[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 72 (Thursday, May 2, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S2580]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                MEDICARE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as I have mentioned, there has been a 
remarkable development this week in the House. The Rules Committee held 
the first hearing to discuss Medicare for None. It was another 
demonstration of how disconnected our Democratic colleagues' agenda has 
become from the best interests of working Americans and middle-class 
families.
  The last 2 years have been a case study on how much American families 
benefit when Republican policies get out of the way. Helped along by 
tax reform, regulatory reform, and other efforts, the country is seeing 
starkly low unemployment, faster wage growth--more opportunities for 
more families to get ahead and build their lives.
  Rather than admit the obvious, our Democratic colleagues are choosing 
to double and triple down on jacking taxes back up and making families 
cede a larger role for Washington in their daily lives.
  We have heard the pitch on healthcare. They want to trade seniors' 
Medicare and all private, employer-sponsored health insurance plans for 
a one-size-fits-all Federal plan and the higher taxes needed to pay for 
it.
  Just yesterday, a new report from the CBO confirmed that such a 
scheme would substantially increase Federal spending and could lead to 
longer wait times, worse quality of care, and a system less responsive 
to patient needs.
  On top of that, we know what our Democratic colleagues tried to sell 
families when it comes to the Green New Deal: a Washington, DC, war on 
our domestic energy that would cost Americans their jobs, increase 
families' bills, forcibly change the homes Americans are allowed to 
live in, industries they are allowed to work in, and, of course, the 
cars they are allowed to drive.
  Let's remember that all of this self-inflicted economic pain would 
not really buy any meaningful gains in terms of carbon emissions. For 
the better part of the last decade, as U.S. emissions actually 
declined--emissions have been going down--our largest competitors, like 
China, continued to emit more and more.
  Hog-tying the U.S. economy in the name of further emissions 
reductions would do nothing but give the largest emitters license to 
keep on emitting while poaching American jobs in the process.
  I don't think real progress is actually the point here. Facts are not 
the motivating factor. My colleagues on the left think these self-
inflicted national injuries just feel like this greening of America is 
the right thing to do. They just feel it.
  Case in point, I understand that House Democrats are planning to pass 
a measure today that would try to force the Trump administration to 
remain in the 2015 Paris Agreement on greenhouse emissions. This is the 
big international deal that the Obama administration cheered on. It 
doesn't even pass the laugh test.
  One expert analysis noted this week that even a generous estimate 
puts the impact of America's participation on global temperature 
reduction well within the margin of error: One-hundredth of 1 degree 
Celsius. In other words, he points out, it is a completely unmeasurable 
effect--tons of redtape and real economic damage for zero measurable 
effect. That is my friends across the aisle in a nutshell on this 
issue. Tie America's own hands for no benefit, while China and our 
other international competitors go roaring right by, all so a few 
pockets of high society can pat themselves on the back at the next 
cocktail party.
  House Democrats may see this as exciting political theater, but the 
middle-class Americans I represent give it two thumbs down. So this 
futile gesture to handcuff the U.S. economy through the ill-fated Paris 
deal will go nowhere here in the Senate. We are in the business of 
actually helping middle-class families, not inventing new obstacles to 
throw in their paths.

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