Talk to your Health Care Experts and drive a stake through this health care monster. Thank you, mr. President. Uorum. I note the absence of a quorum. I watched as of this body has recently really begun to work in a bipartisan fashion, trying toa stabilize the Insurance Markets under the Affordable Care act. In fact, under the leadership of senator murray, the Ranking Member of the h. E. L. P. Committee, and senator alexander, the chairman of h. E. L. P. Committee. Ee theres been efforts going on. Theres been a number of what hearings held on what needs to be done to stabilize the Affordable Care act and strengthen the Affordable Care act. This is coming about because of a crisis. While in january of this year, leading from december, we even if people like Standard Poors talking about how stable these t exchanges were. Weve seen over the last month many actions have taken place threatening costsharing, not advertising the markets. Many actions taken by the Top Administration that is weakened the markets and put the markets in crisis. But its actually not the markets that are in crisis. Its fellow americans. People who want the same thing, whether they are republican or t democrat, from the west or east or north or south or in the heart of our country. Theyre what the same thing. They want Affordable Care thats quality and that is accessible. Weve come a long way to where we are right now under the Affordable Care act, we have increased the number ofy americans have Health Insurance by over 20 million. C weve been able to bend the cost curve, actually the Affordable Care act has taken us out of days that no american, very few want us to go back to, the date for people could deny youex coverage based on a preexisting condition. The Affordable Care act created an essential set of benefits that again americans from both sides of the ill think is really important. En th things like Womens Health care or women having children thats include things like putting a parity between Mental Health care and what might be called physical health care. Ts theres been so many improvements in the Affordable Care act that i heard about them and constituent all of my state as well as hearing the voice of all around the United States of america. E difficult stories that people who have lifetime caps who, because their child had an illness as a child, by the time the child was an adult, they couldnt find insurance pickle people are being denied insurance because of a preexisting condition. D people who were declaring bankruptcy in this country rates individually higher than we are seeing now because they could not afford Health Insurance. Personal bankruptcy in our nation has been cut around 50 . These were all the gains we have achieved through the Affordable Care act, the expansion of health care to millions of more, the security of knowing that your Health Insurance will not be cut off because of a preexisting condition, knowingo that when youre paying for Health Coverage its going to carry essential benefits that every american should get. These gains and many more, and whats happened after the failure of trumpcare, after the failure of republican plans, what actually came out about or something that was encouraging to me as i senator thats been here for three plus years, to see some of the states people from arsenic, lamar alexander, senator murray, come together in and say you have a crisis in a country, some of these markers are losing stability. We should Work Together, putn aside partisan differences, try to find a pathway forward to make sure that in some states millions of folks dont lose Health Insurance. And you heard, at least i did, some of the best commentary in s this body, perhaps most notably a speech by john mccain who stood up and so strongly talked about regular order, talked about us doing things in the senate in a way that brought us together, that invited in theerh public, that had a wide berthh the people participate in the crafting of policy, halsey that affects nearly 20 of our economy, policy that affects hundreds of millions of americans, policy that is critical to the success of our nation. And im grateful that murray and alexander have been holding bipartisan hearings to try to stabilize the market place. Through this process over the past month weve had bipartisan governors, governor from both parties, insurance commissioners, consumers, whoo all had the opportunity to begin to weigh in on different proposals and their impact on the Health Insurance marketplace. You see, this shows that we can Work Together to try to improve the Affordable Care act, not this idea that we throw out, throw it out. Hurting not just a few people, i but literally tens of millions of americans. This is the way it should behis done. The past proposals that i failed in this body were done the wrong way. Se people crafting legislation behind closed doors in a a nonexclusive manner, and a partisan manner, not holding hearings, not bringing experts w in. Thats not the way this body was meant to work. In fact, for those who criticize the Affordable Care act, there were dozens and dozens and dozens of bipartisan hearings, over 190 from the Republican Party were included in the ultimate legislation. It was a process that took months and months and months. The president of the United States