[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 102 (Wednesday, July 17, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5726-S5727]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Obamacare

  Mr. McCONNELL. As I mentioned yesterday, I am glad the majority saw 
the light and stepped back from committing a tragic mistake. It is good 
news for our country and good news for our democracy. Now that that is 
behind us, we can get back to debating the issues our constituents are 
the most concerned about, and for a lot of my constituents they are 
concerned about ObamaCare.
  This is a law that was basically passed against their will and it is 
a law that is now being imposed upon them by a distant bureaucracy 
headquartered here in Washington. If the folks in DC are to be 
believed, its implementation is going just swimmingly. The Democratic 
leader in the House of Representatives called it ``fabulous.'' The 
President said the law is ``working the way it's supposed to.'' And my 
friend the majority leader said the other day that ``ObamaCare has been 
wonderful for America.''
  Fabulous? Wonderful? These are not the kinds of words one normally 
associates with a deeply unpopular law, or one that media reports 
suggest is already having a very painful impact on Americans we 
represent. Which sets up an important question for Senators to 
consider: Just who are we prepared to believe here when it comes to 
ObamaCare: the politicians who have developed it or the people who are 
reacting to it?
  The politicians in Washington who forced this law on the country say 
everything is fantastic. They spent millions on slick ads with smiling 
actors and sunny-sounding scripts that blissfully--I am being kind 
here--blissfully dismiss what the reality of this law will actually 
look like to so many Americans, or what the reality of the law has 
already become for some of them. That is why the people have taken an 
entirely different view. They are the ones worried about losing the 
coverage they like and want to keep, which is understandable given the 
growing number of news stories about insurance companies pulling out of 
States and markets altogether. They are the ones worried about their 
jobs and pay checks.

[[Page S5727]]

  Each anecdote we hear about a college cutting hours for its employees 
or a restaurant freezing hiring or a small business already taking the 
ax to its workforce at such an early stage--each of them is a testament 
to just how well this law has been working out for the people we were 
sent to represent.
  According to the chamber of commerce's small business survey released 
just yesterday, anxiety about the requirements of ObamaCare now surpass 
economic uncertainty as the top worry for small business. The impact of 
ObamaCare now surpasses economic uncertainty as the top worry for small 
business owners.
  Here is another thing: When even cheerleaders for the law start to 
become its critics, that is when we know there is something to this 
train wreck everybody keeps talking about.
  Unions are livid--even though they helped pass the law--because they 
see their members losing care and becoming less competitive as a result 
of it. That is why they fired off an angry letter to Congress just this 
week.
  The California Insurance Commissioner is troubled too--even though he 
has been one of ObamaCare's biggest boosters. He is so worried about 
fraud that he warned we might ``have a real disaster on our hands.'' 
Well, it is hard to argue with him.
  The President was so worried about some of this law turning into a 
disaster that he selectively delayed a big chunk of it, but he only did 
that for businesses. He just delayed it for businesses.
  A constituent of mine was recently interviewed by a TV station in 
Paducah, and here is what she said about the President's decision: ``It 
ain't right.'' Well, she is not alone.
  We can argue about whether the President even had the power to do 
what he did, but here is the point today: If businesses deserve a 
reprieve because the law is a disaster, then families and workers do 
too. If this law isn't working the way it is supposed to, then it is a 
terrible law. If it is not working as planned, then it is not right to 
foist it on the middle class while exempting business.
  That is why the House will vote this week to at least try to remedy 
that. It is an important first step to giving all Americans and all 
businesses what they need, which is not a temporary delay for some but 
a permanent delay for everyone.
  The politicians pushing ObamaCare might not like that, but they are 
not the ones who are having to live with this thing the same way most 
Americans will have to live with it.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. INHOFE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. INHOFE. I ask unanimous consent that I be recognized as if in 
morning business for such time as I may consume.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.