12.01.15

Senate Set to Begin Debate on Obamacare Repeal Legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C.U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding Obamacare repeal:

“When Washington Democrats passed Obamacare over the objections of the American people, they were confident Americans would soon warm to the law.

“But more than five years later, the American people continue to oppose this unprecedented Democrat attack on their health care.

“Is it any wonder?

“When Americans think Obamacare, they think increased cost. Runaway premiums. Surging deductibles. Tax hikes on the Middle Class.

“When Americans think Obamacare, they think decreased choice. Fewer doctors. Faraway hospitals. A frightening scarcity of options for too many when they get sick.

“When Americans think Obamacare, they think broken promises and endless failure. Imploding state-based exchanges. Collapsing co-ops. Insurers eyeing the exit door. Fewer jobs. And the Lie of the Year: ‘If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.’

“It’s not like Obamacare’s structural failures are just going to go away. They’re baked into the law, and they only seem to get worse as time moves on. Just as we’ve seen costs rise, choices narrow, and failures mount, we’ve seen congressional Democrats block attempts to start over with real health reform.

“This week, we finally have a chance to vote to end Obamacare’s cycle of broken promises and failures with just 51 votes.

“This week, we’ll take up the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015 that already passed the House.

“It’s a bill that will take the first steps necessary to build a bridge away from Obamacare.

“By building upon the House’s good work, this bill could also save billions in spending and eliminate more than a trillion-dollar tax burden on the American people.

“And by employing the same tactics Democrats used to help get Obamacare across the finish line, this bill will not be subject to a filibuster.

“In other words, it can’t be blocked by defenders of Obamacare’s failed status quo.

“In other words, the President can’t be shielded from the weighty decision he’ll finally have to make when this measure lands on his desk

“When the President picks up his pen, he’ll have a real choice to make.

“He may well decide to stick to his rhetoric that the law is working better than even he intended and veto the bill.

“But he should instead decide to finally stand with a Middle Class that’s suffered enough from this failed law and sign it.

“We'll see.

“It’s a choice the President has never faced before, and it's a choice he’s going to face after Senate action this week.”

Related Issues: Senate Democrats, Middle Class, Restoring the Senate, Health Care, Obamacare