even met with the republican senators and congresspeople to discuss and debate the legislation, and it was aired on cspan. This showed the best of who we are, that when we come together as a body and go through a process, good legislation, notld perfect legislation but good legislation could advance us towards or principles. And those principles were principles that were discussed during the last president ial campaign by both candidates here donald trump himself, our president , said time and time again i want is to have an Insurance Health system in which everyone is covered, in which everyone has affordable and Quality Health care. These values are not debatable. And im disappointed. I am frustrated. I am angry that we are here again while i bipartisan proces is going on and we are having as a great new jersey and once said, yogi berra, were having deja vu all over again. You see, here we are now coming back this week and we are hearing about another republican bill that has not gone through regular order, that is not had hearings, that is not had a com bipartisan process. Another deal is coming to the floor that people are whipping h up votes that we might of yet another dramatic moment in thiss body in which millions of americans are watching and holding their breath because their families, their children,i their Senior Citizen parents are all being held in the balance about the decision that this body would make not going to regular order, not bring in experts of legislation that hasnt even been scored by the t congressional budget office. The cbo has scored in this bill. We dont know what its total impact would be on the Health Coverage, on costs. We dont know how many people could lose their coverage, exactly how premiums could skyrocket for the middle class. And just how much and how medicaid would ultimately be gutted. This is the bill thats coming for us. This is the threat right now to our nation and to millions of people. But we do know enough about thil bill, and that previous versions of the repeal plan that looked very similar to this bill, give us many hence, more than hence, give us much evidence about what this bill would do. And how this bill would again cause millions to lose theirrems coverage. To have premiums again skyrocket. Skyrocket. And for those that rely on medicaid, for everything all. Addiction treatment to maternity care, to millions that rely on medicaid, they would suffer. Let me go through some things that we know about this legislation that is beingught to threatened, brought to the senate floor that now casts a shadow over the coverage earned and gained by millions ofon americans. This legislation would still take coverage away from millions of americans. We know that this district to version, this partisan repeal plan, will take coverage away from millions of people. Hat experts have projected that already after ten years, this partisan repeatable and could cause over 30 million americans to lose their coverage. 30 million americans cast back into a world where one illness or one injury could devastate their families, could send them into bankruptcy, that one illness, that one injury could have the worst of results. To cast us back to a time when so Many Americans were using Emergency Rooms and emergency room doctors as their primary care physicians. Cast as back into time when Many Americans were delaying seen doctors because they couldnt afford to allowing preventable diseases or treatable diseases to get worse and worse. That their Health Insurance means more americans will die. Thats not a dramatic hyperbolic statement. That is the truth. When Health Coverage rates goovg down, american mortality rates go up. What else to we know about this legislation . Is that it still raises costs like the other versions of trumpcare. This version of this partisan repeal plan will still forceor hardworking americans to pay more for actually worse care. Hv it would abruptly and the critical assistance subsidies that have allowed millions toe afford care. It would end support for people in the very marketplaces that two other bipartisan senators on the h. E. L. P. Committee are trying to discuss how were going to stabilize those markets to get people that very access. And we know that a result of this repeal plan american can see the deductibles increased by several thousand dollars. And we could once again, once again with those increases seerg bankruptcy rates increase after dropping dramatically under the Affordable Care act. What else do we know about this legislation . This newest version of trumpcare. Nds well, it still ends federal protection, like the other planes did, protections for people with preexisting conditions. This version of this repeal plan, trumpcare is latest version, which still enablenable Insurance Companies to charge folks who are sick or who have been ill or who have preexisting condition that would be able to charge and for more care. States could wave that restriction on this Commission Gets people with preexisting condition. This plan will still subject million of americans with the existing additions to price discrimination. Meaning americans who may affect cancer, americans who areutism pregnant, americans with a child with autism could be forced to pay thousands and thousands of dollars more just to get