Patty Murray

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, since day one, the President of the United States has made it clear that his top priority, when it comes to healthcare in our country, is to score political points by attacking ObamaCare. He has even said repeatedly that healthcare in our country will ``implode,'' but this was not just a prediction that President Trump made, it was his goal, and he has tried virtually everything he can do to make that implosion a reality. In January, he abruptly pulled funding for outreach days before the end of the 2017 open enrollment period without any analysis of how that might affect patients and families, and he signed executive orders specifically designed to inject uncertainty and increased costs into the healthcare system. President Trump then dedicated the spring and summer to attempting to jam partisan, extraordinarily destructive legislation through the House and Senate to repeal the Affordable Care Act, despite one independent analysis after another showing that each version of TrumpCare would cause premiums to spike, take coverage away from millions of people, rip protections away from patients with preexisting conditions, and gut Medicaid. This fall--after TrumpCare failed another time in the Senate--he slashed by 90 percent the investments that help inform families about their coverage options and followed through on his year-long threat to discontinue payments designed to lower out-of-pocket costs for low- income enrollees. This is a scenario that healthcare experts said would cause mass consumer confusion and anxiety, one that insurance companies planned for by shifting that burden of uncertainty to patients and taxpayers in the form of higher premiums and fewer options in State marketplaces. Now, this is by no means the full list of ways President Trump has attempted his healthcare sabotage, but it does explain why we are here now. Today is the first day of the open enrollment period for 2018, and as a direct result of this President's actions, families are going to see higher premiums, more out-of-pocket costs, and fewer coverage options. Many families will have to change their coverage if they want to avoid paying hundreds of dollars more in premiums. At a time when we need to continue to do more to bend the healthcare cost curve in the right direction, taxpayers are being burdened with higher healthcare costs to the Federal Government--not because of any improvement in quality or comprehensiveness, just because of the chaos this administration has caused. In fact, just last week, the Trump administration proposed a rule to double down on the sabotage in 2019 that would let insurers cover fewer services in addition to raising costs. I have to say, I just truly never imagined that a President of the United States would so openly and uncaringly root for the people of this country to be worse off. But that is exactly what President Trump is doing. It needs to be said, and it needs to be stopped. What makes this even more frustrating is that a lot of it could have been stopped months ago if Republican leaders hadn't insisted on trying to help this administration carry out its partisan, wrecking-ball healthcare strategy. Back in September, Chairman Alexander and I were very near agreement on a bipartisan bill to stabilize healthcare markets and protect families from higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs through regular order, through a process that actually engaged over half the Senate. We were on the verge of reaching an agreement when Republican leaders froze our negotiations. Why? In order to jam TrumpCare through the Senate one more time. Let me repeat that. Republican leaders hit the pause button on a bipartisan process that could have lowered premiums and stabilized markets, exposing our patients and families to the full impact of President Trump's sabotage. That is the bad news, but the good news is that the legislation Chairman Alexander and I ultimately agreed on can and will still have an impact--not just a few years from now but in 2018--if Republican leaders don't stand in the way again. Our bill would, among other priorities, continue out-of-pocket cost reduction payments and make sure that patients and families, not insurance companies, see the benefit of that certainty in the form of rebates next year. The legislation Chairman Alexander and I have proposed, with 12 Democratic and 12 Republican cosponsors, would do a lot to help us get things back on track. It would tie President Trump's hands on sabotage, and it would send a very powerful message that elected officials in Congress can work together to get things done when we focus on common ground rather than scoring political points. I would once again urge the majority leader to allow our legislation to get a vote. It has the support of 60-plus Senators, and it is growing. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said that it provides billions in savings and would stabilize the markets this year and lower premiums in 2019. And the President told Chairman Alexander that he supports this process moving forward. There is no reason to wait. There is absolutely no excuse for inaction, and I am going to continue doing everything I can to make that clear until Republican leaders finally listen to the patients and families they serve. Mr. President, while I am here today, I also want to take a few minutes to speak on another way that I believe President Trump and Republicans are taking our country in a direction that is deeply harmful; that is, by stacking our courts with extreme conservative judges. The Senate this week is going to vote on four judicial nominees who each have the far-rightwing seal of approval. Two are on President Trump's short list for Supreme Court Justices, meaning they would automatically vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Unfortunately, their views on many things--LGBTQ rights, sexual assault, criminal justice, and corporate interests--are just as deeply troubling. One of the nominees we are considering this week advocated for using electric shocks for criminal punishment, and two--Amy Barrett and Stephanos Bibas--were nominated only after Republicans blocked the nominations of Myra Selby and Rebecca Haywood--both who happen to be African-American women--to the respective benches. It is clear that as Republican leaders' list of legislative failures grows longer, their effort to enact their agenda by administrative action and by stacking the courts is only going to accelerate. That might appeal to extreme conservatives--in fact, I am pretty sure it does--but the truth is that whether it is healthcare or infrastructure or taxes, most people across the country really want to see Congress working together. I am going to continue doing everything I can to speak out and fight back against extreme, harmful steps that are being taken by this administration and allowed by Republican leaders here in Congress and also to show there is a better way to get things done--by working under regular order, across the aisle, and putting people, not politics, first. That is what families rightfully expect, and that is what we all should be focused on. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

