Spoke on the senate staff defending the Affordable Care act while a Circuit Court was hearing a challenge to the law. [inaudible conversations] great. All right, i want to thank our great great Speaker Nancy Pelosi and all of our friends from the house for joining the Senate Democrats here on the steps. We are gathered because this is a critical day for the future of healthcare in america. Today new orleans republican attorneys generals supported by President Trump and his department of justice. Will argue in court that millions americans should lose their healthcare and all the protections included in the aca. The stakes cannot be higher. Imagine you are a parent and your child has cancer a deadly form. Theres a treatment available but the Insurance Companies as well. You cant have that treatment. Or we are cutting you off. What is donald trump . What are our a publican friends telling family . But you cant get healthcare . And we have nothing to put in its place . Shame on them. Shame on them. The stakes cant be higher. The faces you see behind us are faces of americans, millions of americans who will suffer if republicans succeed in dismantling our healthcare law. Millions of peoples lives in, nothing less, are on the line. If the right wing wins the lawsuit, families from one end of america to the other will lose. Lose their healthcare. Lose important preexisting condition protections and lose their peace of mind. That there might be something there make them well. It will hurt families in new york like little emily here at healthy active sevenyearold when her life dramatically changed after she sustained a severe traumatic brain injury from falling off a horse in 2015. Emilys recovery has been long. Its been daunting. She has had to relearn how to walk, how to eat, how to talk, how to engage with the world around her at age 7. But her biggest challenge, her biggest challenge, was her family struggle. Because private insurance would only cover 60 days of rehab. Thankfully her family was given what emilys mother calls a lifeline. She received her care through medicaid. As millions of other americans have in these types of situations. Because of aca and only because of aca, she knows she doesnt have to worry that she will be denied healthcare or charged prices so high that her family cant afford them because of a preexisting condition. Shes going to live with this preexisting condition the rest of her life. I a. M. And we all are fighting to keep emilys productions and those that millions and millions of americans, not mr. Trump the very wealthy who can afford it but average families, working families, middleclass families, struggling families, desperately depend on this healthcare that you President Trump and you republicans are trying to take from them. We cannot allow it to happen. The stakes cant be higher. The bottom line is very simple. If republicans prevail these protections are obliterated overnight. In our probably aaour republican friends in the house and senate mom. They go home and say they want to protect preexisting conditions and in the act to take them away and do nothing to preserve them. Hypocrisy. Latent hypocrisy. When President Trump declared the Republican Party will be the party of healthcare, everyone knows hes full of it. Dont let President Trump fool you america. Donald trump and the republicans want to take away your healthcare, we democrats will keep fighting tooth and nail to protect americans healthcare for as long as it takes. And we will not stop until we succeed. Speaker pelosi. [applause] thank you mr. Leader. That was a good class. That was a real clap. Thank you leader schumer for bringing us together here on the steps of the United States senate to speak out on behalf of all the American People. I am pleased to be here with you and the distinguished senator former house member senator jacky rosen who was a champion for healthcare in the house and now in the senate and what call and ill read a freshman member i will introduce in a moment talk about in a moment and his role in all of this from day one as a member of congress. Today house and Senate Democrats are here to show that human stakes of the gops Relentless Assault on healthcare. As all arguments being heard today gops taxes versus u. S. Lawsuit we gathered to give voice to the hardworking americans with health and Economic Security are in jeopardy. Today the Trump Administration is demanding that the court struck down every last provision of the aca. Protecting protections for the over 130 million americans with preexisting conditions. And their families. Bands on lifetime and annual limits. As the leader mentioned, that can be a very aahave a devastating impact financially as well as healthwise for a family. Medicaid expansion, Medicaid Expansion in the aca very important to people born with a preexisting, babies born with preexisting condition and families otherwise. Savings for seniors on Prescription Drug costs the premium assistance that makes Health Coverage affordable for millions of American Families. As you all know Affordable Care act extended benefits to 20 Million People who did not have healthcare before and that was very important. A major achievement in itself but that was not the full extent of the bill. 100 30 million americans have preexisting conditions. They are affected by this law and whats interesting about it is during the Campaign Across the country the republicans were saying we are up for preserving the preexisting medical conditions. Yet they vote over and over again to prevent it and now they are taking it to court. The reason they think they have a chance in court is because what they did on the horrible gop tax scam bill where they undermine the Affordable Care act there. Every chance they get they try to undermine the health and Economic SecurityFinancial Security of americas working families. The aca is a pillar of health and Economic Security standing alongside medicare, medicaid, and social security. The gop is showing that they want to destroy the Affordable Care act for americas families. With the leadership of aand our outstanding freshman class, our majority voted on day one to show the full legal weight of the house against this disastrous gop lawsuit. But more than 190 republicans that day voted to be fully complicit in the administrations attempt to tear away health protections. Families across the nation have called on congress to protect our care and House Democrats are fighting for them. May i pay tribute to the mobilization on the outside or inside maneuvering is very important to pass legislation but we cannot succeed without the outside mobilization of so many Patient Advocacy groups, so many groups united collaborating to protect. I think them for their leadership and their success. Democrats will continue to fight for the people to lower healthcare costs and the cost of Prescription Drugs and to protect people with preexisting conditions. I want to seek call to your attention and im so proud that so many colleagues in the house and senate are here with their examples. We often so many to choose from because there are so many examples