Mr. Durbin. No. Mr. Durbin no. Mrs. Murray. No. Liz moments almost hollywood. A man diagnosed with brain cancer just a week ago. Senator john mccain of arizona comes rushing in on capitol hill to cast his vote to a standing ovation. He traveled all the way from arizona in way that would be approved by his doctors so that he could get to this floor and vote yes on moving forward the discussion of whether to repeal and or replace obamacare. John mccain voted yes. So he is a yes. Ron johnson, the senator from wisconsin, he of course was speaking to both senator Mitch Mcconnell who the speaker, there was some real question for the moment whether senator johnson might say im out. Im voting with mcowski who both voted no on those. So we have the tiebreaker in the chair. The tiebreaker of course is Vice President pence. And hes in the chair ready to cast that tie breaking vote. But surely, this is something people have never seen. Let me back up just a second for you. It was about 20 minutes ago or so that protests interrupted the beginning of the vote. Protesters came in yelling kill the bill. Dont kill us. You have the sergeant in arms come rushing in. But it took a while. And people are calling that pretty historic. Those that covered the senate for many, many years said they had never seen anything like that. And then i want to say at about 2 39, Vice President pence got into the chair. Then 2 42, jerry murran of kansas said he will support the bill. And then speak to Mitch Mcconnell and theres probably some verbal negotiating there. But, again, it was that rival of john mccain that caught some peoples breath and maybe a little bit of their heart too. To see how far he traveled to vote yes. Why . Because he always said what is the harm in at least moving the discussion forward to show that we will at least try to get a meeting of the minds. Adam shapiro who has been on capitol hill with the very latest, and he has watching all i know the word drama is overused. But weve seen some pretty dramatic moments here as the democrats are now starting to vote. Yeah. Its going to be no. And what youre going to have is a 5050 tie and pence will break the tie and we will be as they say on the bill. The bill will be on for repeal and replacement of obamacare. And thats when the amendments will come, and there will be a law of amendments. Sources with the Republican Leadership tell fox business that there are amendments, which are designed to make the democrats squirm. This whole discussion has been about, for instance, dean heller of nevada squirming if he were to vote no or yes. But this is now going to put the ball into the Democrats Court to work with the republicans. We will see the amendment for an outright appeal of Affordable Care act, obamacare. And that is expected to fail. But then youll get the skinny repeal, auto which is a slimmed down version of all of that, for individuals to buy health care. Will that pass . Thats what this is going to be about. But heres what i want to you listen what Mitch Mcconnell, the republican leader had to say and what chuck schumer, the minority leader had to say as we went into this historic vote today. People who sent us here expect us to begin this debate. To have the courage to tackle a tough issue. Turn back. We can go through regular order. We want to work with you. Okay. I cant hear the show. Get off the button please. Hello. Liz go ahead, adam. Yeah, so heres whats going on. They are going to have a 50 50 tie and then as we said earlier, Vice President pence will cast the tiebreaker. The debate will begin and the debate will be over. Amendments to the house bill, which was passed several weeks ago, this is the vehicle by which they will attempt to do health care reform. But, liz, this is no easy task for republicans or democrats. You have people like rand paul who want an outright repeal and do not want any spending. 45billion for opioid addiction treatment. He is not in favor of that. Well, rob portman from ohio wants that. So thats where these debates are going to take place. And whether they can put together a piece of legislation that will pass, that has yet to be seen. Liz lets not ignore rand paul. He has been a stick in the mud when it came to this vote, simply because he did not like the most recent draft. He said it was full of billions of dollars of pork, and he also said he would not vote for something that was scaled down. However, then he came out, said earlier wanted a clean repeal. But he wouldnt be opposed to something called a skinny repeal. Now, whats a skinny repeal, folks . It would be something that would not fully uproot obamacare when would not introduce new spending. Now, all the while trust us. Weve got our eye on the senate floor because senator mccain will be speaking in just a couple of minutes. And of course, we would like to hear that. He was the one who said this situation is getting way more drama than it deserves. Its a motion to proceed to a debate. However, i dont care what senators say. It has been very dramatic. Im keeping my eye on some of the health care stocks, the insurers stocks. Its a bit of a mixed picture. Most of them straddling the flight line. The pharmaceuticals straddling the flat line at the moment. But not for the markets. The markets are taking this almost as a side window issue versus the front page for wall street, and that is great, Solid Earnings in this final hour. I need to tell you, we could see not one, not two, not three, but four major embassies close at all time highs. And, no, it does not have anything to do with health care. Its just good, ol fashioned earnings that are in the driving seat. Caterpillar gripping the Steering Wheel here to hit their highest level in more than five years. Also in the passenger seat, youve got mcdonalds sizzling to an alltime high. Folks, thats a stock in a lot of your portfolios. This after sandwiches and burgers and 1 drink lifted the Company Store sales to their highest watermark in about five years. I dont want to ignore dupont. In the backseat after reported Crop Protection sales jump 10 during the quarter. So duponts up 1 right now. All this as wall street calmly lies out by the pool. Now, thats a good or bad thing. Maybe. Look at the vix. It stands right now at 9. 42. Thats it. 9. 42. So theres no fear here. But guess what . That is also very near an alltime low, and you need to watch the vix closely, and we will too because that fear index has never closed below nine. Heres Vice President mike pence, the tiebreaker. Are not permitted. On this vote, the yays are 50 and the nays are 50. The Vice President votes in the aaffirmative and the motion is agreed to. Clerk will report the bill. 120hr1628 in an act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title two of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2017. The senior senator from arizona is recognized. I thank you, mr. President. Ive stood in this place many times and addressed this president many providing officers. Ive been so addressed i sat in that chair, and thats as close as ill ever be to a presidency. But anyway. Its an honor were almost indifferent to. It can be a nuisance, and as usual, relegated to the more junior members of the majority. I stand here today looking a little worse for wear, im sure. I have a refreshed appreciation for the protocols and customs of this body and for the other 99 privileged souls who had been elected to this senate. Eib a member of the United States senate for 30 years. I had another long, if not as long career before i arrived here. Another profession that was profoundly rewarding 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. I admire men and women in the