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

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague Senator Brown for leading the effort on the floor to speak out against the latest attacks on union rights that are in front of the Supreme Court right now. I am very proud to join him to highlight the contributions unions have made to our middle class, to the economy, and to our country. I want to express my commitment to stand up against any attempts to undermine workers' rights to join a union and bargain collectively. Since day one, President Trump has broken his campaign promise, which was to put our workers first, by rolling back worker protections and putting corporations and billionaires ahead of our working families, and now we are seeing corporate special interests doubling down on their attempts to undermine the rights of workers to band together. So it is critical now more than ever that we are committed to protecting our workers and their ability to advocate for safe working conditions, better wages, and a secure retirement. Unions helped create the middle class in this country and helped a lot of our families in the last century become financially secure. But over the last few decades, as workers' bargaining power and union density have declined, we as a country have seen a decline in the middle class and a rise in income inequality in this country. As we all know, too many families today are struggling to make ends meet. Meanwhile, corporations' profits are at an alltime high. I will continue to fight back against any attempts by this administration and by special interests to rig the rules against the people who go to work every day. I will keep fighting for policies that will help families save just a little more in their bank account, whether it includes raising the minimum wage or fighting for equal pay for equal work or strengthening our workers' rights to seek out and join a union and bargain collectively. I urge all of our colleagues who want to help working families to get ahead to join me in that effort. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about what my bipartisan healthcare bill with Chairman Alexander means for the people we are all here to serve, what it means for patients and families in my home State of Washington and across the country who are worried about being able to afford the healthcare they need, and what it means for States and communities and hospitals that are administering and providing care. Negotiations of this magnitude are always tough. There are some things you agree on, and sometimes there is common ground that emerges early, but there is no question that you also find areas of strong disagreement. You have to work your way to each answer step by step. One issue that Chairman Alexander and I agreed on from the very start of our negotiations, where we worked our hardest, and what we had the most discussions on was the goal of putting patients and families first and that it would be families who would benefit as much as possible from our efforts to restore stability to our markets. That was the crux of our debate. It was our guiding star. I am very proud to say that our bipartisan bill does just that. Here is what is at stake. Here is what we know. Patients and families across the country are looking ahead to next year. They are rightly worried about their healthcare--premiums, benefits, and coverage--and they are realizing that they are about to pay the price for the uncertainty and partisanship we have seen on healthcare over the last 9 months. Like all of my colleagues, I have listened and I have talked with many of these families in my home State, at hospitals, schools, roundtables, and in meetings with patients, doctors, providers, and veterans. They have all made it very clear that enough is enough with playing politics with people's healthcare. Here is how our bipartisan bill would protect those families and restore certainty to the markets. I will not go into all of the details, of course, but I do want to focus on some really important points. First of all, this bill would restore the out-of-pocket cost reduction payments that President Trump has announced he will be ending for this year as well as for 2018 and 2019. This means that some serious sabotage--something that experts say would raise premiums by double digits for millions of families--would be off the table. Second, this bill would make significant investments when it comes to healthcare outreach and enrollment to make sure that families know about their insurance options. Third, this bill makes some changes to give our States more flexibility when it comes to developing plans and offering options while maintaining essential health benefits, like maternity care and protecting people with preexisting conditions or protecting the elderly--and all of this while making sure that costs go down for families and preventing insurers from doubledipping and padding their profits with both cost reduction payments and higher premiums. Put simply, this bill is an important step in the right direction of preventing premium increases, stabilizing healthcare, and pushing back against President Trump's recent actions. This bill reflects the input of patients, Governors, State commissioners, experts, and advocates, and it has strong support from a majority here in the Senate. So far, 24 Senators--12 Democrats and 12 Republicans--have cosponsored this bill. I know there are a lot of others who agree that we need to act and that we must do so in our working together under regular order, as with our bill, rather than doubling down on partisanship and dysfunction. I am focused on moving our bill forward as quickly as possible, and I certainly hope that the majority leader will listen to the Members on both sides of the aisle who also want this bill to be brought up for a vote without delay. Let me be clear. As this bill moves forward, I am certainly open to changes that expand access to quality care, put families ahead of insurers, and maintain those core patient protections that I have been clear all along have to be protected. I am certainly not interested in changing our bipartisan agreement to move healthcare in the wrong direction. Chairman Alexander and I have a record of seeing tough legislation through to the end together, whether that is K-12 education, FDA user fees, mental health reform, or opioid use disorders, which is why I am confident that we can do the same with this stabilization bill. We have negotiated a strong agreement that has the support of 60 Senators, and the support is growing. The President has also expressed his support for our effort, so I see no reason why we should not move this bill through the Senate, get it signed into law, and then continue the bipartisan discussion on healthcare in the country. I will also take some time to talk about another pressing healthcare challenge, and that is the immediate need to extend Federal funding for the historically bipartisan, expired primary care cliff programs, like the Community Health Center Fund, the National Health Service Corps, and, of course, the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. It