[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12363-12364]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               OBAMACARE

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, this week, the President of the United 
States, President Obama, has made yet another pivot back to the economy 
and to jobs, issues the American people have not had the luxury of 
pivoting away from.
  While the President is yet again attempting to refocus on jobs and 
the economy, giving speeches is not a real solution to our Nation's 
problems. In fact, yesterday President Obama said in his speech that 
Washington is taking its eye off the ball. Mr. President, you are 
Washington. You have been President now for 4\1/2\ years. These are 
your policies, policies that are hurting our economy and costing 
Americans jobs.
  As for taking your eye off the ball, the President appears to be 
swinging with his eyes closed, with his eyes closed to the impact that 
his policies are having on the economy in this country. We do not have 
to look very far to see the impact of those policies. The ObamaCare 
legislation is having a crushing impact on jobs in this country--a 
crushing impact on the economy.
  As we look at the unemployment rate, it is still over 7\1/2\ percent. 
It has been there now for 54 months. That is the worst job record of 
any President since the Great Depression.
  The President's signature law, ObamaCare, continues to hamstring the 
job market. In June alone, the last month for which we have data, 
322,000 Americans were forced into part-time employment status. Those 
are people who otherwise would have been willing to work full-time but 
because of these policies that are encouraging more employers to push 
their employees into part-time status, we have 322,000 individuals in 
this country who want to work full-time that are now having to work 
part-time.
  ObamaCare and other policies put forward by this administration have 
been probably the best thing that has happened to part-time jobs. 
Unfortunately, for most Americans, they want to be working full-time. A 
recent chamber of commerce survey shows that nearly 75 percent of small 
businesses are firing workers or cutting hours. As implementation of 
the ObamaCare law continues, the number of small business owners who 
take those steps, unfortunately, is only going to increase.
  According to a recent Wall Street Journal article:

       Rod Carstensen, owner of 11 Del Taco restaurants around 
     Denver began in April converting his mostly full-time 
     workforce into one comprising mostly part-time help to 
     minimize his health care costs. . . . He is plowing ahead 
     despite the ObamaCare administration's reprieve, he said, 
     because we need to get there anyway, and it will take until 
     January 1 of 2015 to make this transition.

  He is referring, of course, to the employer mandate which the 
President has chosen to delay for this next year when it was supposed 
to take effect, until January 1 of 2015. Most employers, unfortunately, 
are not taking great consolation in the fact that this is being delayed 
by 1 year. They know at some point they are going to have to comply 
with it.
  So they are taking those steps already, which is adding and fueling 
the data--the numbers I just mentioned with regard to people being 
forced into part-time jobs. Americans are facing decreased hours which 
means decreased wages. Additionally, families are facing higher 
insurance premiums, which further erodes their disposable income and 
opportunities to invest in a new home or a better education for their 
children.
  A growing number of Americans are realizing ObamaCare is the wrong 
prescription for families who are at the mercy of an already struggling 
economy. The administration has been forced to concede that the 
employer mandate, which is a key component of the ObamaCare 
legislation, is broken and unworkable, which is why they have delayed 
it.
  We are starting to see Democrats, who have historically been 
supportive of the law, suddenly jumping from the ObamaCare sinking 
ship. On Monday, a headline in the Washington Post read, ``Moderate 
Democrats are quitting on ObamaCare.''
  The article disclosed that fewer than 50 percent of moderate to 
conservative Democrats now support ObamaCare, which is down more than 
25 percentage points since 2010 when it passed. Congressional Democrats 
are also becoming increasingly skittish about ObamaCare. The House vote 
last Wednesday on the employer mandate delay passed 264 to 161--35 
Democrats joined 229 Republicans in support for that bill.
  Additionally, there were 22 House Democrats who voted to delay the 
law's individual mandate. Even a Democratic Senator has introduced 
legislation for a 2-year--not a 1-year but a 2-year employer mandate 
delay. In a recent letter to the Democratic leadership, three large 
unions expressed grave concerns with the law, led by the Teamsters 
Union, the organization that Jimmy Hoffa leads.
  Once some of the biggest supporters of ObamaCare penned a letter--
three major unions penned a letter basically saying that the health 
care law will ``shatter'' health benefits and cause ``nightmare 
scenarios.'' Shatter health benefits, create nightmare scenarios, that 
is what the unions are saying. The unions also slammed the law for 
defining a full-time employee as one who works less than 30 hours.
  The unions went on to say in their letter that the law ``will destroy 
the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the 
middle class.''
  It is very clear that even those who were vocal, those who vigorously 
defended and supported the ObamaCare

