[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 4294-4295]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        OPPOSING GOP REPEAL BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Alabama (Ms. Sewell) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to express my 
opposition to the GOP healthcare bill.
  On Monday, we received from the CBO a report that the House repeal 
bill will increase the number of uninsured Americans by 24 million in 
2026. Fifty-two million Americans will be uninsured in 2026, which is 
more than ever before, and definitely more than the Affordable Care 
Act.
  The intentions here are clear. The bill's drafters are choosing to 
ration care for the elderly and the working class to fund tax cuts for 
the Nation's highest earners.
  Under the GOP bill, a 64-year-old, with an income of $26,000, will 
have to pay a net of $12,900 more each year for her coverage than she 
currently does. In addition to the disproportionate harm that this bill 
will do to seniors, it will also accelerate the insolvency of the 
Medicare trust fund by 3 years.
  Mr. Speaker, the GOP plan cuts $880 billion from projected Medicaid 
spending over the next decade, while providing almost $600 billion in 
tax cuts to the wealthy and to corporations. Sixty-four percent of the 
tax cuts would go to millionaires and billionaires, while an additional 
20 percent would go to those making between $500,000 and $1 million. 
Mr. Speaker, less than 1 percent of my constituents make more than 
$200,000, so it would be irresponsible of me not to voice my concern 
for a bill that contradicts the interests of my constituents so 
blatantly.
  When I first got a copy of the bill less than 2 days before we marked 
it up in the Ways and Means Committee, I was left wondering if the bill 
was written to address our Nation's healthcare challenges or just to 
relieve the wealthy few of their tax obligations.
  The drafters of this bill made the disappointing choice to favor 
value tested and failed trickle-down economics over investing in a 
stronger, healthier America. Large numbers of unhealthy and uninsured 
Americans are not reflective of the governing bodies that make good 
choices.
  The Republican health plan directly slashes funding for people with 
disabilities by $12 billion, cutting the program that helps people live 
in their communities and reach their full potential.

                              {time}  1045

  I represent a historically underserved constituency in Alabama's 
Seventh

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Congressional District. The median income in my district is less than 
$34,000. The majority of the health providers in my district have a 
patient population that is disproportionately dependent on Medicare and 
Medicaid and is uninsured. These healthcare providers cannot withstand 
caps to Medicaid or increases in their uninsured population. If this 
bill is implemented without substantial changes, rural health care will 
be lost and rural lives will be at risk.
  In my district, I have met constituents who have weekly made choices 
between whether to buy medicine or to put food on the table. I have a 
pediatrician in my district in Birmingham who will stop what she is 
doing to track down patients newly infected with STDs so they do not 
transmit it.
  In States with so many high rates of STDs in this country, every 
attempt to curb the spread of disease is critical. The GOP bill guts 
the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which helps community doctors 
provide preventative care and reduce the threat of public health 
crises.
  Mr. Speaker, over the past several weeks, my office has received over 
600 emails from constituents about health care. Many shared positive 
stories about the Affordable Care Act. Others, particularly those from 
low-income areas, fall in that gap, that Medicaid gap; and the State of 
Alabama, like so many Republican-led States, did not choose to expand 
Medicaid.
  Unfortunately, the GOP health bill is not the answer. This bill will 
take Medicaid away from America's children, working parents, and 
seniors in nursing homes. By 2026, nearly 30 percent of Americans aged 
50 to 64 earning $30,000 will be uninsured. Surely, Mr. Speaker, this 
is not what this body intended.
  This bill is not only morally unsound, but fiscally irresponsible, 
and I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' for the GOP repeal bill.

                          ____________________