[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12018]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               HEALTHCARE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, Americans have been hurting under 
ObamaCare. Senators took a big step toward moving beyond its failures 
with the motion-to-proceed vote earlier this week. It allowed the 
Senate to proceed with this important debate. It allowed the Senate to 
work through an open amendment process.
  Senators have considered proposals already, including some procedural 
motions from across the aisle. Senators will have the opportunity to 
consider many, many more amendments tonight. I know that colleagues in 
both parties are eager to do so.
  I encourage Senators with healthcare ideas--whether Republicans, 
Democrats, or Independents--to bring their amendments to the floor. We 
have heard many different ideas on healthcare in recent months. Not 
every idea, of course, is a good one.
  One idea from the Democratic leader is simply to throw money at 
insurance companies--no reforms, no changes, just a multimillion-dollar 
bandaid.
  Another idea from many other Democrats is to quadruple down on 
ObamaCare with a government-run single-payer system. It is called 
single payer because there is one payer, or insurer, the government. 
Nearly every healthcare decision would be directed by a Federal 
bureaucrat. Taxes could go up astronomically. The total cost could add 
up to $32 trillion, according to an estimate of a leading proposal.
  We will vote on single payer this afternoon, and we will find out 
what support it enjoys in the Senate--especially on the other side of 
the aisle. We all know this is likely to be a very long night. It is 
part of a long process that has taken a lot of hard work from a lot of 
dedicated colleagues already.
  One phase of that process will end when the Senate concludes voting 
this week, but it will not signal the end of our work--not yet. 
Ultimately, the goal is to send legislation from Congress to the 
President--legislation that can finally move us beyond ObamaCare's 
years of failures.
  The President is ready to sign legislation. Congress will keep 
working to pass it because we know the American people deserve better 
than ObamaCare. They deserve better than ObamaCare and its skyrocketing 
costs. They deserve better than ObamaCare and its plummeting choices. 
They deserve better than the job-killing regulations, crushing 
mandates, and collapsing markets ObamaCare has given them.
  We all know this. We all know that the ObamaCare status quo hasn't 
been working for the people we represent. We have known it for 
literally years.
  Many of us committed to voting for a better way on healthcare. That 
is what every Senator who supported the motion to proceed voted for on 
Tuesday.
  Let's finish our work. Let's not allow this opportunity to slip by. 
We have made important progress already. We can build on it now.
  The moment before us is one many of us have waited for and talked 
about for a very long time. It is a moment that can't come soon enough 
for the people we represent. I urge everyone to keep working hard so we 
can get this over the finish line. It is what our constituents and our 
country deserve.

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