[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 53 (Monday, March 27, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E393-E394]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2017

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 24, 2017

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, on March 25, 1966--51 years ago, this past 
Saturday--Dr. King spoke these words: ``Of all the forms of inequality, 
injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because 
it often results in physical death.''
  We came to this floor to fight TrumpCare last week with the moral 
force of Dr. Martin Luther King's words in our heart. Affordable health 
care is a civil right; a fundamental right for every American. As we 
remember Dr. King's wisdom, as we debated this bill: we did so in 
tribute to our colleague Bobby Rush's late wife, Carolyn Rush. Carolyn 
was active in the civil rights movement, and she was a champion for 
Americans' health care. Her funeral was Saturday, the 51st anniversary 
of Dr. King's words. We were proud to honor Carolyn Rush's memory by 
saving the Affordable Care Act from repeal and protecting the health of 
the American people.
  Speaker Ryan called this bill an ``act of mercy.'' There is no mercy 
here. Indeed, inequality and inhumanity is exactly what TrumpCare has 
in store for the American people.
  Sister Simone Campbell said: ``This is not the faithful way forward 
and must be rejected.'' The Catholic Health Association wrote: ``We 
strongly encourage the full House to reject this `replacement' bill.'' 
As the United Methodist Church said, opposing TrumpCare: ``People will 
die because of efforts like this to roll back health care.'' Lutheran 
Services in America said TrumpCare ``will jeopardize the health care 
and long term services and supports of millions of Americans.'' The 
Episcopal Church says TrumpCare ``falls woefully short of our spiritual 
calling to care for the `least of these,' as well as the noble values 
upon which our great nation was founded.''
  Rather than an act of mercy, TrumpCare is a moral monstrosity that 
will devastate seniors, children and hard-working Americans. I grant 
our Republican friends their position. I respect them and their 
constituents who sent them here. But I do not accept the wrong 
priorities in TrumpCare--tax cuts for the rich at the expense of tens 
of millions of working families across America.
  TrumpCare spotlights the difference in the priorities of the 
Democrats and Republicans in Congress--whether we in Congress believe 
in a public role in meeting the needs of the American people. It is 
about governance itself. Trumpcare is consistent with the Ryan budget 
that destroys the Medicare guarantee. It is a step forward in the long-
standing Republican belief that Medicare should ``wither on the

[[Page E394]]

vine;'' that Medicaid should be shrunken; that Social Security should 
be privatized.
  If you believe we have a role and a responsibility to protect the 
health and wellbeing of the American people, you must reject the bill 
before us now. Here's how TrumpCare hurts the American people:
  1. Higher Costs--TrumpCare forces families to pay higher premiums and 
deductibles, increasing out-of-pocket costs.
  2. Less Coverage--TrumpCare will take away health care from 24 
million hard-working Americans.
  3. Key Protections Gutted--TrumpCare eradicates Essential Health 
Benefits, such as maternity, prescription drug and emergency coverage--
functionally destroying protections for Americans with pre-existing 
conditions.
  4. A Crushing Age Tax--TrumpCare forces Americans aged 50-64 to pay 
premiums five times higher than what others pay for health coverage, no 
matter how healthy they are.
  5. Steals from Medicare--TrumpCare shortens the life of the Medicare 
Trust Fund and ransacks funds that seniors depend on to get the long-
term care they need.
  Republicans' bill would increase costs and cut coverage for millions 
of Americans, while leaving coverage for Members of Congress untouched. 
And as bad as TrumpCare was already, in the middle of the night 
Republicans made it even worse.
  TrumpCare would make being a woman a pre-existing condition again. 
Stripping guaranteed maternity care is a pregnancy tax, pure and 
simple. Under Trumpcare, Americans will be forced to pay extra for 
hospital coverage; prescription drug coverage; rehab, pregnancy, 
maternity, newborn and pediatric care. When Republicans eradicate 
essential health benefits, they are destroying the protections for 
Americans with pre-existing conditions--no matter if they are covered 
through the marketplace or their employer.
  If Republicans have their way, families, seniors, vulnerable 
children, Americans with disabilities, people struggling to overcome 
addiction and the sick will lose their health care. Rural hospitals 
will be closed and nearly 2 million jobs will be destroyed across 
America. Millions of veterans will lose access to tax credits for 
health care. All of this to give another massive tax for the richest in 
America.
  TrumpCare is a billionaire's tax cut disguised as a health care bill. 
It is Robin Hood in reverse--one of the largest transfers of wealth 
from working families to the rich in our history. We honor the vision 
of our founders, who risked everything to advance the right to life, 
liberty and the pursuit of happiness; a healthier life, and the liberty 
to pursue your happiness.
  Today, as we fight to preserve affordable health care as the right of 
every American, not a privilege for the few, we fight for children like 
Zoe Madison Lihn. Zoe was born with a congenital heart defect in May 
2010. She faced her first--of three heart surgeries--at 15 hours old. 
By six months old, Zoe was halfway to the lifetime limit her insurer 
placed on her care. She faced a grim future; not only using up her 
lifetime limit by pre-school, but carrying a pre-existing condition 
that will require attention and care for the rest of her life. Thanks 
to the Affordable Care Act, Zoe is protected. But TrumpCare puts her 
future in danger--higher costs, less care.
  I began with Dr. Martin Luther King, and I will end with Pope 
Francis, who spoke of Dr. King in his speech to Congress. As Pope 
Francis said: ``Health is not a consumer good but a universal right, so 
access to health services cannot be a privilege.'' Our responsibility 
to the sick and the hurt is biblical. It is fundamental to who we are. 
Today, let us declare once again that affordable health care must be 
the right of every American--not the privilege of the few. For the sake 
of our values, to honor our responsibilities, to protect the health of 
the American people, I urged my colleagues to vote no on this moral 
monstrosity--the TrumpCare bill.

                          ____________________