Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, today, President Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court will be making the rounds in the Senate. I will be meeting with him this afternoon. Several members of the Judiciary Committee will be meeting with him over the course of today and the rest of the week, as will some other Members.

I hope he comes prepared to answer direct questions about his writings, speeches, opinions, and judicial philosophy. The nominee has weighed in on a number of legal issues publicly and in his role as a circuit judge. There is little reason why he should be unable to answer direct questions about his judicial philosophy, his record, and already decided cases.

I also hope that he is willing to shed some light in the areas in his record that remain opaque. The Senate and the public have been able to see only a tiny fraction of the nominee's extensive written record because, unfortunately, the Republican majority continues to block access to the great bulk of these documents. I will ask our Republicans: What are they hiding?

We did make a little progress last night after the Parliamentarian ruled that the rules of the Senate allow every Senator to see the committee documents. Chairman Grassley graciously agreed that any committee member could see them without muss or fuss. So we very much appreciate that.

The next Supreme Court Justice, whether it is Judge Kavanaugh or not, will have immense influence over the lives of every American for generations to come. Most Americans think this is sort of an abstract or political argument. It is not.

The actual rulings of Kavanaugh will affect just about everyone's life in America in very significant and material ways. The next Supreme Court Justice may someday determine whether the President must comply with a duly issued subpoena. The next Supreme Court Justice may someday soon determine whether Americans with preexisting conditions will be able to afford healthcare. The next justice someday soon may determine just how much States can restrict a woman's constitutionally guaranteed right to make her own medical decisions, to say nothing about labor rights, civil rights, voting rights, environmental protections, and more.

All of these things, part of the wellspring of America, are affected by the Supreme Court's rulings. As we know, Judge Kavanaugh will be a crucial vote on just about every one of those issues with the 4-to-4 division on the court today.

Judge Kavanaugh, in his meetings with Senators today and the days ahead, has a responsibility--a responsibility--not to duck, not to hide behind false legal shibboleths or say: Oh, I just can't discuss this; a case might come before me. He has a responsibility to inform the Senate as to his beliefs and philosophy so that the Senate can conduct its constitutional duty to advise and consent. Healthcare

Madam President, on another matter, it seems that every day we read about a new danger to our healthcare system caused by President Trump and his party in Congress. Only a few days ago, it was announced that the court case that concerns the constitutionality of protections for Americans with preexisting conditions, Texas v. United States, will begin on September 5.

Remember, President Trump's Justice Department has refused to defend protections for preexisting conditions in court. What an abomination. Just about every American has someone in their family--many in their immediate family--who has an illness. Someone might have diabetes. Someone might have asthma and, God forbid, something worse. Those are preexisting conditions. That family will not be able to get health insurance. That family risks that their present insurance will expire and they will not get anything new.

This administration is trying to take away that protection so important to so many Americans. That is what is happening, so Senators Manchin and Casey have introduced a resolution asking the Senate legal counsel to step in to defend the law since the administration will not. I hope we get a vote on that resolution soon. I don't see how anyone couldn't be for it.

Sadly, the Justice Department's decision to abandon protections for preexisting conditions is far from the only example of President Trump's repeated sabotage of our healthcare system. Over and over again, he has tried to undo the healthcare Americans have without even understanding what he is really doing.

On day one, President Trump issued an Executive order aimed at the healthcare law. It was the very first thing he did. He then proposed legislation with congressional Republicans to repeal the healthcare law, devastate Medicaid, and eliminate protections for tens of millions of people with preexisting conditions. That failed, but congressional Republicans managed to repeal the coverage requirement in their tax bill, of all places, and put nothing in its place, causing unnecessary premium increases across the country.

Americans know, as their premium increases gallop upward, that it is Republicans in the Senate and President Trump in the White House who have caused this to happen. Now he continues to do that. He has expanded the availability of junk insurance plans that bait Americans in with lowest rates while providing only the flimsiest of coverage.

Again, if these junk insurance plans become the law, the rule, the mode, so many people will lose their ability to protect themselves when they have preexisting conditions.

These actions by President Trump, aided, abetted, and encouraged by congressional Republicans who either agreed with him or failed to challenge him meaningfully, have had devastating results for so many Americans.

Premiums have risen by double digits in a bunch of States, the direct result of Republican sabotage. And the insurers themselves--they are the ones who have raised the rates, but they say: Hey, it is Republicans in the House, Senate, and the White House who are causing it. Those insurance industries don't tend to favor Democrats, but they have to protect themselves and their clients.

Prescription drug costs continue to rise. After promising tough action on prescription drugs, the President and congressional Republicans have hardly lifted a finger. The United States is now last--dead last--among industrialized nations in maternal mortality. The United States is the only industrialized country in the world with rising maternal mortality rates. Despite all of our advances in genetics, nutrition, and surgery, the United States is getting worse at caring for mothers. We should hang our heads in shame about that. We should do something about it.

Come on, Republican colleagues. Your voters are no different from our voters and independent voters. They care about good healthcare at an affordable cost. Please, do something about it. Join us.

But instead of grappling with these problems and proposing solutions, President Trump and congressional Republicans just launch attack after attack after attack on our healthcare system, particularly women's health. That worked in the 2016 campaign because they said that they had a plan to replace it with something better. No plan--no plan emerged. And it is not working for them now. It is just not working for them.

The American people overwhelmingly prefer Democrats to Republicans on healthcare, and healthcare is the No. 1 issue in State after State after State. So for their own political benefit, Republicans in the Senate and in the House ought to wake up--wake up--because the old playbook that may have worked in 2014 and 2016 when you weren't in charge--it was a Democratic President and a Democratic Senate for part of that time--ain't no more. You are in charge, and you put nothing in its place--nothing. There is just negativity.

In poll after poll after poll, the American people say that healthcare is the No. 1 issue. They don't want to go back to a time before we offered protections for Americans with preexisting conditions. They don't want to go back to a time when insurance companies charged women and seniors and older Americans more for the same exact coverage. They don't want to go back to a time when insurance companies could deny maternity care, mental health treatment, prescription drug coverage, and more, but that is where President Trump and our Republican colleagues want to take us. I say to all those blue- collar folks who voted for President Trump: He promised you better healthcare. Is he delivering it? Go look at your bills. Go look at healthcare. If he is not, maybe you will help bring some change to Washington--real change--so that your healthcare costs will be lower and your healthcare will improve.

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