Schumer Floor Remarks on Senator McCain, Republican Healthcare Legislation, Carrier Plant Layoffs, and the Nomination of John K. Bush

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today delivered remarks on the Senate floor regarding news of Senator John McCain’s recent health diagnosis, the current state of Senate Republicans’ healthcare legislation, the Carrier plant announcement of over 300 layoffs, and the nomination of John K. bush to be United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit. Below are his remarks:

Well, Mr. President, first on a sad note, but one always of hope when it comes to Senator McCain -- his cancer diagnosis sent a shock wave through the Senate last night. He’s one of my dear friends, he’s a dear friend to many in this body – and from the bottom of my heart I wish him and his family well. So does every member of this chamber. The respect that this man has is broad and deep, both based on his service to America and on what he has done here in this chamber.  

I agree with what the Majority Leader said earlier: John McCain is an American hero. There’s no one who has done more to serve his country in this chamber than Senator McCain. There’s no one who is more passionate in defense of our soldiers and our defense than Senator McCain. And I want to say, that same courage he showed as a soldier he showed here in the Senate.

Senator McCain and I lead a group to deal with immigration reform. He had to take so many tough positions to do what was right – he was fearless. His word was good, he was good at compromising, and he was good at making his views known. And that bill, which passed this body with 67 or 68 votes, a large number of Democrats and Republicans, had it become law, our country’s economy would have been better, our security would have been better because it was so tough on the border, we would have been a better place for it, having that bill passed.

But the point I wanted to make is not the bill, but how McCain, we were in rooms for hours and hours day after day, and you got to see the mettle of the man, and boy, the more you knew him, the better he looked – the better he was.               

So we know that against this new battle, Senator McCain will fight in the only way he knows how – with every fiber of his being. We wish him well, our prayers are for him and his family, we hope he joins us very soon. Because this country needs John McCain now more than ever.                                                

Now, Mr. President, on the issue of healthcare.

President Trump yesterday seemed intent on pushing forward the Republicans’ failing healthcare plan with a vote sometime early next week.

We’ve been on the topic of healthcare for 7 months – still not sure which version of the Republican plan we’ll be voting on.

Will it be repeal and replace? Will we be voting on the Senate bill that would cause 22 million Americans to lose their coverage; that would cause costs to go up and care to go down; the bill with the Cruz amendment that would “annihilate the preexisting condition requirement” quoting my friend Senator Grassley?

Or will it repeal without replace, which would cause our healthcare system to implode, creating chaos…which would cause millions to lose insurance and millions more to have their coverage diminished?

The CBO confirmed last night that repeal without replace would cause 32 million Americans, that’s about a tenth of the country, to lose their insurance and cause premiums to double – DOUBLE after 10 years.

It was a horrible idea in January and rejected wisely by our Republican colleagues. We weren’t involved, the door was closed on us on January 4th. It’s a horrible idea now.

So, will that be the focus next week? Or will it be a new bill with more money thrown in, as some suggested? The same core bill – devastating cuts to Medicaid, tax breaks for the wealthy and the special interests, the cruel Cruz amendment – and an extra $200 billion slush fund thrown in? Is that going to be the bill?

We Democrats don’t know what our Republican friends are planning to vote on next week. I’ll bet many Republicans don’t know yet either. What we do know is that a $200 billion slush fund tacked onto a bill that would gut Medicaid and other services by well over a trillion dollars is like putting an old Band-Aid on a bullet wound.

$200 billion in addition funding would only offset 17% of the bill’s total cuts to coverage. It wouldn’t come close, anywhere close, to covering the wound the Republicans are inflicting on Medicaid: on Americans in nursing homes, on Americans in rural areas, on those suffering from opioid addiction.

It just won’t work. And repeal without replace is even worse. All of the options are horrible options for the Republican Party, but more importantly, horrible options for the American people.

So it’s time to start over. It’s time for our Republican colleagues to drop this failed approach and work with Democrats on actually improving our healthcare system. They closed the door on us January 4th in passing something called reconciliation, which basically says ‘we don’t need Democrats we’ll do it yourselves.’ Let them open the door now that they have seen that their failed approach doesn’t work.

I outlined three specific, non-ideological proposals yesterday that we could work on together right now to stabilize the marketplaces and help bring down premiums. I believe they’d pass quickly.

My Republican friends don’t seem to know what to do – my suggestion is to drop these failed ideas and work with Democrats on the commonsense, non-ideological solutions we Democrats have offered.

And one more point. I’ve heard some of my colleagues say that they may vote for the Motion to Proceed next week because they’re in favor of “debate.” I’d remind them the rules under reconciliation only allow for 20 hours of debate equally divided between the parties. One minute of debate allowed per amendment. That’s not debate.

The idea that you’d vote on the Motion to Proceed in order to have a healthcare “debate” is absurd. If any of my colleagues want to debate healthcare, they should vote NO on the Motion to Proceed and urge their Leader to hold a REAL debate – in committees, in public hearings, on the floor, through regular order, a process they’ve spurned for 7 months – not 10 hours for each party, one minute per amendment on such an important proposals.

That’s not a debate, it is the legislative equivalent of “Beat the Clock” – and this is serious business, the health and welfare of the American people, not some gameshow.

Now, Mr. President, just as the Administration is flailing on healthcare, they’re flailing on trade and outsourcing as well.

I read today the Administration failed to secure any concessions from China on their dumping of excess steel and aluminum in our markets, which is killing jobs in my state and in many others.            

And today, the Carrier plant that President-elect Trump tweeted about saving jobs just laid off over 300 workers in Indiana, moving their positions to Mexico exactly six months to the day since President Trump took office. It’s a shame we’re losing these good-paying American jobs.                               

Despite all of the President’s tough talk on trade, and his Commerce Secretary’s vaunted “100 days of trade talks” plan, the loss of these jobs shows that, in six months, the Trump Administration has been unable to actually deliver results on trade.

With the exception of the first U.S. beef shipment to China, which was the result of an agreement that President Obama helped broker before the end of his term, the Trump Administration has made few inroads in reducing our trade deficit or making it easier for our companies to compete abroad.

It’s all well and good to tweet about a few hundred jobs saved at the Carrier plant, as the President-elect did last December, and I’m glad he saved them, but as President, you actually have to take strong action. Not go to one plant, but you need policies that will protect millions of workers from the rapacious policies of China and other countries. “Making American Great Again” requires more than 140 characters per issue.

The 338 jobs leaving Carrier today are a reminder that, when it comes to actual substance and policy, the Trump Administration has done very little to change the game on trade to keep jobs in the United States.               

Another broken promise to the American worker.

Finally, Mr. President, I’d like to reiterate my remarks from yesterday on the nomination of John Bush to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Many of my colleagues have been down to the floor here, expressing just how distressing and damaging this nomination will be. His extreme record demonstrates that John Bush simply doesn’t have the temperament to be an impartial federal judge, the very least our system requires. 

So once again I urge my colleagues to oppose his confirmation.

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