coverage. What else does this newest piece of legislation, this attempted trumpcare again, what else does it do . Well, it seems the Medicaid Expansion and it establishes a percapita cap and reduction of medicaid. By ending medicaid as we know it, after over 50 years of this program, by suddenly tapping it and ultimately giving block grants to states, we know that it will affect dramatically the people that this program and these expansions have covered. Who gets covered by medicaid course who will be affected . Well, in america right now over half of all low income families rely on medicaid. Ur to out of three of our seniors living in Nursing Homes rely on medicaid. Half, half of all the birth and the United States of america our children, our future, our greatest natural resource, half are covered by medicaid. Here is our reality. We are getting a program that benefits us all, our seniors, our children, as well as the disabled. The cruel medicaid cuts proposed in this bill, the cuts and the caps in his version will still put those of the most to lose in the most serious jeopardy, though seniors in Nursing Homes, working families, communities of color, women, americans with disabilities, those folks are starting already with illness, elder americans, americans living in rural areas, americans living in our cities. Value this is not who we are. This is not our values. This kind of draconian action is unacceptable and a nation this great. What else does it do . This newest version of trumpcare, what else does it do . Well, this bill in this version, just like once before, stilly roads critical patient protections, critical patientor protections established by the Affordable Care act, by allowing states to apply for a waiver to opt out of the aca essential benefits requirement for things as basic as maternity care, Substance Abuse services, prescription drugs, emergency services, hospitalizations and rehabilitation services. Ep this repeal plan could essentially give insurers the green light to once again chargc for junk insurance plans that dont actually cover needed care. You may have Health Insurance but it may be so limited and so constricted that when you actually get sick, you find out it does not cover your illness, your health challenge, your injury. O this newest version of plan, trumpcare, this newest version of a partisan repeal plan is also still threatens Womens Health. Women compromise, compromisedhe twothirds of all enrollees in medicaid. They would be essentially hurt pr this repeal plan like previous versions would still cut off low income women from accessing critical, preventative and Healthcare Services from planned parenthood. Health centers that provide essential Preventative Care and often in many counties, the only avenue cut contraceptiveut pla services. It singles out planned parenthood by not allowing them to be reimbursed for basiccult health services, making it so much more difficult for women all around our country to access important care. What else does this most recent version of trumpcare, this partisan bill, not going tord regular order, well, just like the other onc ones in which to weaken the federal prohibition on lifetime limits, lifetime caps on the insurance that one can receive. That means americans with chronic diseases and conditions, and children with unique medical needs and challenges who still need continued lifesaving care thou that cap to spend hundreds of o thousands of dollars on continued care, even though they were insured. Thats devastating families, sending them into bankruptcy, spiraling them to financial catastrophe. A couple months back one of my constituents tweeted me a photo of her sons medical bill after a recent surgery. The bill was for 500 but it o showed that without the coverago she got because of the Affordable Care act, she wouldve owed over 230,000. That was just for her childs heart surgery, and her son, ethan, who was born with a rare genetic disorder has had four of those surgeries. Under this partisan plan, not only could essential Health Benefits like hospitalizations and prescription drugs be denied ethan, but lifetime caps on coverage would disqualify ethan from accessing the care he needs. T as his mom put it to me, a lifetime cap of the equivalent of just saying sorry, youre not worth keeping alive anymore, yon are just too expensive. And thats what this plan would allow Insurance Companies to do. Essentially saying to americans, because you had a problem when anym that cap you are not worth covering anymore. We had a vote on the floor today. It was for National Defense. It was a major bill. There were strong statements and speeches on both sides of the aisle, but at the end of the day the overwhelming majority of us join together with great expens, to provide for our Nations National defense. That is to provide for our defense department. Thi it is as, ideal in this body that this government formed by our fore fathers and mothers, the constitution upon which we stand proclaims that were forming this covenant for the common good, for the common defense. But as weve seen in recent days the idea of the fence isnt just protecting us against the threat of north korea, isnt just protecting us from the efforts of the russians. Its not just protecting us from weve seen that the National Defense also means