[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12156-12157]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




PROTECT WOMEN'S HEALTH FROM CORPORATE INTERFERENCE ACT OF 2014--MOTION 
                               TO PROCEED

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 459, S. 
2578, the Protect Women's Health From Corporate Interference Act.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 459, S. 2578, a bill to 
     ensure that employers cannot interfere in their employees' 
     birth control and other health care decisions.


         Measures Placed On The Calendar--S. 2609 and H.R. 5021

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I understand that there are two bills at the 
desk due for a second reading.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will read the bills by 
title for the second time.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2609) to restore States' sovereign rights to 
     enforce State and local sales and use tax laws, and for other 
     purposes.
       A bill (H.R. 5021) to provide an extension of Federal-aid 
     highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety, transit, and 
     other programs funded out of the Highway Trust Fund, and for 
     other purposes.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I object to any further proceedings 
regarding these bills at this time.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection having been heard, the 
bills will be placed on the calendar.


                                Schedule

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the 
Republican leader, the Senate will proceed to executive session and 
resume consideration of the nomination of Ronnie L. White to be a 
United States district judge for the Eastern District of Missouri. The 
debate will be until 10:15 a.m. Senators Grassley, Cornyn, and Shaheen 
will control 10 minutes each of that time and Senator McCaskill will 
control any remaining time.
  We have moved the time up, and I appreciate very much the cooperation 
of the Republicans because this is so one of our Senators can attend 
the funeral of one of his best friends. But we are not going to extend 
the time past 10:15 a.m. In light of that I am not going to give any 
statement today. If cloture is invoked, we will have a 12:20 p.m. vote.
  Upon disposition of the White nomination, the Senate will resume 
legislative session and proceed to the motion to proceed to S. 2578, 
the Protect Women's Health From Corporate Interference Act. The time 
until 2:10 p.m. will be equally divided and controlled between the two 
leaders or their designees, with each side controlling 5 minutes of the 
final 10 minutes. At 2:10 p.m. the Senate will proceed to vote on the 
motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 2578.


                           Order Of Procedure

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time between 3:30 
p.m. and 4:30 p.m. be under Republican control and the time between 
4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. be controlled by the majority.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                           Order Of Business

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, there will be an all-Senators briefing at 
5:30 p.m. this afternoon, and it is all related to the emergency 
supplemental request to address the child and adult migration from 
Central America to the Southwest border.


                   Recognition Of The Minority Leader

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is 
recognized.


                      Protecting Everyone's Rights

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, Members of Congress do not always see 
eye-to-eye on everything. It is fairly obvious. There are often strong 
and principled disagreements about taxes, the size and scope of 
government, ObamaCare, foreign policy--you name it. But let's be clear: 
When it comes to decisions about contraception, both parties believe a 
woman should be able to make her own decisions.
  Now, some on the other side would like to pretend otherwise. They 
think they can score political points and create divisions where there 
are not any by distorting the facts. And that is why their increasingly 
outlandish claims--claims one nonpartisan fact-checker described as 
``simply wrong''--just keep getting debunked. Even worse, our friends 
on the other side are now on record as saying we should protect the 
freedoms of some while stripping away the freedoms of others.
  Republicans continue to insist that we can and should be in the 
business of protecting everyone's rights. We think that, instead of 
restricting Americans' religious freedoms, Congress should instead work 
to preserve a woman's ability to make contraception decisions for 
herself. And the legislation Senator Ayotte, Fischer, and I filed 
yesterday would do just that.
  The Preserving Religious Freedom and a Woman's Access to 
Contraception Act would clarify that an employer cannot block an 
employee from legal access to her FDA-approved contraceptives. It is a 
commonsense proposal. It reaffirms that we can both

[[Page 12157]]

preserve America's long tradition of tolerance and respect for people 
of faith while at the same time preserving a woman's ability to make 
her own decisions about contraception.
  Our bill would also ask the FDA to study whether contraceptives could 
be made available to adults safely without a prescription. And it would 
allow women to set aside more money in their flexible spending accounts 
so they can cover out-of-pocket medical expenses, many of which are 
skyrocketing under ObamaCare.
  So if Democrats are serious about doing right by women--if they are 
not just interested in stoking divisions in an election year--then they 
should get on board with our legislation. That is a start. And then 
they can work with us to undo the damage their policies--like 
ObamaCare--have already caused to millions--millions--of middle-class 
women.
  Research shows that American women make about 80 percent of the 
health care decisions for their families. Yet, thanks to ObamaCare, 
millions of women lost the health insurance plans they had and they 
liked--causing enormous disruptions in their lives and in the lives of 
their families.
  When women first spoke out about the betrayal they felt when they 
lost their plans, Washington Democrats said their plans were ``junk'' 
or worse, that they were lying, because Democratic politicians thought 
they knew better than all of these people we were hearing from. It was 
insulting to many, including one constituent who wrote to me from 
Woodford County. She described herself as a ``lifelong self-employed 
professional'' who ``shopped hard'' for a policy that she liked and 
wanted to keep. Here is what she said after Washington Democratic 
policies overruled her own personal choice of a plan:

       The President has referred to my type of policy as 
     ``substandard.'' In fact, it is a good product for people in 
     my situation. It appears that the President does not 
     understand personal finance, and does not trust Americans to 
     choose products that are good for them. He also does not 
     appreciate people like me who are willing to accept personal 
     responsibility for a large part of my own routine medical 
     expenses.

  She is not the only one who feels this way, and she is not the only 
one who has been hurt by ObamaCare.
  As a result of ObamaCare, too many women now have fewer choices of 
doctors and hospitals.
  As a result of ObamaCare, millions of Americans--nearly two-thirds of 
them women--are now at risk of having their hours and their wages 
reduced.
  As a result of ObamaCare, married women can face penalty taxes just 
for working.
  As a result of ObamaCare and other changes by the Obama 
administration, a woman on Medicare Advantage could see her average 
benefits reduced by more than $1,500 a year.
  And thanks to ObamaCare, millions of women have had their flexible 
spending accounts limited and can no longer use tax-preferred medical 
savings to purchase all the medications they use--a wrongheaded policy 
that the bill we introduced yesterday seeks to address.
  But that is just a start. Washington Democrats need to work with us 
to pass real health reform--actual, patient-centered reform that will 
not hurt women the way ObamaCare does. Because we have seen the letters 
from our constituents--letters such as the one I received from a woman 
in Mount Sterling who says ObamaCare did more than just cause her 
premiums to nearly double--it might make her medications unaffordable 
as well: ``I am on three medications, [and] two years ago the copay was 
$60 for each one,'' she said. ``Now, my medications are costing me a 
little over $700 a month.''
  That is not fair. It is not right. And this is just the kind of 
challenge both parties should be working together to address.
  So let's do away with the false choices. Let's focus on actually 
helping women instead. Let's work together to boost jobs, wages, and 
opportunity at a time when women are experiencing so much hardship as a 
result of this administration's policies.
  Republicans have been asking Washington Democrats to do all of this 
for years now. It is about time they started showing they really care.


                       Reservation Of Leader Time

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, 
leadership time is reserved.

                          ____________________