[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4626]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         OPPOSING THE GOP AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT REPEAL BILL

  (Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER. Mr. Speaker, I know that I am new to the House, 
but I was elected by my constituents to reach across the aisle and get 
things done.
  Sadly, instead of reaching across the aisle to work on commonsense 
fixes to the Affordable Care Act, some of my Republican colleagues have 
decided to push through a healthcare bill that, instead of increasing 
health coverage, actually takes it away from more than 24 million 
people and imposes an age tax.
  In my State alone, this bill will cut Medicaid coverage for 60,000 
individuals and result in a $170 million loss of Federal funds at a 
time when my State is facing a major budget shortfall. Additionally, 
almost 22,000 individuals in my State will lose access to employer-
sponsored insurance, and more than 6,000 individuals who are currently 
receiving coverage through our healthcare exchange will lose coverage 
as a result of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, given its impact on our Nation's working families and 
our most vulnerable citizens, I believe passage of this bill would be 
an act of medical malpractice--pun intended. So I urge all of my 
colleagues to vote ``no'' on H.R. 1628.

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