[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9872-9873]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION

  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, we are all one diagnosis away from having 
a serious illness. Lots of us believe that getting a serious illness is 
something that happens to other people. I was one of them.
  My moment of reckoning came 2 months ago. During a routine physical, 
my doctor told me I have kidney cancer. It is a moment everyone dreads. 
Thankfully, I had health insurance. I was able to sit down with my 
doctors and decide how I would fight my cancer, not how I would pay for 
treatment.
  No one should have to worry about whether they can afford the 
healthcare that one day might save their life. Healthcare is personal, 
and it is a right, not a privilege reserved only for those who can 
afford it. It is why we are fighting so hard against TrumpCare.
  Thirteen of our male colleagues spent weeks sequestered away, 
literally plotting how to deny millions of people in our country the 
healthcare they deserve. They spent these weeks figuring out how to 
squeeze as much as they could out of the poorest, sickest, and oldest 
members of our society so they could give the richest people in our 
country a huge tax cut. This is not a healthcare bill. This is a tax 
cut for the rich bill.
  Last week, the majority whip looked the American people in the eye 
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his desk and accused us of denouncing TrumpCare before we had a chance 
to read it. Well, read it we did, and it is as bad as we thought.
  The Congressional Budget Office is estimating that 22 million people 
will lose their insurance under TrumpCare. Its draconian cuts to 
Medicaid would have a devastating impact on our seniors--our kupuna, as 
we refer to them in Hawaii--who depend on the program for long-term 
nursing care. It imposes an age tax on people 50 to 64 that allows 
insurance companies to charge them five times more for insurance. It 
fulfills the Republican Party's cherished goal of defunding Planned 
Parenthood. It undermines protections for Americans living with serious 
and chronic diseases who could face the reimposition of yearly and 
lifetime caps on their care.
  For millions of people in our country, TrumpCare is not some abstract 
proposal that has no relevance to their lives. Last week, Senator 
Murray, Senator Van Hollen, and I joined three advocates--Ian, Marques, 
and Jill--who told us their stories about how TrumpCare would impact 
them.
  Ian grew up in Fond du Lac, WI. During his sophomore year in high 
school, Ian discovered he had bone cancer after suffering an injury 
playing football. He has been cancer-free for 6 years and is now 
pursuing a career in medical research, in large part, because of his 
experience in fighting this cancer. Although Ian has been cancer-free 
for some time now, he is very concerned about what TrumpCare could mean 
for him if his disease comes back. He has a preexisting condition.
  Marques lives in Richmond, VA. He was diagnosed with multiple 
sclerosis when he was only 27 years old. He has three young daughters 
and faces a lifetime of extensive treatment for his disease. Because of 
the Affordable Care Act and the guarantee of coverage it affords every 
American, Marques did what he never thought he would be able to do with 
MS, he started his own business.
  Jill is from Hillard, OH. Her daughter Alison was born with cystic 
fibrosis. Alison endured a lot at a very young age. When she was only 
7, Alison had part of her lung removed because of the damage her 
disease caused. Because she has health insurance, which makes paying 
for expensive CF drugs more affordable, Alison is a happy teenager 
planning eagerly for her future. Jill made clear what would happen if 
TrumpCare passes: Alison's CF medication would become prohibitively 
expensive. Under TrumpCare, Jill would have to make decisions about 
which drugs she could afford for Alison, not which would work best to 
fight her disease.
  Annual or lifetime limits on healthcare coverage will mean constant 
worry about paying for the lifesaving care that Ian, Marques, Jill, and 
their families need--not starting a business, not living like a normal 
teenager or young adult with dreams for the future. They will spend 
practically every waking moment just worrying about how they are going 
to pay for the care they need to live.
  TrumpCare would be a disaster for the American people, and we are 
going to fight against it tooth and nail, but I also want to be clear 
about what we are fighting for. We are fighting for universal 
healthcare that is a right, and not a privilege, for every American.
  Tomorrow, I am going in for surgery to remove the lesion I have on my 
rib, but I am going to be back as quickly as I can to keep up the fight 
against this mean, ugly bill. The stakes are too high to stay silent. 
We need everyone in this fight because we are all in it together.
  Millions of people across the country are mobilizing against 
TrumpCare because healthcare is personal. I am encouraged that so many 
people have been calling all of us and making their voices heard. The 
majority leader and Donald Trump can try to jam this bill down our 
throats, but we aren't going to let them succeed, and we are going to 
hold them accountable.
  The fight continues.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.

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