[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12545]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         AFFORDABLE CARE ACT AND EXPORT-IMPORT BANK AMENDMENTS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, later today the Senate will vote on one or 
more motions to overturn rulings of the Chair brought by disgruntled 
Republican Senators. At another time, Republican Senators would have 
called this a number of things, not the least of which is the nuclear 
option.
  Republicans have controlled the Senate for about 7 months now. It has 
become increasingly clear that what is wrong with the Senate today is 
the same thing that has troubled the Senate before Republicans took 
control--dysfunction in the Republican caucus.
  Republicans probably will not succeed in overturning the rules of the 
Senate today, but an honest observer of the Senate will recognize that 
the day is coming when they will, unless the Republicans become the 
party of Eisenhower, Dodd, Dirksen, and even President Reagan.
  I was amused to hear the Republican leader say he looks forward to 
amendments. Many Senators on our side look forward to being able to 
offer amendments; for example, to improve work safety provisions in the 
bill, but the amendment tree is filled. They are not going to have that 
opportunity unless something untoward happens.
  Today, the Senate will vote on two amendments. How Senators vote on 
these amendments will demonstrate their priorities--who is for American 
families and who is doing the bidding of special interests. Consider 
today's vote on yet another Republican attempt to repeal the Affordable 
Care Act--ObamaCare.
  By all accounts, it is working and working well. Is it perfect? Of 
course not. That is why we have invited the Republicans for years now 
to join with us in having a better health care delivery system, but 
ObamaCare is helping families all across this great Nation. There are 
many facts.
  Insurance companies can no longer discriminate against people with 
preexisting conditions. They can't discriminate against anyone as they 
did when they discriminated, basically, against everyone. Twelve 
million more people now have coverage through Medicaid programs and 
CHIP programs. Health care costs are growing but very slowly--the 
slowest rate of growth in a long time. Perhaps, most importantly, the 
share of Americans who lack health insurance coverage has dramatically 
declined.
  After the latest Supreme Court victory less than a month ago, I 
urged, at that time, my Republican friends to stop banging their heads 
against the wall because obviously it doesn't feel good. Why do they 
continually try to repeal the Affordable Care Act? Apparently, two 
Supreme Court wins and more than 50 votes by congressional Republicans 
to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act are not enough for the 
Republican leader and his friends. They are insisting on yet another 
partisan attempt to strip health insurance coverage from more than 19 
million Americans--coverage that a recent Commonwealth Fund survey 
found that more than 80 percent of Americans are satisfied with this 
program.
  Republicans claim this ObamaCare repeal is part of their crusade to 
reduce the deficit, but the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office 
recently estimated that repealing the Affordable Care Act will increase 
the Federal budget by more than $350 billion.
  So today's vote isn't going to be about reducing the deficit. This is 
about caving to special interests. This is about the Republicans and 
their leader desperately trying to appease their base.
  I am appalled and, more than that, disappointed by these continued 
partisan attempts to strip away insurance coverage for almost 20 
million Americans. Congress passed the Affordable Care Act. The 
President signed it into law, and the Supreme Court has put a stamp of 
approval on it, not once but twice.
  It is time for Republicans to move on and not take another 
politically motivated vote that is going nowhere.
  Finally, on another subject, the Export-Import Bank. After the 
ObamaCare vote, we will then consider the reauthorization of the 
Export-Import Bank--in fact, their charter. Once again, how Senators 
vote on the Export-Import Bank will reveal their loyalties.
  Companies like Boeing, Caterpillar, General Electric, Honeywell, 
along with dozens of companies in sparsely populated Nevada, along with 
thousands of small businesses across this country, use this Bank to 
find a market for billions of dollars of their exports. It is not only 
for Boeing, Caterpillar, and these big companies; it is for thousands 
and thousands of small businesses.
  Most of the jobs in America are created not by the great big 
companies but by small businesses, and they need this. They want this. 
That is why even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce must have been desperate.
  Finally, siding with us on something, they support the Ex-Im Bank. 
This year alone, the Export-Import Bank supported 165,000 jobs in 
America. A vote for the Export-Import Bank is a vote for jobs, a 
healthy economy, and the prosperity of American families. Conversely, a 
vote against reauthorization is nothing more than a shameless attempt 
to garner the affection of the Koch brothers. After all, opposition to 
the Export-Import Bank is a prerequisite to having their support. All 
candidates running for President stumble over themselves to say: What 
do the brothers want today? What they want today is a vote against this 
Bank, contrary to the needs of the American people. The Koch brothers 
distributed a survey to the Republican Presidential hopefuls that 
essentially obligates those candidates to oppose the Ex-Im Bank.
  I ask my colleagues today: Are you working for the American people or 
are you doing the dirty work for a couple of billionaire oil barons? A 
vote for the Export-Import Bank is a vote for American families. A vote 
against the repeal of ObamaCare is a vote for American families. Today, 
the Senate Democrats will vote for American families.
  I was hoping to say a word about Senator Inhofe while he was on the 
floor, and unfortunately he is not here now. The senior Senator from 
Oklahoma is a very conservative Republican Senator. He and I disagree 
on a lot of things, but I have great respect for his courage on this 
legislation. I think this legislation, which we are moving forward on, 
is far from perfect, but I listened to Senator Jim Inhofe yesterday 
when he was answering the President. A Republican always follows the 
President. I think Senator Inhofe did a fine job of explaining how 
important it is that we have a transportation bill. We have said a lot 
of nice things about Senator Boxer, but it is time we said some nice 
things about Jim Inhofe because this bill would not be where it is 
without his efforts.

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