Government Funding

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. COONS. Madam President, I am asking why we are here--why we are here on the floor of the Senate as the hours tick down to the end of the Federal fiscal year and the shutdown of the Federal Government.

I have served here 15 years. I have seen my share of shutdowns, and I know how much they hurt, how much they hurt the men and women of our military, Federal law enforcement, folks who serve and protect our country at home and abroad. And they should not have to wonder when or if they will get paid.

A shutdown isn't good for our reputation abroad and our cohesion at home.

I have always worked to find some path, some deal, some way to keep the government open, and I have talked to a dozen colleagues in recent days about this fight and about tonight.

This is about healthcare. This is about my party saying: Enough is enough.

We know that if you have healthcare, everything else can work itself out. And if you don't have your health, almost nothing else matters.

President Trump ran on making America healthy again, on reducing prices, on making life easier for the working people of our country and their families. And, instead, what we have seen is decision after decision, action after action by President Trump and the Republicans in Congress that raise prices--raise prices on healthcare, on insurance, on drugs, on medications. Whether it is the tariffs being imposed on prescription medications or the decision to end subsidies that keep health insurance affordable, or it is laying off thousands of researchers working to help cure pediatric cancer or address ALS or do research into HIV AIDS--decision after decision that moves us in the wrong direction, that makes us sicker, poorer, and more divided.

I am usually one of the first to walk across the aisle and say: Let's find a solution. Let's find a way out of this. And I have been doing that in recent days, talking with colleagues. But I can't see a way forward if we can't change direction and, together, say to the people we serve: We want to help with your healthcare. We want to stop the cuts to NIH and CDC. We want to reduce the increases in health insurance costs. We want to help you and your family.

In my home State of Delaware, emergency room wait times are too long. And as millions of Americans get thrown off of health insurance, they are going to go to the emergency room. And those wait times will get longer and longer for all of us.

Next month, we are going to find out how much health insurance premiums go up. For some Americans, they are going to double. But for all of us, they will go up.

Healthcare is getting costlier, and Americans are getting sicker. So why am I standing on this floor tonight saying I am not voting to keep this government open? Because enough is enough.

There are ways we can and should work together to change direction, to put on the floor the bipartisan health appropriations bill that will restore tens of billions of dollars to the NIH and CDC, that will stop Trump's cuts to American healthcare and insurance and research. There is a path toward reforming and extending the Affordable Care Act that both parties should agree on.

But, folks, if you are listening, your Member of Congress needs to hear from you, needs to know that you want us to work together to reverse course and end Trump's tragic cuts to healthcare.

If my colleagues don't get those calls, they won't change direction. If they don't change direction, we won't reopen this government.

Make no mistake, we have Republicans in control of the House and Senate and the White House. If they want to find a way forward that reduces the harm to Americans and our healthcare, we can. And I will be one of the first to extend my hand to find that path.

But if we don't change direction, we shouldn't reopen this government because Americans have taken too many hits already, too much additional cost, too much in cuts to healthcare research, too much increase to health insurance costs. This is a fight about America's healthcare, and we are fighting for you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source