has now been almost 25 days since the Federal funding of these primary care cliff programs and CHIP were allowed to expire by the Republican majority, and in that time, I have heard from thousands of people in my State and nationwide who are urging Congress to act. Each day that passes is a day that we are failing to meet our commitment to these families and putting the health and well-being of nearly 9 million children, including more than 60,000 children in my home State of Washington and the 25 million patients who, at great harm and great risk, get care from the community health centers. In Washington State, as in so many other States, notices to families about gaps in their children's healthcare are about to go out as soon as December 1, and in my State, we will run out of Federal funds for CHIP in November. Let me be clear. Parents in my home State and across the country should not be up at night, worrying about their children's healthcare because Congress cannot get the job done. That is so unacceptable. There is a bipartisan deal in the Senate right now that was negotiated between the chairman and ranking member of the Finance Committee that would provide certainty for this vital program. I understand that extreme House Republicans have chosen, instead, to take an irresponsible path in their trying to ram through a partisan bill that will jeopardize the efforts in the Senate and in the House to come to an agreement as soon as possible. To be clear, this delay has not been without serious consequences, but we can still act. It is up to Republican leaders now to reverse course, come to the table, and join with Democrats to get this done. It should not have to be said, but there should not be any place for partisanship or politics when it comes to protecting the children and families we represent. I hope that we get this done and get it done quickly, and I hope that all of our Members will move forward on this. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Thank you, Mr. President. As we speak, millions of Americans are working to put their lives back together after what has been an especially devastating series of disasters, from hurricanes that caused unprecedented flooding, which the Senator from Florida just spoke about, the catastrophic damage there, to deadly wildfires that have scorched communities across the West. From Santa Rosa to San Juan, there are countless families who need a hand up right now, and we have to be there for them, including our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico, where a vast majority of families on the island are still without power or access to clean water, as we just heard. I am glad we will soon take up a relief package to send resources to help our neighbors in need, many of whom have lost everything. I am glad, as you will hear from many of our colleagues on the floor today, that this is not the end of our commitment to those affected by these recent disasters but, rather, a downpayment on what we know will be a very long road to recovery for many devastated regions. But I challenge my colleagues to do one better. Not only could we address the longstanding fisheries disaster that continues to cause hardship for the men and women of our fishing industry and our Tribal communities, we could also fix the flawed way this country fights wildfires. For far too long, the U.S. Forest Service has been forced to use up its budget fighting wildfires every season, only to have no funds left over to work on preventing them. This is a very dangerous cycle and a disservice to so many communities in the West. It has only gotten worse as climate change takes hold, which means our wildfires have grown more massive in size and intensity in recent years. I urge my colleagues to treat wildfires like the disaster they are. I hope we all take this moment to acknowledge all of our neighbors affected by disaster, even if they don't make the front page of the paper. Let's use this opportunity to get the policy right and help out all our neighbors in need. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, first I thank Chairman Alexander for his leadership in launching a bipartisan process, as well as his dedication to seeing it through and getting a result, as he said. I have to say that, after 7 years of intense partisanship on these issues, which would lead everyone to believe that there was no hope for Republicans and Democrats to come together and work to strengthen our healthcare, I am really pleased with this common ground we have been able to find, providing multiple years of certainty when it comes to payments to reduce out-of-pocket costs that affect the people Senator Alexander just talked about--the waitress, the songwriter, and people who care and need this--restoring critical investments, making sure people know about enrollment and can get coverage, and offering States more flexibility to innovate, as the Affordable Care Act intended, while maintaining those essential health benefits, like maternity care, protecting people with preexisting conditions, and the elderly. It does all this while making sure that costs do go down for our families and preventing insurers from double-dipping and getting the benefit of both cost reduction and higher premiums. If there are ways to do this even more, to make sure patients come first and insurers can't pad their profits, I, as I know Senator Alexander is, as well, am open to that. Chairman Alexander just took some time to lay out the policies we are putting forward in this legislation. So I will not go into those details. But I do want to take a few minutes to focus on what this legislation would mean for the people we are all here to serve because what is really at stake is that patients and families across the country are now looking ahead to next year, and they are realizing they are about to pay the price for the uncertainty and partisanship we have seen, especially from this administration, on healthcare over the last 9 months. To many of those families, that out-of-pocket cost-reduction payment we are debating in Congress has nothing to do with politics and has everything to do with whether they will be able to make ends meet at the end of the month. Now the law is very clear that these payments are required, but with the President's decision to stop them, families are looking to this Congress and the administration and asking what we plan to do. So I am very glad that Democrats and Republicans agreed that we need to act. We could do much better working together under regular order rather than doubling down on partisanship and dysfunction. As a result of the hard work of Chairman Alexander and members of our HELP Committee and with input from half of the Senate, we were able to put forward an answer--a bipartisan solution that prevents families from paying the price of sabotage and uncertainty and one that Members on both sides of the aisle can be proud to support, starting with the list of original cosponsors we are revealing today. Senator Alexander listed the 12 Republicans. The 12 Democrats are Senators Murray, King, Shaheen, Donnelly, Klobuchar, Heitkamp, Franken, Manchin, Carper, Baldwin, McCaskill and