[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 86 (Thursday, May 18, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3031-S3033]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Healthcare Legislation

  Mr. President, on another matter, the Senate continues to work toward 
repealing and replacing ObamaCare, unfortunately, without any help 
whatsoever from our Democratic colleagues, even though they know 
ObamaCare is failing the millions of people who buy their insurance in 
the individual market. Premiums are skyrocketing because of adverse 
selection and deductibles are so high they are effectively denied the 
benefit of having insurance in the first place. One would think an 
elected Senator representing those constituents would care enough about 
it to try to do something about it, but our Democratic colleagues, 
because they are so tied to ObamaCare and they feel like they have to 
defend it at all costs, I think it has blinded them to the failings of 
ObamaCare, certainly in the individual market. There ought to be some 
basis for us to work together in the best interests of all our 
constituents and the entire country.

[[Page S3032]]

  Some of our colleagues have said: Well, we would be revisiting 
ObamaCare even if Hillary Clinton had been elected, and that is 
absolutely true because ObamaCare is failing millions of Americans, and 
it is our responsibility, on a bipartisan basis, to do something about 
it. So far, the politics of the day seem to be carrying our Democratic 
colleagues along with it. I hope at some time the fever breaks and they 
will see fit to do their duty, as we are attempting to do our duty, 
which is to replace ObamaCare with affordable healthcare that preserves 
individual choices and doesn't continue to exacerbate and aggravate the 
national debt and our financial status in the country.
  ObamaCare, we now know, was oversold. At the time, the President 
said: If you like your policy, you can keep your policy; if you like 
your doctor, you can keep your doctor; and, oh, by the way, a family of 
four will see a reduction in their premiums of $2,500 a year. None of 
those claims proved to be true.
  Again, the Presiding Officer was a former attorney general, as I was 
in my State, and we had a Consumer Protection Division. When people 
misrepresented the services or product they sold, we sued them. We went 
after them for consumer fraud. ObamaCare, to me, is one of the largest 
cases of consumer fraud I have ever seen, and people deserve better.
  It is time to do away with this government-mandated, top-down 
approach that doesn't work. It is time to provide the American people 
with more affordable options. That is what we are trying to do. One 
would think that would be something all of us would want to do.
  ObamaCare has taken a heavy toll on folks in my State. It is 
estimated that more than one-third of our counties are down to just one 
health insurance provider this year, and the ones that are there are 
saying that unless something changes, they are going to see double-
digit increases in premiums for 2018. They are down to one provider 
because everybody else has decided they have lost enough money and they 
want to get out while they can. To have one provider is not about more 
options and choices and better coverage, it is an unworkable path 
forward for our Nation's healthcare needs.
  Fortunately, every member of the Republican conference is now working 
together to do away with this unworkable healthcare plan and replace it 
with healthcare that helps American families get the coverage they need 
at a price they can afford. Why wouldn't we all be interested in 
providing the healthcare they need at a price they can afford?
  The House has taken the first critical step, and I know my colleagues 
and I are eager to do our part. Since the Democrats refuse to lift a 
finger, we are going to have to do this with 52 Republicans, and it is 
not easy, but just because it is hard is no excuse for not succeeding. 
We must succeed in the best interests of our constituents.
  This isn't just a matter of taking something that is OK and making it 
better; this is taking something that is failing and, if we fail to 
act, will continue to drag Americans by the millions down with it.
  It is important to understand the trials that Americans have faced 
under ObamaCare so we can move forward in a direction that supports 
families across the country. One of my constituents wrote me recently 
and told me that his premiums were going up by about 50 percent. To 
make matters worse, his doctors wouldn't accept patients on ObamaCare 
plans. That is a theme we have seen across the country: healthcare 
options dwindling while prices keep getting higher. The cost of his 
healthcare keeps going up, and his salary isn't going up at the same 
rate. He is losing disposable income, even though he has a job. So he 
is literally poorer as a result of ObamaCare. This isn't helping him, 
this is hurting him, and all because his monthly payment for health 
insurance is climbing. So he is living from paycheck to paycheck, and 
of course he is worried about the future, which is the reason he 
contacted me.
  Unfortunately, this gentleman is representative of the unintended 
consequences brought about by ObamaCare. All of our offices get a lot 
of calls, a lot of emails and letters just like his. He is not on the 
exchanges because he wants to keep his doctors, and he is employed with 
employer-provided health insurance. To many in America, this would be a 
huge blessing, but unfortunately ObamaCare did nothing to help people 
like him. His premiums are going up so high, he is concerned about 
being able to put food on the table for his family. What a tragedy. 
What a disaster. This is truly a manmade disaster, and it is a crystal 
clear example of just how flawed ObamaCare really is.
  This constituent of mine ended his letter to me by calling on 
Congress to fully repeal ObamaCare, and that is exactly what we will 
do. He is not alone in calling for change. Many Texans have been 
writing and calling in, and have been for some time, to tell me their 
ObamaCare story. It is making their lives harder, as I mentioned, with 
skyrocketing premiums, higher deductibles, and fewer choices of doctors 
and healthcare providers. These are the folks I was sent here to 
represent and whom I am fighting for, and each of us, I know, is doing 
their part--at least on this side of the aisle--to fight for our 
constituents who are being hurt by the status quo.
  The status quo is not acceptable. I know it is not acceptable to our 
colleagues across the aisle, but they are so frozen in place by their 
own politics that they can't even step across the aisle and work with 
us in areas where we might agree. I hope this happens at some point, 
but it is not happening right now.

