Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I rise to speak in opposition to President Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

In my home State of New York, more than 8 million people have health problems. That is almost half my State. They are living with diabetes. They have had treatment for cancer. They have a childhood disease.

Before the Affordable Care Act became law, if you had a health problem and you needed to see a doctor, health insurance companies were allowed to make you pay much more. The health insurance companies were allowed to turn you away. They were allowed to tell you ``Sorry, you are not profitable for us because you are sick,'' and they did it many times. Let's not forget that included women who were pregnant.

But they can't tell them that anymore because of the Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act made that simple statement illegal.

Now insurance companies must cover you if you are sick. They must cover you if you have had a health problem in the past. And millions of Americans are better off now because of that fact.

So what does this have to do with the Supreme Court? President Trump has made it clear that one of his biggest goals as President is to destroy the Affordable Care Act. He has already tried hard to get Congress to repeal the law, and luckily for us, he failed. He failed because people don't want their health insurance taken away from them. It is really that simple.

Millions of Americans raised their voices and told Congress that if the Affordable Care Act were repealed, they would lose their insurance, and that would be devastating for them and their families. And Congress listened to them.

But now there is a new challenge to the law in Federal court, and the Trump administration is refusing to defend the Affordable Care Act.

When this case makes it to the Supreme Court in a few more years, then the next Supreme Court Justice could be the deciding vote on whether the Affordable Care Act is overturned. That means the next Supreme Court Justice could have the power to decide that insurance companies don't have to cover patients anymore if they have a health problem. He could have the power to decide that insurance companies don't have to cover you or your child anymore if your child is sick.

Healthcare costs in my State have already skyrocketed because of the fact that the Trump administration has attacked this law over and over again. But repealing the law would be absolutely devastating to so many families. More than 8 million New Yorkers could lose their health insurance or pay more for their coverage. So would millions more all across the country. I am very concerned that is exactly what Judge Kavanaugh would do if he were given this opportunity.

Just look at his record. When Judge Kavanaugh had a case before him that was attacking another part of the Affordable Care Act, he dissented in the case, and he said that even though the Affordable Care Act requires employers to cover birth control medicines for their workers, they shouldn't have to do it if they don't want to. He even took it so far as to say that if the President doesn't like a law--if the President doesn't like a law--then the President could ignore the law and ignore the courts.

Listen to this one opinion. This will interest the Presiding Officer, I am sure. Tell me if you think this is sound judicial judgment. He wrote: ``Under the Constitution, the President may decline to enforce a statute that regulates private individuals when the President deems the statute unconstitutional, even if a court has held or would hold the statute constitutional.''

Anyone with the most basic understanding of how the constitutional system of government works in this country knows that this is not what our Founding Fathers intended.

If this judge is confirmed, then there is a dangerously high likelihood that he will strike down the Affordable Care Act.

We must not go back to the days when an insurance company could charge a person more just because they have health problems. We cannot go back to the days when an insurance company could say no to a patient because they could say: You are just not going to make us enough money.

We must listen to our constituents--listen to the millions of men, women, and children all across this country who need access to basic healthcare, and they cannot afford to lose their insurance.

We must reject this nominee.

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