Hassan. We are doing this today not only because it will help protect our families from premium spikes that are set to kick off in the next year but because it sends a powerful message that, when Members of Congress decide to get past our talking points and take a few steps out of our partisan corners, there is a lot we can agree on and a lot we can get done. Chairman Alexander and I are going to continue to make the case for this agreement. We are already getting a promising response from many Members on both sides of the aisle. I am very appreciative of Senator Schumer for his strong support and I am optimistic that, with Chairman Alexander working on this, we will continue to build momentum and, as he said, we will get this done. At the end of the day, this isn't about Republicans or Democrats. It is about doing the right thing for the people we serve. That means having an answer to the premium spikes that are going to set in and burden our families next year. We have been able to find one. It is bipartisan. We both gave on this. I really hope all of our colleagues will work with us to get this signed into law and show the American public that we can get the job done for them and we understand the priorities of this country. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I would respond to my colleague, through the Chair, that negotiations are always tough. There are things you disagree on, and you have to work your way to an answer. The one issue we did not disagree on but we worked the hardest on and had the most discussion on was how we make sure we have the language in place on this--that consumers benefit and it is not a bailout for insurers. We absolutely share that point, and I know we both heard from Members on both sides of the aisle that they share that point. We have strong language in here, but we are still open together to make it stronger under anybody's suggestion because our intent is to make sure our constituents get the result of this. We are together on that and working on that. I, absolutely, disregard anyone who says this is a bailout for insurers because they haven't read the bill, if they have seen it. I thank Senator Alexander for his attention, discussions, and hard work to reach this point.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, Republicans have now put forward proposal after proposal to rip protections away from Americans with preexisting conditions. This amendment is yet another example of Republican efforts to increase costs for people who need healthcare the most. It would put insurance companies back in charge. It would allow them to deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions or discriminate against them by charging higher premiums. This repeals the essential health benefits, rips away access to critical services like maternity care, mental health, and substance use disorder treatment, and repeals the requirement that coverage be available to dependents under the age of 26. Americans have rejected this crass partisan proposal. It is long past time to focus on bipartisan proposals like the one that Senator Alexander and I announced today that actually protects people with preexisting conditions while bringing down premiums for patients and family. I urge a ``no'' vote.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I want to start by making it very clear that this is not the way our budget process should work. In fact, to even call this a budget process gives it more credit than it deserves. With Republicans in control of the White House and both Chambers of Congress, the budget process has now descended into chaos and dysfunction. I talked about this in the Budget Committee, but I am going to keep talking about it because it is important. First of all, look at the date. We are debating a budget for fiscal year 2018 months too late and more than 2 weeks into the fiscal year for which we are supposed to be budgeting. Secondly and far more importantly, we are not really here to talk about a budget. We are not really here to have a debate about our values and our priorities or where we should be directing our limited national resources. We are not here to talk about what or whom we should be investing in as a nation. We are certainly not really here to try to come together around a shared vision for where our country can head next year or 5 years from now or even 10 years from now. Yet Democrats do want to have this conversation. We believe this is a critical debate to have, and we would love to spend time on this floor debating a budget that opens up that conversation and puts us on a path toward working together to actually get that done. We all know why we are really here. It is that Republican leaders want to start another fast-track, partisan process to jam legislation through Congress and do everything possible not to have to work with Democrats. For what? It is to give more tax breaks to the rich, to raise taxes on the middle class, to circumvent any debate about a major environmental decision that would be unwise and potentially catastrophic, and to blast a hole in our budget that will increase the deficit, blow up the debt, and put Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education investments, healthcare, and so many more priorities at risk. All of this is not just shameful and wrong--it is not going to work. We all have seen what has happened in the last few months. The Republicans have spent months trying to jam TrumpCare through Congress, and they have refused to work with Democrats. So here we are now, months later, with Democrats and Republicans finally working together to improve healthcare after there being months of delay. I say this to my Republican colleagues: Let's skip this first part. Let's skip this partisanship and dysfunction and acrimony and bitterness, and let's move, right now, to the bipartisan work and negotiations that we all know our constituents actually want and expect. I know it will not be easy, but I am confident that we can get it done. All we are asking is that President Trump keep the promises he made on the campaign trail to put workers and the middle class first. It should not be that difficult, and the choice could not be clearer. Should we give President Trump and his Cabinet of millionaires and billionaires more tax breaks, or should we cut taxes for the mom or dad who is working two jobs or struggling to pay his mortgage or help his kid go to college? Should we preserve and protect Medicare and Medicaid, or should we allow those critical programs to be cut to give tax breaks to the rich? That is really the crux of this debate. Democrats believe that workers and the middle class should get tax breaks, and from everything we are seeing about this Republican plan and everything we are seeing in this budget today, Republicans do not agree. I am hoping we can move away from this partisan process and really get to work for the people we represent, and I am hoping we can return to a budget process that will allow a true debate about our values and our priorities as a nation. We should be here talking about the path to another bipartisan budget deal that will restore the investments in domestic and defense priorities. We