On the recordJanuary 12, 2017
We are less than 2 weeks into the start of the new Congress and Republicans are already trying to make good on their central campaign promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Regrettably, it is a promise that will cause more than 30 million Americans and at least 86,000 Rhode Islanders to lose their health coverage. It will increase prescription drug costs for almost 16,000 Ocean State seniors, and it will cost Rhode Island an estimated 12,000 jobs in 2019, according to a recent report by The Commonwealth Fund and George Washington University. Mr. Speaker, the Republicans' promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act will have devastating consequences for healthcare providers, patients, families, and even employers. I have long said that ObamaCare isn't perfect, and I am willing to work in a bipartisan manner to improve it--a task we have tried to accomplish for years without Republican cooperation. Mr. Speaker, the budget resolution the Republicans are jamming through Congress now is anything but bipartisan. I pledge to do everything in my power to fight their cynical attempts to revoke the health coverage of thousands of Rhode Islanders and of millions of Americans who need it and who depend on it. ____________________
