S.Amdt. 29

SA 29. Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Ms. Hirono, and Mr. Booker) submitted
an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the concurrent
resolution S. Con. Res. 3, setting forth the congressional budget for
the United States Government for fiscal year 2017 and setting forth the
appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2018 through 2026; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of title IV, add the following:

SEC. 4__. POINT OF ORDER AGAINST REDUCING ACCESS TO, OR
AFFORDABILITY OF, HEALTHCARE SERVICES FOR
MINORITY AND DISENFRANCHISED POPULATIONS OF THE
UNITED STATES.

(a) Point of Order.--It shall not be in order in the Senate
to consider any bill, joint resolution, motion, amendment,
amendment between the Houses, or conference report that would
reduce access to, or affordability of, healthcare services
for minority and disenfranchised populations of the United
States, including American Indians and Alaskan Natives, Asian
Americans, African Americans, Latino Americans, and Native
Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders, by reversing the
significant gains in access to and affordability of
healthcare services made by the Affordable Care Act,
including--
(1) the expansion of Medicaid coverage to low-income
Americans with incomes up to 138 percent of the Federal
poverty level in the States that have implemented the
Medicaid expansion, benefitting 51 percent of American
Indians and Alaska Natives, 32 percent of African Americans,
26 percent of Asian Americans, and 25 percent of Latino
Americans; and
(2) the establishment of the cost-sharing reduction tax
credits, allowing 19 percent of American Indians and Alaska
Natives, 23 percent of African Americans, 18 percent of Asian
Americans, and 16 percent of Latino Americans to become newly
eligible for essential healthcare coverage.
(b) Waiver and Appeal.--Subsection (a) may be waived or
suspended in the Senate only by an affirmative vote of three-
fifths of the Members, duly chosen and sworn. An affirmative
vote of three-fifths of the Members

[[Page S158]]

of the Senate, duly chosen and sworn, shall be required to
sustain an appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of
order raised under subsection (a).
______