should be having conversations about ways to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid, not to cut them. We should be talking a lot about how we tackle our deficit and debt challenges fairly and responsibly. On that point, I note that I find it especially interesting that so many Republicans have spent years pretending to care about the deficit when it has come to making cuts to middle-class priorities, but the minute that it has come to handing tax breaks to the rich, all of that has gone out the window. One Republican even admitted to the New York Times that deficit concerns are nothing more than a ``great talking point'' when Democrats are in charge. With a budget that would add trillions of dollars to the debt--a budget that is on the floor today-- we will see where people actually stand on that issue. Finally, we should be talking about ways to help our workers. We should be talking about ways to grow our economy from the middle out, like making sure we have access to high-quality childcare and pre-K for every working family, making college more affordable, and investing in retirement security for our workers and our families. We should be talking about how we are going to support our veterans, protect women's health and rights, and make healthcare more affordable and accessible. There is a lot we should be talking about in this budget. Those are the conversations we should be having. Those are the people in whom we should be investing. I am going to be doing everything I can in this so-called budget debate to keep the focus on the people for whom I came here to fight. I am going to stand with Democrats and families across the country to fight back against Republican attempts to jam a massive, partisan tax break for the rich through Congress and force working families and the middle class to pay the price. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I wish to thank Chairman Alexander for his tremendous work on this. I am very grateful for his leadership in supporting a bipartisan discussion under regular order in the HELP Committee and his determination to see it to this point and beyond. I remember very clearly back in July when it was clear that the so- called skinny repeal didn't have the votes to pass. We talked right then and there about getting to work on ways to stabilize the healthcare market and protect patients and families from premium spikes as a result of the uncertainty this administration caused. We were able to engage nearly half the Senate in our hearings and conversations on the HELP Committee, and we found that there was a lot more that we agreed on than we disagreed on when it came to strengthening healthcare and controlling costs in the near term. Since then, actions by this administration have made our work more urgent. So I am very glad Democrats and Republicans agreed to work together to address this, and I am extremely pleased that, with the input of Members on both sides of the aisle, as well as Governors and patients and advocates, we were able to reach an agreement that I hope will set the healthcare discussion in Congress on a very different path than the one we have all seen for the last 7 years. This agreement provides certainty on the reduction of out-of-pocket payments for the next 2 years. It will address attempts by this administration to keep people from getting enrolled in the care they need. It takes a number of very strong, bipartisan steps to offer States more flexibility to innovate in the way the Affordable Care Act intended, without undermining the essential health benefits, such as maternity care and mental health coverage, or burdening people who have preexisting conditions. This is an agreement I am proud to support, not only because of the important steps to strengthen our healthcare system but because of the message it sends about the best way to get things done in this Congress. The way to deliver results, as Chairman Alexander says, for patients and families is to work under regular order, to find common ground rather than retreating to partisan corners, and to hear from our experts and our families and our Members on both sides of the aisle rather than reciting talking points to each other. We know that is true because just a month ago, the idea of an agreement between Republicans and Democrats on healthcare seemed impossible at best, if not improbable. Thanks to the strong, bipartisan work of Chairman Alexander and many of our Members, we have been able to bridge the divide. I strongly believe that patients and families in every State across our country will be stronger if we can get this agreement signed into law. I urge my colleagues to not only support it but to continue working together because there is no question we have work to do. I thank Chairman Alexander and all the Republicans and Democrats who have been so engaged in this effort, and I echo the comments of Senator Alexander about what is in the bill. I won't repeat them. I agree with his last comments that we both want to make sure the payments go to consumers. We are working on that language, and I wish to assure our colleagues that is our joint intent as we get this language finalized and put into place. I thank the Presiding Officer for this short amount of time during a busy day on the floor. I again thank Chairman Alexander, and I remain committed to him to get this done in the right way for the people of this country. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, before I begin on the nomination before us, I wish to first echo what so many of my colleagues--Democrats and Republicans--and millions of people across the country have made very clear today: enough with all of the partisanship around healthcare, enough with playing politics with people's lives, and enough with the repeated attempts to roll back all of our progress and move our country backward. It is time that we drop Graham-Cassidy, drop TrumpCare, once and for all, and join together to actually work to improve healthcare, starting with acting right now to lower premiums for families and strengthen healthcare in a bipartisan way. That has been my message to colleagues all along. The truth is that I know many of my Republican colleagues prefer a bipartisan route. They have said as much in the last TrumpCare debate, in the very productive discussions we have had in and outside of the HELP Committee, and in many of their comments over the past few days. It begs this question: Why are we in this spot yet again? People across the country have been demanding for months to turn the page on TrumpCare. Instead of working in a bipartisan way to actually help people, a few of our colleagues have now pushed through yet another reckless repeal bill that is even worse than the previous TrumpCare version. It is a bill that will increase costs for families, especially seniors and people with preexisting conditions. It will allow insurance companies once again to charge people more for basic healthcare, such as maternity care, mental health services, and more, and it will take away women's access to care at health centers like Planned Parenthood and result in millions of people across the country losing their Medicaid. Just like