On the recordFebruary 2, 2016
Not having access to any affordable health care certainly doesn't meet anyone's definition of patient-centered healthcare. Our Republican colleagues, when they first launched the attacks on the Affordable Care Act and ObamaCare, said: We are going to repeal this, and we are going to replace it. Well, we have voted, as of today, 63 times to dismantle it. How many times have we voted to replace it? Zero. Zero times to replace it. My colleague, Mr. Kind from Wisconsin, raised an important point. The way our healthcare insurance system was working back in the early 2000s, millions of Americans were denied access to health care because of a preexisting condition, because their kid had diabetes or asthma. Premiums were going through the roof and skyrocketing. The Affordable Care Act has now provided affordable health care to millions more Americans and, as we have heard from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, passing this bill would actually take it away for 22 million Americans. Despite all that, despite the 63rd attempt to get rid of it and deny that access to health care, not once have we heard the replaced part of that Republican agenda. So, Mr. Speaker, it is a sad day when you want to take away access to affordable health care from 22 million Americans and don't have a single alternative to put on the floor of this House. I reserve the balance of my time.
