November 5, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 176 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages S6365-S6366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, now, on another matter, last week the 
Nation saw several pivotal moments that shed light on the current state 
of the Democratic Party. Here in the Senate, as I mentioned, Democrats 
chose to filibuster funding for our national defense for the second 
time in 2 months. This funding was agreed to in the bipartisan, 
bicameral deal that Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic leader signed 
onto just a few months ago, but now they have walked away from the 
agreement they signed and filibustered funding for our military 
commanders.
  Yesterday, we saw the Iranian regime celebrate--celebrate--the 40th 
anniversary of the taking of the American Embassy and the beginning of 
the Iranian hostage crisis. The familiar slogan, ``Death to America,'' 
was on full display. It was especially sobering to watch this display 
and remember that our own U.S. military commanders do not have the 
certainty they need for strategic planning because Democrats here in 
Washington found it politically advantageous to block it.
  Over in the House, Speaker Pelosi continues to stall the U.S.-Mexico-
Canada Agreement. USMCA would bring tens of billions in new commerce 
and create 176,000 new American jobs, but House Democrats would rather 
pursue

[[Page S6366]]

political theater. So American workers and farmers are still waiting.
  However, while our Democratic colleagues block these bipartisan 
priorities, at least they are not shy about what they do support. We 
have seen what Democrats prioritize. We remember the Green New Deal, an 
effort to grab unprecedented control over American families' daily 
lives. Designing, building, or furnishing a home or business? Democrats 
want Washington to dictate how you do that. Commuting, traveling for 
vacation, mowing your lawn? They would like you to do that without 
gasoline or jet fuel sooner rather than later. Make a living producing, 
refining, or delivering affordable American energy? They want you to 
find another line of work whether you like it or not. That is the Green 
New Deal.
  There is also the matter of Medicare for None. That is the scheme 
that would take the program that millions of American seniors rely on, 
throw away everything except the label, and paste that onto a new, one-
size-fits-all, Washington-run insurance plan that would be mandatory 
for every American. Medicare, gone. Private plans and the popular 
Medicare Advantage Program, gone. Every health insurance plan that 
Americans get on the job, which over 180 million people depend on, 
gone.
  This is literally what several of the leading Democratic Presidential 
contenders have endorsed--a new nationwide experiment in socialism. And 
every single American--man, woman, and child--would be the subject of 
this experiment, whether that is what we want for our families or not. 
From this mandatory one-size-fits-all insurance plan to new price 
controls that would limit lifesaving cures, our Democratic colleagues 
are rallying around policies that would leave American families paying 
more to wait longer for worse care. That is their prescription--paying 
more to wait longer for worse care.
  Then, if these plans weren't bad enough on the merits, there is the 
small issue of the crushing new tax burden you would have to pile onto 
the U.S. economy in order to make some effort to pay for all of this. 
One leading Democrat released a breathtaking proposal last week that 
illustrates the road they would like to head down. This candidate's 
Medicare for None plan on its own, notwithstanding all the other 
socialist plans--just the healthcare plan--would cost $52 trillion over 
the first 10 years alone. That is the candidate's own estimate--$52 
trillion over 10 years.
  Even after cannibalizing everything the government currently spends 
on healthcare, the plan's author admits there would still be a 
staggering $20-plus trillion left over to finance. Other experts say it 
would be more. For some perspective, if you add up every cent that is 
deposited in every commercial bank across the United States of America, 
that is about $13 trillion. So you could literally seize--seize--every 
dollar that Americans have deposited in banks and you would have 
nowhere near enough money to pay for even the first decade of this 
crazy experiment. Democrats are confident they can produce this huge 
sum of money through historic tax increases on job creators and on the 
American people. It would be an enormous--enormous--new tax burden 
dumped on the U.S. economy that would kill jobs, depress workers' 
wages, and make America less competitive literally for generations to 
come.
  At the exact time when Republican tax reform has made the United 
States more competitive and boosted prosperity here at home, Democrats 
want to take us backward and make our Nation a less attractive place to 
create jobs.
  Here is what Larry Summers, a former Treasury Secretary under 
President Clinton, wrote about this far-left plan in the Washington 
Post:

       [It] will discourage hiring, particularly of low-skilled 
     workers. . . . There is . . . the real risk of an economic 
     contraction following a sharp market decline.

  That is Larry Summers, the Clinton Treasury Secretary. Particularly, 
it would discourage hiring, particularly of low-skilled workers, and a 
sharp market decline. So in order to take away employer-sponsored 
insurance from 180 million Americans, Democrats want to kill American 
jobs and bring the economy to a screeching halt.
  Look, I would implore my friends across the aisle to put aside this 
destructive socialism and join us in the current work that needs doing 
right now for the American people. We have a landmark trade agreement 
that needs passing. We have U.S. Armed Forces that need funding. We are 
just waiting on our Democratic colleagues to show up.

                          ____________________