last time, the bill has not been subject to any real hearings, public debate, or even a complete and thorough CBO score. Let's be clear. This bill is not a new proposal. It is not serious policy. It is not regular order. It is yet another version of TrumpCare that would be devastating for people across the country. This is actually pretty simple because there is a clear alternative path before us. Let's do what my colleague, the senior Senator from Arizona, and so many others have so bravely called for once again and return to working together. As I have said, I wholeheartedly agree with my colleague from Arizona that the right way to get things done in the Senate--especially on an issue as important to families as their healthcare--is through regular order and finding common ground. That is why I am still at the table ready to keep working. I remain confident that we can reach a bipartisan agreement as soon as this latest partisan approach by Republican leaders is finally set aside. Mr. President, I come to the floor today on the nomination before us and to urge my colleagues to vote no on William Emanuel to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board. On the campaign trail, President Trump promised to put workers first, but instead this administration has rolled back worker protections and prioritized corporate interests at the expense of our workers. It is critical today, more than ever, that the NLRB remain what it is supposed to be--independent and committed to protecting workers' rights to organize and to bargain collectively. I am deeply concerned that President Trump's nominee, Mr. Emanuel, will use his place on the Board to advocate for corporations and special interests. As a corporate lawyer fighting on the side of management, Mr. Emanuel has spent decades repeatedly undermining workers and their efforts to unionize. It is the core mission of the NLRB to encourage collective bargaining. Given his long anti-worker track record, I am afraid that workers' fundamental rights are not safe in his hands. I urge my colleagues to join me tonight in doing what President Trump has failed to do and to start working to put working families first and to vote against this nomination. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Paul Thomas, a detailee in the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the first session of the 115th Congress.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, some 800,000 people in this country woke up this morning with great uncertainty about their future because of President Trump's reckless, hateful agenda. Young men and women in this country are now unsure if they will be able to finish their college degree in the United States. They are unsure if they can keep their job at the hospital or as a firefighter or serve in our military to fight for our freedom. They are unsure if they can keep their homes or remain with loved ones, and they are scared that this country might break its promise and use against them the very information that they submitted to enroll in DACA in order to find them and deport them. That is appalling, and it marks a very sad time for this United States of America. President Trump has caused a lot of divisive and disheartening moments since the start of the year, but rescinding DACA is an unusually cruel and heartless move even for this administration, and it flies in the face of so much of what and who made this country what it is. So I am here today, with my colleagues, to urge all of us in the Senate to use this moment of uncertainty and division to do what is right--to come together to defend DACA. Use your voices for the Dreamers in your States and the many others who are calling and writing and marching in our streets, urging all of us to act for our neighbors and our coworkers, our students, our doctors, our engineers, our friends, and our first responders, who are stepping up at this very moment to protect people from the hurricanes that are wreaking havoc in Texas and Florida to the wildfires that are blazing in the West. Let's stand behind our colleagues, Senator Durbin and Senator Graham, who have already paved a bipartisan path forward on this issue and who, just hours after the President's announcement, reiterated that they are ready to get this done. I am too. There are more than 17,000 young men and women in my home State of Washington who are deeply connected to their communities. They were brought to this country as children. Some of them were so young when they arrived that they did not even know they were not born here until years or, maybe, even a decade later when they went to apply for college or to get a job. Just yesterday, I heard about a young man in my home State who is very distraught. He was brought to the United States as a toddler. He did not know that he was not a citizen until he turned 16 and went to get his driver's license. As a result, he signed up for DACA. He got his license and he got a job, and he is now in his second year in a science program at a community college, getting straight A's and hoping to transfer to the University of Washington. Now he is frightened that he is going to lose all of that and be forced to go to a country that he has never known. He says that he does not know anyone in Mexico nor has he been there to visit. That is just one story. I sat down with a number of Dreamers in my State. They are ambitious, they work hard, they play by the rules, and they do the right thing. They know one home--America. To penalize them for forces beyond their control is simply not what this country is about. While President Trump may see ending DACA as a political move to pander to his extreme, hard-line base, I know that the majority of people across this country will stand up and fight back. They will not let President Trump strip away protections or use Dreamers as a bargaining chip for his hateful crackdown on immigrants in our communities or on wasteful border wall spending. As a voice in Congress for my State, I stand ready to work with my colleagues on either side of the aisle to find a solution so as to honor the 800,000 Dreamers who call America home and to honor the very foundation of our immigrant Nation. