Making Continuing Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2014 -- Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, about 4 years ago I mounted a campaign right here on the Senate floor against a bill that would come to be known as ObamaCare. Nearly every day we were in session, I spoke about the dangers of this bill for individuals, for families, for businesses, and the very character of our country. I predicted that it would be a complete disaster and that anyone who voted for it would come to regret it because the promises that were being made about ObamaCare could not possibly be kept. And guess what happened. These predictions are all coming true.

ObamaCare has not even been fully implemented yet, but we can already see the train wreck headed our way. Premiums are skyrocketing. Major companies have been dropping the health care plans their employees have and like. And every week it seems there are new reports about glitches that will hurt families, compromise personal information, or expose the American people to fraud--all of which helps explain why even some of the bill's fiercest early backers are looking for an escape hatch.

But there is only one escape hatch that will fully help those trapped by this law, and that is full repeal. That is why I am supporting the House-passed CR. Not only does it defund this terrible law, it does not increase government spending by a penny, and it keeps the government from shutting down, which nobody wants. It does something else--and this is really important--it puts the focus right where it belongs: on the Democrats who voted for and continue to support ObamaCare. Once we invoke cloture, the focus will then turn to our friends on the other side of the aisle, the Senate Democrats. The majority leader is counting on his Democratic allies to amend the bill. He can only afford to lose four Democrats--just four--if he wants to restore funding for ObamaCare. So if five Senate Democrats vote against the majority leader, ObamaCare will be defunded. That is a vote we should have and in all likelihood will have.

Democrats have been hearing the same complaints about ObamaCare that the rest of us have. The spotlight--the spotlight--really should be on them. This is a rare opportunity to defund the law with a simple majority--a simple majority to defund ObamaCare. We should have that vote. I just do not happen to think filibustering a bill that defunds ObamaCare is the best route to defunding ObamaCare. All it does is shut down the government and keep ObamaCare funded. And none of us want that. That would be the results of filibustering.

Four years ago every Democrat voted for this bill and had the excuse that they did not know how it would turn out. Well, they do not have that excuse now. I think we deserve to know where they stand now. Four years ago every Senate Democrat worked to jam this bill through the Senate, over the loud objections of their constituents. As the implementation of this law proceeds, their constituents remain just as angry about it, and it is important for their Senators to go on record once again. We are giving them a do-over--a second chance, if you will. Do they stand with the people of their States, who do not want this law to be implemented, or did they double down on this failed experiment? That is the question.

Everybody knows where Republicans stand on this issue. We may be divided on some things. We may not always agree on tactics. But on the question of repealing ObamaCare, we are totally united.

This law should be defunded. That is what the House bill does. That is why I plan to support it. But if we are going to repeal ObamaCare, we are going to need some Democratic votes to do that. That is the only plan I have seen in this debate that will actually get us to our common goal of undoing the law.

For the sake of our constituents, we need to unite to achieve it. So this morning I would like to make a plea to our friends on the other side: Join us in taking it off the books and replacing it with the kind of commonsense, step-by-step reforms that lower costs and that Americans will actually embrace.

I yield the floor.

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