vladimir putin and he and i always have not businesslike relationship and -- >> on c-span2 our regular scheduled senate coverage gets underway momentarily. you can continue to watch this on line. we will show all of it later our program schedule and you can find all of the online at c-span.org. the u.s. senate is about to gavel in. at 1:45 eastern a confirmation vote on the nomination of the new secretary of health and human services and after that the confirmation of a new peace corps director. we take you live to the senate floor on c-span2. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal spirit, your ways are right. make your face to shine upon us and keep us under the shelter of

your wings. thank you for the life that stirs within us and for our bright and beautiful world. lord, the works of your hands bring us joy, creating in us a desire to bless your name. today fill the hearts of our senators with praise and peace, as they seek to accomplish your purposes. give them wings of faith to rise above the challenges that keep them tethered to sectarian prarl sis. provide them with everything they need

to live a life that glorifies you. and, lord, we thank you for your gifted senate pages who faithfully serve you and country. we pray in your great name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of ahi janes. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., june 5, 2014.

to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable john e. walsh, a senator from the state of montana, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to calendar number 384, the hagueen sportsmen's act. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: motion to proceed to s. 2363, a bill to protect and enhance opportunities for recreational hunting, fish, and shooting and for other purposes. mr. reid: following my remarks and those of the republican leader, senate flb a period of morning business until 1:45 today. the majority will control the first 30 minutes, the republicans the final 30 minutes. at 1:45, the senate will proceed to executive session to conduct at least one roll call voavment there will be a vote on confirmation of sylvia burwell

for secretary of health and human services, then a vote on carolyn hessler radelet. we hope to confirm the radelet nomination by voice. s. 2267 is at the detect for the second reading. the clerk: s. 2432, a bill to amend the higher education act of 1965 to provide for the refinancing of certain federal student loans and for other purposes. mr. reid: i would object to any further proceedings with respect to this legislation. at this time. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the bill will be placed on the damplet. mr. reid: mr. president, i'm aware this aof the remarks that i am about to make in recognition of the presiding officer, who has, prior to

coming to this body, led hundreds of troops into iraq during some of the most difficult combat that any group of soldiers faced during that conflict. when i first came to the senate, we had lots of combat veterans. mr. president, that's changed. over the years quite remarkably. we all look to senator mccain as someone who certainly understands what it means to be in a conflict in a war, but, mr. president, things have changed since we lost medal of honor winners and in a way by virtue of his passing bob query as a result of his retearing -- bob kerrey as a result of his retiring, fritz hollings, ted

stevens flew airplanes into the far east, a dedicated and heroic pilot, and lots of other people. there aren't many people left today. that's why i focus attention on the presiding officer today because you are a representative of the best of the people who fight for freedom. mr. president, on june 6, 1944, president franklin roosevelt began his national radio address in a very unusual way, one not entirely common then or now, because the commander in chief, the president the united states, asked the in he were to join him in prayer. why did he do that? his prayer was not for himself but for the 156,000 allied soldiers who, as he spoke, were fighting on the beaches of normandy.

as he implored the american people on behalf of those soldiers, he said, and i quote, "they will be sore tried by night and by day, without rest until the victory is huang. the darkness will be rent by noise and flame, men's souls will be jiang with the violences of war. for these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. they fight not for the lust of conquest. they fight to end conquest. they fight to liberate." that was part of his request that the american people pray for these gallant soldiers. and of course while this battle for europe was going on throughout the south pacific people were dying as he spoke. mr. president, virtually all of the troops who stormed the beaches of france that day were not professional soldiers. there were schoolteachers, farmers, ranchers, mechanics,

clerks. these fathers, husbands, sons and brothers were pulled away from their peaceful lives and were sent to liberate an entire continent. they fought courageously, hurled themselves in the line of fire to defeat tyranny. mr. president, we can probably all look back at people who fought in world war ii. they were our relatives, our neighbors, and i mention add few that i served here with in the senate. mr. president, from the little town that i came from in nevada, searchlight, there was a man there named junior cree. his name is junior cree. that was his given name. as i grew up there as a little boy, he had a service station, a little bar. he did number of different things. he was an entrepreneur, as was