the challenges of Natural Disaster. It was profound for all of us to see the crisis faced from texas to florida, and how we as a nation, hero after hero in communities large and small stood up and this time and were there for their fellow american, never asking the party, never asking or questioning what different religions they might have their people from all different ethnicities bandedns together because that is what americans do. When we are threatened, when we are attacked, whether its a Natural Disaster or an enemy from far, we stand up and take the very formation and foundation of our government ise based on these ideals that we are stronger together when we stand together, when we fight together, when we invest in each other and sacrifice for each other. I im one that believes that our defense of this nation isnt just a powerful military abroad and at home. The defense of our nation also r means for a child who is a terrible disease, that we cant cure, we, our nation, should take care of our own. E the defense of our country means that our elder citizens, twothirds of whom in Nursing Homes, rely on the Medicaid Program that the defense of our nation, the preservation of our ideals is evidenced in the care of those elderly, the dignity that we acknowledge and afford them. That is the very definition of who we are as americans. Im one of those people. That leaves the ideals of this nation are evident not just in the strength of our military, but also in the strength of our system of health care. And that it is a violation of our principles and values as asm nation. T when our Health Care System breaks down to nothing ideals weve seen our military where we protect all of our country, when we stand for everyone, rich or poor, but suddenly with our Health Care System with accessing lifesaving medicines and procedures, critical Preventative Care, that that suddenly boils down to who is very wealthy access, and people who are struggling in minimum wage jobs fighting every day to raise the kids, that somehow that should not be covered in our ideals. We are a nation that professes the most profound values, the oldest constitutional democracy that put forth ideals that we are not a theocracy, a nation based upon privilege, based upon how you pray. That we are not a monarchy, that we are the only constitutional democracy that put ideals forward, that became liked by other nations, this ideal that we believed in liberty and justice for all. What justice is there in a piece of legislation that would cast millions of americans, our poorest americans, our sickest americans, our elderly americans come into the world where they no longer have the security of health care . Is that justice in this country . What is the conception of liberty in our nation if some people are shackled to fear and worry that if their child gets sick, they will not have access to care . What is freedom if people arethy imprisoned by illness and disease that they cannot getavee adequately treated because they do not have Health Coverage . Essential to the ideals of our country, the ideals of life and liberty and happiness is having a system of health care that provides a Stable Foundation foe life. When half of the children born in this country are beneficiaries of the Medicaid Program, why would we slash that program that undermines the very start of the life of our children . Tr that is against our values as a country. We are a nation that everyccess, generation has expanded access, has expanded opportunities. Over 50 years ago, medicare and Medicaid Programs that were formed, expand access to health care for the elderly, expandingp access to health care for the sick, expanding access to health care to hardworking, low income people. That was an advancement forward. When this body past the Affordable Care act and 20 million more americans gained access to health care, to lifesaving procedures, for the stability that comes from having that security, we advanced this nation more towards its ideals. This body should be coming together to take the imperfections of the Affordable Care act, to find where it hasng fallen short and working together to build upon that foundation so that everyone in this nation can have justice ang opportunities, that anyone when it comes to the grip of illness or disease can find the freedom that comes, the security, theha ease of mind knowing that they can afford to go to a doctor. At thats a national aspiration. That is National Defense. That is who we are and what we stand for. And so now here we are again, the most frustrating moment of my time as a United States senator that essene legislation not in any way coming through t the processes set up by our forefathers and mothers in this place, the traditions of the senate. To usurp them all to rush to the floor to ball of legislation hasnt benefited from the wisdom and the genius in the experience of medical professionals, of experts, but just was pushed to the floor that even nonpartisan experts would say would ripip health care from millions, would raise costs for the elderly. How can we as a body do this to ourselves . We are in this situation again. E where legislation is being proposed, where votes are beingn counted. Where people are discussing, hey, can we bring a l to the floor, another version of those that have