[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 198 (Wednesday, December 11, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6995-S6997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 DELAWARE DAY AND HEALTHCARE ENROLLMENT

  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I rise this evening with a very important 
reminder for many Delawareans and for all Americans, but before I do 
that, I want to say that today is December 11, and 4 days ago was 
December 7. A lot of people think of December 7 as Pearl Harbor Day, 
and for many years of my life, I did as well. It is also Delaware Day. 
Senator Chris Coons, Lisa Blunt Rochester, and I are hosting a 
reception on Capitol Hill today, and we call it ``A Taste of 
Delaware.'' We are inviting folks to come and join us if they would 
like.
  The reason I mention Delaware Day is because that was actually the 
day Delaware became the first State to ratify the Constitution. For 1 
whole week, we were the entire United States of America. We kind of 
opened things up and let the rest of the other 49 States in, and I 
think it has worked out pretty well most days since then.
  If you look at the preamble of the Constitution, it starts off with 
these words: ``We the people of these United States, in order to form a 
more perfect Union.'' That is what it says. It doesn't say ``to form a 
perfect Union; it says ``to form a more perfect Union.'' It goes on to 
talk about the public welfare and how we should be looking out for the 
good of all our citizens.
  The Constitution was ratified in a place called the Golden Fleece 
Tavern in Dover, DE, on December 7, 1787, after 3 days of deliberation 
by about 25 or so Delawareans.
  There is a fellow who used to be President of Delaware--now we call 
him Governor of Delaware--a fellow named Caesar Rodney, who apparently 
literally rode his horse from Dover, DE, a few years earlier, past very 
near to where the Golden Fleece Tavern stood for many years. He rode 
his horse past the Golden Fleece Tavern on his way to Philadelphia to 
cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the Declaration of Independence.
  The words in the Declaration of Independence were largely written by 
Thomas Jefferson and include these words: ``life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness.'' It is hard to have life, liberty, and much 
happiness without access to good healthcare or without good health.
  I mention these words because that goes back to the founding of our 
country, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution itself 
particularly, the preamble of the Constitution, which makes clear that 
we ought to be looking out for the welfare of our people.
  I stand before us today reminding us that if we don't have good 
health and if we don't have access to healthcare, it is pretty hard to 
be happy, at least for a lifetime.
  I say that as sort of a preface to what I want to say now, which is 
that not everybody who is eligible for healthcare who needs healthcare 
is covered. We have a lot of people who get their healthcare from 
employer-provided plans. We have 300 million people in all who get 
healthcare coverage in this country--half of them from employer-
provided plans, about 25 percent from Medicaid, about 15 percent from 
Medicare--and there is about another 10 percent who in some cases don't 
have any coverage. About 20 million people have no coverage.
  A lot of people now get their coverage from exchanges. Every State 
has

