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[Page S5901]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUPREME COURT NOMINATIONS
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on SCOTUS, it is for this President that
Senate Republicans are now rushing through a Supreme Court nominee
nearly days before a national election. A Republican majority that once
argued the American people should be given a voice in the selection of
their next Supreme Court Justice is planning to confirm a nominee in
the middle of an election that is already underway. You could not
design a scenario that would more fully expose the Republicans' double
standard than this one. Of greater concern to the American people is
how the rush by Senate Republicans to confirm this nominee will put
their healthcare at risk.
Now, yesterday, the Republican leader actually mocked the idea that a
far-right Supreme Court majority might strike down the ACA and that
Judge Barrett's judicial philosophy might play a part in that. ``What a
joke,'' Senator McConnell said, that Justice Barrett might pose any
risk to Americans' healthcare.
I guess Judge Barrett must have been joking when she publicly
criticized Justice Roberts for upholding the Affordable Care Act. It
must have been with a sarcastic flick of the pen when she wrote that
the Supreme Court would ``have had to invalidate'' the law if it had
read the statute the way she does.
I will tell you what: This is not a joke to the American people. This
is not a joke to the 20 million Americans who could lose their health
insurance if the ACA is struck down--not a joke to the parents of a
child who has cancer and who would have to watch helplessly as their
child suffers if the protections for preexisting conditions are struck
down; not a joke to the millions of Americans on Medicare, whose drug
prices would soar; not a joke to women across the country who could,
once again, be charged more for health insurance than men, denied
maternity care, and free access to birth control.
The only joke here is the Republican leader's desperate attempt to
pretend that his President, his party, and their Supreme Court nominee
pose no threat to our Nation's healthcare law--the same Senate leader
who did everything he could on the floor of this Senate to repeal the
ACA.
President Trump said he will pick Supreme Court nominees who will
``terminate the Affordable Care Act.'' His administration is in court
right now, suing to eliminate it. Senate Republicans tried to repeal
the law and replace it with nothing. The Republicans' lawsuit against
the Affordable Care Act will be heard by the Supreme Court during the
week after the election. There is a reason the Republicans are
scrambling to fill this seat so quickly, and Judge Barrett, when the
ACA was challenged in major litigation, twice before--twice--sided
against the law.
So, if the Republican leader believes that the Democrats are raising
unfounded fears about healthcare, will he urge the plaintiffs to drop
their lawsuit against the ACA? Will Leader McConnell urge the Justice
Department not to spend taxpayer dollars in trying to eliminate the
taxpayers' healthcare?
Normally these questions would be rhetorical, but yesterday I filed a
procedural motion that will set up a vote on a bill that would protect
the healthcare of hundreds of millions of Americans and prevent efforts
by the Department of Justice--Donald Trump's Department of Justice--to
advocate that courts strike down the Affordable Care Act. Leader
McConnell and all of my Republican colleagues will have to vote on that
shortly. Let me repeat. Leader McConnell and all of my Republican
colleagues will have to vote very soon on whether the Senate should
consider a bill to protect Americans with preexisting conditions. With
that vote, we will see just how much of a joke it is that Senate
Republicans and their Supreme Court nominees want to eliminate
Americans' healthcare.
I yield the floor.
____________________
