Point. And that and i dont want im not going to call it, but mr. Mccain was expected yes and johnson was an unknown, sounds like he just voted aye. The democrats are going to vote no, but that should be i know were in closing bell right now. Well stay with this for a few minutes. John harwood and sara fagen still with us, i believe are you there . They have the votes. The ayes do have it, and as i said in my little hot mike moment there in a long conversation like that with Mitch Mcconnell, it sounds to me like ron johnson wanted to vent a little bit at some of his frustrations with Mitch Mcconnell but not so much that he was going to walk away and vote no so hes voted aye to proceed which means this Health Debate is going to happen and what weve got is a some attempt to rewrite the Senate Health bill which had been stalled for lack of support. If that fails, they are ultimately going to try to get to this bare bones repeal which would be a vehicle to get to conference with the house, and the question then is what can they negotiate can it can a less ambitious bill than the house passion the house and what can pass the senate all of them are going to have much lower coverage scores than the Affordable Care act, but republicans have the ability to get past that issue if they want to, and at least they have taken the first step here. Worst case, this they end up passing something in the senate. They go to a conference committee, and it drags on for months and gets in the way of tax reform kelly etches and Bill Griffeth in with closing bell. This is not the repeal of obamacare, but this is the first step paroled yoully to begin the process anew to repeal observing apartment. The market though, again, oddly not reacting the market has shrugged off, guys, everything that d. C. Has thrown tat because corporate earnings have been good enough. Indeed. Youve had high drama on capitol hill, but it has been about earnings for wall street so far today, brian thank you, guys. Well take it from here as the procedural vote continues there in the senate. Im Bill Griffith along with kelly evans at the new york stock exchange. Opens a can of worms. A good sign for the bill that this got this far and it moans that there could be a bunch of amendments coming down the pike from republicans and democrats and a first step, a necessary step and still many questions to be resolved. Lets begin here with this procedural vote that just happened on the bill to replace obamacare, and Kayla Tausche has more details for us. Kayla . Reporter kelly, for this vote in and of itself to wrap up, my producer stephanie dew who is down the hall says that the Vice President is in the chamber. Hes expected to be needed to break this tie which currently the vote currently stands at 502, so he will be the 51st vote on this issue with senator john mccain of arizona coming on to the floor to a standing ovation to vote aye, and John Ron Johnson of wisconsin, an unexpected holdout there at the end and in a heated discussion with Senate Leadership casting the very last vote on the republican side as a yes in this vote to proceed. So what comes next well, there will be a couple different votes on things that the senate has already been discussing, an outright repeal and then the better care act that they unveiled in june, but neither of those are expected to have the votes that they need to pass, so something that has been talked about on k street as well as here on the hill as a potentially viable option is whats being called a skinny rell peel and our colleagues at nbc news have done some great reporting on this. What it would do is repeal the individual and employer mandates and also repeal the medical device tax, but it wouldnt really touch anything else medicaid wouldnt be touched, the obamacare subsidies wouldnt be touched neither would the rest of the Affordable Care act taxes. That is seen as a way that you could cobble together supports from moderates and conservatives alike because repeal enough but you leave enough of the funding in place, too, so that youre not seen as pulling out the rug from under any of these specific programs that process would get you to conference which would be a battle between the house and the senate to actually arrive at something that both chambers could then vote on so were obviously a very long way from the end process. The vote today, a symbolic but important one for republicans who have talked about this and been pressured by the white house to do this for some time kayla, youmentioned a skinn repeal here as being now bandied about. So if that happens and they only get rid of the individual mandate, presumably a bunch of people will still drop out of the exchanges if that happens, has the cbo scored anything like this is shouldnt be anywhere near the 32 million uninsured on a straight repeal, but i do wonder how many millions of people would decide they dont want obamacare coverage if they are not forced to have it. Reporter well, kelly, on the cbo front, one of the reasons why the why the full replacement is not expected to pass is because the amendments that would be brought forth by some of the senators that would be looking to change that would themselves have not been scored by the cbo and would require 60 votes which the republicans cannot currently get with the current compositionin the senate right now, so the skinny repeal is seen as the path forward because it is something that not only would be able to fit through the key hole of needing only 50 votes but something that is seen as potentially workable with the house. We should note theres thats not a replacement option they would still have to figure out in due time exactly what a replacement would look like, and obviously some of the data around the marketplace would be like Shifting Sands as they work that out, to. Meanwhile, john harwood, masterful maneuvering by Mitch Mcconnell. We