Dick Durbin: “I heard my friend from Wyoming say he is relieving his stress over the budget by reading the Tax Code. In my religion…”

“I heard my friend from Wyoming say he is relieving his stress over the budget by reading the Tax Code. In my religion, when you go to confession, you are given a penance for your sins. I cannot think of a more awesome penance than reading the Tax Code. I certainly hope it gives my friend from Wyoming a good frame of mind as he attacks this vote-arama. I am going to be brief because our ranking member on the budget has arrived on the floor, but I do want to say this: Budgets make choices, and there are one or two choices--certainly more than one or two but one or two that I would like to highlight that I think are worrisome. The Republican budget eliminates health insurance for 27 million Americans. That is 9 percent of people in America who would lose their health insurance protection because of the Republican budget. Part of it is the passionate refusal of the Republicans to accept the Affordable Care Act, which now in itself protects 15 to 16 million Americans. We have said to them, if you don't like the Affordable Care Act, give us an alternative, and they have yet to do so--and, frankly, because it is fairly difficult, as it was passing this bill. But to take health insurance away from 27 million Americans and say that is going to make a better life for working families? No, it will not. It will make a bigger challenge for these families which will be extremely difficult.…”