Cloture Motion

Floor Speech

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Ms. HIRONO. Madam President, the entire Senate Democratic caucus and I are introducing a resolution that simply asks the Department of Justice to do what it is supposed to do--defend the duly enacted laws of this country.

This resolution shouldn't be necessary, but last year, as 19 States joined Texas in challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, Attorney General Jeff Sessions refused to defend the ACA in court and, in fact, filed a brief arguing that several vital protections of the law should be ruled unconstitutional, including protections for Americans living with preexisting conditions.

In making his decision not to defend a duly enacted law, Jeff Sessions himself acknowledged that he was going against a "longstanding tradition of defending the constitutionality of duly enacted statutes if reasonable arguments can be made in their defense.''

Guess what. There are many reasonable arguments for the ACA. Even conservative lawyers who previously argued against the ACA agree. One attorney filed an amicus brief in opposition to the Department of Justice's position calling it ``dangerous,'' ``beyond the pale,'' and "effectively [usurping] legislative power.''

The Justice Department lawyer who authored the brief opposing the ACA, Chad Readler, was just rewarded with a confirmation to a lifetime position to the Sixth Circuit. In fact, Mr. Readler's circuit court nomination came on the exact same day that he filed the brief on behalf of the Department of Justice. Talk about yet another Trump nominee who auditioned for his position.

The Justice Department's actions were blatantly political and had a specific outcome in mind: accomplishing through the courts what Republicans have tried and failed to achieve through the legislative process; that is, repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Three career attorneys at the Department of Justice withdrew from the case in protest of their Department's failing to defend the ACA.

In December, a Federal court in Texas sided with the Trump administration, Texas, and 19 other States in declaring the entirety of the ACA unconstitutional. Of course, this will be appealed.

The Fifth Circuit--one of the most conservative appellate courts in the country--will hear the case next. The case is destined for consideration by the Supreme Court, wherein Trump-appointed Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh will cast two deciding votes on whether to uphold the ACA or cast it aside. I shudder to think which way they are likely to go.

The outcome of this case will have a profound impact on virtually every American, especially the 133 million people living with preexisting conditions.

This is not a game. Lives are at stake. Without the ACA's protections, millions of Americans living with conditions as common as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, or cancer could be charged exorbitant premiums or denied insurance coverage altogether.

The stakes in this ongoing court battle are incredibly high. Our resolution simply asks the Department of Justice to do its job, defend the ACA as a duly enacted act of Congress, and stand up to protect Americans living with preexisting conditions.

Although many of my Republican colleagues profess to support protections for those with preexisting conditions, not a single one of them has signed on to support this resolution.

Under new leadership, the Department of Justice can do the right thing. During his confirmation hearing, newly confirmed Attorney General Bill Barr indicated he was open to reassessing DOJ's decision to oppose the ACA in court. We shall see.

With this resolution, my Democratic colleagues and I urge him to reexamine the Department's position, consider the monumental impact this case would have on millions of Americans, and stand up for the 133 million Americans living with a preexisting condition.

Res. 94 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

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Ms. HIRONO. Madam President, I often say that I like to see when people reveal themselves.

With this objection today, my colleague from Wyoming has sent a clear message to Americans living with preexisting conditions that the Republican Party doesn't care about them. I am disappointed with his objection, but I can't say that I am surprised. Today's action is very consistent with the Republican Party's hostility to the ACA and their belief that healthcare is a privilege reserved only for those who can afford it.

To recap, Republicans voted dozens of times over the past 9 years to repeal the ACA in its entirety. The Senate came within one vote in July 2017 of repealing the law--one vote.

The majority leader and my Republican colleagues from South Carolina and Louisiana proposed--and came close to passing--a bill that would have gutted the ACA and cut hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid.

As part of their huge tax cut for the rich and corporations, Donald Trump and congressional Republicans eliminated the individual coverage requirement of ACA, driving up premiums across the country.

So the assault on healthcare continues. The American people are paying attention, and Republicans will be held accountable.

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Ms. HIRONO. Madam President.

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Ms. HIRONO. The Democratic Party is united behind the principle that healthcare should be affordable and accessible to all. As far as I am concerned, healthcare is a right, not a privilege reserved for those who can afford it.

Medicare for All is one way to get to universal healthcare that is affordable for everyone, but it is not the only way. While Democrats are working to build on the success of the Affordable Care Act to cover even more Americans, Senate Republicans have tried time and again to eliminate coverage for tens of millions of Americans. This is particularly evident in the President's budget--a budget that would make over $2 trillion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, programs that provide healthcare coverage to one out of every three people in our country.

I call on my Republican colleagues to join us to improve the ACA and expand coverage to more Americans rather than trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act time after time.

It is unfortunate that my colleagues would rather offer this distraction than acknowledge that millions of Americans rely on Medicare, Medicaid, and the ACA for healthcare. In offering this resolution, Republicans continue to do nothing except propose cuts to all three critical programs.

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Ms. HIRONO. Madam President.

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Ms. HIRONO. Very briefly, I simply want to ask my Republican colleagues whether they believe that healthcare should be accessible and affordable for all. Apparently, they do not, because they have offered absolutely nothing to make sure healthcare is accessible and affordable for all.

In fact, in their continuing efforts to sabotage the Affordable Care Act and, in fact, eliminate the Affordable Care Act, they would rather have a healthcare system where millions of Americans are without healthcare at all.

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