Floor Statements

Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

I now ask for a second reading and, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Tuesday, August 1; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Newsom nomination, with all time during morning business, recess, adjournment, and leader remarks counting postcloture on the Newsom nomination; finally, that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly conference meetings.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Brown.

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.

Mr. President, this is becoming overly complicated. The chairman of the Armed Services Committee and I are talking about what comes next after we finish the healthcare debate. As we discussed in my office a few moments ago, the chairman would like to turn to NDAA next. Healthcare, whether our friends on the other side like it or not, will come to a conclusion here at some point. The issue is what comes next.

As the chairman of the Armed Services Committee has pointed out, this is a totally separate issue and, as he pointed out, a bill that came out of his committee 27 to 0. As we all know, he is available to manage that bill this week.

What I am saying to our colleagues on both sides of the aisle is when we

finish healthcare either the way I would like to finish it or the way our Democratic friends would like to finish it, we are going to try to turn to NDAA and accommodate the chairman's schedule and give him an opportunity to finish that bill while he is here. That is the issue.

So I hope we will be able to work our way toward that when we finish healthcare. I will ask unanimous consent--not now, but I will be asking for unanimous consent to turn to the National Defense Authorization Act.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 667.

Mr. President, the legislation I just laid down is called the Health Care Freedom Act, and it restores freedom to Americans that ObamaCare took away. It does so in a number of ways.

First, the Health Care Freedom Act repeals the core pillars of ObamaCare. It eliminates the so-called individual mandate that forces many Americans to buy ObamaCare insurance they don't want, can't afford, or can't use, and taxes those who don't. It also repeals the employer mandate that cuts hours, take-home pay, and job opportunities for workers.

Second, the Health Care Freedom Act provides significant new flexibility to States. The Health Care Freedom Act gives States just the kind of flexibility they need to implement reforms that provide more options for consumers to buy the health insurance they actually want. These reforms also help make insurance more affordable and flexible so it is something Americans actually want to buy.

Finally, the Health Care Freedom Act frees Americans from ObamaCare in several other ways too. It provides 3 years of relief from the medical device tax, which increases costs, hurts innovation, and has drawn significant criticism from both sides of the aisle. It expands, for 3 years, the contribution limits to health savings accounts so Americans can better manage their health costs and pay down more of their medical expenses like prescriptions with pretax dollars.

Also, the legislation will prioritize funding for women's health through community health centers instead of large abortion providers and political organizations.

The American people have suffered under ObamaCare for too long. It is time to end the failed status quo. It is time to send legislation to the President which will finally move our country beyond the failures of ObamaCare. Passing this legislation will allow us to work with our colleagues in the House toward a final bill that could go to the President, repeal ObamaCare, and undo its damage.

I urge everyone to support it.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Murray or her designee be recognized to offer a motion to commit; further, that the remaining time be equally divided between the managers or their designees.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that H.R. 1628 be returned to the calendar.

Mr. President, this is clearly a disappointing moment. From skyrocketing costs to plummeting choices and collapsing markets, our constituents have suffered through an awful lot under ObamaCare. We thought they deserved better. That is why I and many of my colleagues did as we promised and voted to repeal this failed law. We told our constituents we would vote that way, and when the moment came, most of us did. We kept our commitments. We worked hard, and everybody on this side can certainly attest to the fact that we worked really hard and tried to develop a consensus for a better way forward.

I want to thank everybody in this conference for the endless amount of time they spent trying to achieve a consensus to go forward. I also want to thank the President and the Vice President, who couldn't have been more involved and more helpful.

So, yes, this is a disappointment indeed. To our friends over in the House, we thank them, as well. I regret that our efforts were simply not enough this time.

I imagine many of our colleagues on the other side are celebrating. They are pretty happy about all of this, but the American people are hurting, and they need relief. Our friends on the other side decided early on they didn't want to engage with us in a serious way to help those suffering under ObamaCare. They did everything they could to prevent the Senate from providing a better way forward, including such things as reading amendments for endless amounts of time, such things as holding up nominations for key positions in the administration because they were unhappy that we were trying to find a way to something better than ObamaCare. So I expect that they are pretty satisfied tonight. I regret to say that they succeeded in that effort.

Now I think it is appropriate to ask, what are their ideas? It will be interesting to see what they suggest as the way forward. For myself, I can say--and I bet I am safe on saying this for most of the people on this side of the aisle--that bailing out insurance companies with no thought of any kind of reform is not something I want to be part of. And I suspect that not many folks over here are interested in that. It will be interesting to see what they have in mind, like quadrupling down on the failures of ObamaCare with a single-payer system. We had that vote a little earlier, thanks to the Senator from Montana. Almost everybody voted ``present.'' Apparently, they didn't want to make a decision about whether they were for or against socialized medicine--a government takeover of everything; European healthcare. Only four of them weren't afraid to say they didn't think that was a good idea. So maybe that is what they want to offer. We will be happy to have that debate with the American people.

It is time for our friends on the other side to tell us what they have in mind. We will see how the American people feel about their ideas. So, I regret that we are here, but I want to say, again, I am proud of the vote I cast tonight. It is consistent with what we told the American people we would try to accomplish in four straight elections if they gave us a chance. I thank all of my colleagues on this side of the aisle for everything they did to try to keep that commitment.

What we tried to accomplish for the American people was the right thing for the country, and our only regret tonight--our only regret is that we didn't achieve what we had hoped to accomplish. I think the American people are going to regret that we couldn't find a better way forward, and, as I said, we look forward to our colleagues on the other side suggesting what they have in mind.

Now, Mr. President, it is time to move on.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 28--that is tomorrow--the Senate proceed to consideration of Calendar No. 175, H.R. 2810, the House-passed national defense authorization bill.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I just want to announce to all my colleagues that the next vote will be at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, on cloture on Kevin Newsom to be United States Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit. There will be no more votes tonight.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 172, Kevin Newsom to be United States Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call with respect to the cloture motion be waived.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 4 p.m., Monday, July 31; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Newsom nomination; finally, that notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXII, the cloture vote on the Newsom nomination occur at 5:30 p.m.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, the Senate took a critical step yesterday afternoon to finally leave the failed experiment of ObamaCare in the past. It marks an important moment for our country. It signals a positive development for the countless Americans who continue to suffer under ObamaCare's skyrocketing costs and diminishing options.

I thank every colleague who voted to begin the debate. I thank the President, his administration, and our friends in the House for the roles they have played.

Now we have to keep working hard. We are determined to do everything we can to succeed. We know our constituents are counting on us. We will work through an open amendment process. I know Members in both parties have healthcare ideas they would like to offer. If you have one, bring it to the floor.

Last night the Senate considered a comprehensive ObamaCare repeal- and-replace substitute. That amendment was subject to a 60-vote threshold because the Congressional Budget Office had not provided a score for that provision as yet, but it represented a number of important healthcare reform ideas developed by our Members.

Later today, the Senate will vote on another alternative that is based on the ObamaCare repeal legislation that passed Congress in 2015 and was vetoed by President Obama.

We will consider many different proposals throughout this process from Senators on both sides of the aisle. Ultimately, we want to get legislation to finally end the failed ObamaCare status quo through Congress and to the President's desk for his signature.

This certainly will not be easy. Hardly anything in this process has been. We know that moving beyond the failures of ObamaCare is the right thing to do. We have put a lot of hard work already into this. We have had important successes, as we saw with the vote to proceed yesterday. We have to keep up the work now so we can get this done.