[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 79 (Monday, May 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2777-S2778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Healthcare

  Madam President, on healthcare, it is not just election security, of 
course, that finds itself in the McConnell graveyard. Bipartisan bills, 
like background checks, paycheck fairness, and the Violence Against 
Women Act, have all passed the House with Republican support but have 
languished in the Senate. I wouldn't be surprised if healthcare 
legislation will soon be

[[Page S2778]]

added to the list of tombstones in Leader McConnell's graveyard.
  At the end of last week, the House passed a crucial piece of 
legislation that would reverse the Trump administration's attempts to 
weaken protections for Americans with preexisting conditions--a policy 
supported by the vast majority of Americans and publicly supported by 
several State Senate Republicans who are up for reelection. This week, 
the House is poised to pass another great package of healthcare 
legislation to further protect preexisting conditions and help people 
sign up for quality healthcare coverage.
  Compare that to the Trump administration's policies, which have only 
increased costs and lowered the number of Americans who have health 
insurance. The uninsured rate had been on a steady decline until 
President Trump took office. Now, for the first time since 2013, the 
number of Americans without insurance has been on the rise.
  As the leader of the majority in the Senate, Senator McConnell has a 
responsibility to use our time here to help the American people. As 
insurance rates fall, protections for preexisting conditions are under 
attack, and prices go up for middle-class Americans. I believe the 
Senate must act to improve the Nation's healthcare system, and we have 
multiple House-passed bills awaiting action. Leader McConnell need only 
call them up for debate. Instead, the legislative graveyard--where good 
legislation doesn't even get debated or amended, let alone passed--is 
upon us.