his dad. many years after i was no longer a little boy, he came to my home in searchlight. he wanted to see my new home. and junior and i sat and talked with his daughter sandy. and i asked him, junior, what did you do in the invasion of normandy? and he proceeded to tell me. he at this time was an 80-year-old man. he told me he had fought in the north african conflict first. he was in the infantry. he was on not the first wave to go into the beaches, but he was in one of the first. they were on an amphibious vehicle, about 35s-40 people on one of them. he had a rifle, of course. but his job was to carry signs

-- he was a big man. he instructions what to do with the signs to designate what they were and what they were supposed to do. well, the water was much deeper than anyone said and this man, well over 6 foot, went right to the bottom and nearly drowned because she is signs were so heavy. he made it onto the beach and found security under a damaged halftrack, i think he called it. and he was shot in the rear end, and that ended his military adventures during world war ii. these people were every place, mr. president. junior cree was one of 156,000 people who went on those beaches. they were all heroes. they were all people just like junior cree. they fought courageously for liberty. as i've indicate, h he had theyd themselves into the line of

fire. can you imagine going on to the beach with the machine gun fire coming down on torture you. tomorrow is the anniversary of d-day. that day when 156,000 heroic soldiers turned tide against adolf hitler's savagery and unshackled the ravages of europe. this afternoon about 10 or 11 senators are going to go to the anniversary being which is held on the beaches of normandy. president obama will be there, world leaders will be there, and i appreciate those senators going and representing the united states senate. as well the presiding officer. mr. president, the proof of these soldiers' bravery can be seen in faraway france today, every day. not just for this celebration

that's going to take place recognizing the anniversary of this conflict. every day. because there's massive graves all over there, all over europe. these seemingly endless rows of white headstons, crosses and stars of david are reminders of the debt we owe. adolf hitler's nazis were evil. so, mr. presidentificatio mr. ps honor their sacrifice and never forget the price they paid to protect not only this nation but the entire world. mr. president, i'd ask consent that my statements that i'm tbg tstatements that i amgoing to ma separate enates record. officer sphe without objection. mr. reid: one of the ways we honor the soldiers who have defends democracy is to care for our veterans. as we celebrate the anniversary of d-day, it is fitting that 34e78members of this body are wn

a bipartisan basis to ensure that american veterans get the chemical weapon they need and deserve. in light of the disturbing reports and inappropriate practices at the department of veterans afairks chairman bernie sanders of the veterans' affairs committee sledding efforts to craft a bill to improve current v.a. hospitals. i applaud his efforts. i applaud the efforts of senator mccain. as we speak they're meeting to try to come up with some bipartisan solution to the problems of wait time at v.a. facilities. i am hopeful that an agreement will be reached that guarantees american veterans are receiving the care we as a grateful nation have promised. it's the least we can do. for these gallant men and women who have fought to prk our great country. -- to protect our great country.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: tomorrow marks the 70th anniversary of the invasion of normandy, a day known across the world as d-day. on this fateful day which approved to be such a decisive turning point for the allies' victory in europe, thousands of allied forces were killed or wounded in the invasion. while we are sadly losing more and more members of the greatest generation with each passing year, including the last of the original navajo code talkers who we lost just yesterday, the heroism of these brave americans can never be forgotten. mr. president, i have one constituent, bob williams, from

boon county, kentucky, who juched to d-day, who jumped again 50 years later and was on the front cover of "time" magazine. i saw him earlier this year and he said he's not going to jump again because his wife won't let him. but bob williams is still in good shape 70 years after the day he jumped into the night at d-day. so so tomorrow i'll be honored to commemorate the most important anniversary by meeting with a number of kentucky heroes, veterans from world war ii and the korean war, who will be visiting the national monuments here in the nation's capital to honor their service and sacrifice. they will be making a trip with the help of the bluegrass chapter of the honor flight program which has already brought more than 1,000 veterans, mostly from kentucky, to washington for this very purpose. the program provides

