Providing for Congressional Disapproval Under Chapter 8 of Title United States Code, of the Rule Submitted By the Bureau of Land Management Relating to ``Central Yukon Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan''
Floor Speech
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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, we are just over a week into Republicans' shutdown and just over 3 weeks from open enrollment, when massive premium hikes become a stone-cold reality for our families. Yet Republican leaders refuse to sit down and talk with us about addressing both of those challenges.
President Trump and Russ Vought are just openly--gleefully--plotting how they can make this shutdown as painful as possible. House Republicans are not even here for the third week in a row, and Leader Thune has refused to do anything other than vote on the same, failed, partisan CR over and over and over. The clock is ticking. Republicans would rather sit on their hands than sit down at the table.
When we ask to talk about healthcare, the only word that the Republican leader seems to know is ``later.'' Excuse me. But why couldn't we have addressed this challenge any earlier? The Republican leader bent over backward to shovel new tax cuts at billionaires earlier this year. He did not tell CEOs to wait when it came to Republican tax breaks that expire at the end of this year. Why is he telling families now to wait when rates are being set now? when price announcements will be in the mail any day now? and when open enrollment is right around the corner? Why do Republicans want to wait until higher rates are locked in and families are priced out of healthcare? We have to tackle this before those rates are locked.
I have been warning for months about what this will mean for Washington State and for our country. Maybe the Republican leader needs to hear about what this means for his constituents.
In South Dakota, there are 50,000 people who rely on the healthcare tax credits to get their health coverage. On average, those South Dakota families will see their premiums more than triple if Republicans refuse to save the tax credits. These are hard-working families, including many farmers. And it is not just a challenge in South Dakota. Over a quarter of farmers in our country are covered through those exchanges. Do any of my colleagues think we should do nothing while farmers lose their healthcare? Do any of my colleagues want to stand by while families across the country see their premiums double?
You know, we have common ground here, but that doesn't do any good when Republicans refuse--outright refuse--to come to the table and negotiate. It doesn't do a lot of good when House Republicans are out on vacation for the third week in a row. You know, this clock has been ticking all year long, and the time to avoid those massive premiums is just about up. There is no waiting. There is no later. You can either start talking with us now to reopen the government and act to stop premium hikes before the open enrollment or you can talk to your constituents about why you decided to sit on your hands and do diddly- squat as their premiums went through the roof. The choice is yours.
The Democrats are here. We are still at the table. We have always been here. We have never left. We are ready today--today--to work out a serious deal to address the healthcare crisis and reopen the government.
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