted on it.
The truth of the matter is this: Senate committees – including the Finance Committee – have had literally dozens of hearings wherein the failings of Obamacare – both the structure of the law and its implementation – have been thoroughly examined.
Between all the relevant committees, there have been at least 66 health care hearings in the Senate since Obamacare became the healthcare law of the land. More than half of those were in the Finance Committee.
Committees have conducted countless oversight investigations and inquiries into these matters over the years.
Mr. President, few matters in the history of our country have received as much of the Senate’s attention as Obamacare has received. Very few laws have been examined as extensively as the Affordable Care Act.
Obamacare is the very definition of well-covered territory.
The Majority Leader has made clear that members will have an opportunity to examine the forthcoming health care bill, and I expect that to be the case.
He has also made assurances that, when the bill is debated on the floor, we will have a fair and open amendment process, as required under the rules. There’s really no reason for anyone to expect otherwise.
Let’s recall that, when Obamacare was passed, the Democratic Speaker of the House, with a plain face, stated that Congress had to pass the bill in order for people to see what was in it.
Let’s also recall that, a couple years later, one of the chief architects of the Affordable Care Act bragged about the lack of transparency that surrounded its passage, and said it was necessary to, in his words, take advantage of the “stupidity of the American voter.”
Any argument that the process that resulted in Obamacare was the picture of transparency and deliberation is so off-base that it would almost be humorous if the issue was something less important.
As I said in committee last week, I want to welcome my Democratic colleagues to the healthcare debate. Ever since Obamacare was signed into law, Democrats have more or less assumed that the debate was over and that all they had to do was keep telling the American people that everything was just fine, as if repetition alone would make it come true.
Everyone is going to see the bill. And everyone is going to get their chance to say their piece about it.
For now, I simply hope that my Democratic colleagues will spare us their lectures and maybe look in the mirror when they’re ranting about the degradation of the processes and traditions of the Senate.
With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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Hatch Works to Empower Fighters of Human Trafficking like Utah’s Operation Underground Railroad
Washington, D.C.—Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the senior Republican in the United States Senate and the senior member and former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced legislation to create a special human trafficking advisory council to end human trafficking.
“Nongovernmental organizations and nonprofit groups like Utah’s Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) have done incredible work in fighting the scourge of human trafficking and bringing this critical fight to the forefront,” Hatch said. “I believe that with better cooperation and partnership with federal government agencies, they can do even more, and the key to that is coordination. This Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council will allow government agencies to draw from the unique knowledge and experience of groups like OUR, allowing us to leverage government resources to fight human trafficking around the world.”
Background
The Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council:
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