knew he had to thread the needle very carefully and even the late robert byrd would be impressed with how hes proceeding with this whole thing, dont you reporter i think its very impressive and surprise, especially since Mitch Mcconnell had seemed to indicate that the process had reached a dead end just a few days ago. Also have to say it is a victory for President Trump who has urged them to keep talking he said in an interview with the wall street journal just a few minutes ago this is basically a motion to talk, and if we get the motion to talk, well be in good shape and on the question that kelly was just asking kayla about, the skinny repeal, cbo has indicated that if they just take await individual mandate youd have about 15 million fewer people with Health Insurance over the next several years now, thats partly because of people who would decide not to buy it, but its also because as a result of people Healthy People not buying it, youd have a sicker risk pool, and, therefore, the premiums would go up for the people who do buy it and some of those would be pushed off by skyrocketing premiums, so theres multiple problems with it, but it is, as kayla indicated, at least a way to extend the conversation and kick the can down the road doesnt tell you whether they are going to succeed or fail, but it tells you they are still alive. John, would a skinny repeal be workable in the house, do you think . I mean, obviously no. The legislation thats come out of there has been more conservative, and this would have to get those members on board. Do you think they would be able to say to their constituents, look, we know this doesnt resemble anything like a repeal of obamacare, especially some of the important parts, but it is a way to move forward and take a couple of steps in that direction. Do you think they will be able to sell that in the house . Look, i doubt, it kelly, but ive been surprised by a lot of steps in this process, and i took republicans at their word a few days ago who indicate it had wasnt going to happen. Lets listen to mike pence and see whats happening. An act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title 2 of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2017 the senior senator from arizona is recognized. I thank you, mr. President , and ive stood in this place many times and addressed this present and many presiding officers ive been so addressed what ive sat in that chair and thats as close as youll ever be to a presidency, but anyway its an honor were almost indifferent to in truth, presiding over the senate can be a nuisance, a bit of ceremonial bore and usually relegated to the more junior members of the majority, but i stand here today looking a little worse for wear im sure i have a refreshed appreciation for the protocols and customso this body and for the other 99 privileged souls who have been elected to this senate ive been a member of the United States for 30 years. I had another long if not as long career before i arrived here, another profession that was profoundly rewarding and in which i had experiences and friendships that i revere, but make no mistake. My service here is the most important job ive had in my life, and im so grateful, so grateful to the people of arizona for the privilege, for the honor of serving here and the opportunities it gives me to play a small role in the history of the country that i love ive known and add mired men and women in the senate who played much more than a small role in our history, true statesman, giants of american politics. They come from both parties and from various backgrounds their ambitions were frequently in conflict. They held different views on the issues of the day, and they often had very serious disagreements about how best to serve of the National Interest but they knew that however sharp and heartfelt their disputes, however keen their ambitions, they had an obligation to work collaboratively to ensure the senate discharged its Constitutional Responsibilities effectively. Our responsibilities are important, vitally important to the continued success of our republic, and our arcane rules and customs are deliberately intended to require broad cooperation to function well at all. The most revered members of this institution accepted the necessity of compromise in order to make incremental progress on solving americas problems and defend her from her adversaries. That principle mindset and the service of our predecessors who possess it had come to mind when i hear the senate referred to as the worlds greatest deliberative body. Im not sure we can claim that distinction with a straight face today. Im sure it wasnt always deserved in previous eras either, but im sure there have been times when it was, and i was privileged to witness so many of those occasions. Our deliberations today, not just our debates, but about the execser size of all of our responsibilities authorizing government policies, appropriating the funds to implement them, exercising our advice and consent rules are often lively and interesting this can be sincere and principled, but they are more partisan, more tribal more of the time than at any time that i can remember our deliberations can still be important and useful, but i think wed all agree they havent been overburdened by greatness lately right now they arent producing much for the American People both sides have let this happen. Lets leave the history of who shot first for the historians. I suspect they will find we all conspired in our decline, either by deliberative actions or neglect. Weve all played some role in it certainly i have sometimes ive let my passion rule my reason sometimes ive made it harder to find Common Ground because of something harsh i said to a colleague. Sometimes ive wanted to win more for the sake of winning than to achieve a contested policy incremental progress, compromises that each side