On the recordApril 2, 2019
Today I rise to talk about America's healthcare system and the importance of protecting the Affordable Care Act. Residents in my home State of California benefited greatly from the ACA. When it became law in 2010, California was one of the first States to implement it. At that time, 22 percent of my residents had no healthcare insurance whatsoever and 17 percent were uninsured. The ACA greatly decreased that number by less than 10 percent, a big difference, while also providing coverage for those with preexisting conditions, which we all feel strongly about. Now the President wants to strike down those protections and eliminate the last benefits. That is wrong. These repeated attempts to repeal the ACA are irresponsible, especially when there is no real proposal to replace it by the President of the United States or my Republican colleagues. If he succeeds, one in seven people in California will lose their healthcare. That is a fact. Yes, there are improvements that can be made to the Affordable Care Act, and we should address those deficiencies, and that is what I am committed to doing. The Congress and the administration should work together to fix the law and to make it better. ____________________
