Thank you, Mr. President. I thank my leader, Senator Schumer. Colleagues, before morning, millions of Americans could be on their way to lives filled with healthcare misery, eye-popping cost increases, hollowed-out coverage, and gutted…

Under this legislation, you would have a massive rollback of the Medicaid Program. So for all of those older people who scrimped and saved all of their lives--they didn't take that vacation; they tried to make sure they could educate their…

There is nothing that would give Medicare bargaining power to make sure seniors get a better deal. There is nothing for the kind of effort our colleague from Vermont and Senator Klobuchar have pursued, which would allow, under…

That is correct. It would be accompanied with further misery because it would leave the millions suffering from opioid addiction with nowhere to turn for coverage as a result of this massive rollback in Medicaid coverage under this…

That is correct. The special interests get very, very substantial tax breaks. Those working-class people lose tax credits, so they actually lose, and, in effect, those dollars can be used for the tax cuts for the fortunate.

It is hundreds and hundreds of dollars and, in a number of instances, more. The reality is that I think they are going to have a lot of trouble getting coverage at all. The reality is, when you pour gasoline on the fires of…

Team Wyden will shortly lose one of its stalwarts, but before John Michels of my Portland office takes his well-deserved retirement after two decades of service to the people of Oregon, I want to take just a few minutes to recognize his…

I have commented on the secret process that went on in this discussion, but I will close with this: One version of TrumpCare has already been voted down here in the last day. Nobody knows where this debate will wind up, but what is…

I thank my colleague for an excellent statement and for appealing to the better angels. Mr. President, I am rising to speak about the Donnelly amendment, which is very much needed because the President--and now Republicans-- are walking…

on this matter of repealing the Affordable Care Act, soon the Senate is going to vote on just whether or not to repeal the Affordable Care Act. I think it is important to note that this would walk back months and months of Republican…

Yes, the fortunate few would benefit under the House bill. There is no question about it. To give my colleagues an idea of how regressive those efforts are, they would actually be retroactive. So this idea that these tax cuts for the…

A few hundred families benefit so greatly that it could actually cover Medicaid expansion in several States.

While the senior groups have not been able to come before the Finance Committee to discuss this issue, I can say--and I have been working with a number of these organizations since my days with the Gray Panthers--that they are…

They are opposed, as I have indicated. I think it is particularly important to see this provider-patient partnership that this time is saying the patients come first and this bill hurts patients.

I can tell my colleagues that Senator Murray and I, the two of us--the ranking member on the Budget Committee and I--have actually made public the overwhelming opposition from providers on this. So, in effect, providers and patients are…

My colleague has described how the Senate works best when she says: Look, bipartisanship is not about taking each other's lousy ideas. Bipartisanship is about both sides getting together, having hearings, listening to all alternatives and…

My colleague is being logical, and heaven forbid that logic should be introduced into this, because we would automatically assume that on a matter like this--we are talking about one-sixth of the American economy--the Senate Finance…

What I can tell my colleagues is that, again, those hospitals have not been in front of the Finance Committee. One of the things I appreciate about so many colleagues on this side of the aisle is that they said: Well, if we are not going…

I would say to my colleague, the ranking member of the Budget Committee, that we are talking about one-sixth of the American economy.

My colleague is right. There is a very regressive effort going forward in the House, the House Budget Committee, and, clearly, this is to try to set up tax cuts for the fortunate few. I was struck by the fact that the President has talked…

I think my colleague is making an important point, as well as my friend from Vermont. Part of the reason that many Republicans want these tax cuts for the fortunate few is arcane to people, pretty complicated. What they really want to do…

Two points are raised by my colleague--very good points. First, in the immediate, those people will go to the hospital emergency room, which means that, once again, we are turning back the clock toward approaches that don't provide better…

The AARP has also not been in front of the Senate Finance Committee. I want to say again that Senators have said: If they are not going to be in front of the Senate Finance Committee, where we ought to actually hear testimony in line with…

Maintaining and improving access to public lands is not just for this generation, but for the generations to come.

I continue to be concerned about establishing a sweeping new policy that could raise serious questions about the protection for special places.