Republican Senate Begins Obamacare Repeal Debate

Today in Washington, D.C. - Dec. 2, 2015:
The House reconvened at 10 AM today.
House bills that may be considered today are:
H.R. 8 - "To modernize energy infrastructure, build a 21st century energy and manufacturing workforce, bolster America's energy security and diplomacy, and promote energy efficiency and government accountability, and for other purposes."
S. 1177 - "To reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to ensure that every child achieves."

Yesterday the House passed the following bills and resolutions:
H.R. 4127 (364-58) — "To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes."
S.J. Res. 23 (235-188) — "Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of a rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to "Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units"."
S.J. Res. 24 (242-180) — "Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of a rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to "Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units"."

In a major speech this Thursday at the Library of Congress, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) will discuss some of the important challenges facing the country and the principles by which we should address them. He will lay out his governing philosophy and how we can renew the American idea. The address is open to members of Congress, invited guests, and members of the media only.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) yesterday issued the following statement after the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4127, the Intelligence Authorization Act: "The recent attacks in Paris were a painful reminder that we must always be vigilant against threats at home and abroad. That’s why today we passed a strong, bipartisan bill to help ensure the intelligence community has the tools necessary to keep Americans safe. I commend Chairman Nunes and the Intelligence Committee for their work on this important legislation."

The Senate reconvened at 9:30 PM today and resumed consideration of H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, aka the Obamacare repeal legislation.

Votes on amendments to the bill are likely later today and will continue tomorrow.

Last night, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell brought a bill to repeal Obamacare (H.R. 3762) to the floor and the Senate will debate and amend it before voting on it at the end of the week. This is a bill that never would have been considered during the years Democrats controlled the Senate.

This morning, Leader McConnell said, “Obamacare is a direct attack on the Middle Class of our country. It’s a partisan law that puts ideology before people, that hurts many of the very Americans it was supposed to help.

“It resulted in millions of cancellation notices for hardworking Americans who had plans they liked, and who'd done nothing wrong. It raised premiums, co-pays, deductibles, and taxes for Americans who were already struggling. It restricted choice and access to doctors and hospitals for patients in need. We see the pain and hurt of this law all across the country. We see it where we live.

“In my home state of Kentucky, health costs have spiked. Obamacare first caused tens of thousands of Kentuckians to lose the health care plans they were promised they could keep during the first year of implementation, then victimized 50,000 more when the commonwealth’s much-vaunted Obamacare co-op collapsed. Obamacare has also contributed to Kentucky hospitals being forced to cut jobs, reduce wages, and even shutter altogether. . . .

“Listen to what this Mom from Breckinridge County wrote to say: ‘My family is being pushed out of the middle class by the Obamacare law,’ she said, ‘How can we pay almost $1,200 a month on health insurance?’

“Listen to what this father of two boys from Owensboro wrote to tell me: ‘Before the Affordable Care Act, we paid around $100 bi-weekly for the family plan. That has now increased to $235 during the same timeframe. It seems these days there is no incentive to work. We are punished for working hard and trying to provide for our children while others are encouraged to not further themselves because if they do they would be in our situation.’ ‘What happene to being rewarded for working hard in America? What happened to the American dream?’"

“This Kentucky Dad isn’t the only one wondering this. Americans across the country continue to demand a better way forward. Americans made that clear last November. Kentuckians made that doubly clear again last month

“This is simply the reality. Democrats can deny it. Democrats can again dismiss Americans' real-life experiences as ‘lies.’ Democrats can continue to lecture Americans about their supposed inability to understand just how great Obamacare has been for them.

“But Americans are intimately familiar with the painful reality of Obamacare.”

Sadly, the stories of those families in Kentucky are hardly unique. Kimann England, a rancher’s wife in South Texas finally ditched her family’s health insurance plan after it instituted “a narrow provider-network option that doesn't include her local doctors,” following increases in both premiums and deductibles. According to The Wall Street Journal, she “doesn’t see it being worth the $1,640 a month it will cost in 2016 to cover herself, her husband and four children at home.”

Majority Leader went on to identify numerous failures in Obamacare nationally.

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