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I want to say I am really pleased we are moving forward on the FDA Reauthorization Act today. This is really a great example about how Congress can actually work together on health issues and compromise and solve challenges by putting patients and families first. As my colleagues well know, these so-called user fee agreements are essential to supporting FDA's operation and mission. They allow FDA to meet the complex challenges of the 21st century technology and the movement toward precision medicine, and they help ensure that FDA upholds the gold standard of approval while evaluating new drugs and devices efficiently. Put simply, passing the FDA Reauthorization Act is absolutely necessary if Congress wants to advance safe, effective and innovative medical products for patients and families across the country. I would add, when we pass this reauthorization today, more than 5,000 employees at FDA will be able to continue their critical work without worry of interruption, employees that worked every day to protect the health and families and advance medical innovations to patients. So I am really pleased to have worked alongside the chairman of our HELP Committee, the Senior Senator from Tennessee, and all of our colleagues on and off the committee to bring to the floor these finalized agreements. They truly reflect years of negotiations between FDA and the industry, incorporate input from patient and consumer groups, and support some of our most urgent priorities: restructuring the generic drug user fees, building up the Biosimilars Program, making sure patients' perspectives are considered in drug and device development, and advancing many of the policies we passed as part of the 21st Century Cures Act. In addition to those agreements, the FDA Reauthorization Act includes priorities and provisions from Members across the political spectrum, so I again want to thank Chairman Alexander and all my colleagues, in particular, Senators Casey, Franken, and Warren, on their work to improve medical device safety; Senators Hassan and Young on their provision to get better information to providers about opioids; Senators McCaskill, Franken, and Collins for their commitment to improving the generic drug market; and Senators Bennet, Van Hollen, and Rubio for their drive to get new medicine for kids with cancer. I really want to thank my staff and Chairman Alexander's staff who worked so well together over months of hard work to get this done. Mr. President, this bill advances several significant bipartisan priorities I am proud to support. As many know, the HELP Committee has a strong tradition of bipartisan success in these user fee agreements, and I am very proud to say we have kept it this way. I think this bill not only improves FDA, but it also shows that when we work together with a common goal, we can get things done and make progress. I thank the chair and my partner, Senator Alexander. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, thank you. I come to the floor today to urge my colleagues to vote no on the nomination that we will vote on shortly. On the campaign trail, President Trump promised to put workers first. Instead, President Trump's administration has rolled back worker protections and prioritized corporate interests at the expense of workers. It is critical, now more than ever, that the NLRB remain independent and committed to advocating for workers and their right to organize, but I am deeply concerned that President Trump's nominee, Mr. Kaplan, does not have a record of supporting the rights of workers and unions. At his nomination hearing, Mr. Kaplan confused basic labor issues and decisions, further proving he lacks the knowledge and experience to serve on this important board. NLRB members should be committed to standing up for workers, and it is clear Mr. Kaplan does not make the cut. I urge my colleagues to join me in doing what President Trump has failed to do, and that is to put workers first. Vote against this nomination. Thank you. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to stand up for the workers President Trump is failing. As a candidate running for President, Mr. Trump promised workers that he would put them first and that he would bring back good-paying, respectable jobs to their communities, but since day one, President Trump has done the exact opposite. He has rolled back worker protections and made it harder for families to be more secure. Now, this doesn't come as a surprise to me, especially when I look at President Trump's record as a businessman. I have to say that he has refused to allow even his own hotel workers to organize or join a union, preventing them from having the opportunity to better advocate for safer working conditions and better pay. We all know that strong unions have helped to create our middle class, and for many working families in the 20th century, a good union job, or the right to collective bargaining, helped them move up the economic ladder. But over the past few decades, we have seen a decline in unions and union membership across the country. As a result of that, our economy has started to favor corporations and those at the top. This paved the way for President Trump and billionaires like him to take advantage of their workers, with little recourse for everyday people who are the backbone of our country. The National Labor Relations Board gives workers the opportunity to file charges against corporations when they are illegally fired or when corporations retaliate against workers for exercising their rights. President Trump should be familiar with the NLRB, as his own businesses have had complaints filed numerous times. That is precisely why it is so important that the Board is independent and is committed to advocating for workers and their right to organize. The preamble of the National Labor Relations Act clearly states that it is the policy of the United States to encourage collective bargaining and to give workers a voice, allowing them to speak up for fair wages and safe working conditions. It is the responsibility of the NLRB to ensure that workers are being treated fairly and to resolve disputes between corporate management and workers. So it is clear to me that Board members should believe in the core mission that I just stated of the NLRB and should be committed to standing up for workers and their right to collective bargaining, which is exactly why I have very serious concerns about Mr. Marvin Kaplan's record, which has largely been in opposition to the work and mission of the NLRB. As a labor staffer in the House of Representatives, Mr. Kaplan prepared and staffed hearings where Republicans consistently attacked the NLRB. In fact, I would be hard-pressed to name a single example of Mr. Kaplan supporting the rights of workers and unions. In addition to Mr. Kaplan's opposition to the core mission of the Board, I also have deep reservations about Mr. Kaplan's lack of legal experience practicing before the NLRB. When I asked Mr. Kaplan about his lack of practical qualifications, his responses were telling: Have you ever represented a party, employer, or a union in an unfair labor practice case or representation case before the Board? No. Have you ever represented a worker in an employment matter? No. What is more, when asked to speak on the pressing questions facing the Board at his confirmation hearing, he actually confused basic labor issues and decisions, further calling into question whether he has the experience and knowledge to serve on this critically important Board. This is not a difficult concept for workers across the country to grasp. If you are not qualified for a job that is this important or if you want to undermine the basic goals of the law, you shouldn't get the job. So I will be voting no on Mr. Kaplan's confirmation. I urge my colleagues to do the same. I know my colleagues on both sides of the aisle want to strengthen our economy and rebuild our middle class. So I hope we can stand with working families across the country who today are simply asking for a fair shot. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, may I respectfully ask the chairman a question?

