Chuck Schumer: “First, let me thank my colleague, the senior Senator from Delaware, not only for his remarks but for his constant…”

“First, let me thank my colleague, the senior Senator from Delaware, not only for his remarks but for his constant, conscientious concern about this country in just about every area. Whenever he speaks, he has a great deal of thought behind it because he is always thinking. My guess is, he is thinking while he sleeps at night. He has so many thoughts. It also comes from a good soul and a good heart because he really cares about making this country better and is working together in a bipartisan way to do that whenever he can. I thank my colleague. Mr. President, it is likely, at some point today, we will finally see the majority leader's final healthcare bill, the bill he intends to either pass or fail. Thus far, we have been going through a pretense, defeating Republican bills that never had enough support even within their own caucus to pass. Repeal and replace has failed. Repeal without replace has failed. Now we are waiting to see what the majority leader intends for the Republican plan on healthcare. If the reports in the media are true, the majority leader will offer a skinny repeal as his final proposal. As I mentioned last night, Democrats will offer no further motions or amendments until we see this skinny bill, but make no mistake, once we do see the bill, we will begin preparing amendments. In the event the bill fails, we can move directly to the NDAA, and out of deference to my dear friend Senator McCain, we will work to move that piece of legislation quickly.…”