[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 51 (Thursday, March 23, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1958-S1959]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



               Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

  Mr. ROUNDS. Mr. President, I rise to discuss the Patient Protection 
and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as ObamaCare, on its seventh 
anniversary of being signed into law by our previous President, Barack 
Obama.
  Looking back at what has happened to healthcare over the past 7 
years, there isn't a whole lot of good news to report. Since that time, 
Americans have been hit with hundreds of billions in new taxes, 
healthcare costs have risen exponentially, and families have struggled 
with fewer options and reduced access to healthcare services.
  Just in the last year, healthcare premiums have gone up 25 percent 
for the typical ObamaCare plan. That number is even higher in my home 
State of South Dakota where premiums have increased 37 percent. 
ObamaCare has also driven health insurance companies to completely 
leave the marketplace, leaving Americans with fewer insurance options. 
Again, I will use my own State as an example. Under ObamaCare, the 
number of companies offering insurance in the individual market in 
South Dakota has dropped from 13 to a mere 2 today. While this is 
unfortunate, we are better off than folks in Alaska, Alabama, Oklahoma, 
South Carolina, and Wyoming, all of whom have no options at all, as 
only one insurer offers plans in those exchanges. This is also the case 
for more than 1,000 counties across the Nation, basically one-third of 
all the counties in total.
  As a result of these skyrocketing costs and reduced options, the 
number of Americans enrolling in ObamaCare continues to drop 
dramatically. Projections continue to be millions fewer than predicted. 
Between 2016 and 2017, nearly a half-million fewer Americans signed up 
for the exchange. All of this has barely moved the number of uninsured 
South Dakotans between 2010, when ObamaCare was enacted, and today. So 
the health insurance market was crippled, premiums have skyrocketed for 
hard-working families, and our economy has suffered tremendously under 
the ACA, only to have the same number of insured and uninsured 
individuals in my home State as before we started.
  Nationwide, Americans are rejecting ObamaCare in record numbers. We 
saw this rejection of ObamaCare repeatedly over the past 7 years, when 
the American people elected into office candidates who at least in part 
ran on the platform of repealing ObamaCare. ObamaCare's higher taxes, 
fees, and penalties on businesses and investors have also taken a toll. 
Meanwhile, consumers who are facing higher premiums and deductibles 
have less to spend on goods and services. With one-sixth of our economy 
tied to healthcare, this has been detrimental to growth and to 
opportunity. It has also been easy to see how the healthcare industry 
has rejected ObamaCare over the past 7 years, with many insurers 
pulling out of the market and in other places the markets collapsing 
altogether. This limits competition and leaves little room in the 
healthcare industry, which is why ObamaCare is failing to control the 
cost of healthcare in our country. Cost control is a crucial component 
in providing truly affordable healthcare, and that begins with the 
elimination of ObamaCare's added bureaucracy and paperwork. We must get 
government out of the way and allow competitive markets to work once 
again, and that is what we are seeking to do with ObamaCare's 
replacement, which is expected to receive a vote in the House later 
today.

  Since we started the process of repealing and replacing ObamaCare, my 
office has received a number of calls and emails from South Dakotans 
who have expressed concerns. I want to make it clear to them and to all 
Americans that during the period in which we transition away from 
ObamaCare and toward a more affordable, competitive system, we 
understand that the continuation of coverage is an essential component. 
We plan to include a number of items that are very important to the 
American public: guaranteed renewal of coverage, portability of 
coverage for those who change jobs or leave the workforce by retiring, 
and a ban on lifetime limits, because if you bought insurance, you 
shouldn't run out of insurance.
  The provisions of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act which were 
included in ObamaCare should be included in our plans. There should be 
no exclusions on preexisting conditions if one maintains insurance from 
policy to policy, without lapses, and we should include provisions to 
allow children to remain on their families' plans until they are at 
least the age of 26.
  We understand that there is a way to retain all of these positive 
provisions

