[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14133]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               OBAMACARE

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I listened closely to the statement made 
by Senator McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican Senate leader. I 
applaud him and other Senators who have spoken out against the so-
called filibuster that has been initiated by the Senator from Texas and 
at least one other Senator.
  It is not technically a filibuster, as Senator Reid said, but the 
object is to slow down the business of the Senate and it is somewhat 
similar to a filibuster. We are going to have that occur today when 
Senator Cruz takes the floor this afternoon to state his position that 
we should shut down the government if we fund ObamaCare.
  That, to me, is an irresponsible position. It is irresponsible 
because the Senators who support the House position are playing high 
stakes poker with other people's money. To shut down the government is 
disastrous, not only for hundreds of thousands of Federal employees who 
do important work to keep America safe and to keep us a leading nation 
on the economy but also because it is at the expense of American jobs.
  When Senator Reid, the Democratic leader, came to the floor and read 
a statement from the Business Roundtable, he was reading from the 
strongest business group that usually, without fail, supports 
Republicans. That group put out a statement yesterday--the Business 
Roundtable, the leading business executives in our country--that to 
shut down the government or to fail to extend the debt ceiling is 
devastating to our economy. The words they used were ``calamitous'' and 
``catastrophic.'' That is how they described the Republican strategy, 
which Senator Cruz and others are bringing to the floor of the Senate 
today--catastrophic, calamitous.
  Why in the world would we have the self-imposed crisis created by the 
threats of the House Republicans on the floor of the Senate today? They 
are entitled to a debate. They are entitled to state their position. 
That is their right as Senators representing their States. But they are 
not entitled to damage our economy and hurt innocent people and shut 
down the government. That is a petulant political position.
  What we need to do is take a more positive approach to governing this 
country. Senator McConnell also talked about ObamaCare, known as the 
health care reform bill, one of the most important bills the Senate has 
passed in modern times and one I was proud to support.
  What he is basically calling for is the repeal of ObamaCare. What the 
Republicans are calling for is to repeal, for example, that provision 
in ObamaCare which says that health insurance companies cannot 
discriminate against people with preexisting conditions. If you happen 
to be in a family with a child who has diabetes, it may be impossible 
for you to buy health insurance under the old law. Under ObamaCare, 
your family cannot be discriminated against. The Republicans want to 
eliminate that provision of ObamaCare when they call for abolishing 
that program.
  Secondly, when they defund and eliminate ObamaCare, they are going to 
change that provision which guarantees there will be no limits on our 
health insurance policy coverage. Who knows what tomorrow's diagnosis 
will bring, what bills it will bring our family. But some health 
insurance policies have a limit on what they pay. When that limit is 
reached, people face bankruptcy and worse. ObamaCare stops that from 
happening. The Republicans want to repeal that.
  ObamaCare also says that if your young son or daughter, fresh out of 
college, is looking for a job and has not found one, they can stay on 
your family health insurance plan until age 26. The Republicans want to 
repeal that, leaving more and more young people--millions across 
America--vulnerable without the protection of health insurance.
  When it comes to Medicare prescription Part D, seniors, because of 
the so-called doughnut hole, were paying sums out of their own savings, 
their meager savings, and out of their own pockets, for prescription 
drugs. ObamaCare fills that doughnut hole and gives those seniors more 
peace of mind when it comes to prescription drugs. The Republicans want 
to repeal that help for our senior citizens.
  Finally, they want to repeal the insurance exchanges. Today, every 
Member of Congress who uses the health insurance available to us as 
Senators and Congressman is part of the Federal Employees Health 
Benefit Program. Each year Senators, Republicans and Democrats, have an 
opportunity under an insurance exchange to pick the plan best for their 
family. That privilege is something we appreciate and want to make 
available for everyone across America. That is what ObamaCare does. The 
Republicans want to repeal it. Republican Senators want to keep using 
the insurance exchange for their families and their benefit. They do 
not want to extend to it our families across America. That is what 
repeal of ObamaCare would do.
  Those are the specifics. For Senator McConnell to come to the floor 
and challenge those of us who voted for ObamaCare as to whether we 
still stand by it, I do. Is it perfect? Of course not. There are 
changes that can be made to this law and should be made but in a 
constructive and positive fashion. This is not just about the peace of 
mind of people, families and businesses and others when it comes to 
health insurance, it is about our deficit. If we took the Republican 
approach of doing nothing when it comes to the cost of health care, 
sadly, we are condemning ourselves to deficits as far as the eye can 
see.
  Sixty percent of our deficits and looming national debt relates to 
the increased cost of health care. If we took the Republican approach 
of doing nothing, ultimately, it would mean that deficit, those debts, 
would be even larger for future generations. So ObamaCare is a step in 
the right direction.
  Finally, let me say I understand what is going on now with several 
Members of the Senate Republican caucus who want to take to the floor 
and argue that we should shut down the government if it means funding 
ObamaCare. I think they are wrong on the merits. They are wrong 
politically. Both the Wall Street Journal and Karl Rove admonished them 
not to take this suicidal strategy. I think they are right. It is a 
strategy which is not appealing to anybody across America except a 
handful of extremists. Those who are Independents and others believe 
that funding our government is a basic responsibility of the House and 
the Senate. It is important we accept that responsibility.
  Standing to make a speech on your beliefs on the floor is certainly 
every Senator's right, but let's get on with the business of 
government. We should vote today on this motion to proceed instead of 
wasting an entire day and into tomorrow. If we can get bipartisan 
consent, we can come to that motion quickly. The sooner we satisfy 
America that we are not going to shut down the government, the better 
it will be for our economy to continue to grow and create jobs.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from South Dakota.

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