Floor Statements

Mr. President, today I recognize Brandon Fusaro, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota.

Brandon is a graduate of Burncoat High School in Worcester, MA. Currently, he is attending George Washington University, where he is majoring in exercise science. He is a hard worker who has been dedicated to getting the most out of his internship experience.

I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Brandon for all of the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. President, today I recognize Isaac Harrington, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota.

Isaac is a graduate of Mitchell High School in Mitchell, SD and the University of Notre Dame, where he majored in computer science. He is a hard worker who has been dedicated to getting the most out of his internship experience.

I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Isaac for all of the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. President, today I recognize Isaiah Wonnenberg, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota.

Isaiah is a graduate of Gregory High School in Gregory, SD. Currently, he is attending University of South Dakota, where he is majoring in political science. He is a hard worker who has been dedicated to getting the most out of his internship experience.

I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Isaiah for all of the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, once again I come to the floor to discuss the negative impacts ObamaCare is having on my constituents in South Dakota and to countless Americans across the Nation. Since this health care law was enacted in 2010, I have come to the floor on numerous occasions to discuss the number of promises the President made to the American people, promises that have been broken. My colleagues and I have highlighted the fact that the President's promise, ``if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan--period,'' simply isn't true.

Reports indicate that more than 5 million Americans already have received cancellation notices from their insurance companies and much of the ObamaCare policy has not even been implemented yet. What is worse, the administration knew they would never live up to this promise. Instead of finding a permanent solution to the problem, they proposed a political solution.

Today I would like to highlight yet another broken promise made by the President that is resulting in sticker shock as many Americans purchase health insurance.

While campaigning for the Presidency, and in speeches leading up to the passage of ObamaCare, President Obama promised the American people that their premiums would decrease by up to $2,500 per family. Instead, many families are facing sticker shock. Since enactment of ObamaCare, health care premiums have actually increased by more than $2,500 per family--that according to the Kaiser Family Foundation annual survey. As a result, many American families are sitting around their kitchen table trying to figure out how they are going to shift their finances around to afford health care when they were promised their premiums were going to go down by $2,500 per family.

As the President has said, this law is more than just a Web site. We agree with that; this law is more than just a Web site. This law is a series of broken promises that are resulting in higher premiums, higher deductibles, and higher out-of-pocket costs for middle-class families, money the families could be using to help pay off student loans, save for a house, or start a business. Those are now going to be used to pay for government-approved health care.

Recent reports out this week by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal highlight the fact that deductibles and other costs under ObamaCare have surged. The Wall Street Journal reports that the average individual deductible for a bronze level plan on the exchanges is over $5,000 a year. This means a policyholder would need to pay over $5,000 in order for their insurer to start making payments.

One of my constituents recently informed me that her family's health insurance plan was cancelled and the new policy she was offered would double their deductible to $5,000 per individual. She and her husband have three children. In addition to a higher deductible, this family faces higher premiums, higher copayments, and a higher out-of-pocket maximum. She goes on to say, ``Please explain how this new coverage is considered `affordable' under the Affordable Care Act?''

Another couple in my State of South Dakota informed me, in the form of an email, that their premiums were going up by $400 a month and the deductibles were going up by $1,400 on their policy.

Their question was, What is the Federal Government doing? The gentleman says I feel like the Federal Government just stole $5000 from me.

That is the frustration people across the country are feeling as a result of ObamaCare. The middle class is faced with higher costs, while their take-home pay and hours are being reduced.

As more and more Americans begin to formulate their family budget for 2014, they are going to learn that yet another promise by the President has been broken. Not only are they losing the plan they were promised they could keep, they are facing sticker shock over the increased cost of health care coverage. This flawed law will continue hitting middle- class Americans in their pocketbooks as the Nation's economy continues to struggle to regain its footing.

The flawed rollout of ObamaCare is no secret. We have all seen what were described as the countless glitches associated with the rollout. But to make matters worse, recent reports indicate that in October, one in four ObamaCare enrollees faced a glitch not many were aware of. This glitch, called an 834 error, has prevented insurers from receiving the proper information regarding people who believed they had successfully enrolled in a health care plan. In essence, 25 percent of the initial enrollees in ObamaCare, after persevering through the errors on a Web site that was not ready for prime time, may not have proper coverage come January 1 of 2014.

What is even more troubling is that the administration estimates that 10 percent of new enrollees will continue to face this problem. Here we are, 23 days before January 1, and those who worked through the headaches of healthcare.gov may or may not have coverage. Unfortunately, this administration continues to refuse to seriously address these problems.