fallen and been defeated . Can would bring this aversion forward . And i just say its time we stop. Its time we understand that in the same way we hammered out a bill today, to pass legislation. Billions and billions of dollars, to protect our country from threats abroad, that we take the same kind of effort to Work Together, to talk, to hold hearings, to listen to eacht other, to try to make sure that we are defending each other, supporting each other, helping each other. That we are a generation that, like our forefathers and and mothers, is expanding conceptions of liberty and freedoms and access for more people. Instead, here we are with millions of americans now turning their attention back to the United States senate. Americans with disabilities, parents with children like ethan who worry that should they need another operation, the legislation changes, they wont have access. Young people with parents in Nursing Homes wondering will Medicaid Expansion survive inemt another attempt to get the program . Aadded time we need to be encouraging each other, strengthen our commitments to one another. We face a time of jeopardy, a decision point, a crossroads not just in the pragmatic realities of health care that will come forward at a crossroads of our values, crosses of our ideals. Will we go forward as a nation together, expanding opportunities, securing justice, defending each other, and power each other . Or will he go back . I end with saying this. What ive learned is that the decisions made you are not always easy, and that they are often dependent upon the engagement of the nation as a whole. S i stand here, the beneficiary of courageous americans who stood and fought for all of our values, all of our ideals, toy expand access and equality and opportunity to fight to defend this nation at home and abroad, to insist that every child have certain basic rights and opportunity. This is yet another moral moment for our nation. I believe that every child should have access to affordable, Quality Health caree i believe that every Senior Citizen growing old should have the security and the dignity of healthy environments. I believe that people should noe be denied the justice of health care because they have a preexisting condition. I dont think these are radical beliefs. N any in any way that i think it was radical to stand up and say women should have the right to vote, that it was radical to think that chilled should not have experience child labor. It was radical to say that blact americans should have equal access to restaurants andical hotels. Radical ideas. But the reason why this body stood up in generation after generation securing privileges and expanding opportunity and opening up access, the reason why this body did that was not just because of the decisions of the people on this floor. It was because americans stood up and demanded these changes, demanded this progress, fought for every inch of ground and that is the moment we are in right now. A call to the conscience of ourk country. I asked everyone this is not a time to be silenced because not a time to be indifferent big this is not a time this is time for all of us to make al decision about who will we be as a nation. Will we be a nation that provides affordable, Quality Health care to all, or will we slide back into that basic right being only available to a smaller and Smaller Group of people . That is the decision, and the wb decision will be made not just buy the votes on the floor or the decisions made by the hundreds in this body, it must be made collectively towards engagement and activism. And what we demand from our representatives. Es so here we are in this moral moment, this decision for our country. And my prayer and my hope is that all of us with a collective voice, with a chorus that resonates with that of ourur ancestors, that we fight for the defense of our nation, that we stand up and take responsibility ls for ideals of equal justice, ideals of liberty and freedom, ideals of life in liberty and the pursuit of happiness, ideals that are made thi nation psychoh owner greatness at her character. That doesnt happen by accident or some inevitability of history. It happens because we fight for it and work for it. If theres any moment in American History where we need that spirit, that american grit, that toughness and a fight, it is this moment right now. Mr. President , thank you. I note the absence of the corporate. Coming up the Senate ForeignRelations Committee considers the nomination of former utah governor jon huntsman to the ambassador to russia. Live coverage at 10 a. M. Eastern on cspan3 come online at cspan. Org streaming on the free cspan radio app. Later today democratic policy and Communications Committee holds a hearing on president trumps Election Commission and concerns its result potential privacy violations and voter suppression. Live coverage begin at 3 p. M. Eastern on cspan, online at cspan. Org or on the free cspan radio app. Now hearing on resolving taxpayer disputes with the irs. Former irs commissioner and taxpayer advocates talk about the Current System and appeals process and offer recommendations for simplifying the system. This house ways and means subcommittee hearing is one hour 15 minutes. The subcommittee will come to order. Welcome to the ways and means