Political Quotes

“Being sort of last in this debate gives you an opportunity to hear all of the arguments. The question has been asked: Why should we allow Speaker Pelosi to intervene? Well, she authored the bill. We need her to defend this bill, and we believe that she has standing. Another question that was raised was about an initiative that was offered last week and that this is just a theater here today. Well, I was here the 60-plus times that we tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act. That is the true theater. And let me tell you something, Madam Speaker. Why do we think that there was such a strident effort to destroy the Affordable Care Act? Because our colleagues have told us it cost a lot of money, and we have tried to prevent insurers from maximizing their profits. And how do they maximize their profits? By denying the sickest people with preexisting conditions--like the people I met today, the kids with neurofibromatosis, a serious illness that causes tumors all through your body and causes you to wake up in pain every single day--if you can get rid of them, then you won't have to pay much money; to impose lifetime limits on coverage not just for people under the ACA, but for everybody, including those folks who get employer-based insurance. Why have they tried to deny health coverage to consumers, to provide essential health benefits? Because they want to provide these skeletal benefits, this fig leaf of provisions for folks.…”