Michael Enzi

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that following the disposition of the Menendez amendment No. 83, the Senate vote in relation to the following amendments in the order listed, with all other provisions of the previous order remaining in effect; further, that there be no second-degree amendments in order to the amendments listed: Alexander amendment No. 174, Klobuchar amendment No. 178, Wyden amendment No. 188; finally, I ask unanimous consent that the Klobuchar amendment No. 172 be withdrawn.

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. Madam President, the Congressional Budget Act requires that amendments to a budget resolution be germane. Since this amendment does not meet the standard required by budget law, a point of order lies against it. I am compelled, as chairman of the Committee on the Budget, to raise a point of order against the amendment under section 305(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, this discussion will be a little different than any we have had because in a bipartisan way we have been defeating this for at least 14 years. Byron Dorgan used to head it up on that side, and I used to oppose it from this side, but it has always been bipartisan, and that is because we are not sure about the safety of the prescription drugs that come in online. People who drive over the border and go to a pharmacist are probably getting good drugs there, but we are told that for up to 85 percent of what comes in online, we can't tell what country it came from. So we can specify Canada, but it may be from another country altogether, particularly the Middle East. If we want to assure we have the safety of our drugs, being able to get it online from even Canada doesn't have the kind of assurance we need. We have always asked that the Secretary of Health and Human Services specify that the safety is in place. No one has been willing to do that. I ask that we vote against this amendment.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, the Congressional Budget Act does require that the amendments to the budget resolution be germane. Since this amendment does not meet the standard required by budget law, a point of order would lie. So I raise a point of order against this amendment under section 305(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote in relation to the following amendments in the order listed, with all other provisions of the previous order remaining in effect; further that there be no second-degree amendments in order to the amendments listed: Fischer 184, Gillibrand 82, Hatch 180, Brown 86; I further ask that the pending amendments, aside from these listed, be withdrawn; that no further amendments be in order, and that following disposition of the Brown amendment, the Senate vote on adoption of the resolution, as amended, if amended.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the listed amendments be called up and reported by number.

Mr. ENZI. Sure.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my previous unanimous consent request be vitiated.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote in relation to the following amendments in the order listed with all other provisions of the previous order remaining in effect; further, that there be no second-degree amendments in order to the amendments listed: That would be Fischer 184 and Gillibrand 82.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to reinstate my previous unanimous consent which would be: Fischer 184, then Gillibrand 82, Hatch 180, Brown 86; further, that the pending amendments, aside from these listed, be withdrawn, that no further amendments be in order, and that following disposition of the Brown amendment, the Senate vote on adoption of the resolution, as amended, if amended.

Mr. ENZI. I ask unanimous consent that the list of amendments be called up and reported by number.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, the Congressional Budget Act requires that amendments to a budget resolution be germane. Since this amendment does not meet the standard required by budget law, a point of order would lie. So I raise a point of order against this amendment under section 305(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, the Congressional Budget Act requires that amendments to a budget resolution be germane. Since this amendment does not meet the standard required by budget law, I raise a point of order against this amendment under section 305(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent there be 2 minutes of debate, equally divided in the usual form, prior to the vote on adoption of S. Con. Res. 3.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, the repeal resolution we have been debating in the Senate this week will complete the first step toward reducing the Federal Government's role that has prevented Americans from pursuing affordable and accessible health care that meets their needs without emptying their wallets. After we complete our repeal work, the Senate can then vigorously pursue putting the Nation on a more responsible and sustainable fiscal path and address government's out- of-control spending and mammoth national debt when we begin our work on the fiscal year 2018 budget. This resolution will set the stage for true legislative relief from ObamaCare that Americans have long demanded while ensuring a stable transition in which those with insurance will not lose access to health care coverage. This will allow us to move step-by-step on a new set of reforms, listening carefully to the advice of millions of Americans affected or as Senator Alexander of Tennessee--the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee--put it, the ObamaCare bridge is collapsing, and we are sending in a rescue team. We will then build new bridges to better health care, and finally, when these new bridges are finished, we will close the old bridge.