  So we are going to repeal and replace ObamaCare and come up with the 
very best healthcare plan that we can--again, one that preserves 
choices, brings premiums down, and makes it more affordable.
  Here is the final reason why we need to do this: We promised. We 
promised. In the last elections, we promised. There is a reason why, 
when ObamaCare passed, there were 60 Democrats and today there are 48. 
It is because in every intervening election we have made the perils of 
ObamaCare an issue, and in every election our friends across the aisle 
have lost Senators because they simply can't defend the status quo.
  But beyond elections, I believe there is a time to engage in 
electioneering and there is a time to govern, and now is the time for 
us to govern responsibly. But it does have political benefits, too, 
because if people think you are doing a good job and if people think 
you care about them, then, they are likely to reward you politically. 
But that is not the main reason we should do it. We should do it 
because it is the right thing to do and because people are hurting and 
people are anxious and concerned about their future, living paycheck to 
paycheck, with ObamaCare taking a bigger and bigger bite out of their 
ability to provide for their family.
  So we are going to get this done. Just because it is not easy isn't 
an excuse for not doing it. We can't complain that it is too hard 
because that is what we asked our constituents to send us here to do--
to do the hard stuff, not the easy stuff--to do the hard stuff. This is 
hard, but it is not impossible. It is imminently doable. But it takes 
political will and commitment not just to keep our promise but, then, 
to do the dead-level best of our abilities to come up with a plan that 
actually believes not in more government control but in more individual 
control over your healthcare choices and to bring competition back into 
the marketplace, to let the market set rates and quality rather than 
the government determining this from Washington, DC.
  One thing I truly believe is that competition makes things better for 
consumers. It brings down prices and it improves service because in a 
competitive environment where people have choices, they are going to go 
to the choice which serves their interests the best. They are going to 
reward the people who are doing the best job of delivering what they 
need and what they want at the price they can afford. It has a way of 
regulating the insurance market better than anything Washington, DC, 
could do--particularly by command and control of programs like 
ObamaCare.
  So we are going to get it done, and we are all working together. We 
would continue to invite our colleagues across the aisle not to sit on 
their hands, not to do nothing but to do what they can, working with us 
in a

[[Page S3033]]

nonpartisan or bipartisan way to help save the people who are currently 
being damaged and hurt by the failures of ObamaCare but then to help us 
build something better, something more durable than what we have seen 
with ObamaCare.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. ERNST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Fischer). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Brand 
nomination?
  Mr. SASSE. 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. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Ms. Hirono) and 
the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Kaine) are necessarily absent.
  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. 131 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
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     McCain
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     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
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Peters
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Hirono
     Kaine
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the President 
will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

                          ____________________