[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 173 (Tuesday, December 1, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S8197]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       RESTORING AMERICANS' HEALTHCARE FREEDOM RECONCILIATION ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, when Washington Democrats passed 
ObamaCare over the objections of the American people, they were 
confident Americans would soon warm up to this new law, but more than 5 
years later, the American people continue to oppose this unprecedented 
Democratic attack on their health care. Is it any wonder? When 
Americans think ObamaCare, they think increased costs, runaway 
premiums, surging deductibles, and tax hikes on the middle class. When 
Americans think ObamaCare, they think decreased choice, fewer doctors, 
far-away hospitals, and a frightening scarcity of options for too many 
when they get sick. When Americans think ObamaCare, they think broken 
promises and endless failure, imploding State-based exchanges, 
collapsing co-ops, insurers eyeing the exit door, fewer jobs, and the 
lie of the year: If you like your health care plan, you can keep it. It 
is not as though ObamaCare's structural failures are just going to go 
away. They are baked right into the law. They only seem to get worse as 
time moves along.
  Just as we have seen costs rise, choices narrow, and failures mount, 
we have seen congressional Democrats block attempts to start over with 
real health care reform. Well, this week we finally have a chance to 
vote to end ObamaCare's cycle of broken promises and failures with just 
51 votes. This week we will take up the Restoring Americans' Healthcare 
Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015 that already passed the House of 
Representatives. It is a bill that will take the first steps necessary 
to build a bridge away from ObamaCare. By building upon the House's 
good work, this bill will also save billions in spending and eliminate 
more than a $1 trillion tax burden on the American people.
  By employing the same tactics Democrats used to help get ObamaCare 
across the finish line, this bill will not be subject to a filibuster. 
In other words, it cannot be blocked by defenders of ObamaCare's failed 
status quo. In other words, the President cannot be shielded from the 
weighty decision he will finally have to make when this measure lands 
right on his desk. When the President picks up his pen, he will have a 
real choice to make. He may decide to stick to his rhetoric that the 
law is working better than even he intended and veto the bill, but he 
should instead decide to finally stand with the middle class that has 
suffered enough from this failed law and actually sign it. We will see. 
It is a choice the President has never faced before. It is a choice he 
is going to face after Senate action this week.

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