Even though they have unilaterally delayed several portions of this law from taking effect and have previously failed to meet half of the requirements mandated by the law, the administration will not provide the same relief for the individual Americans as it has for big businesses.

This law is fundamentally broken and we need to start over. Rather than expand the government's role in providing health care, we need to enact policies that make the private insurance market more competitive to ensure that individuals and families have choices when it comes to their health care. Yet the unfortunate reality for middle-class families is that their premiums, their deductibles, their out-of-pocket costs under ObamaCare are not glitches, they are a harmful reality that is resulting in sticker shock for literally millions of Americans.

We can do better; we should do better. This is more than just a Web site. It is the substance of this law that was built upon a faulty foundation that is leading to canceled policies, higher premiums, higher deductibles, higher taxes, fewer jobs, and lower take-home pay for the American people. This is a direct shot at the heart of the American middle class.

The President last week got up and made a speech where he talked about income inequality. What he should have focused on is the best way to get rid of income inequality is to repeal this health care law because what is going to happen to middle-class families and middle- class Americans under this health care law is much higher costs, much lower take-home pay, many fewer jobs for them and for their children, and a lower standard of living and lower quality of life than they have enjoyed in the past. This will be the impact upon middle-class Americans as a result of this law.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn), and the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Heller).

Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn) would have voted ``nay.''

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from New Hampshire (Ms. Ayotte), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Flake), and the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Heller).

Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn) would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the National Defense Authorization Act, an amendment I have filed, Amendment No. 2903, which supports the next generation long-range strike bomber. I hope we do get on the Defense bill.

This amendment, like many of the amendments that have been filed to this bill, is both germane and noncontroversial. As has been the past practice with the Defense authorization bill, my amendment should be included in a managers' package that could be passed by unanimous consent. In the past, when the Senate has considered the National Defense Authorization Act, we have had an average of around 11 recorded votes. That is the historical average. This year so far we have had two. For amendments included by voice vote or unanimous consent, anywhere from 80 to 100 amendments tend to be the norm. In other words, that is the number of amendments that we process, not have recorded votes on, but amendments that

are offered to the bill and handled one way or another but end up getting added to the legislation. This year we have not even been able to have a managers' package, which would include many of these noncontroversial amendments.

I support Senator Inhofe, who is the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee and my Republican colleagues here in the Senate, in the approach they have taken while this bill has been on the floor. Considering this bill, there needs to be an open amendment process. We are not talking, as I said, about the hundreds of amendments that have been filed, but a reasonable number should be considered on the Senate floor.

Everyone here is aware of the time constraints we are under, but that is not an excuse for bypassing an open amendment process on this important piece of legislation.

As the Senate debates the annual Defense authorization bill, our military continues to face increasing budget constraints. These budget constraints have forced our military to prioritize and develop ways to increase efficiency and reduce spending. As we look ahead, the Department of Defense must continue to focus on ways to best prepare for the threats our country will face in the future.

On all fronts, these future threats will require an increasingly mobile force that relies on speed and technology to reach conflict points around the world. With regard to the Air Force, this means a modernization of our current fleet. According to General Welsh, the Chief of Staff for the Air Force, the next generation long-range bomber is one of the top three procurement programs our Air Force must pursue to modernize our fleet and to meet future challenges. The other two, the F-35 joint strike fighter and the KC-46 aerial refueling tanker, are currently underway.

The next generation bomber, which General Welsh has called a must- have capability, will ensure our ability to operate effectively in anti-access and area-denial environments. As potential adversaries continue to modernize their anti-aircraft systems, our ability to penetrate those systems must modernize as well.

The Department of Defense has already begun investing in the research and development phase for the next generation bomber. In the meantime, our current bomber fleets, B-2s, B-1s, and B-52s, continue to provide robust deterrent in long-range strike capabilities. The upgrades which are currently being made to these aircraft allow them to operate in the modern environment. However, as this fleet continues to age into the mid-2020s, the next generation bomber will need to come online.

My home State of South Dakota is home of the 28th Bomb Wing, which commands two of three combat squadrons operating the B-1B strategic bomber. The men and women of the 28th Bomb Wing have bravely defended our country in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2011, the B-1 played a key role in Operation Odyssey Dawn, launching from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, dropping munitions in Libya, and returning home in one continuous flying mission. This operation marked the first time the B-1 launched combat sorties from the continental United States to strike targets overseas, and it exemplifies the B-1's crucial flexibility and capability to project conventional airpower on short notice anywhere in the world. Of the three aircraft in our bomber fleet, the B-1B has the highest payload, fastest maximum speed, and operates at the lowest cost per flying hour. As I have said before, the B-1 is the workhorse of our U.S. Air Force.