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its own healthcare exchange or marketplace. A lot of people are getting 
their healthcare there.
  A bunch of people use qualified community health centers in States on 
the east coast, in the Midwest, and across America. Whether you have 10 
cents or $10,000, you can get healthcare at these places, and that is 
good.
  But a lot of people who could sign up and get their healthcare in 
marketplaces in each State don't know about it. There is an opportunity 
to enroll in the marketplaces and get healthcare coverage by midnight 
on this coming Sunday, on December 15. I just want to spend a couple of 
minutes reminding people who don't have coverage to do that and tell 
them why it is a good deal for them and their families.
  There is some good news here. The good news is that all across our 
country, folks have 4 more days to sign up. There is also some more 
good news, and that is that after going up, up, up for years, the cost 
of premiums in the exchanges and marketplaces actually dropped this 
year. In most marketplaces, I think the average reduction is about 4 
percent. And for the next year, in more than half a dozen States, 
premiums will be coming down by double digits. In Delaware, the cost of 
healthcare in our marketplace, starting with coverage beginning January 
1, will be down by 19 percent.
  What has happened here is that after a number of years where 
healthcare insurers were dropping out of the business of offering 
coverage in the marketplaces, they are starting to offer coverage 
again. Twenty-three insurers offered coverage in States this year that 
hadn't been offering coverage. Beginning January 1, I think about 45 
more will start providing coverage. That means we are going to have 
some competition for customers, for folks who need insurance, and that 
competition will help create what I call a virtuous cycle, helping to 
bring down costs even more. More choices means more competition. That 
is a good thing for our consumers and States across America.
  But wait, there is more. This year, three out of four customers can 
find a plan for less than--are you ready for this?--75 bucks a month. 
Think about that. Customers can find a plan in the marketplace on the 
exchange for less than 75 bucks a month.
  Some people might be wondering whether the Affordable Care Act 
marketplace is the right choice for them or their loved ones. That is a 
good question to ask. The marketplace provides quality, affordable 
healthcare coverage for Americans who don't receive affordable health 
insurance through their employer.
  For instance, last Friday, a couple of people I have been talking to 
in my State just in the last week or so about healthcare coverage--I 
was down at a place called Lewes, DE, which was first colonized by the 
Dutch 400 years ago. It was the first town and the first city, Lewes, 
DE--I met there a fellow who is a self-employed artist. His name is 
G.W. Thompson, and his life was forever changed by the Affordable Care 
Act when he was able to find affordable and comprehensive health 
insurance.
  For folks that are waiting to start a business and need healthcare 
insurance, I would encourage you to do this: Visit HealthCare.gov--I 
will say that again, HealthCare.gov--today. Find a plan that works for 
you. You have got plenty of choices.
  Earlier this year, I met a widower in Delaware named Marie. She lives 
with a preexisting condition. As it turns out, there are tens of 
millions of people in this country who live with a preexisting 
condition. For many, many years, they didn't have access to healthcare 
because they had a preexisting condition. That is not the case anymore. 
Folks who do have a preexisting condition, they can get access to 
healthcare thanks to the excellent staff at a place called Westside 
Family Healthcare. That is one of the federally qualified community 
health centers, and they have a great place in Delaware. Marie was able 
to go there and enroll in an ACA plan that covers her preexisting 
condition and helps to keep her happy.
  Let me just say to the folks across the country, if you are 1 of 133 
million Americans living with a preexisting condition, I urge you to 
visit, again, HealthCare.gov, HealthCare.gov. Find a plan that works 
for you. If you are a young person who has just turned 26 and can no 
longer stay on your parents' health plan, visit HealthCare.gov today 
and find a plan that works for you. If you or your family have tried to 
enroll in Medicaid but did not qualify, visit HealthCare.gov today and 
find a plan that works for you.
  Don't forget, nearly 9 out of 10 customers are eligible for financial 
help, which could mean a big savings for you and your family, but to 
that line, I said this before--I am going to say it again--make the 
call. The deadline to enroll in affordable healthcare in one of the 
marketplaces in your State is this Sunday. It is Sunday at midnight. So 
you have got 4 days and, depending on which time zone you are living 
in, maybe close to 6 hours in order to sign up.
  Don't wait another day, though. Sign up today. Go to HealthCare.gov 
now through this Sunday, December 15, to shop for a plan that will give 
you and your family coverage through 2020. If you sign up, sign up 
before midnight this Sunday. You will have coverage beginning January 1 
through December 31 of next year.
  I know there are a lot of things that always have to get done before 
the end of the year. This is one that I think is too important to miss. 
It is too important to miss. So one more time, visit HealthCare.gov to 
find healthcare coverage that works for you and your family's needs and 
your budget, regardless of what State you live in, if you have no 
coverage.
  Mr. President, I want to end this by saying, since the Affordable 
Care Act was enacted, we have seen some--not all--but some of our 
Republican friends here in this body and across the country do their 
dead-level best to undermine the Affordable Care Act. Those efforts 
have ramped up considerably under the current administration. The 
President and 18 Republican attorneys general have gone so far as to 
file a lawsuit that attempts to scrap the healthcare law in its 
entirety.
  That lawsuit is working its way through the courts now, but it is 
important for everyone to know, despite these efforts to sabotage our 
Nation's healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act is still the law of 
the land. If you want to sign up for coverage for the next year, you 
can still do that until midnight on Sunday. I don't think there is a 
reason not to sign up, and I would urge anybody who's out there 
listening, watching, if you don't have coverage, let's do it. Do it 
today, and you will be glad you did.
  The idea of life, liberty, and the pursuit to happiness will be a 
little bit closer to being realized for you.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.


