[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 164 (Monday, November 18, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S8086]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as I noted last week, despite the 
repeated promises of President Obama, millions of people are losing 
their health insurance, health insurance they very much like and were 
assured that they could keep. It has been reported that so far 3.5 
million Americans have lost their health insurance under ObamaCare. 
That includes over one-quarter of a million in Kentucky, one-third of a 
million people in Florida, and almost a million people in California. 
This is a serious problem that the President and congressional 
Democrats need to do something about. Unfortunately, they appear to be 
relying on half measures and creative accounting, not real solutions.
  For example, we learned over the weekend that the administration's 
goal is to have the Web site serve only 80 percent of users, which is 
probably why our Democratic colleagues want to spend 100 percent of 
their time discussing other subjects, which brings us to the vote we 
will have today.


                              Nominations

  For the third time in this work period, the majority will have the 
Senate vote on yet another nominee to the DC Circuit. This is not 
because the court needs more judges. It is the least busy court in our 
entire country. In fact, it is far less busy now than it was when 
Senate Democrats pocket-filibustered President Bush's nominee to that 
court, Peter Keisler, for 2 whole years. This is according to our 
Democratic colleagues' own standards.
  Our colleagues are having the Senate spend time on this because doing 
so furthers their twin political goals: first, to quote a member of the 
Democratic leadership, to fill up that court because the President's 
agenda, according to an administration ally, runs through the DC 
Circuit; second, to divert as much attention as possible from the 
problem-plagued ObamaCare rollout at this formative stage of the 2014 
campaign, according to published reports. In other words, rather than 
focusing on keeping their commitment to the American people, they are 
focusing on what appeals to their base. Rather than change the law that 
is causing so many problems for so many, they want to change the 
subject.
  Unfortunately, the Senate will not be voting on legislation to allow 
Americans to keep their health insurance if they like it, as they were 
promised again and again and again. Rather, we will be voting on 
another nominee for a court that does not have enough work to do. The 
Senate ought to be spending its time dealing with a real crisis, not a 
manufactured one. We ought to be dealing with an ill-conceived law that 
is causing millions of Americans to lose their health insurance. 
Instead, we will spend our time today on a political exercise designed 
to distract the American people from the mess that is ObamaCare, rather 
than trying to fix it.
  Last week I also suggested that if our Democratic colleagues are 
going to ignore the fact that millions of people are losing their 
health insurance plans, they should at least be working with us to fill 
judicial emergencies that actually exist, rather than complaining about 
fake ones. I noted there are nominees on the Executive Calendar who 
would fill actual judicial emergencies, unlike any of the DC Circuit 
nominations. Several of them, in fact, have been pending on the 
calendar longer than the nomination on which we will be voting today. 
Another week has gone by without any action by the majority to fill 
these actual judicial emergencies. Rather than work with us to schedule 
votes on them in an orderly manner as we have been doing, the majority 
chose to leapfrog over them in order to concoct a crisis on the DC 
Circuit so it can distract Americans from the failings of ObamaCare.
  Unfortunately, our friends appear to be more concerned with playing 
politics than with actually solving problems. So like last week, I will 
vote no on this afternoon's political exercise. As I said last week, I 
hope the Senate will focus on what the American people care about 
rather than spend its time trying to distract them.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, if I am in order, I would like to speak 
on the judicial nomination, the vote we are having.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is recognized.

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