As the R&D continues for the next generation bomber, the Air Force has already identified many essential capabilities to this aircraft. According to the Air Force, the next generation bomber should be usable across the spectrum of conflict from isolated strikes to prolonged campaigns. It should provide the Commander in Chief the option to strike a target at any point on the globe, and it must be able to penetrate modern air defenses despite an adversary's anti-aircraft systems. In terms of payload, it must be capable of carrying a wide mix of standoff and direct attack munitions and have the option for either nuclear or conventional capability.

As part of the strategy for development, the next generation bomber should allow for the integration of mature technologies and existing systems, taking into account the capabilities of other weapon systems to reduce program complexity.

While developing the next generation bomber will not be easy, the Air Force has learned several important lessons from its most recent procurement efforts. The Department of Defense has already streamlined requirements and oversight to ensure a timely decisionmaking process for the next generation bomber.

This initiative has included efforts to reduce costs for the overall program with a goal of preventing cost overruns which have plagued previous acquisition programs.

The Department of Defense already knows the importance of this program. As outlined in the 2015 to 2019 Program Objective Memorandum, the Air Force intends to prioritize the development and acquisition of the long-range strike bomber over the next several years. As the Air Force continues to modernize, the long-range strike bomber remains a must-have capability for future combat operations.

This amendment is very straightforward. I hope we get back on the Defense authorization bill. I hope we have an open amendment process. I hope that amendments such as this, which are germane and noncontroversial, can be included in a managers' package of amendments or at least considered on the floor by my colleagues in the Senate.

It is essential in light of the many challenges we face around the globe today with the potential adversaries out there and the threats that exist as we look out over the horizon that we make every preparation and take every necessary step to ensure our country can defend itself and our allies around the world. American interests and American national security interests are always at stake, and it is important for us to invest wisely in those types of weapon capabilities that can ensure that the United States is prepared for whatever contingency might develop around the world.

I hope we will get back on the Defense authorization bill, allow amendments to be considered, as they have been in the past. Whenever we have processed Defense bills in the past, we have had a process that has allowed for consideration of many amendments. As said before, we had 80 to 100 amendments in most cases and multiple rollcall votes--way more than we had on this bill so far.

This is important to the men and women who wear the uniform of the U.S. military. This should be a priority for us, and it should be a priority for our country. I hope we can get the bill on the floor, process amendments, pass it, and get it on the President's desk where it can be signed into law.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

I thank the Chair.

(The remarks of Senator Thune pertaining to the introduction of S. 1724 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I come to the floor to discuss again how ObamaCare is negatively impacting American families.

NBC News is reporting that 5 million Americans have received cancellation notices from health insurers. In my home State of South Dakota, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader is reporting that nearly 3,000 people have lost the plan they had. Yet this administration is merely pursuing political bandaids for the problem created by the President's health care law. The President is trying to fix this problem of canceled plans, but his solution is a politically motivated bandaid in response to pressure from Members of his own party who are nervous about the next election. The unfortunate reality of his bandaid is that it won't work.

Instead of taking responsibility for his failed policies and broken promises, he is changing his mind about how he wants his law to work at the eleventh hour. He is kicking the can to State insurance regulators to determine whether, in 48 days--which is from the date of his announcement on Thursday--they can reverse a train wreck that has been barreling down the tracks for nearly 4 years.

The President's health care law told the entire country that compliance with the President's law must occur on January 1, 2014. In response, industry and State regulators complied. Now, after relentlessly pushing a law that is fundamentally flawed, the President is changing his mind. He is expecting the State insurance commissioners to bail him out, to allow Americans to keep the plans they were promised they could keep.

Since passage of his health care law, the President has continued to tout his law and has continued to make promises to the American people that he knowingly cannot keep. While I agree that Americans should be able to keep the plans they have and like, this eleventh-hour attempt at a fix is an indication that the underpinnings of this law are irreversibly flawed.

The administration is now trying to live up to a promise it made despite the fact that they knew the promise wasn't true. In fact, the President repeated and reiterated that promise as recently as September 26 despite the fact that the administration knew it wasn't true. In 2010 the administration knew that up to 93 million Americans in the private market were in danger of losing their current health care plan. But the deeper problem with the President's fix is that it is merely a bandaid. By this time next year Americans will be in this exact same situation all over again.

