Floor Statements

I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 175,

Mr. President, I wish to start this morning with a few words about our friend and colleague from Arizona, Senator McCain, whom we will have an opportunity to welcome back today.

As I noted last week, we all know Senator McCain is a fighter. That is evidenced by his remarkable life of public service, just as it is again evidenced by his quick return to the Senate this afternoon. I know he is eager to get back to work, and we are all very pleased to have him back with us today.

Healthcare

Mr. President, on the vote we will have today in a couple of hours, Senators will have an important decision to make. Seven years after ObamaCare was imposed on our country, we will vote on the critical first step to finally move beyond its failures.

Many of us have made commitments to our constituents to provide relief from this failed leftwing experiment. Now we have a real opportunity to keep those commitments by voting to begin debate and ultimately to send smarter healthcare solutions to the President's desk for his signature. Just yesterday, the President reiterated his intention to sign them.

Yesterday, the administration released a statement urging all Senators to vote in favor of the motion to proceed so that we can ``move forward on repealing ObamaCare and replacing it with true reforms that expand choice and lower costs.'' I wish to express my appreciation to the administration for its continued close work with us on this issue at every step of the way. From the President and Vice President to Secretary Price and Administrator Verma, as well as so many others, the engagement we have seen has been important to our efforts, and it has sent an unmistakable signal to the country that this administration not only understands the pain middle-class families have felt under ObamaCare but is actually committed to doing something about it.

By now, we are all keenly aware of the pain ObamaCare has caused for literally millions of families. Premiums have skyrocketed, doubling on average in the vast majority of States on the Federal exchange. Insurance options have declined under ObamaCare, leaving many with as few as one or even zero insurers to choose from. Many Americans now face the real possibility of having no options at all and could find themselves trapped, forced by law to purchase ObamaCare insurance but left by ObamaCare without any means to do so. All the while, markets continue to collapse under ObamaCare in States across the country.

It is a troubling indication of what is to come unless we act. Fortunately, the American people have granted us the opportunity to do so. We finally have an administration that cares about those suffering under ObamaCare's failures and a President who will sign a law to actually do something about it. We have a House that recently passed its own legislation to help address these problems. We have a Senate with a great chance before us to do our part now.

If other Senators agree and join me in voting yes on the motion to proceed, we can move one step closer to sending legislation to the President for his signature. I hope everyone will seize the moment. I certainly will. Only then can we open up a robust debate process.

Only then will Senators have the opportunity to offer additional ideas on healthcare.

Inaction will do nothing to solve ObamaCare's problems or bring relief to those who need it. In fact, it will make things worse for our constituents all across the country.

I wish to reiterate what the President said yesterday:

Any senator who votes against starting debate is telling

America that you are [just] fine with the ObamaCare

nightmare. . . .

That's a position that even Democrats have found hard to

defend. Remember President Clinton called ObamaCare ``the

craziest thing in the world'' and a Democratic Governor said

it's ``no longer affordable.''

You won't hear me say this often, but they are right.

I hope colleagues will consider ObamaCare's history of failures--the unaffordable costs, the scarce choices, the burden on middle-class families--as they cast their vote this afternoon. I urge them to remember the families who are hurting under this collapsing law.

Numerous Kentuckians, like so many others across the Nation, have conveyed their heartbreaking stories with my office through phone calls, letters, meetings, and dozen of healthcare forums all across Kentucky. These families are suffering under ObamaCare. They need relief. I will be thinking about them as I vote to proceed to the bill today. I know many other colleagues will do the same.

Our constituents are hurting under ObamaCare. They are counting on us to do the right thing right now. That means voting to allow the Senate to finally move beyond ObamaCare's failures. That is what I intend to do. That is what I urge every colleague to do.

We can do better than ObamaCare. We have a responsibility to the American people to do that. Today's vote to begin debate is the first step, and we should take it.

Mr. 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, I ask unanimous consent that following my remarks, the Democratic leader be recognized to use his leader time for up to 20 minutes; and that following his remarks, the Senator from Nebraska, Mrs. Fischer, be recognized to suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Democratic leader be recognized for 5 minutes for debate only and that I then be recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. President, 7 years ago, Democrats imposed ObamaCare on our country. They said that costs would go down. Costs skyrocketed. They said that choice would go up. Choice plummeted. Now ObamaCare's years-long lurch toward total collapse is nearing a seemingly inevitable conclusion, and it will hurt even more Americans on the way down.

This, my friends, is the ObamaCare status quo. This is the status quo. We have had to accept it for a long time. We do not have to accept it any longer.

The American people elected a House with a vision of a better way on healthcare. Then they elected a Senate. Then they elected a President. Now, having been given the responsibility to govern, we have a duty to act. The President is ready with his pen. The House has passed legislation. Today, it is the Senate's turn. That starts with a vote that we will take momentarily. The critical first step in that process is the motion to proceed. It is the vote that determines whether this debate can proceed at all, whether we will even take it up after four straight elections in which this was a huge commitment to the American people. It is the vote that determines whether the Senators of both parties can offer their amendments and ideas on healthcare.

