Al Franken: “I rise to talk about the effort by Republicans in the majority to rip apart our healthcare system and jeopardize the…”

“I rise to talk about the effort by Republicans in the majority to rip apart our healthcare system and jeopardize the protections for people with preexisting conditions and to throw millions of people off their health insurance. Now, it is deeply troubling at this point that with less than 24 hours until the expected vote, we don't even know which version of repeal the Republicans hope to pass. Do Republicans support the Better Care Reconciliation Act--the bill that according to the Congressional Budget Office, would cause 22 million more Americans to become uninsured, which would drive up healthcare costs and dismantle the Medicaid Program? Do they support the Cruz amendment, which would bring back junk insurance plans that offer virtually no protection and drive up out-of-pocket costs for vital services or will they rally behind their backup option, a plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with nothing--that is, nothing--an approach that would add 32 million more Americans to the ranks of the uninsured and cause average premiums in the nongroup market to double or will it be something else entirely? We don't know. This is reckless. This is irresponsible. The American people deserve better. Let's be clear. A vote for the motion to proceed is a vote to move forward with conceivably any one of these bills, and all of these bills are terrible.…”