Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, if we want to level with the American people, let's acknowledge something: We have a difference of opinion on healthcare. When we passed the Affordable Care Act, it provided, for the first time, protections for people who have a preexisting condition. Every single one of my colleagues on the Republican side voted against that and then spent the next several years--69 times--voting to get rid of the protection for preexisting conditions. Then when they were in the majority, the first opportunity they had, they passed a bill out of the House to take away the protection for preexisting conditions. And thank you to Senator John McCain for protecting the American people. Every single opportunity to stand up and protect people who are sick, who lost their job but were sick and wanted to get insurance, you voted ``no''; we voted ``yes.'' You are talking now about waivers. I like waivers--we have benefited in Vermont--but not this waiver. If you pass this waiver, you are going to wave good-bye to the protection that we fought long and hard for for preexisting conditions. We fought for your families. We fought for our families. We fought for all American families. What kind of world is it if you are sick and you can't get healthcare? That is what is at stake now. That should never be in debate. We will not back down on protecting people from preexisting conditions. We will not back down on assaults on Medicare.…”