The President is not focused on finding a good permanent solution but a good political solution. Putting this bandaid on the problem now may get him and his party past next year's elections. He seems more interested in preserving that power than creating real solutions to the underlying issues. In fact, the President is so concerned about the politics of his actions that he is considering yet again a way to bail out his union friends. As part of the health care law, unions agree to pay a tax to help pay for the cost of expanding coverage. This tax, known as the reinsurance tax, is scheduled to be paid by self-insured plans, including plans administered by unions and many of the largest businesses in America. But the unions are unhappy that they have to pay money into a fund to help fund a benefit for someone other than their dues-paying members. They took their complaints to the administration, and, buried in a regulation issued last month, the administration announced they intend to exempt unions from paying this tax.

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal editorial page articulated exactly why the unions should not be exempt from this tax. The editorial, called ``ObamaCare's Union Favor,'' argues that ``the unions ought to consider this tax a civic obligation in solidarity with the (uninsured) working folk they claim to support.'' It further states that ``there's no conceivable rationale--other than politics--for releasing union-only plans from a tax.'' As the editorial pointed out, exempting unions from this tax will only mean increased taxes on nonunionized Americans in self-insured plans since the tax is structured in a way that it must raise a total of $25 billion and isn't structured as a straight percentage like most taxes.

Granting this political deal to unions is why I am introducing the Union Tax Fairness Act. This bill would ensure that unions live up to the commitments they made when they put their political weight behind the health care law. It is political deals such as this that highlight how this law is failing the average American.

This reinsurance fee exemption isn't the only backroom deal the administration is trying to grant unions. Earlier this fall the administration tried to find a way to provide ObamaCare subsidies to ineligible union employees. I introduced a bill called the Union Bailout Prevention Act which was aimed at ensuring the administration could not make that special deal either.

It is clear that this President--President Obama--is trying to fix problems in his health care law by making decisions and exemptions based on favors to his political allies.

Democrats are on the run from the law they once championed. They recognize this law is sagging under its own weight. Last week there were 39 House Democrats who voted against the Obama administration by supporting the Upton bill that provides a better solution to allowing Americans to keep plans they like than what the President proposed. Even former President Bill Clinton said President Obama should keep his word when it comes to allowing Americans to keep the plans they have and like. In this Chamber, several Senate Democrats are running for the exits and looking for a legislative escape hatch of their own.

Unfortunately, the solutions proposed by this administration to fix problems in the health care law are only temporary solutions. Their solutions to problems are either temporary delays--as they did with the employer mandate and the 1-year extension of 2013 plans--or political favors to their friends and allies. Instead, this administration should agree to delay this entire law for all Americans.

Americans are deeply skeptical of the Affordable Care Act. According to last week's Gallup poll, 55 percent of Americans now disapprove of the health care law. There is a more recent poll this morning in which ABC News and the Washington Post have that number at 57 percent disapproving.

The time to act is now to ensure Americans can keep the plans they have and like. This ``fix'' won't prevent Americans from losing their coverage, facing sticker shock and premium increases, or losing their doctors. This law is fundamentally broken, and we need to start over and enact real reforms that decrease costs and improve access to care.

As do so many of us in this Chamber, I hear on a daily basis from my constituents in South Dakota about the very real impact this is having on middle-income Americans. This is an email I received last week:

My wife just received our health care insurance policy

renewals for 2014 and we are in shock!

Our monthly premiums increased from $400 per month to

$1,000, or over $7,000 more per year. My wife age 59 and me

age 60 now receive maternity benefits and some other very

limited coverage. We lost our prescription drug co-pay and

doctor visits co-pay. These expenses will now be included in

our $6,300 deductible. I will have no option for any subsidy

to offset these increases in premiums.

He goes on to say:

Please, please push for a reversal of this horrible health

care plan.

My wife and I are physically ill after receiving this

letter from our insurance carrier. Again, the government is

destroying our lives and we need you to stop this madness.

This is just one example of many that I have heard from my State of South Dakota and many that my colleagues here in the Senate are hearing from all across this country. It is clear this program, this health insurance law, is not ready for prime time. It is time for us to take a timeout and to go back to the drawing board and construct a plan, an insurance program for this country, legislation that will help reduce the costs for working-class Americans, give them access to better quality of care, and allow them to keep the doctor they choose, which is very much in jeopardy as well as a result of this takeover, literally, of one-sixth of our economy.

There is a better way, as I think countless--millions--Americans are finding out through canceled coverages, sticker shock from skyrocketing premiums, and the new knowledge that they may not be able to keep not only their health insurance plan but also the doctors they like. This is a grim reality for way too many Americans, and it is time for us to step forward and do something about it.

The President's proposal is a bandaid. It is a political solution. It is not a permanent solution; it is temporary. We need long-term fixes put in place that will address the health care concerns people have. The way to do that isn't to have the Federal Government literally assume control of one-sixth of the American economy and all the decisionmaking that takes out of the hands of ordinary, middle-class families--people across this country who are working hard to take care of their families.