                             CLIMATE CHANGE

  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I rise again to call this Chamber to 
wake up to the threat of climate change, and in this particular case, 
to say about the Paris agreement and to say in chorus with literally 
millions of Americans, we are still in.
  In truth, America is still in the Paris agreement. When you look at 
the States that are still in and will honor their commitments, when you 
look at the cities that are still in and will honor their commitments, 
when you look at the companies and the universities that are still in, 
it is the vast majority of the entire American economy. Despite 
President Trump's fossil fuel nonsense, we really are still in.
  Last week, I traveled to Madrid with Speaker Pelosi and the 
delegation of House committee chairs and climate leaders for the U.N. 
Conference of the Parties--what is called the COP--to support the Paris 
agreement climate goals. The mood in Spain was optimistic. There was a 
somber confidence. The Trump administration, of course, has begun the 
process of withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate accord.
  That is an abandonment from our American tradition of international 
leadership and adherence to higher ideals. It is abandonment of our own 
national security imperatives and economy well-being. This abandonment 
demeans the Nation that has from John Winthrop to Ronald Reagan called 
itself a ``city on a hill.''
  Our military well understands the national security imperative. Back 
in 2013, Admiral Samuel Locklear, the commander of the U.S. forces in 
the Pacific, warned that upheaval related

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to climate change ``is probably the most likely thing that is going to 
happen . . . that will cripple the security environment''--``the most 
likely thing.''
  He added, ``You have the real potential here in the not-too-distant 
future of nations displaced by rising sea level . . . If it goes bad, 
you could have hundreds of thousands or millions of people displaced 
and then security will start to crumble pretty quickly.''
  That command is still concerned about it. Preparing for these risks 
was a centerpiece of a recent Indo-Pacific Command briefing I attended 
at their headquarters in Hawaii.
  To understand the threat to our economy, we need only ask our 
government-backed mortgage institution, Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac 
predicts that rising sea levels will prompt a crash in coastal property 
values, greater than the housing crash that caused the 2008 financial 
crisis. That warning by Freddie Mac is echoed by the biggest, most 
important financial institutions in the world, both in the United 
States in the Federal Reserve system and abroad.
  The Bank of England, the Bank of France, the Bank of Canada, and 
European Central Bank, are all warning of ``systemic'' economic risks 
from climate change. ``Systemic,'' that is central banker speak for 
something that poses a risk to the entire economy, perhaps from 
stranded fossil fuel assets when the market for fossil fuel dries up, 
perhaps from a coastal property value crash when flood risk becomes 
uninsurable and properties unmortgageable.
  Against this national security imperative and this economic threat, 
the Trump administration leaving the Paris climate accord is a 
historically dumb and destructive move, particularly from a guy--
Trump--who one decade ago called climate change ``scientifically 
irrefutable,'' that is a quote. ``Scientifically irrefutable and its 
consequences catastrophic and irreversible,'' that is a quote as well.
  The Pelosi delegation--here we are at the COP25--included powerful 
House chairmen, like Chairman Pallone and Chairman Grijalva, Chairman 
Johnson and Chairman Castor and, of course, the most senior and 
influential Democrat in America, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
  Speaker Pelosi's presence at the COP resounded not only because of 
her clout and standing, but because it signaled the broad, true 
consensus of the United States of America in favor of climate action. 
At the State level, at the city level, across the public, and in much 
of corporate America, we are indeed still in.
  Indeed, at the Madrid conference right now, as I give this speech, 
are representatives for thousands of American businesses, investors 
managing trillions of dollars, hundreds of American municipalities and 
counties, top American colleges and universities, dozens of American 
faith groups, America's largest healthcare organizations, and 20 
American States and Tribes. Again, all told, it is the vast bulk of the 
American economy, and it still is.
  America, unfortunately, at least in Congress, has to fight our way 
through a persistent blockade paid for by the fossil fuel industry. 
Don't believe their happy talk about acting on climate. There is a 
slogan that one of their trade groups has come up with. You see it at 
National Airport. You see it on billboards. It is popping up 
everywhere. The slogan is: ``We are on it.''
  No, they are not. They are not even close to on it. In fact, they are 
the opposite. They are on the wrong side. They are funding false 
science denial and ridiculous amounts of simple political obstruction. 
They are paying for that. The statements from their lips do not match 
the expenditure of their funds. The expenditure of their funds is still 
dedicated to their political apparatus of denial and obstruction.
  Ultimately, however, we will prevail. The America that the 
international community knows and counts on--the America of leadership, 
the America of progress, the America of confidence, the America of 
clean and green energy and innovation--that America will be back and 
will prevail. ``Our commitment to take action on the climate crisis is 
ironclad,'' said Speaker Pelosi in Madrid. It is. Soon enough, that 
commitment will topple the castle of fossil-fuel-funded climate denial 
and obstruction that surrounds us today here in Congress.
  I yield the floor.

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