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, the repeal resolution we have been debating in the Senate this week will complete the first step toward reducing the Federal Government's role that has prevented Americans from pursuing affordable and accessible health care that meets their needs without emptying their wallets. After we complete our repeal work, the Senate can then vigorously pursue putting the Nation on a more responsible and sustainable fiscal path and address government's out- of-control spending and a mammoth national debt when we begin our work on the fiscal year 2018 budget. I thank my colleagues for their consideration and cooperation for bringing us to this point, and I thank Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for his leadership in pushing the Senate to take the first steps to repair the Nation's broken health care system and to remove Washington from the equation in order to put control of health care back where it belongs: with the patients and their families and their doctors. This commitment to an open, honest, and transparent legislative process is crucial to helping Congress restore the trust of the American people. Thanks, as well, are due to many Members on this side who came and spoke on the resolution's behalf, who worked with us and each other to move through the resolution, the debate, the amendments, the votes, the whole process. I have enjoyed my partnership with Senator Sanders as we took on new roles as the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee last Congress. We have known each other a long time, and we have served on some of the same Senate committees. I believe he and my colleagues across the aisle share the same goal of establishing a robust and affordable health care system for hard-working families. I truly hope that they will work with us to find common ground that delivers more choices and lower costs in the weeks and months ahead. Also, I would like to focus for a moment on some of the staff who helped lead us here. I thank the Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee, including my acting staff director, Dan Kowalski; the director of the budget review and acting deputy staff director, Matt Giroux; the chief counsel, George Everly; senior budget analysts Peter Warren and Steve Robinson; budget analysts Greg D'Angelo, Tom Bork, Becky Cole, David Ditch and Susan Eckerly; and assistant counsels Clint Brown and Thomas Fuller; outreach director Jim Neill; editor Elizabeth Keys; policy assistant Kelsie Wendelberger; and communications director Joe Brenckle. As well, thanks are due to my personal office staff, especially my chief of staff, Tara Shaw; my legislative director, Landon Stropko; my health care policy staff, Elizabeth Schwartz, Alec Hinojosa, and Chris Lydon; as well as the entire Wyoming team. I want to pay specific attention to thanking Tara Shaw, who is my chief of staff. She has been filling a dual role for some time. She was my legislative director. We have filled that position now. But she has been acting as the assistant here on the floor as well and done a tremendous job of manipulating and coordinating both centers of action. Now, we have also been supported by the great work of our leadership, floor, and cloakroom staff. I thank them for their continued good work and dedication to this institution and the country as a whole. In particular, I want to thank Sharon Soderstrom, Hazen Marshall, Jane Lee, and Scott Raab in the leader's office, and Monica Popp, John Caphuis, and Emily Kirlin in the whip's office, and very especially Laura Dove and Robert Duncan in the cloakroom. These folks, as well as my budget team, worked hours over the holiday break to ensure our success. Without all their work, we would not be here this evening standing on the verge of passing the Senate's repeal resolution that will set the stage for true legislative relief from ObamaCare that Americans have long demanded, while ensuring a stable transition in which those with insurance will not lose access to health care coverage. This will allow us to move step by step on a new set of reforms, listening carefully to the advice of the millions of Americans who are affected, a step we left out when we did it previously. Or, as Senator Alexander of Tennessee, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee put it, the ObamaCare bridge is collapsing, and we are sending in a rescue team. Then we will build several new bridges to get better health care. Finally, when those bridges are finished, we will close the old bridge. After 5 days of consideration, many hours of debate, and numerous amendments reviewed and voted on, this part of the process can now be concluded. With that, I ask for the continued support and discussion on this valuable issue. If people have ideas for what ought to be included, I hope they will talk to us about them. I hope the American people will talk to us about the ideas they think need to be included. There has been a lot of fearmongering, a lot of supposition about what will happen at the next stage. There were amendments that were put in about the next stage. Those, of course, wound up being nongermane. But we have our work cut out for us. We do have to come through now with a system that will solve the problems for the American people. I mentioned before that when we started the whole debate on ObamaCare, there were 30 million people uninsured. Today, there are 28 million people uninsured. I think that the 30 million people was probably closer to 28 million at that time. One of the differences is some people who could not get insurance have insurance, and a bunch of people who had insurance can't afford their insurance, and a bunch of people who have insurance can't afford their insurance, as you heard through the debate. We want all the people who want insurance to be covered, and to be covered in such a way that they can actually get the treatment. If you have a $12,000 or $10,000 or $6,000 deductible, that may not happen. But I thank all of the people who have worked to get us to this point. Our work is now cut out for us even more so. I know that we can have a spirit of cooperation and work through this, or we can use the reconciliation process and do it with 51 votes. But it is far better if we can find common ground and common solutions and get the work done.