Mr. President, I come to the floor to discuss again how ObamaCare is negatively impacting American families.

NBC News is reporting that 5 million Americans have received cancellation notices from health insurers. In my home State of South Dakota, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader is reporting that nearly 3,000 people have lost the plan they had. Yet this administration is merely pursuing political bandaids for the problem created by the President's health care law. The President is trying to fix this problem of canceled plans, but his solution is a politically motivated bandaid in response to pressure from Members of his own party who are nervous about the next election. The unfortunate reality of his bandaid is that it won't work.

Instead of taking responsibility for his failed policies and broken promises, he is changing his mind about how he wants his law to work at the eleventh hour. He is kicking the can to State insurance regulators to determine whether, in 48 days--which is from the date of his announcement on Thursday--they can reverse a train wreck that has been barreling down the tracks for nearly 4 years.

The President's health care law told the entire country that compliance with the President's law must occur on January 1, 2014. In response, industry and State regulators complied. Now, after relentlessly pushing a law that is fundamentally flawed, the President is changing his mind. He is expecting the State insurance commissioners to bail him out, to allow Americans to keep the plans they were promised they could keep.

Since passage of his health care law, the President has continued to tout his law and has continued to make promises to the American people that he knowingly cannot keep. While I agree that Americans should be able to keep the plans they have and like, this eleventh-hour attempt at a fix is an indication that the underpinnings of this law are irreversibly flawed.

The administration is now trying to live up to a promise it made despite the fact that they knew the promise wasn't true. In fact, the President repeated and reiterated that promise as recently as September 26 despite the fact that the administration knew it wasn't true. In 2010 the administration knew that up to 93 million Americans in the private market were in danger of losing their current health care plan. But the deeper problem with the President's fix is that it is merely a bandaid. By this time next year Americans will be in this exact same situation all over again.

The President is not focused on finding a good permanent solution but a good political solution. Putting this bandaid on the problem now may get him and his party past next year's elections. He seems more interested in preserving that power than creating real solutions to the underlying issues. In fact, the President is so concerned about the politics of his actions that he is considering yet again a way to bail out his union friends. As part of the health care law, unions agree to pay a tax to help pay for the cost of expanding coverage. This tax, known as the reinsurance tax, is scheduled to be paid by self-insured plans, including plans administered by unions and many of the largest businesses in America. But the unions are unhappy that they have to pay money into a fund to help fund a benefit for someone other than their dues-paying members. They took their complaints to the administration, and, buried in a regulation issued last month, the administration announced they intend to exempt unions from paying this tax.

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal editorial page articulated exactly why the unions should not be exempt from this tax. The editorial, called ``ObamaCare's Union Favor,'' argues that ``the unions ought to consider this tax a civic obligation in solidarity with the (uninsured) working folk they claim to support.'' It further states that ``there's no conceivable rationale--other than politics--for releasing union-only plans from a tax.'' As the editorial pointed out, exempting unions from this tax will only mean increased taxes on nonunionized Americans in self-insured plans since the tax is structured in a way that it must raise a total of $25 billion and isn't structured as a straight percentage like most taxes.

Granting this political deal to unions is why I am introducing the Union Tax Fairness Act. This bill would ensure that unions live up to the commitments they made when they put their political weight behind the health care law. It is political deals such as this that highlight how this law is failing the average American.

This reinsurance fee exemption isn't the only backroom deal the administration is trying to grant unions. Earlier this fall the administration tried to find a way to provide ObamaCare subsidies to ineligible union employees. I introduced a bill called the Union Bailout Prevention Act which was aimed at ensuring the administration could not make that special deal either.

It is clear that this President--President Obama--is trying to fix problems in his health care law by making decisions and exemptions based on favors to his political allies.

Democrats are on the run from the law they once championed. They recognize this law is sagging under its own weight. Last week there were 39 House Democrats who voted against the Obama administration by supporting the Upton bill that provides a better solution to allowing Americans to keep plans they like than what the President proposed. Even former President Bill Clinton said President Obama should keep his word when it comes to allowing Americans to keep the plans they have and like. In this Chamber, several Senate Democrats are running for the exits and looking for a legislative escape hatch of their own.

Unfortunately, the solutions proposed by this administration to fix problems in the health care law are only temporary solutions. Their solutions to problems are either temporary delays--as they did with the employer mandate and the 1-year extension of 2013 plans--or political favors to their friends and allies. Instead, this administration should agree to delay this entire law for all Americans.