[[Page S1959]]

which are vital to ensuring continued health insurance coverage for all 
American families who want it, while also providing a fair and open 
marketplace that provides a strong, healthy, competitive market. This, 
in turn, will bring affordable, efficient health insurance with 
innovative products that will actually help to control the cost of 
care. That is what the GOP alternative, while still far from perfect, 
is seeking to do. One thing we do know is that the end result will be 
better than ObamaCare.
  As a father and a grandfather, I understand how important it is to 
have access to affordable healthcare. No one should be priced out of 
healthcare coverage for one's family. But our current system is simply 
not working. After 7 years of ObamaCare, the American people are 
dealing with higher healthcare premiums, fewer options, more taxes, and 
reduced access to care. Health providers are struggling with more 
bureaucracy, with more time spent filling out paperwork instead of 
caring for patients, and being frustrated by ObamaCare's crippling new 
regulations.
  As I have said from time to time, ObamaCare is a rapidly sinking 
ship, and there is simply no hope for a recovery. On its seventh 
anniversary, it is hurting more people than it is helping, and it must 
be repealed and replaced before it totally crumbles under its own 
weight.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Perdue). The Senator from Maryland.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise as the ranking Democrat on the 
Senate Foreign Relations Committee to comment on the nomination of Mr. 
Friedman to be the U.S. Ambassador to Israel. Shortly, we will be 
having that vote.
  I consider the U.S.-Israel relationship to be a strategic anchor for 
the United States in the Middle East and one of our most important 
relationships with any country. Since the creation of the State of 
Israel, support for this relationship has been bipartisan, bicameral, 
and supported by successive U.S. administrations. This bilateral 
relationship is also sustained by the deep bonds of friendship between 
the people of our two countries. This relationship has benefited Israel 
and has benefited the United States.
  Given the range of strategic challenges across the globe that our 
country faces and the unprecedented instability and violence embroiled 
in the Middle East today, it is critical that we take steps to unify 
support for the U.S.-Israel relationship across the political spectrum. 
Thus, I believe it is vital that the U.S. Ambassador to Israel be seen 
as a unifying figure in this enduring relationship.
  I really do believe that there is broad understanding and support in 
the Senate and the House for the special relationship between the 
United States and Israel--Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle 
East, a country that we can rely on for important intelligence 
information and that has an economy which is similar to ours. It is a 
country that has enjoyed a special relationship with the United States 
since 1948, when Harry Truman recognized Israel after the historic vote 
at the United Nations.
  Following extensive consideration of Mr. Friedman's record and taking 
into account his statements during his nomination hearing, I have 
concluded that his past record would make it very difficult for him to 
serve as that unifying force. For that reason, I am unable to support 
his nomination as America's top diplomat in Israel.
  I appreciate Mr. Friedman's efforts before the committee to express 
regret for his substantial record of divisive, inflammatory, and 
offensive statements. Unfortunately, I believe the body of Mr. 
Friedman's published works, not to mention his public statements, will 
compromise his effectiveness in representing the United States and all 
Americans, as well as the Government of Israel and all Israelis.
  Taken together, Mr. Friedman's statements and affiliations make it 
clear that he does not believe a two-state solution is necessary for a 
just and lasting peace. I am concerned that Mr. Friedman's history on 
this issue, in which he calls the two-state solution a scam, will 
undermine his ability to represent the United States as a credible 
facilitator of the peace process. There is simply no realistic, 
sustainable prospect for lasting peace between the Israelis and the 
Palestinians other than as two states, living side by side, with 
security.
  I thank Chairman Corker for the manner in which this nomination was 
handled before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I think we had 
ample opportunity, and I thank Chairman Corker for that, but I do urge 
my colleagues to reject this nominee.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate, 
notwithstanding the previous order, move to the rollcall vote now.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Friedman 
nomination?
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Georgia (Mr. Isakson) and the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. 
Paul).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 52, nays 46, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 96 Ex.]

                                YEAS--52

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Manchin
     McCain
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shelby
     Strange
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--46

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Donnelly
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Markey
     McCaskill
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Peters
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Isakson
     Paul
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

                          ____________________