[[Page 12364]]

legislation, recognize this is not working and are making it abundantly 
clear in the statements that they are now making.
  Just yesterday, as I mentioned, the President delivered a speech 
aiming to yet again pivot, as he says, back to jobs and the economy. He 
used the speech to kick off another campaign-style tour of speeches in 
hopes that touting his continued commitment to an economic recovery 
will overshadow these harsh realities of ObamaCare and other economic 
woes that plague this country.
  During yesterday's speech, the President claimed he is dedicated to 
the middle class and growing the economy from ``the middle out.'' What 
do these concerns tell us about the state of the middle class? Hard-
working Americans are now fearful about their job security, about their 
health care coverage, and their ability to make ends meet all because 
of this catastrophic law.
  The President's strongest political allies who represent millions of 
workers say the President's signature domestic achievement is 
``destroying the backbone of the middle class.'' Although the President 
continues to pivot to and away from these issues, Senate Republicans 
remain focused on creating jobs and growth in this country. It is time 
for a real recovery. The American people are ready to get back to work.
  For 54 months, we have seen unemployment at or above 7\1/2\ percent. 
That number does not reflect the people who have given up looking for 
work. Let's remove the heavy hand of Washington regulations from our 
job creators. Let's create certainty for employers so they might hire 
new employees, not cut the hours of those they already have.
  Let's spare the middle class from premium increases. I have seen 
studies all over the place that suggest, for families, for individuals, 
premiums across this country are going up. According to Kaiser, for 
families, it is $2,500. In order to achieve the goals of addressing 
these issues in our economy, we have to start with a permanent delay of 
ObamaCare for all Americans--not just for the employers, not just the 
employer mandate but the individual mandates, the other regulations 
that are 20,000 pages high--7\1/2\ feet tall are the regulations that 
have been promulgated to implement this law. It continues to grow by 
the week.
  We did not need a 2,700-page bill. We did not need 20,000 pages of 
regulations to address the problems we have in our health care delivery 
system and health care coverage system today. But that is what we got. 
But the President's job-killing tactics do not stop just at health 
care. The President's proposed climate change regulations alone would 
cost 500,000 jobs and reduce household income by up to $1,000 per year.
  Dodd-Frank has already cost $15.4 billion and 58.3 million hours in 
paperwork burdens on businesses across the country. Rather than more 
campaign-style speeches touting the same old flawed ideas, the 
President should work with Congress to put more Americans back to work.
  By working together, we can enact meaningful regulatory reform that 
will provide relief to employers and to employees alike. We can fix our 
health care system in a manner that lowers costs while allowing 
families to keep the doctors they want. We can enact tax reform that 
will create economic growth, lower the unemployment rate, and reduce 
our unsustainable budget deficit.
  We can expand access to domestic energy resources in a manner that 
fully realizes the benefits of increased energy production. This 
cooperation must start with President Obama getting off the campaign 
trail and getting to work with Congress on these important issues. So 
instead of pivoting yet again to the economy, in campaign-style 
speeches, we need a President that is here, that is working to address 
the economic woes American families are experiencing.
  If you want to start by going out and touting things that you are 
going to do for the economy, start right away by approving the Keystone 
Pipeline. That is a no-brainer, in most people's estimation. In fact, 
the President's own administration has analyzed and reviewed and 
scrutinized and studied this thing now four different times and 
concluded it would have not an impact on the climate.
  It would create immediate jobs, thousands of jobs, construction jobs, 
and then jobs over a long period of time. It would help lessen the 
dependence we have on foreign sources of energy by freeing up 
transportation of energy resources that come from friendly allies in 
countries such as Canada to get to American consumers in this country.
  There are things the President could be doing that actually will 
create jobs. Come up here and engage in the debate on tax reform. 
Commit to tax reform that is revenue neutral, that does not raise taxes 
on people who create jobs in this country but, rather, lowers the rate 
to unleash economic growth and job creation in this country. Work with 
us to repeal, permanently delay, the ObamaCare regulations that are 
crushing jobs and the economy and, as I pointed out earlier, are 
forcing more and more Americans into part-time jobs, forcing employers 
to either cut and reduce their workforce or not hire people they 
otherwise might hire, and raising premiums for hard-working middle-
class families.
  Mr. President, it is not Washington that does not have its eye on the 
ball, it is you who does not have your eye on the ball.
  We need you to focus like a laser on the economy and recognize that 
you can't close your eyes to the harmful, economic impact that your 
policies are having on too many middle-class Americans and small 
businesses who create jobs in this country to generate the economic 
growth that is necessary to improve the standard of living and the 
take-home pay of every American family. This is what we need.
  I hope the President will get off the campaign trail, come back, and 
focus on what really matters to middle-class Americans; that is, jobs, 
the economy, and a better life for their children and grandchildren.
  I yield the floor.
  Mrs. MURRAY. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mrs. MURRAY. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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