criticize and also accept. Just plain muddling through to chip away at problems and keep our enemies from doing their worst isnt glamorous or exciting it doesnt feel like a political triumph, but its usually the most we can expect from our system of government, operating in a country as diverse and quarrelsome and free as ours considering the injustice and cruelties inflicted by autocratic governments and how corruptible human nature can be, the problem solving our system does make it possible the fruitful progress it produces and the liberty of justice it preserves is a magnificent achievement. Our system doesnt depend on our nobility it accounts for our imperfections and gives us an order to our individual strivings that has helped make ours the most powerful and Prosperous Society on earth. It is our responsibility to preserve that, and even when it requires us to do something less satisfying than winning, even when we must give a little to get a little, even when our efforts managed three yards in a cloud of dust while critics on both sides denounce us for timidity, for our failure to triumph. I hope we can again rely on humanity on our need to cooperate on our dependence on each other and learn how to trust each other again and by so doing better work for the people stop listening to the loud mouths on the television and the internet and radio to hell with them. They dont want anything done for the public good. Our incapacity is their livelihood lets trust each other lets return to regular order. Weve been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle thats an approach thats been employed by both sides mandating legislation from the top down without any support from the other side with all the parliamentary maneuvers that it requires were getting nothing done, my friends were getting nothing done and all weve really done this year is confirm neal gorsuch to the supreme court. Our Health Care Insurance system is a mess. We all know it those who support obamacare and those who oppose it. Something has to be done we republicans have looked for a way to end it and replace it with Something Else without paying a terrible political price. We havent found it yet, and im not sure we will all weve managed to do is make more popular a policy that wasnt very popular when we started trying to get rid of it. I voted for the motion to proceed to allow debate to continue and amendments be offered. I will not vote for this bill as it is today. Its a shell of a bill right now. We all know that i have changes urged by my states governor that will have to be included to earn my support for final passage of any bill i know many of you will have to see the bill changed substantially for you to support it weve tried to do this by coming up with a proposal behind closed doors in consultation with the administration and then springing on skeptical members, trying to convince them that its better than nothing, that its better than nothing asking us to swallow our doubts and force it past a unified opposition i dont think thats going to work in the end, and probably shouldnt. The administration and Congressional Democrats shouldnt have forced through Congress Without any opposition support of social and economic change as mavis as obamacare, and we shouldnt do the same with ours. Why dont we try the old way of legislating in the senate . The way our rules and customs encourage us to act. If this process ends in failure, which seems likely, then lets return to regular order. Let the Health Education labor and Pensions Committee under chairman alexander and Ranking Member murray hold hearings, try to report a bill out of committee with contributions from both sides. [ applause ] something that my dear friends on the ore side of the aisle didnt allow to happen nine years ago. Lets see if we can pass something that will be imperfect, full of compromises and not very pleasing to implacable partisans on either side but that might provide Workable Solutions for problems americans are struggling with today. What have we to lose by trying to Work Together to find those solutions . Were not getting done much apart. I dont think any of us feels very proud of our incapacity merely preventing your political opponents from doing what they want isnt the most inspiring work theres greater satisfaction in respecting our differences but not letting them prevent agreements that dont require abandonment of core principles, agreements made in good faith, that help improve lives and protect the American People. The senate is capable of that. We know that weve seen it before ive seen it happen many times, and the times when i was involved even in a modest way with working on a bipartisan response to a National Problem or threat are the proudest moments of my career and by far the most satisfying. This place is important. The work we do is important. Our strange rules and seemingly eccentric practices that slow our proceedings and insist on our cooperation are important. Our founders envisioned the senate as the more deliberative careful body that operates at a greater distance than the other body from the public passions of the hour we are an important check on the powers of the executive. Our consent is necessary for the president to appoint jurists and powerful government officials and in many respects to conduct foreign policy. Whether or not we are of the same party, we are not the president s subordinates we are his equal as his responsibilities are on us, many in powerful on ours we play a vital role in shaping the direction of the judiciary and military and planning foreign and domestic policies. Our success in meeting all these awesome constitutional obligations depends upon Cooperation Among ourselves. The success of the senate is important to the continued success of america this country, this big boisterous brawling intemperate restless striving daring beautiful