in our constituency. Im here with jonah cohen, my constituent in san francisco. Jonah is 11 years old and will be entering into the sixth grade this fall on april 11, 2017 his life dramatically changed when he was diagnosed with type i diabetes. Its been a hard adjustment and especially as he has a phobia of shots. Hes trying to continue to live a normal life he is a brown belt in tae kwon do and plays piano. He is a lovely young man. Imagine that this descended on their family april of last year every family in america is one phone call, one accident away from being played with preexisting condition, the costs they incur and more importantly the toll they take on the health of family members. It is really important that the court honor its precedents when it rules in favor of the Affordable Care act and a previous vocation. Now it is my privilege to yield to the distinguished senator from nevada former member of the house of who we are very proud senator jacky rosen. [applause] thank you madam speaker. Leader schumer, thank you all for being here today. I want to point out to you my picture this is elsie. She is eight years old. She loves to read. She loves to play outside and right after elsie was born she was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. A lifethreatening genetic disease that affects thousands of people across the United States. This debilitating disease makes it incredibly difficult for elsie and thousands of other americans to do something just as simple as breathing. Whats even more tragic is that more than half the patients with Cystic Fibrosis dont live to see the age of 30. It takes a lot to treat cf. Elsie takes over 100 pills a week to treat her disease, maintain her nutrition level and that doesnt even take into account medication and medical equipment she needs to keep breathing. This is elsies routine when she is healthy. When she is sick with another illness or infection the treatments are more difficult. More painful. More expensive. However, elsie is fortunate she has a loving and dedicated family that continue to fight for elsies health and thats why we are here today. Thats what we all must do for elsie and for countless others millions of People Living with preexisting conditions like elsie are at risk of losing affordable quality care if the aca is struck down. No child, no adult for that matter should be deprived of basic Health Coverage they depend on to stay alive. Elsie and her family, they refused to give up. They are the reason that we are not giving up either. We must fight to give elsie and her family that breath of fresh air she struggles to take every moment of every day. Millions of people depend on us, they sent us here to protect their healthcare. Thats what im doing. Thats what we are doing. Thank you. [applause] good afternoon. Take you speaker pelosi, leader schumer, senator rosen, for leading the charge in this fight. Its an honor to be here fighting alongside you for americans healthcare. We are here today because of a cynical partisan attack on our healthcare. The healthcare of hardworking americans and federal courts. The reality is this administrations careless lawsuit will rip away care for millions. My first day in Congress Introduced a resolution that puts the United States house of representatives on the side of the people to protect our healthcare. I was honored to be joined that fight by many colleagues here today. My home state of texas has the highest uninsured rate in the country and my home of Dallas County one in five people dont have health insurance. If this attack succeeds this lawsuit will send us spiraling backwards. And harm hundreds of thousands of texans. The fight to protect preexisting conditions is personal to me. My mother is a Breast Cancer survivor. Ive told the story many times but two years ago on the day the house voted to repeal the Affordable Care act i met natalie, a young mother who was spending her final weeks fighting cancer to advocate, to protect the Affordable Care act. With it the vital protection for people with preexisting conditions like hers. The spottings of future mothers like her would be able to know their children so they wouldnt have to worry about getting the coverage and the care they need. Sadly we left natalie up here but its stories like her are common. Stories like the rose family from rowlett i met rob rose at the Resource Center opening when he wrote into my office to share his story when the president decided to attack the Affordable Care act in new york. He used to work in sales but when his company downsized they let him go. He ultimately decided to retire early but he wasnt yet eligible for medicare. Because of the Affordable Care act he was able to find a plan that worked for him during this transition period in his life. He is now on medicare. But his wife debbie is still on the individual market plan though her premiums are too high rob told us this plans give them peace of mind its very important to provide Older Americans that are not yet medicare eligible but the way to buy insurance that actually works this is an example why we cant go backwards. We must Work Together to lower the cost of healthcare for American Families like the roses. I urge the administration, colleagues in the house and senate to end this partisan attack on our healthcare and to work with us to protect protection for people with preexisting conditions and make sure every American Family gets the care they need. The American People are counting on us to get things done thats why they sent us here. We have to stop this sabotage. Thank you so much. [applause] for everyone youve heard about the four families the scores back here and millions in america we are all going to hold up our signs so you can see them it is they that its all about. [inaudible conversations] for 40 years cspan has been providing america on for a third coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, spoke with policy events from washington dc and around the country. So you can make up your own mind. By cable in 1979 cspan is brought to you by your local cable or satellite provider. Cspan your unfiltered view of government. Federal reserve chairman Jerome Powell will testify before the House Financial Services committee on Monetary Policy and the state of the u. S. Economy. By wednesday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern and live at 2 30 p. M. House subcommittee hearing on the treatment of immigrant children at the u. S. Mexico border. Witnesses include and asylumseekers from guatemala and live on thursday morning at 9 30 a. M. Eastern the senator Armed Service committee will consider the nomination of army general mark millie for chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Watch all three hearings live on cspan 3 online at cspan. Org or listen with the free cspan radio app. This is bill hoagland, the Bipartisan Policy Center here to talk about the effect of debt on the federal budget in the next many years. Thank you for giving us your time. Glad to be here. Looking out 30 years, what is the potential when it comes to the debt in United States . The total amount of debt