Mrs. MURRAY. It is, and I just----

Mrs. MURRAY. Regarding time, I just have a question so that Members can know how to manage their time between now and the 45 minutes when we have the vote.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I move to commit H.R. 1628 to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions with instructions to report the same back to the Senate within 3 days, not counting any day on which the Senate is not in session, with changes that are within the jurisdiction of such committee. Mr. President, after months of secret negotiations and backroom deals and shutting out patients and families and women and Democrats and even many Republicans from the process, Republican leaders continue to say they are planning to force a vote on this latest TrumpCare bill tonight--a bill even Republicans admit would throw our markets into turmoil. It is going to kick millions of people off of care, it is going to raise premiums for millions of families, it will eliminate healthcare for women across the country, and so much more--none of it good. It does not have to be this way. In fact, Republicans can still reverse this course. They can drop this once and for all and join with Democrats to get to work to actually improve healthcare, to reduce costs, to increase access, and to improve quality. We can start over with an open, transparent process, in which both sides--Democrats and Republicans--have a voice and one in which patients and families can make sure their priorities are being addressed. Now, I know many of our Republican colleagues prefer this bipartisan route. We have heard them say it. They have said it over and over in their votes to reject the partisan TrumpCare bill and full repeal bills this week, in their discussions of hearings we should be holding, and in their comments even over the past few hours, laying out how devastating this bill would be for patients and healthcare markets and making it clear they do not trust the House to not simply pass whatever moves through the Senate. So I call on Republicans now to join us. Let's do what my colleague, the senior Senator from Arizona, and so many others have bravely called for. With this motion, we will send it back to the committee, where we can debate it, where we can work together, where we can do what is right for the people we represent. I urge my colleagues to support this motion to commit in the way that Republicans and Democrats have been talking about. I can personally assure every one of you that I will work with you--and I know other Democrats will as well--if we reject this process and send it back with this motion to commit to do it the right way, the respectful way. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY. If I could just respectfully ask the chairman, since we have only had this bill for an hour, we have, as you can see, a number of Senators who want to speak. I would just respectfully ask if there is any time we will have between now and the vote to make any comments, since we have just had, for a very short amount of time, the bill that we will be voting on, which will obviously impact millions of Americans.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I want all my colleagues and everyone listening right now to be very clear about what Republican leadership is planning for today. Faced with defeat after defeat on their plans to rip apart our healthcare system--``no'' on a bill that would spike families' premiums, gut Medicaid, and deny 22 million people healthcare; ``no'' on a bill that would cause chaos and healthcare costs to skyrocket and deny 32 million people healthcare--it appears the Republican leader has a last-ditch plan waiting in the wings. As soon as they have an official score from the CBO--which could be hours from now--in the dead of night, Senator McConnell will bring forward legislation that Democrats, patients, families, and even many Senate Republicans have not seen, and try to pass it before anyone can so much as blink. Now, we have heard rumors about what could be in this bill, and based on what we know, Democrats took it upon ourselves to do the best we could to figure out what its impact will be. The CBO scored our best guess at what Republicans are talking about doing, and here is what they found: Sixteen million people will lose their healthcare coverage in the next 10 years under this bill; premiums will increase by 20 percent every single year for the next 10 years; your premiums will increase 20 percent every single year in the next 10 years, all while special interests in the healthcare industry are going to get a massive tax break. Republicans could still play games with the language as they negotiate in secret somewhere to try to get a bit ``better'' than this, but no matter what they do here, if they jam it through, they will be held accountable for the millions of people who lose care and the millions and millions more who will see their premiums go up. I hope, when my Senate Republican colleagues began their process, they were not planning to pass a bill in the dark of night to deny millions of people healthcare and hand special interests billions in tax breaks, but, right now, that is the path they are careening down-- even as more and more people are speaking up about what the impact of this legislation would have. In fact, just yesterday, a bipartisan group of 10 Governors wrote a letter urging Senate Republicans to reject this secret bill, saying it would--I am quoting 10 bipartisan Governors--``accelerate health plans leaving the individual market, increase premiums, and result in fewer Americans having access to coverage.'' I hope every single Senate Republican read that letter. I also hope they understand that if they pass this bill tonight, it will only get worse from here. If this secret bill--the lowest common denominator--goes through and a conference starts with the House, then every Senate Republican who voted for it has just bought TrumpCare a trip to the White House. The Senate Republicans who so loudly made clear they hated the TrumpCare bill when it passed the House could now very well find themselves being held responsible for sending that same bill straight to President Trump's desk because, let's be honest, extreme conservatives aren't going to rest until they have a bill on the way to the White House that would spike premiums and out-of-pocket costs, gut protections for preexisting conditions, end Medicaid as we know it, defund Planned Parenthood, and kick tens of millions of people off their coverage--a bill that would, in other words, shatter the promises of more responsible Republicans who I know are deeply concerned about ways these outcomes would impact the people they serve. So, to put it simply, a bill in conference is no excuse to kick people off coverage, spike premiums by 20 percent for everyone, and give a massive tax break to the wealthy, especially because it will simply be an opportunity to hand the keys over to the House Freedom Caucus. I want to remind any Senate Republican who doesn't want to have TrumpCare on their hands--who truly does want to make our healthcare system work better for patients and families--there is a better path. As Senator McCain said so powerfully earlier this week, we shouldn't let the ``bombastic loudmouths'' drive our work. We should get back to regular order, and we still can. I am saying to every Senate Republican every chance I get: Drop this partisan, sham floor process. Drop it. Start over with an open, transparent process in which both sides, patients, and families across the country have a voice. I hope that as big as our differences are, many of my Republican colleagues would prefer that bipartisan voice and route. They have said as much. Their votes to reject the partisan TrumpCare and full repeal bills this week made it even clearer. So let's have hearings like Chairman Alexander has proposed to do in our HELP Committee. Let's have a public debate. Let's focus on policies that lower costs, that expand coverage, and improve quality. Democrats are ready. We are at the table. I hope Senate Republicans who are ready to work on real solutions will join us, but, first, for that to happen, Senate Republicans need to step away from this sham process we are on today. Say no. Vote no. Return us to a process we are all involved in. I yield the floor.