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12:30 p.m., Thursday, January 12--that would be today; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; finally, that following leader remarks, the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. 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.

Mr. ENZI

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

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I don't think that is exactly what this is about. This amendment is corrosive to the privilege of the budget resolution, meaning it is outside of the scope of what is appropriate for a budget resolution. Any inappropriate amendment could be fatal to the privilege of this resolution, which would destroy our efforts to repeal ObamaCare. In other words, a vote in favor of this amendment is a vote against repealing ObamaCare. In addition, this amendment is not germane to this budget resolution. This budget resolution is much more focused than a typical budget resolution. The Congressional Budget Act requires that amendments to a budget resolution be germane. Since this amendment does not meet the standard required by budget law, a point of order would lie; as such, I raise a point of order under section 305(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator from Tennessee, Mr. Alexander, who is also the chairman of the Health Committee--that is, the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee--for the succinct speech that he gave. I will be encouraging everybody on both sides of the aisle to read that speech. I know that many were not here to listen. But it is a fault that we have in this Chamber. We often speak to an empty Chamber. But it is all recorded thanks to the people who do that for a job. You placed that so well that there should not be much doubt about what we are going to try to do. You heard it from the chairman of the Health Committee. He is the one that will be in charge of the health aspects of this. The Finance Committee is a part of the bill too. But they are in charge of the monetary part of this. But without the health care part, that does not work. I love the way you expressed that in the way of taking care of a collapsed bridge, because I think people across America do realize that the bridge on health care has collapsed and they want to know what we are going to do about it. You stated that very well. That should relax a lot of people. It probably won't because of the process that we are in, but I certainly hope that it does. So I thank you for your words and your effort and know that it is in good hands as we lead it through this process. All that this resolution we are doing right now does is set it up so that this can be done. This really does not change any health care at this point. It sets it up so that we can do reconciliation, so that we can repeal what we can, so we can replace what we can, and then we can set up that system of bridges that will get us to the point where all Americans who want insurance can have insurance, but more importantly, so that all Americans can get the health care they need and deserve. I thank the Senator for his comments.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I only need to add one footnote to that fantastic summary; that is, that the Senator from Tennessee is the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. For years we heard about the difficulties with No Child Left Behind. There were a lot of efforts to build a different bridge, and they never got completed within the timeframe that was necessary, even though both sides recognized there was a problem. The Senator from Tennessee undertook that, got bipartisan solutions on it, and put forward a bill that did kind of what we are talking about with ObamaCare. It sent it back to the States. It got rid of the national school boards, and that passed, I think, with 88 votes in the Senate. That is very bipartisan. That is the kind of an effort he puts forth. You can tell from the comments he has made about what we need to do that he has that well in mind, and I am certain some from the other side will join us to make sure we can get that done as well. I thank the Senator, and I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum, and I ask unanimous consent that the time be equally divided.

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 52 and ask unanimous consent that it be reported by number.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Wyoming, the doctor, the Senator who has been involved in health care all of his adult life and particularly since he got to the Senate. He has been looking at alternatives to what we have and will play an intricate part in any replacement that we do. We know what the problems are, and we are in the land of denial right now with the Democrats making speeches about the fearmongering of what might be changed. This isn't the point at which it gets changed. This is the point at which it gets set up so that it can be changed, and I look forward to actually doing the repeal and the replacement under the guidance of Senator Barrasso from Wyoming. I yield the floor.

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. 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.