Barbara Mikulski: “we will be alternating on both sides of the aisle. I regret Senator Lee had to leave, and we welcome those who support…”

“we will be alternating on both sides of the aisle. I regret Senator Lee had to leave, and we welcome those who support the Cruz amendment to speak before we have to take a break. I have to go to a meeting with Senator Reid and other members of the committee at 12:30 p.m. We ask those who have views on this to come forward and speak. I do have some comments on the Cruz amendment. First of all, we welcome Senator Cruz. He is the new Senator from Texas. He replaced a very dear friend, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Senator Hutchison and I were close friends and we usually agreed on goals, but there were times we didn't agree on methods. With Senator Cruz we agree that we do need a job-creating strategy. We know we need to promote economic growth in whatever we do and even follow the physician's adage of ``do no harm.'' That is why I absolutely disagree with the Senator's amendment. The very things he wants to accomplish and his underlying premise--though obviously well argued from his view in a persuasive way--I totally disagree with. First of all, let's talk about what the Cruz amendment does. It prohibits discretionary funds from being used for the Affordable Care Act. It is affectionately known by some of us as ObamaCare, because Obama does care. So the Cruz amendment would prevent the Department of Health and Human Services from implementing the Affordable Care Act.…”