[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6387]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               TRUMPCARE

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, a note on healthcare.
  As the House Republican caucus continues their effort to revive 
TrumpCare, I just want to remind my friends in the House of a few 
things.
  First, for all the significant changes House Republicans are 
proposing to the bill, it would still cause premiums and deductibles to 
rise, it will still jack up the costs on low-income and older 
Americans, and, most importantly, it doesn't change a thing about the 
24 million fewer Americans who would get healthcare. It may actually 
increase that number, but it certainly will not decrease it.
  Second, it is unwise and irresponsible to rush through a brandnew 
bill without a new CBO score, without committee hearings, and without 
any debate on the floor of the House. If this thing were so good, why 
wouldn't there be open debate? Why wouldn't there be discussion? I 
hope, if the bill gets to the Senate--I don't know if it will. I hope 
it doesn't, but if it does, I hope we will not mimic the House, have no 
committees, no hearings, no CBO score, not much debate. That would be 
very wrong.
  Third, even if the new version of TrumpCare passes the House--we hope 
it doesn't--its chances for survival in the Senate are small. We don't 
even know if the new version would survive under the rules of 
reconciliation.
  The amendment to allow States to drop preexisting condition 
requirements, for instance, very possibly violates the Byrd rule. If 
the moderate group in the House gets an additional amendment to deal 
with the very same issue, that may violate the Byrd rule as well 
because if Republicans try to throw money at their problem, as it has 
been reported, they may end up violating the budget instructions to 
reduce the deficit, and they will not even know if it does violate the 
Byrd rule because, again, they will not have a CBO score.
  As my friend, the Republican Senator from South Carolina, Mr. Graham, 
said, talking about the TrumpCare bill, ``I just don't see how you 
square the circle here. Some of the things the Freedom Caucus wants 
probably won't make it through the Senate.''
  The same is true for the group of moderates who are angling for more 
changes to the bill right now.
  The reality is, TrumpCare cannot pass the Senate. So to my moderate 
Republican colleagues in the House, I ask: Why would you risk a ``yes'' 
vote for a bill that is devastating to your constituents and has 
virtually a minuscule chance--probably no chance--of becoming law?
  Now, we Democrats--as we have said time and time again to both the 
President and to our Republican colleagues--are willing to work with 
you on ways to improve the Affordable Care Act and our healthcare 
system in general. Drop repeal, and then come talk to us about finding 
a bipartisan way forward. We are always willing to work in a bipartisan 
way, but, again, to repeat, ``bipartisan'' means talking to both sides 
and taking things from both sides, not just throwing a bill down and 
saying you have to support it. That is what bipartisanship is.

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