{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140301061609/http://butterfield.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=22&itemid=677", "Butterfield Denounces Unwarranted and Abusive Investigation of Organizations Receiving Health Care Reform Navigator Grants", "2013-09-11", "2013", "2013-09", "Democrat", "House", "NC", "G. Butterfield", "B001251", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 In his opening statement before a House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing on the Affordable Care Act, Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) denounced the actions of Committee Republicans that sent an unwarranted investigative letter to 51 community organizations that received Navigator grants to help uninsured Americans enroll in the healthcare exchange authorized under the new healthcare law.\n\n\t\u201cThere has been no indication or evidence of any kind that any Navigator grantees have misappropriated or misused grant funds,\u201d said Butterfield.\u00a0 \u201cThis is a gross abuse of the committee\u2019s investigative authority and is just another way the Republican Majority is attempting to intimidate the public and derail the Affordable Care Act.\u201d\n\n\tWith enrollment into the new healthcare Marketplaces set for October 1, thousands of organizations are preparing for the wave of people that will require guidance in obtaining health coverage and understanding their benefits.\u00a0 According to Butterfield, attempts by Navigators to meet the unreasonable requests made by Committee Republicans in the investigative letter will detract from their ability to be ready when the Marketplaces open next month.\u00a0\n\n\t\u201cThe Majority is distracting these recipients from their important work of readying for Open Season that begins on October 1st by diverting their limited resources to entertain its fishing expedition that will surely come back empty-handed,\u201d said Butterfield.\n\n\tButterfield\u2019s full statement follows.\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tHouse Committee on Energy and Commerce\n\n\tSubcommittee on Health\n\n\tStatement by Congressman G. K. Butterfield\n\n\tAffordable Care Act\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tThank you, Mr. Waxman for yielding me the time.\u00a0 \n\n\t\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The health insurance marketplace is a critical part of delivering affordable healthcare to Americans who do not have employer-sponsored insurance.\u00a0 Beginning in 2014, more than 25 million individuals will be eligible for a premium tax credit and 23 million of those belong to working families, many of whom struggle to make ends meet on a minimum-wage hourly income.\u00a0 \n\n\t\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Obamacare marks a seismic shift in federal policies and educating the public is paramount to ensure full participation.\u00a0 CMS has recently distributed Navigator grants to non-profits across the country in order to help educate the public and guide them through the application process.\u00a0 The entities receiving the Navigator grants are professionally run and have decades of experience administering federal government grants and working with the public.\u00a0 \n\n\t\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That is why I couldn\u2019t believe that the Chairmen of the full committee and subcommittees on Health and Oversight and Investigations, as well as other Republican members of the Committee sent a three page, investigatory letter to 51 Navigator grant recipients demanding they answer questions by September 13th \u2013 giving them only two weeks to provide detailed descriptions of the anticipated scope of work among other very specific questions and to \u201cprovide all documentation and communications related to [their] navigator grant.\u201d\u00a0 \n\n\tWasn\u2019t the vast majority of the information being sought by Chairmen Upton, Pitts, and Murphy included in the navigator\u2019s application to CMS?\u00a0 \n\n\t\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 These navigator grantees only received word they were selected to receive the grant on August 15th.\u00a0 Might I remind my colleagues that the marketplace is going live on October 1 for open season enrollment.\u00a0 That\u2019s less than one month away.\u00a0 The Majority is distracting these recipients from their important work of readying for Open Season that begins on October 1st by diverting their limited resources to entertain its fishing expedition that will surely come back empty-handed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n\n\t\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There has been no indication or evidence of any kind that any Navigator grantees have misappropriated or misused grant funds.\u00a0 This is a gross abuse of the committee\u2019s investigative authority and is just another way the Republican Majority is attempting to intimidate the public and derail the Affordable Care Act.\u00a0\u00a0\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\t\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This committee has important work to get done.\u00a0 Obamacare is the law of the land and it\u2019s high time the Majority stop acting with reckless abandon and get to the real work on behalf of the American people.\u00a0 \n\n\t\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n\n\tI yield back.\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\thttp://Butterfield.House.Gov\n\n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140301061609/http://butterfield.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=22&itemid=677"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.939639750868082, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}