Americans are deeply skeptical of the Affordable Care Act. According to last week's Gallup poll, 55 percent of Americans now disapprove of the health care law. There is a more recent poll this morning in which ABC News and the Washington Post have that number at 57 percent disapproving.

The time to act is now to ensure Americans can keep the plans they have and like. This ``fix'' won't prevent Americans from losing their coverage, facing sticker shock and premium increases, or losing their doctors. This law is fundamentally broken, and we need to start over and enact real reforms that decrease costs and improve access to care.

As do so many of us in this Chamber, I hear on a daily basis from my constituents in South Dakota about the very real impact this is having on middle-income Americans. This is an email I received last week:

My wife just received our health care insurance policy

renewals for 2014 and we are in shock!

Our monthly premiums increased from $400 per month to

$1,000, or over $7,000 more per year. My wife age 59 and me

age 60 now receive maternity benefits and some other very

limited coverage. We lost our prescription drug co-pay and

doctor visits co-pay. These expenses will now be included in

our $6,300 deductible. I will have no option for any subsidy

to offset these increases in premiums.

He goes on to say:

Please, please push for a reversal of this horrible health

care plan.

My wife and I are physically ill after receiving this

letter from our insurance carrier. Again, the government is

destroying our lives and we need you to stop this madness.

This is just one example of many that I have heard from my State of South Dakota and many that my colleagues here in the Senate are hearing from all across this country. It is clear this program, this health insurance law, is not ready for prime time. It is time for us to take a timeout and to go back to the drawing board and construct a plan, an insurance program for this country, legislation that will help reduce the costs for working-class Americans, give them access to better quality of care, and allow them to keep the doctor they choose, which is very much in jeopardy as well as a result of this takeover, literally, of one-sixth of our economy.

There is a better way, as I think countless--millions--Americans are finding out through canceled coverages, sticker shock from skyrocketing premiums, and the new knowledge that they may not be able to keep not only their health insurance plan but also the doctors they like. This is a grim reality for way too many Americans, and it is time for us to step forward and do something about it.

The President's proposal is a bandaid. It is a political solution. It is not a permanent solution; it is temporary. We need long-term fixes put in place that will address the health care concerns people have. The way to do that isn't to have the Federal Government literally assume control of one-sixth of the American economy and all the decisionmaking that takes out of the hands of ordinary, middle-class families--people across this country who are working hard to take care of their families.

Mr. President, the news out of South Dakota is like it is everywhere else--it is all bad. It is cancellation notices and sticker shock that families, individuals, and small businesses are experiencing.

This is a letter from a couple I received from my State. It says:

We got the letter. We just received a cancellation letter

from our health care provider . . . I am a self employed

plumber . . . We have had the same kind of health insurance

for years . . . It works for us, we are happy with it.

When our current plan expires in 2014 it will no longer be

available. We will have to get a new plan. We will be forced

to lower our deductible, carry insurance for pregnancy,

pediatric eye and dental care, etc. My wife is 50 years old,

I'm almost there. WE DON'T NEED COVERAGE FOR PREGNANCY OR

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, the question of the week is, more important than apologizing, will President Obama live up to his promise that Americans can keep the care they have and like? Democrats are clearly running away from embracing this law and are suggesting the President live up to his promise as well. Yesterday former President Clinton said:

I personally believe, even if it takes a change to the law,

the President should honor the commitment the Federal

Government made to those people and let them keep what they

got.

That is from former President Clinton yesterday in a interview he did.

More and more we see people on the Democratic side of the aisle coming forward, acknowledging what many of us have been acknowledging for a long time; that is, this is not living up to expectations. We need a timeout. It is clearly not working, it is not ready for prime time, and it is obvious that we need to acknowledge that and come up with plan B.

Senator Durbin, here in the Senate, said in an interview Tuesday that the cancellations of their coverage that people might face under ObamaCare and the statement that people could keep their plans ``should have been clarified.''

Democratic Representative Kurt Schrader from Oregon thinks the President was grossly misleading to the American public and said:

I think the President was grossly misleading the American

public.

Senator Feinstein, who is not up for reelection, is supporting legislation to allow individuals to maintain enrollment in the plans they like.

These mistruths are clearly affecting the President's credibility. President Obama's approval ratings have dipped to a record low. A poll from Quinnipiac University that was released shows respondents disapprove of the President's job performance by a 54-to-39 margin. His approval rating of 39 percent is worse than his previous alltime low of 41 percent in the Quinnipiac survey done previously. Further, more people--52 percent--say the President is not honest and trustworthy.

