Michael Bennet

It is one of the reasons why it is important for us to defend the integrity of the Federal judiciary.

An independent judiciary in this country, I can carry that baton for as long as I can carry it.

It is not how big your bank account balance is. Nobody ever puts that in their draft obituary.

Judges, on the other hand, are supposed to be following the law impartially.

But every American in a more fundamental way needs to know what is in the heart of legislators because we are supposed to speak for the hearts, and minds, and hopes, and dreams of 320 million American people.

Whatever the results of this hearing, we Senators must respond in some way to the expectations of most Coloradans and most Americans who are eager for us to work together and to treat each other with respect.

I have no doubt that, unlike the President, Judge Gorsuch has profound respect for an independent judiciary and the vital role it plays as a check on the Executive and legislative branches.

Attacking the judicial branch erodes the public confidence that gives force to their judgments.

The independence of our courts is an essential strength of our democracy.

The Senate's failure to do its duty with respect to Judge Garland was an embarrassment to this body.

It is a distinct privilege to be here with my colleague, Senator Gardner from Colorado, to introduce Judge Neil Gorsuch.

I think we do have leverage. With that leverage, I think if we do it properly and rationally, we can improve NAFTA for both countries and also not hurt agriculture, and that certainly would be my objective.

I look forward to working with you and the ranking member to figure out a bipartisan way through this waiver process that is needed.

Agricultural producers in Colorado are worried. They are interested and curious about this re-opening, but they are worried that opening up NAFTA will lead Mexico and Canada to impose higher tariffs.

I worked with Senator Grassley to reintroduce the Advancing Care for Exceptional (ACE) Kids Act.

In short, there is simply no evidence that interstate insurance sales will help lower costs, and plenty of evidence that insurance markets will be destabilized through the evisceration of State regulatory authority.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is not perfect but in Colorado there have been over 600,000 people covered including more than 27,000 children.

The path forward is not a 'replacement' plan that covers fewer people and provides less robust benefits.

Likewise, in the Marketplace, any proposal that results in fewer people being covered, or in benefits being reduced, should be rejected.

In a State like Kentucky, which suffers from poor health on virtually every front, a Medicaid block grant would be a disaster, leading to fewer people having coverage, a reduced benefits package, and a reversal of the progress we have…

I just do not want us to get to a place where people in America have to settle for something that no one else in the industrialized world has to settle for.

I worry a little bit, and whether we are trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act or we are trying to fix the Affordable Care Act, I think it is incumbent on all of us not to make matters worse for rural America in doing what we are doing.

So just to be clear on that, though, Senator Thune said, well, in our history the average growth rate we have seen is about 3.2 percent.

In 2011, due to the dysfunction in Congress, we almost failed to raise the debt ceiling here.

I would hope that you could take a pledge today that would say that nothing that you would advocate for or would pass or have the President-elect sign into law, would add one dollar to our deficit or our debt.