[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14667-14668]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              SENATE PROPOSED HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IS INSANE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, Albert Einstein is reported to have once 
said: The definition of insanity is trying to do the same thing over 
and over again and expecting a different result.
  Using that definition, the men in the white coats with large 
butterfly nets have plenty of wacky patients to catch in the Senate, 
where this week--tomorrow, in fact--the Republican leadership is once 
again, for over the 60th time, trying to jam through a so-called 
healthcare bill which will repeal the Affordable Care Act without a 
coherent replacement.
  Once again, the Republican leadership will force a vote without 
analysis by the Congressional Budget Office of the Cassidy-Graham bill, 
no hearings at the healthcare committee; and in the face of a tidal 
wave of opposition from the healthcare world, patient groups, 
healthcare givers, and even Republican Governors have had one message 
over the last week, which is to vote ``no.''
  Mr. Speaker, just to give you a small sample of some of the patient 
groups that have spoken out over the last week in opposition to this 
measure, they include the ALS Association, the American Cancer Society, 
The American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, the 
American Lung Association, the Arthritis Foundation, the Cystic 
Fibrosis Foundation, the National Kidney Foundation, the Down Syndrome 
Caucus, the American Foundation for the Blind, the National Multiple 
Sclerosis Society, the Amputee Coalition of America, the Autism Speaks 
group, the Coalition to Stop Opioid Overdose, and AARP.
  These are mainstream, trusted organizations, which all of us have 
donated to, done walkathons, done everything we can to help their 
missions, which is to help America's patients. They are unanimous that 
the Senate should reject this measure and that we should move on to a 
new approach--following Mr. Einstein's advice--to try and fix the 
American healthcare system.
  Incredibly, American provider groups, who at many times are at each 
other's throats in terms of different healthcare legislation, have also 
taken the same position: the American Medical Association; the American 
Nurses Association; the Association of American Medical Colleges; the 
American Hospital Association; the Catholic Health Association of the 
United States; and the American Health Care Association, which 
represents thousands of nursing homes like the one that just cared for 
that gentleman that we heard such kind words about a moment ago from 
Louisiana.
  Again, incredibly, the National Association of Medicaid Directors 
from all 50 States--Republican States and Democratic States--issued an 
extraordinary letter last week. Again, these are folks who run the 
system. They are actually on the ground. They are in the real world, 
not in the political bubble of Washington, and they have unanimously 
begged the Senate to vote ``no,'' and to stop this rush to undermining 
and creating a catastrophic damage to America's healthcare system.
  The RAND Corporation issued a report just a couple of days ago that 
talked about the impact of this measure on America's veterans. 1.75 
million American veterans use the Medicaid program; many in nursing 
homes,

[[Page 14668]]

maybe like Mr. Hunter, who we just heard about. The RAND Corporation 
has told us that passing this measure will undermine our promise to 
America's veterans, the people who wore the uniform of this country, 
that they would have access to coverage through the Medicaid program. 
That is what this bill does.
  Mr. Speaker, in the real world, at the end of this week, the 
Children's Health Insurance Program, a bipartisan measure that passed a 
couple of decades ago, expires its authorization. The law that provides 
authorization for America's community health centers, that expires at 
the end of this week. The National Health Service Corps, which allows 
young Americans to get the opportunity for affordable medical 
education, that expires at the end of this week.
  That is what we should be focused on; not another mindless rushed 
judgment to satisfy a political promise that the American people don't 
want and we know, from all the folks who are out there in the real 
world of America's healthcare system, won't work. Vote ``no.''

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