Murray: Trumpcare “Is A Gut Punch… It Could Be A Death Sentence”
Murray urges Senate Republicans to abandon “mean” Trumpcare bill, to listen to the millions of people whose lives are at risk if Trumpcare is passed
Murray: “This is a man who knows about mean—from making fun of a reporter with disabilities, to belittling our friend the junior Senator from Florida, to even impugning the Senior Senator from Arizona, a war hero—when President Trump says something is mean—that certainly means something!”
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined Senate Democrats on the Senate floor to highlight just how “mean” the Republican’s Trumpcare bill would be to working families. Despite celebrating with House Republicans after their version of Trumpcare passed, President Trump is now calling the bill “mean” and has asked Senate Republicans to make their version more generous. Instead, the 13 Republican men working on the Senate version of Trumpcare bill behind closed doors are modeling their bill off the House version, which would raise health care costs for families, deny women the ability to receive critical health care at Planned Parenthood, end Medicaid as we know it, throw tens of millions of people off of coverage, and more.
Key excerpts from Senator Murray’s remarks:
“Democrats, patients, and families have been fighting back against Trumpcare and Republican efforts to jam it through Congress for months. So I’d like to take a moment and recall some of the promises President Trump and Republicans made at the very beginning of this process—because there truly is a Grand Canyon between President Trump’s promises and the Trumpcare bill he has now admitted is “mean.” M. President, at the start, President Trump promised to provide “insurance for everybody” that was both cheaper and higher quality. When Trumpcare was introduced in the House, Secretary Price said “no one would be worse off financially” under the law. And when Speaker Ryan was asked whether millions of people would lose their insurance coverage under Trumpcare, he said “no.” Families were told again and again that Trumpcare would lower costs and keep people covered. But, M. President—as we know—Trumpcare would do the exact opposite.”
“M. President, Democrats have come to the Senate floor with story after story about how our constituents would suffer under this legislation. Workers who wouldn’t be able to make ends meet between jobs without losing health insurance. Seniors who know they will go bankrupt if Trumpcare becomes law. Moms who stay up at night worrying about whether their child with a pre-existing will be priced out of coverage. Patients fighting for their lives who are afraid that Trumpcare will kill them—and who are literally begging Congress not to do this. M. President—to these patients and families, President Trump’s decision to finally admit the incredibly obvious—that Trumpcare is “mean”—doesn’t begin to cover it. To them—this bill is a gut punch. It’s the bottom dropping out. It could be a death sentence.”
Full text of Senator Murray’s floor speech, as prepared for delivery:
Thank you.
M. President—I want to thank all of my colleagues for their comments today on the damage Trumpcare would do.
Democrats, patients, and families have been fighting back against Trumpcare and Republican efforts to jam it through Congress for months.
So I’d like to take a moment and recall some of the promises President Trump and Republicans made at the very beginning of this process…
Because there truly is a Grand Canyon between President Trump’s promises and the Trumpcare bill he has now admitted is “mean.”
M. President—at the start, President Trump promised to provide “insurance for everybody” that was both cheaper and higher quality.
When Trumpcare was introduced in the House, Secretary Price said “no one would be worse off financially” under the law.
And when Speaker Ryan was asked whether millions of people would lose their insurance coverage under Trumpcare, he said “no.”
Families were told again and again that Trumpcare would lower costs and keep people covered.
But, M. President—as we know—Trumpcare would do the exact opposite.
It would raise health care costs for people across the country—astronomically for those with pre-existing conditions and for seniors, who could pay as much as 850 percent more in premiums.
Medicaid would be gutted.
Women and men would be unable to get care from providers they trust at Planned Parenthood.
New mothers would pay as much as $1000 more a month just to get maternity care.
Tens of millions of people would see their health care coverage taken away.
I could continue—and I want to be clear that these facts come from the nonpartisan, independent Congressional Budget Office.
But, unfortunately and unsurprisingly, when Trumpcare passed the House, President Trump ignored these facts and doubled down on his broken promises.
He championed Trumpcare—calling it “very, very well crafted.”
He promised to get Trumpcare through the Senate, predicting that it would be an “unbelievable victory.”
And his Secretary of Health and Human Services even called this bill—which, again, would take health care coverage away from 23 million people—a victory for the American people.
Which people, M. President?
Maybe President Trump…
Maybe special interests who would get massive tax breaks…
But not the hundreds of thousands of people in Washington state who are rightly scared of Trumpcare….
Or millions more across the country.
M. President, Democrats have come to the Senate floor with story after story about how our constituents would suffer under this legislation.
Workers who wouldn’t be able to make ends meet between jobs without losing health insurance.
Seniors who know they will go bankrupt if Trumpcare becomes law.
Moms who stay up at night worrying about whether their child with a pre-existing will be priced out of coverage.
Patients fighting for their lives who are afraid that Trumpcare will kill them—and who are literally begging Congress not to do this.
M. President—to these patients and families, President Trump’s decision to finally admit the incredibly obvious—that Trumpcare is “mean”—doesn’t begin to cover it.
To them—this bill is a gut punch. It’s the bottom dropping out. It could be a death sentence.
And this is especially true because—as hard as Senate Republicans have tried to keep their version of Trumpcare secret, behind closed doors, and in back rooms…
As often as some have made promises, just like those President Trump and House Republicans made, to try to reassure their constituents that the Senate version of Trumpcare will somehow be less “mean”…
The truth is, we know that the Senate version of Trumpcare will be just as damaging.
Senate Republican leaders have already admitted that they expect their Trumpcare bill to mirror 80 percent of the House’s.
We have House Conservatives writing letters to Senate Republicans making their demands for even meaner that many Senate Republicans want.
And we all have a good idea how this is going to end up.
M. President—“mean” doesn’t even begin to cover what Trumpcare would do to my constituents in Washington and to people across the country.
But it’s a start.
I haven’t said this often—but I hope Senate Republicans listen to President Trump.
This is a man who knows about mean—from making fun of a reporter with disabilities, to belittling our friend the junior Senator from Florida, to even impugning the Senior Senator from Arizona, a war hero—when President Trump says something is mean—that certainly means something!
So M. President, I hope they think about why he had to make that comment… they realize just how hard it will be to defend this truly appalling legislation—especially after it’s been jammed through Congress hidden from patients and families, without seeing the light of day….
And then, I hope they do what you tell preschoolers to do when they do something mean.
Apologize—and make sure to do better next time.
In Senate Republicans’ case—this means dropping the effort to undermine families’ health care once and for all…
And then joining us to continue fixing health care for the people we serve—by making health care more affordable, getting more families covered, and maintaining quality of care.
Democrats have ideas. We are at the table and ready to get work as soon as Republicans are. It’s not too late to make the right choice.
The wrong choice is far more than mean—and if my Republican colleagues do continue down this deeply harmful path, they should know they will own every bit of the hurt they cause—and they will be held fully accountable.
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