[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9551]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           DO THE RIGHT THING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, when someone keeps something secret, it is 
often because it is embarrassing or negative or damaging or 
unsupportable.
  Mr. Speaker, over in the Senate, Leader McConnell and some of these 
Republican Senators are doing just that: crafting a healthcare repeal 
bill in secret because they know what it contains would deeply 
embarrass anyone who supports it openly.
  They know it is going to be a hard sell to convince even their own 
Republican colleagues, Mr. Speaker, to get behind a bill that even 
President Trump called mean. That was the House American Health Care 
Act to which he was referring. He called it mean for the harm it does 
to Americans.
  They know it is going to be difficult in the Senate to convince 
Senators to support a bill that raises healthcare costs for working 
families and kicks millions of Americans off their coverage, including 
those who are covered by their employers; a bill that makes millions of 
individuals with preexisting conditions uninsurable and reinstitutes 
annual and lifetime limits; a bill that imposes an age tax on those 
between ages 50 and 64, increasing premium costs by as much as 800 
percent; a bill that forces States to cut benefits and kick millions of 
people off Medicaid, whether it is next year, in 3 years, or in 7 
years, those times that are to try to get by elections so that perhaps 
people will not be held accountable for voting for such draconian 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, such a bill ought to be very embarrassing indeed, which 
is why Senator McConnell, I believe, and his allies don't want anyone 
to see it until they are asked to vote on it.
  We have a similar problem, of course, in the House.
  Whatever happened to transparency, to openness, to reading the bills, 
to posting it for all to see in advance? Where are all those people who 
wanted everybody to read the bills and see the bills? Where are they 
today in demanding that bills be fully and thoroughly vetted, read, 
heard, and voted on?
  It is no wonder even Republican Senators who haven't seen the bill 
are getting angry with their leader and those drafting it in secrecy.
  Republican Senator Ron Johnson said last week, Mr. Speaker: ``I want 
to know exactly what is going to be in the Senate bill. I don't know it 
yet.'' And then he concluded: ``It is not a good process.''
  And Senator Marco Rubio said: ``The Senate is not a place where you 
can just cook up something behind closed doors and rush it for a 
vote.''
  But, Mr. Speaker, what we hear is exactly what is happening, cooking 
it up in secret and rushing it for a vote.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, they are not the only ones who want to know what is 
in this bill. Millions of Americans are deeply worried about its 
contents.
  Last week, I sat down with two courageous Americans who shared their 
personal healthcare stories with me. I want to thank them for doing so, 
and I want to share their stories today. Their names are Ola Ojewumi 
and Megan Foley.
  Ola lives with a preexisting condition. As a young child, she 
received a heart and kidney transplant. She is also a cancer survivor. 
She is a young woman. She told me about how the Affordable Care Act 
saved her life. She was able to access affordable coverage because of 
the ban on denying coverage to those with preexisting conditions. Ola 
also told me how frightened she is that these protections could be 
taken away for her under the Senate's secret TrumpCare bill.
  If it is enacted, Ola and others with preexisting conditions may not 
be able to access the coverage needed to keep them alive and healthy, 
or they may simply not be able to afford it.
  When I spoke with Megan Foley, she shared her courageous story of 
struggling with mental illness and addiction. She told me how she 
overcame her addiction. Despite her recovery, before the Affordable 
Care Act came into effect, she was denied coverage again and again 
because her addiction was considered a preexisting condition. Those 
were difficult months, cutting back on expenses and accruing debt just 
to pay for her medication until the Affordable Care Act kicked in and 
allowed for Megan to obtain coverage.

                              {time}  1015

  But she made it, and now, the law protects Megan and millions and 
millions of others like her struggling with addiction who were given a 
second chance.
  At a time when this country is plagued, Mr. Speaker, with an 
unprecedented opioid addiction crisis, the Republican repeal bill is an 
insult to courageous Americans for whom recovery is a lifelong process 
and access to care is essential. They, and so many Americans, are now 
living with uncertainty and fear for their future.
  Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my interviews with Ola and Megan on 
social media, and I encourage all Members of this House to sit down 
with their constituents and listen to their stories and hear about 
their concerns.
  Americans deserve to know what is in the Senate's secret TrumpCare 
bill and how it would impact them and their loved ones. Americans 
deserve to know. Senators who represent those Americans need to know, 
and they have not seen it yet, yet there is some discussion that they 
may have to consider the bill as early as next week. Senators and 
Members of this House deserve to know.
  End the secrecy. Pull back the curtain. Let us see what is in that 
bill that these Senators think is so embarrassing that it must be 
hidden from us all.
  I will remind Republicans, both in the House and in the Senate, and 
the Republican President in the White House, that their party's control 
of our government is complete, and they will be held responsible for 
whatever happens to our healthcare system on their watch.
  CBO tells us that 23 to 24 million people, as a result of the House 
bill, would lose their insurance; the preexisting conditions would be 
put at risk; and over $800 billion would be cut from Medicare and 
Medicaid.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of us to listen to Americans, to hear how 
beneficial the Affordable Care Act has been. I hope they will listen to 
Ola. I hope they will listen to Megan and all those who are concerned 
for the future and not huddle in a secret backroom making decisions 
that will negatively impact millions and millions and millions of our 
fellow citizens.
  Do the right thing. Do it for Ola. Do it for Megan. Do it for all of 
our citizens.

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