senate who play much more than a small role in the history. True statesman, giants of american politics, they come from both parties, and from various backgrounds. Their ambitions will frequently come conflict. They held different views on the issues of the day, and they often had very serious disagreements about how best to serve the national interest. But they knew no matter how sharp felt their disputes, however keen their suspicions, they had an obligation to work collaboratively to ensure the senate discharged its constitutional abilities effectively. Our responsibilities are important, vitally important to the continued success of our republic. And rules and customs that are deliberately intended to require broad cooperation. The most revered members of this constitution accept compromise in order to make incremental progress on solving americas problems and defender from adversaries. That principle mindset come to mind when i hear the senate referred to as the worlds greatest 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 where it was, and i was privileged to witness some of those occasions. Our deliberations today, not just our debates, but the exercise of all of our responsibilities authorizing government policies, appropriating the funds to implement them, exercising our advice and consent rule are often lively and interesting. It can be sincere and principle. But they are more partisan, more tribal, more of the time than any time that i can remember. Our deliberations can still be important and useful, but i think we would all agree they havent been overburdened by greatness lately. And right now, they arent producing much for the American People. Both sides have let this happen. Lets leave the history of who shot first to the historians. I suspect theyll find we all conspired in our decline either by deliberate actions or neglect. Weve all played some role in it. Certainly, i have. Sometimes ive let my passion rule my reason. Sometimes i made it harder to find Common Ground because of something harsh i said to a colleague. Sometimes i wanted to win more for the sake of winning than to achieve a contested policy. Incremental progress, compromises that each side criticized but also accept just plane 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 what we can get from our government. Operating as free as ours. Considering the injustice and cruelties inflicted by autocratic governments and how corruptible human nature can be, the system does make possible the fitful progress it produces and liberty and 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 striving 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 give a little. Even when our efforts managed just 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 humility on our need to cooperate, on our dependence on each other, to learn how to trust each other again and by so doing better, serve the people who elected us. Stop listening to the loud mouths on the radio and television and the internet. To hell with them. [applause] 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 movement. We are getting nothing done, my friends. We are getting nothing done. And all weve really done this year is confirm neil gorsuch to the supreme court. Our Health Care Insurance system is a mess. We all know it. Those who support obamacare and this 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 of 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 we offer i will not vote for this bill as it today. Its a shell of a bill right now. We all know that. I have changes by my states governor that will have to be included by support of final passage of any bill. I know many of you will have to see the bill changed substantially for you to support it. We tried to do this by coming up with a proposal behind closed doors in consultation with the administration. Then bringing it on skeptical members trying to convince them that its better than nothing. Its better than nothing . Asking us to swallow our doubts and force pass the unified opposition. I dont think thats going to work in the end and probably shouldnt. The administration and Congressional Democrats shouldnt enforce through Congress Without any opposition support social and economic change as massive as obamacare. And we shouldnt do the same with ours. Why dont we try the old way of legislating in the senate . The ways 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 other side of the aisle didnt allow happen nine years ago. [applause] if we lets see if we can pass something that will be imperfect, full of compromises, and not very pleasing on either side. But that might provide Workable Solutions to problems that americans are struggling with today. What have we to lose by trying to Work Together to find this solutions . Were not getting done much at all. I dont think any one of us feels good of our incapacity. Merely preventing political opponents of doing what they want isnt the most inspiring work. 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 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 seeming centric practices that slow our proceedings and insist on our cooperation are important. Our founders envision the senate as the more deliberative, careful body that at a greater body of the public passions of the hour. We are an important check on the executive. For the president to appoint 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 is responsibilities, many powerful so are ours. We play a vital role in shaping and directing the judiciary, military, and the cabinet and planning and supporting foreign and domestic policies, our success in meeting all of these awesome constitutional obligations depends upon Cooperation Among ourselves. Success of the senate is important to the continued success of america. This country. This big, boisterous, brave, good, and magnificent country needs us to help it thrive. That responsibility is more important than any of our personal interests or political affiliation. We are the servants of a great nation. A nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. More people have lived free and prosperous lives here than in any other nation. Weve acquired unprecedent wealth and power because of our governing principles and because our government defended those principles. America has made a greater contribution than any other nation to an International Order that has liberated more people from tyranny and poverty than ever before in history. We had been the greatest example, the greatest supporter, and the greatest defender of that order. We arent afraid. We dont covet other peoples land and wealth. We dont hide behind walls. We breach them. We are a blessing to humanity. What greater cause could we hope to serve in helping keep america the strong, aspiring, inspirational beacon of liberty and the freedom of dignity of all human beings in their right to freedom and equal justice . That is the cause that binds you guess that is so much more powerful than divide us. What a great honor and extraordinary opportunity it is to serve in this body. Its a privilege to serve all of you. I mean it. Many of you have reached out in the last few days with your concern and your prayers, and it means a lot to me. It really does. Ive had so many people say such nice things about me recently that i think some of you must have me confused with someone else. [laughter] i appreciate it, though. Every word. Even if much of it isnt deserved. Ill be here for a few days. I hope managing the floor debate on the Defense Authorization bill, which im proud to say is, again, a product of bipartisan cooperation and trust among the members of the senate and Armed