Sherrod Brown

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. I would say to Chairwoman Mikulski that the amendment I would have offered along with Senator Isakson would strike the language on the pilot projects that expire at the end of the year with privatization of customs services. It is something I will work on with Senator Landrieu, and I appreciate Senator Mikulski's input on that. It is about public services and creating jobs and assisting with imports and exports. I thank the chairwoman.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. That is correct.

Mr. BROWN. Certainly.

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I assume a number of my colleagues have seen the movie ``Lincoln.'' One particularly brief but poignant moment of that movie showed the President's staff discouraging him from spending so much time talking to regular people, leaving the White House and inviting normal people who weren't involved in politics every day or didn't work in the White House into the White House to talk. They were saying: Mr. President, you need to run this war. You have so much to do. You shouldn't be meeting with people as much. President Lincoln said to his staff: I need my regular public opinion baths. Just listening to the last few speakers, particularly the Republican leader, I think it is more important more people in this institution go out and talk to real people who are affected by this health care law. There is the 25-year-old who has already benefited from staying on her mother's health care plan, the person in the high-risk pool who has insurance now--such as a friend of mine in Port Clinton in Ottawa County, Ohio, does--because of this law. People have seen the consumer protections. They haven't lost their insurance because they were expensive for an insurance company. My colleagues need to get a public opinion bath, walk around their States a little more and listen to people outside of the country clubs and outside of the trade associations who are charged ideologically and not really particularly open about these kinds of issues. I rise to oppose the amendment offered by Senator Cruz, the badly named ``Restore Growth First'' amendment, which would prohibit resources included in the continuing resolution to implement the Affordable Care Act. Specious claims about how the health law will harm our economy have already been debunked by the hundreds of Ohioans who are able to have annual wellness visits, by the tens of thousands of young adults staying on their parents' insurance plans, by the seniors who are seeing the doughnut hole coverage gap closing with real savings on prescription costs. It has been debunked by Americans who are no longer denied coverage because of a preexisting condition, by the Americans who are not forced to pay more for insurance because of a preexisting condition, by women who may now rely on affordable, accessible reproductive health services; and starting in 2014, Americans who have not been able to afford health insurance in the private market will be able to comparison shop, if needed, to purchase insurance. These much needed health care reforms which will benefit Americans next year are already benefiting Americans and have been for a couple of years. Continued implementation of these reforms is crucial for improving the quality of care and bending the cost curve. I agree with Senator Cruz on one thing: health spending is related to the economy and to the deficit. Let's be clear. We know the health care law will reduce the deficit by over $100 billion over the next decade. These are Congressional Budget Office numbers, not Republican numbers or Democratic numbers. On the Cruz amendment, repealing the health care law would increase, not reduce, the deficit. We know how it is helping people. There are 100,000 reasons in my own State of Ohio to stand up for this health care law and reject this amendment: Nearly 97,000 of Ohio's young adults are now able to stay on their parents' plan until age 26.

Mr. BROWN. I yield to the Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. BROWN. Almost 100,000 of Ohio's young adults are now able to stay on their parents' health plan. Seniors have saved almost $300 million in prescription drugs just since the passage of the health care law, with an average per beneficiary savings of $774. And up to 147,000 small businesses in Ohio are eligible for tax credits. Finally, thanks to the health law, more people in my home State and across the Nation have access to free preventive services. As I said, there are 100,000 reasons for Ohioans to like this law and oppose this amendment. There are 2 million Ohioans with private insurance who have gained preventive health services with no cost sharing. This means major illnesses may be detected earlier. It means decreasing treatment costs and human suffering over the long term. The Affordable Care Act was the most promising initiative to control health care costs in decades. The health care law is about reducing health costs for consumers and investing in more affordable preventive care for Americans. The health care law is about containing costs as we extend insurance. It means people, rather than going to the emergency room with a sick child, may go to the family doctor and receive preventive care prior to the child's ear infection becoming serious. Under the new medical loss ratio rules health insurance plans must spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on health care costs, not executive bonuses, not other administrative expenses. In Ohio, 143,000 received over $11 million in rebates. The Prevention and Public Health Fund is the part of the health care law which will give us test data about how to bend the cost curve through preventive programs. Ohioans received more than $17 million already to prevent chronic diseases and decrease smoking rates.

Mr. BROWN. This is what they have been saying, yes.

Mr. BROWN. That is what they say.

Mr. BROWN. You did.

Mr. BROWN. I am aware of it. I assume my colleagues are too.

Mr. BROWN. I have not heard any say that.

Mr. BROWN. It is my understanding this has been sort of the hypocrisy we have woven through this debate over the last 3 years.

Mr. BROWN. Apparently not good enough for a senior, not good enough for somebody who is low income but working two $10-an-hour jobs, I guess it is not good enough for them.

Mr. BROWN. The Cruz amendment doesn't just anticipate changes in the future, it takes away all these services which have been out there that I have been talking about: the thousands of people in Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin who have benefited; 25-year-olds, 22-year-olds, such as somebody who graduates from Champagne, Urbana, Madison, or Columbus and don't have insurance but have a job, are 23 years old and may stay on their parents' health plan. All of the preventive care literally hundreds of thousands of seniors in Ohio now receive with no copay or no deductible would all be wiped away. All the provisions people have benefited from already would be taken away by this amendment.

Mr. BROWN. These kids would be on their own, but the Senators who are pushing this amendment would still have their health insurance, just to reiterate that.

Mr. BROWN. It doesn't take away the insurance for those people voting on this amendment; that is correct.

Mr. BROWN. My reading of it is it is not affected.

Mr. BROWN. Apparently not.

Mr. BROWN. In my State and the Senator's State, since his State is slightly larger than mine--over 1 million seniors in each State and hundreds of thousands in the Presiding Officer's State of Wisconsin-- millions of seniors have received some kind of preventive care, such as screenings for diabetes, screenings for osteoporosis, and not paid a copay or deductible. They have received their physicals and not had their deductibles, copayer deductibles, waived as a result of the Affordable Care Act. The Cruz amendment would, while still protecting health insurance for Senator Cruz and others, wipe away those benefits for seniors.

Mr. BROWN. It is true. That is true. This is open to people regardless of how they vote on the Cruz amendment.

Mr. BROWN. It does not.

Mr. BROWN. We had this discussion back in 2009 and 2010 when we debated this health care law, that Members of the House and Senate continue to receive health insurance. I recall one House Member was unhappy during campaigning against the Affordable Care Act, as he recently came to the House. He didn't get his insurance for the first month paid for by the government, as he tried to take away insurance for low-income, moderate-income people in my State, my district and the Senator's State.

Mr. BROWN. I would like to see Senator Cruz or one of the supporters of the Cruz amendment offer an amendment.

Mr. BROWN. I appreciate the words of the Senator from Illinois. To close, Senator Durbin's comments accurately explain that there is a bias in this institution on tax policy and health policy for some Senators to take care of themselves and people like them, a little more than paying attention to the rest of the country. I think this amendment shows this and is one more good reason to vote against the Cruz amendment. I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for up to 10 minutes, and Senator Inhofe, the senior Senator from Oklahoma, be given 20 minutes after I speak.