Rob Portman: “I appreciate my colleague from South Dakota's talking about this issue before us this week, which is these 1332 waivers…”

“I appreciate my colleague from South Dakota's talking about this issue before us this week, which is these 1332 waivers, and he is absolutely right. Millions of Americans are getting less expensive healthcare. Isn't that the whole idea here, that healthcare needs to be affordable and that we need to have good, quality healthcare? There is nothing in these waivers--by the way, many of which are going to States that have Democratic Governors--that prohibits people from getting coverage for preexisting conditions. In fact, that is the law of the land, so that these 1332 waivers cannot take away people's rights to healthcare should they have preexisting conditions. I think this is the sort of thing we ought to be supporting in this Chamber, there being more affordable healthcare and healthcare for people who otherwise couldn't afford it. Appropriations Mr. President, my colleague from Maine, Senator Collins, is on the floor. We discussed earlier that we are actually legislating today. I think that it is great because we are passing spending bills. The Senate will pass four different spending bills, and she will manage all four of them. These are bipartisan bills that will end up getting passed here in this Chamber this week that will then go over to the House where they will be conferenced with the five bills they have passed.…”