I told the people of my State, over this period, that I would vote to move beyond ObamaCare, and that is what I am going to do today by voting yes. I ask all of my colleagues to join me in doing so. We have already shown that it is possible to put legislation on the President's desk that moves us beyond ObamaCare and its years of failure. We did that 2 years ago. President Obama vetoed what we passed before. President Trump will sign what Congress passes this time.

I thank the President and the administration for all they have done on this issue already. They have worked with us every step of the way, and they, like us, know the consequences of failing to act.

Look, we cannot let this moment slip by. We cannot let it slip by. We have

been talking about this for too long. We have wrestled with this issue. We have watched the consequences of the status quo. The people who sent us here expect us to begin this debate, to have the courage to tackle the tough issues. They did not send us here just to do the easy stuff. They expect us to tackle the big problems. Obviously, we cannot get an outcome if we do not start the debate, and that is what the motion to proceed is all about.

Many of us on this side of the aisle have waited for years for this opportunity and thought that it would probably never come. Some of us were a little surprised by the election last year, but with a surprise election comes great opportunities to do things that we thought were never possible. All we have to do today is to have the courage to begin the debate with an open amendment process and let the voting take us where it will.

That is what is before us, colleagues. Will we begin the debate on one of the most important issues confronting America today? It is my hope that the answer will be yes.

Order of Procedure

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that, following the vote, Senator McCain be recognized to speak for debate only for up to 15 minutes and that the time not count on H.R. 1628.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 120,

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

(Disturbance in the Visitors' Galleries.)

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 267.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays with respect to amendment No. 267.

Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 270.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Madam President, 7 years ago, Democrats forced ObamaCare on the American people. It was supposed to lower health costs, but, of course, they skyrocketed. It was supposed to provide more health options, but they plummeted.

At ObamaCare's launch, millions lost the health plans they liked and were promised they could keep. In the years since, Americans have continued to lose access to plans, hospitals, and doctors they know and they trust.

Now ObamaCare teeters on the edge of total collapse, threatening to drag even more of the men and women we represent right down with it. That shouldn't be an acceptable outcome to any of us. It certainly is not acceptable to me.

I made a commitment to the people I represent. I told the people of Kentucky that I would vote to move beyond the failures of ObamaCare. The Senate did so in 2015, but President Obama wielded his veto pen. The Senate can do so again now, and President Trump will use his pen to sign such legislation.

The first step this time, the first vote we will take soon, is on whether or not to begin the debate at all--whether to have the debate. I believe my mandate from the people of Kentucky is to vote yes, and I certainly intend to do so.

I know many colleagues feel the same. I know many of us have waited literally years for this moment to finally arrive, and, at long last, it has. I urge every colleague to join me.

I know many have ideas on how to improve healthcare. Some of these ideas have real potential. Others, like applying temporary bandaids or quadrupling down on ObamaCare, are not going to move us forward. That doesn't mean Senators shouldn't have the chance to offer those ideas.

The only way we will have an opportunity to consider ideas is if Senators are allowed to offer and debate them. That means voting to begin the open amendment process. That means voting to kick off a robust debate in which Senators from all parties can represent the views of their constituents. It means voting to proceed, and that will occur tomorrow.

ObamaCare has been a disaster from the start. The added tragedy is the utter predictability of it all. Republicans warned about higher costs and fewer choices. We warned that Americans would lose their plans. We warned that ObamaCare would inevitably collapse under its own weight.

Our concerns were all waved away all the time. It turns out that we were right to be concerned. ObamaCare has hurt the people we represent. We have seen all the statistics--the higher costs and the reduced choices--but this is about more than just numbers on a page. What we are talking about here are the lives of real people, constituents of ours who have struggled under this failed leftwing experiment literally for years.

Through calls, letters, meetings, and dozens of healthcare forums across my State, thousands of Kentuckians have shared their ObamaCare horror stories. I have seen the pain in their eyes. I have heard their struggles to make ends meet. I have come to the Senate floor time and again to relay their heartbreaking stories. I know many colleagues have done the same.

Our constituents deserve better than the pain ObamaCare has brought them. They deserve a new direction on healthcare. When that vote comes, I will keep my commitment to vote to move beyond the failures of ObamaCare. I will vote yes on the motion to proceed. I urge all of our colleagues to do the same.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that with respect to the Bernhardt nomination the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 175,

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12 noon, Tuesday, July 25; 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.

Mr. President, Senator McCain is an American hero. He is a hero to our conference. He is a hero to our country. Here in the Senate, he is a friend to almost all of us. Our collective prayers are with him now. We are thinking of Cindy and the rest of his family as well, along with his staff and the people of Arizona.

Senator McCain, as we all know, has never shied away from a fight, and I assure you he isn't going to back down now. I know the Senator from Arizona will confront this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his entire life, and he should know that we are all in his corner, every single one of us.

We look forward to seeing our friend again soon, and we hope he will be back in the very near future.

