[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 38 (Monday, March 6, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S1590]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                   REPEALING AND REPLACING OBAMACARE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, another important area where Congress 
is working to provide relief is ObamaCare.
  In election after election, the American people have called for an 
end to ObamaCare. In the last election, they made their voices clear 
one more time. They elected a President and a Congress dedicated to 
bringing relief from this partisan law, and we are determined to do 
right by our constituents by doing just that.
  Nearly 7 years after being signed into law, I continue to hear from 
Kentuckians who aren't sure how they can continue to manage under 
ObamaCare's broken promises. Take this Kentuckian from Morehead who 
wrote to my office earlier this year:

       Prior to Obamacare, I had a manageable monthly healthcare 
     premium that had enough coverage for myself with a reasonable 
     deductible. Since Obamacare has been enforced, or should I 
     say forced upon the American people, my premiums have 
     increased each year significantly.

  Now, under ObamaCare, this Kentuckian says keeping his same coverage 
for 2017 means facing a 300-percent increase in his premiums as 
compared to the plan he had before the broken law was implemented. 
``The general cost of healthcare has skyrocketed,'' he writes, and as a 
result ``small business owners and [the] working middle class are 
suffering.''
  Unfortunately, his story is like so many others all across the 
country. Americans were promised that costs would go down. Americans 
were promised that choice would go up. Americans were promised that 
they could keep their healthcare plan. None of that was true--not a 
single one of those things.
  Americans need relief. They deserve a new direction. That is why we 
are taking action to repeal and replace ObamaCare with healthcare 
solutions that can actually work for the American people.
  As our efforts to move beyond ObamaCare continue, Senators came 
together last week for another important conversation on the way 
forward when it comes to our Nation's healthcare policies. I also had 
the opportunity to visit the White House and discuss the ways in which 
the administration and Congress can continue working together to bring 
relief from ObamaCare.
  The House will keep working this week, as well, to move forward with 
legislation--under a new President who will actually sign it--that can 
finally help us pursue smarter healthcare solutions in place of this 
failed partisan experiment. We know the task before us is daunting, 
but, of course, it is just as necessary.
  So I thank the Speaker for his continued leadership on this issue, 
along with each of our colleagues who have been working literally 
around the clock on repeal and replace efforts. Let's keep working this 
week so that we can bring Americans much needed relief from ObamaCare 
as soon as possible.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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