We are on the verge of another misstatement from this administration where they make promises to the American people that they do not meet. Last month the administration promised they would have healthcare.gov fixed by the end of November. It appears unlikely, according to today's Washington Post, where a headline reads: ``Troubled HealthCare.gov unlikely to work fully by end of November.''

For proof that this Web site design has been a failure of leadership, compare it to Cyber Monday volume at amazon.com in 2012. According to amazon.com's press release, it sold 27 million items on Cyber Monday, or 306 items per second. That is how the private sector has been able to process huge volumes of data and requests. If we compare and contrast that with the rollout of ObamaCare and healthcare.com, it is a stunning failure--even epic in terms of the inability of that whole program to function with any level of competence.

It is clear that technology exists to fix the Web site to handle high volumes, but, as the President has said, the health care law is more than just a Web site, and that is where most of us come down on this issue. This is a flawed policy that is causing millions of Americans to lose the health care they like. Most of us know someone who has had his or her health care canceled by ObamaCare, and it is going to get worse. The Associated Press reports that at least 3.5 million have received cancellation notices, and that number is expected to increase to tens of millions of people. As Americans--millions more--are losing their plans, only thousands are signing up through ObamaCare.

Constituents are encouraged to visit our Web site at republican.senate.gov/yourstory to submit their stories about how this is impacting them personally. The American people deserve to have their stories heard, and Americans deserve to have the President and congressional Democrats keep their promise.

We believe what former President Clinton said yesterday is correct; that is, President Obama should honor the commitment the Federal Government made to those people and let them keep what they have. That is essentially where we are today. I would simply ask rhetorically, what is the President going to do to address and honor the promise he made to the American people that they can keep what they have?

Increasingly, more and more Democrats--and, of course, there are many of us on this side of the aisle who predicted this would happen a long time ago--realize this was an ill-conceived policy. I have maintained for a long time that it was built upon a faulty foundation; therefore, you cannot just fix a Web site or have an IT specialist come in and expect this to get better. This is a flawed policy, and it is already having profound and harmful impacts on the American people. We believe many more people will be harmed in the future as the insurance is fully implemented.

The best we can do for the American people in order to minimize the impact and harm is to put off, suspend, delay--whatever you want to call it--the implementation of ObamaCare. Frankly, the best we could do in the long run is pivot away from this failed policy and move in a direction that actually does address some of the fundamental problems we have with health care in this country today.

There is a whole list of solutions Republicans have advanced and put forward in the past--for example, allow people to buy insurance across State lines and create interstate competition so we have insurance companies competing with each other. Obviously, if we have competition and the forces of the market at work, it helps to bring down costs and prices.

Another example is to allow small businesses to join larger groups to get the benefit of group purchasing power--to pool, if you will. That is something we have been proposing for some time, and it has been consistently defeated by Democrats in Congress. Other examples are reducing the cost of defensive medicine by ending the junk lawsuits that clog up our legal system and drive up the cost of health care, allowing an expanded use of health savings accounts and those types of vehicles that are out there for people today to put money aside for their health care needs; allowing people to have a refundable tax credit so they can buy their own insurance, which would give them more choices, create more competition, and, again, put downward pressure on the cost and price of health care in this country.

Those are commonsense step-by-step solutions that we think would work so much better than having one-sixth of our entire economy, which is what health care represents, taken over by the Federal Government. Political command and control in Washington, DC, is driving the decisionmaking for Americans across the country. As we have already seen, the Federal Government does not do complicated tasks very well, and the Federal Government doesn't do comprehensive tasks very well.

Everybody talked about a comprehensive solution to this problem. Clearly, we have problems in America today that need to be addressed. We have a lot of people who don't have health care, and that needs to be fixed. We have people with preexisting conditions, and that needs to be addressed. There are solutions to those problems that don't include and don't entail having the Federal Government take over one-sixth of the American economy, which is what happened with ObamaCare. We are seeing the impacts and the results of that today.

I suggest we take a timeout and make a conscious decision to move in a different direction--a direction that will lead to lower costs, higher quality of care, allow people to keep the plan they like if they like it, allow people to keep the doctor they like, and keep the cost of health care at an affordable level.

One thing we have seen since ObamaCare passed and is now in the process of being implemented is that the promise that people would see their health care costs go down, not up--that promise is another broken promise because what we are seeing in America today is canceled policies. As people try to get new policies, there are increased costs. We are seeing that in the individual marketplace. When the President was campaigning for his health care law, he said he would drive the costs down for families by $2,500 per family. Yet we have seen the cost per family increase since he took office by $2,500.

