[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 130 (Wednesday, July 31, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5209-S5210]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               HEALTHCARE

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, finally, during the debate last night, 
when it came to healthcare, half of the Democratic Presidential field 
engaged in a healthy debate, a great deal of which was focused on the 
No. 1 issue to American voters--healthcare.
  Despite different policy proposals, the debate shows that the 
Democratic Party is completely united on the idea of universal 
healthcare coverage as well as on the need to lower the costs and 
improve the quality of healthcare for every American. Yet one point 
that should have been made during the debate but unfortunately wasn't 
should

[[Page S5210]]

have been the fact that the Republicans are actively sabotaging our 
current healthcare system.
  Whether you are one of the more moderate Members on healthcare or are 
one of the ones who have a more broad, more sweeping proposal, it is 
the difference between the parties. Yet those differences almost pale 
compared to the differences between every Democrat on that platform and 
the Republicans, because the Republicans are seeking to undo 
healthcare, to sabotage healthcare, and to have fewer people covered. 
As a result of their ideas, thoughts, and lawsuits, costs are going up.
  There is a huge gap between the parties on healthcare, and I am glad 
we are having an active debate on how to move forward to cover more 
people and have it cost less. While we are doing that, the Trump 
administration is doing the opposite. It is expanding junk insurance 
plans, reducing funds to help Americans locate and sign up for the 
right insurance, and ending cost-sharing payments that help low-income 
families afford care.
  The congressional Republicans have tried and have, thankfully, failed 
to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The coup de grace, of course, is the 
fact that now the Trump administration--with the support of many 
Republican attorneys general and the complicity of just about every 
Member of the Senate on the Republican side--is supporting a lawsuit 
that would invalidate the Affordable Care Act entirely, which would 
kick tens of millions off of their insurance and eliminate the 
protections for preexisting conditions for the over 100 million 
Americans who have those preexisting conditions, and just about every 
Republican is going along with that.
  The difference in the 2020 elections between the Democrats and the 
Republicans on healthcare will be apparent and glaring, and it will far 
and away subsume any differences we may have on policy.
  I yield the floor.

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