Mr. President, I thank the President for having our conference over to the White House yesterday. The President and his administration understand the American people are hurting under ObamaCare. They have been long engaged in the effort to bring relief. Nobody could have been more involved in this effort than the President, the Vice President, and the entire team, with numerous phone calls and meetings. They have been all in, and I want the President and his entire team to know how much we appreciate their deep involvement in this and their commitment to getting an outcome.

Dealing with this issue is what is right for the country. The fight to move beyond the status quo of ObamaCare was certainly never going to be easy, but we have come a long way, and I look forward to continuing our work together to finally bring relief.

Mr. 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, yesterday, several of my Democratic colleagues spoke in opposition to the nomination of John Bush to serve on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. They were particularly concerned about his activities outside of the courtroom, especially his personal blog posts. The comments of my friend, the junior Senator from Minnesota, were representative of their concern.

He reminded us that he has been serving on the Judiciary Committee for 8 years. He said that by confirming someone to the Federal bench like Mr. Bush, who has blogged about controversial political and policy matters, the Senate would be doing something unprecedented. Specifically, my friend from Minnesota--in angst--said, ``I don't think we have been here before.''

``I don't think we have been here before,'' he said. I would encourage my friend to think a little harder about his tenure on the Judiciary Committee. Just a few years ago, the Senate considered President Obama's nomination of Stephen Bough to be a Federal judge in Missouri. Mr. Bough had been quite an active blogger himself. His blogging and online commentary were not simply confined to political satire and sarcasm. His blogging didn't use merely flippant or intemperate language. His blogging demonstrated a real and palpable animus toward conservatives and Republicans in general, toward elected Republicans in particular, and by name--by name. He insulted and impugned people from his home State, such as Senators, his Governor, the President of the United States, and a Republican nominee for President, just to name a few.

Mr. Bough's posts were truly mean-spirited. It wasn't just that he called Republicans ``knuckleheads''--which he did. That was when he was feeling especially kind. No, he said specific Republicans were ``corrupt.'' They had done ``evil things''--``evil things.'' I can go on and on about his corrosive rhetoric.

He approvingly posted an article describing how San Francisco was contemplating naming a sewage plant after President Bush as a suitable legacy for the President and posted another one that said his Governor was highly ``ignorant.''

His invective was not reserved to members of the political branches. He said that his State supreme court was the most corrupt in the history of the State. I am not making this up. He is an officer of the court, calling the supreme court the most corrupt in the history of his State.

For my Democratic colleagues who now profess to care about the judgment of judicial nominees who blog, I submit that impugning the integrity of the tribunal that has jurisdiction over their professional conduct and law license, as Mr. Bough did, is more than a few tweaks shy of exhibiting sound judgment.

Mr. Bough also implied that President Bush made his Supreme Court appointments as some sort of quid pro quo. He harshly criticized sitting Supreme Court Justices by name, and he claimed that the Republican nominee for President wanted only Federal judges who would disregard the law and rule in favor of the ``religious right'' and that he was ``sucking up.''

He made a crude comment about women that I will not repeat.

Now, some of our Democratic colleagues have criticized John Bush because he said that he would try hard to be impartial as a judge. By contrast, in one of his blog posts, Stephen Bough flat-out said that he, himself, ``shouldn't be a judge.'' This is commentary on himself. But every one of our Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee at the time, including our friend from Minnesota, obviously disagreed with his own judgment about himself. They all voted for him, which is especially curious in hindsight, given the superior weight our Democratic colleagues now place on blog posts. Only one Member of the Democratic conference voted against Mr. Bough. These are many of the same Democrats, of course, who are supposedly aghast--aghast--at the Bush nomination. Mr. Bough is now Federal District Court Judge Stephen Bough.

Finally, I would like to set the record straight on the subject of the slur. Mr. Bush did not use the slur in a blog post, and he did not use it flippantly. In fact, he said he has never used this term and would never use it.

Rather, Mr. Bush quoted by name someone else--a prominent author who had used the slur. Mr. Bush quoted him to show how various authors had viewed our hometown of Louisville over time--both those who praised it and those who criticized it. In short, Mr. Bush said that he used it to show ``the good, the bad, and the ugly.''

So who was the author he quoted verbatim and by name? Why, it was noted liberal Hunter Thompson. I note that Mr. Thompson's use of the slur did not prevent liberals, including Democratic officeholders, from praising him. In fact, not one but two Democratic Presidential candidates went to his funeral--George McGovern and John Kerry.

The Senate has considered a judicial nominee who did use this slur in a blog posting, who actually did use the exact same slur, in fact. The judicial nominee was not quoting any literary or published work, and this judicial nominee did not use the slur for any critical purpose. The judicial nominee used it flippantly and cavalierly. Who was the judicial nominee? It was President Obama's judicial nominee and current Federal District Court Judge Stephen Bough, who sits on the bench right now for life, after being confirmed by the votes of our Democratic colleagues.

I hope I have at least refreshed the memory of my friend from Minnesota and some of my other Democratic colleagues.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

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.