[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 151 (Tuesday, September 19, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S5826]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Healthcare

  Mr. President, the men and women we represent have suffered a lot 
under ObamaCare: skyrocketing costs, plummeting choices, and collapsing 
markets. Many of us thought our constituents deserved better. That is 
why we did as we promised and voted to repeal this failed law so that 
we could replace it with something better.
  The forces of the status quo went all out to defeat our every effort 
to improve healthcare. Thus far, they have succeeded. Thus far, they 
have yet to offer truly serious solutions of their own.
  Last week, our colleague from Vermont rolled out healthcare 
legislation that would quadruple down on the failures of ObamaCare. It 
envisions what is basically a fully government-run, single-payer 
system--the kind of system that would strip so many Americans of their 
health plans and take away so many decisions over their own healthcare, 
that would require almost unimaginably high tax increases, and that 
already collapsed, interestingly enough, in the Senator's home State of 
Vermont when they tried to do it.
  This is a massive expansion of a failed idea, not a serious solution, 
but Democrats are coalescing around it anyway. They apparently think 
this massive expansion of a failed idea is what America's healthcare 
future should look like. You can be sure that they will do everything 
in their power to impose it on our country.
  But we don't have to accept it as our future. That is certainly what 
Senators Graham and Cassidy believe. They rolled out a healthcare 
proposal of their own last week. It would repeal the pillars of 
ObamaCare and replace that failed law's failed approach with a new one, 
allowing States and Governors to actually implement better healthcare 
ideas by taking more decision-making power out of Washington. Governors 
and State legislators of both parties would have both the opportunity 
and the responsibility to help make quality and affordable healthcare 
available to their citizens in a way that works for their own 
particular States.
  It is an intriguing idea and one that has a great deal of support.
  As we continue to discuss that legislation, I want to thank Senator 
Graham and Senator Cassidy for all of their hard work. They know how 
important it is to move beyond the failures of ObamaCare. They know 
that our opportunity to do so may well pass us by if we don't act soon.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority whip.