On the recordMay 4, 2017
Now I have to say to my friends on the other side: You sold out cheap--as we say in New Jersey--all to give a tax cut to insurance companies and the most well off. The Upton amendment is, of course, an admission. After 7 years, you came up with this? You have got to be kidding me. This is worse than a Fellini movie. At least he didn't take 7 years to distinguish between fantasy and reality. For a New Jerseyan with asthma, this will mean a $4,340 premium surcharge; for autism, $5,510. The list goes on and on--60, $70,000 if you have cancer. But less discussed is their attempt to rid the essential health benefits which removes yet another ACA protection for everyone. So now the Republicans have hit for the cycle. You hit for the cycle. You jeopardized the health care of nearly every single American--those on Medicare, those on Medicaid, those in the ACA exchanges, and now 150 million people with employer coverage. You sold out. It is a shame. I like most of you, but you are on the wrong path. It took you 7 years for this? I will never yield. I will never yield. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks to the Chair, not to each other.