We have a cloud hanging over our economy right now because of this massive new regulation with a massive amount of government mandates. Due to government-approved insurance, the workweek has been redefined from a 40-hour workweek to a 30-hour workweek. We have a lot of employers who are creating part-time jobs instead of full-time jobs. In order to avoid the mandates and requirements and costs associated with ObamaCare, employers are hiring people to get under that 30-hour workweek. There are a lot of people who are hired to work 29 hours a week. Well, Americans can't take care of their families and meet the needs they have in their personal and family budgets on 29 hours a week, so more and more people are having to get more than one job. In fact, some estimates show that the majority of jobs that have been created over the last year have been part-time jobs, not full-time jobs. That is the impact this is having on the overall economy.

If we are serious about getting the economy growing and expanding again and creating good-paying jobs for middle-class Americans, there are a number of things we can do to create that kind of economic growth. What we have seen of late is a growth rate that hovers between 1 and 2 percent. The economy is lethargic and sluggish compared to any historic average. We continue to have chronic high unemployment. If we factor in that the labor participation force is literally at the lowest level in the last 35 years, we would have to go back to the administration of President Carter. At that time there were fewer people working as a percentage of the entire workforce. If we factor that in, we have an economy that is in a very bad way.

As I said, there are a whole series of things that need to be done to get the economy growing and expanding at a faster rate, create more jobs, and increase the take-home pay for middle-class Americans. We really need to start over with Obamacare.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent for 1 additional minute.

I suggest it starts with shutting this down and starting over. We need to create more options, more choices, and more competition in the health care economy so people can get away from the sticker shock we have seen with ObamaCare and get costs down. We need to get away from these cancellation notices that are going out and allow people to keep the care and doctor they have and like. Because of the broken promises under ObamaCare, that is not happening.

Until we decide this was the wrong direction and pivot and go in a different direction, we are going to continue to see the results we have today--higher costs, more cancellations, people not being able to keep the care they like or the doctor they like. We can do better and should do better.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, as we approach Veterans Day on Monday, I want to rise to recognize the selfless service and sacrifice of America's veterans. As we reflect upon the generations of men and women who have answered the call to serve and defend our

freedoms, we especially remember those who have given what President Lincoln so eloquently called ``the last full measure of devotion.''

Just as we owe it to the memory of those who have given their lives for freedom, we also have the solemn obligation to ensure that every servicemember comes home and that we care for those who still bear the wounds of war. Some of these wounds are physically visible, while others are not so apparent.

We have made great strides in caring for our servicemembers, especially in regard to lifesaving procedures on the battlefield and rehabilitative care through the Department of Veterans Affairs, but there is still much we must do to combat the epidemic of mental health issues among veterans. Traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the alarmingly high rate of suicide among our servicemembers remain among the most pressing issues our veterans face.

We owe all of our veterans a tremendous debt of gratitude, and we must uphold the foremost duty of providing for their care. This responsibility includes aiding our veterans as they transition to civilian life by finding ways to put their skilled military training to work and through providing timely processing of medical claims. We must rise to the occasion to make sure our past mistakes are not repeated as our troops return from current and future conflicts.

In my home State of South Dakota, it is easy to see the integral role veterans have played in shaping who we are as South Dakotans--a legacy that dates back to before the founding of the State itself. South Dakotans have always punched above their weight when it comes to military service in all the various conflicts in which our country has been involved over the years. The values of service and honor are woven into the fabric of our communities. With each passing day these values are strengthened by the men and women currently serving at Ellsworth Air Force Base and in the South Dakota Air and Army National Guard and VA centers around my State. I doubt there are many South Dakotans who do not have a family member or friend who has worn our Nation's uniform.

I know firsthand the sacrifice made by our Nation's veterans because my own father Harold was a decorated World War II Navy pilot. Like all our veterans, my dad served with pride and dignity, protecting our democracy at home and abroad. One of my favorite memories since I have been in the Senate was the opportunity to accompany my father to the World War II Memorial and show him that great memorial that was erected in honor of his generation's veterans. I was humbled by the quiet reverence they had for their comrades lost in battle and reminded of the ultimate sacrifice made by so many of our countrymen.

We should be grateful for the generations of men and women who have given of themselves on behalf of our great Nation. There can be no mistake that America's veterans have served bravely and honorably, making America the country it is today.

As we celebrate a weekend filled with fanfare and celebrations, with people involved in their weekend activities, I would ask that we all take a moment to remember the service of those who did not make it back to their families and that we rededicate ourselves to caring for those who continue to bear the cost of our freedoms.

May God bless our veterans, and may we continue to honor those who have nobly answered the call to serve. On this Veterans Day, may we all keep the brave members of our military and their families in our thoughts and prayers as they continue to serve our great Nation.