transportation, lodging and food for veterans. without honor flight, many of them would never be able to visit a world war ii memorial, a memorial erected to honor the sacrifice of the men and women who served on d-day and throughout that era. i've met with groups of honor flight veterans before, and it's always a moving experience. it's gratifying to see these heroes receive the recognition they deserve. many of them never thought they'd be able to make the trip. and for every veteran who does, i'm sure they hold cherished memories of their fellow soldiers in arms who did not. so tomorrow i look forward to greeting them and thanking them for their extraordinary service to our country. i'm proud and honored that kentucky is home to so many of these brave, brave heroes. now, on another matter, mr. president, today the senate will vote on president obama's newest choice to head the

department of health and human services. in other words, the person he'll be sticking with the impossible task of trying to make obamacare work. by most accounts, sylvia burwell is a smart and skilled public servant but her embrace of obamacare calls her policy judgment into question. and when it comes to the task of implementing this ill-conceived and disastrous law, the president may as well have nominated sisyphus, because as i indicated ms. burwell has been asked to do the impossible here. obamacare has already inflicted tremendous pain on the lives of countless, countless middle-class americans, including many thousands in my home state. it's increasing cost for families all across the country despite endless promises to the contrary. it's reduced access to doctors and to hospitals my constituents relied on despite endless promises to the contrary. and it's caused kentuckians to

lose the plans they like and wanted to keep despite endless promises to the contrary. like a constituent of mine from pulaski county. this constituent wrote to tell me that as a result of obamacare, he lost his insurance and that he was floored -- floored -- when he saw the cost of the obamacare-approved plan to replace it. with the spike in his premium and a $6,300 deductible, he wrote to ask me how he or any working man could afford the affordable care act. he makes an important point. nearly every major obamacare promise from several years ago is a broken -- a broken -- obamacare promise today. even more recent promises from the administration can't be relied on either. in january, the secretary certified to congress that she would ver n.i.h. people were -- she would verify people were actually eligible for obamacare subsidies before they were sent

out. in recent weeks we learned from media accounts and testimony that many of the systems needed to protect taxpayers against inaccurate or fraudulent payments still have not been built, tested or used. and yesterday we learned that nearly one in four applications may have an inconsistency that could affect the accuracy of these payments from american taxpayers. any wasted tax dollars is a problem, but when you consider many of these are dollars raised from tax increases or raided from medicare to make payouts by mistake or through fraud, it's enough to make your head spin. this is why you have just the ks is just the kind of thing everybody warned about while washington democrats tried to ram this law through and it will only get worse if we give up now and just accept the giant mess they've made of our health care. i mean if they can't even get a web site fixed after spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, how can they possiblely

regulate such a huge sector of our economy in an effective way? how can any administration official possibly repair all the broken obamacare promises? the question answers itself. they can't. the nominee before us can't. no one can. the problem is the law itself. obamacare is what prevents the successful implementation of obamacare. and americans don't want it. they want real health reforms, reforms that can actually lower costs, increase choice and help the middle class. so in my view, the senate should be focusing on a new captain for the titanic. it should focus on steering away from the iceberg. as h.h.s. secretary, the nominee would oversee many important programs aimed at probing public health -- at protecting public

health, promoting medical research and providing a safety net for seniors and working families. but she'd also be the chief operating officer of obamacare implementation, a law that's doing incredible, incredible damage to middle-class families in our country. and her embrace of this disastrous law is reason enough to oppose her confirmation. so i'll be voting against this nominee because i think we need to focus on repealing and replacing this law, not trying to do the impossible by pretending we can make it work. now, mr. president, on a totally different matter, i rise to mourn the loss and celebrate the life of one brave soldier from

kentucky who has died while serving his country. staff sergeant christopher t. stout of worthville, a chaplain's assistant, was killed on july 13, 2010, in kandahar city, afghanistan, from wounds suffered when the enemy attacked his unit with rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. he was 34 years old. for his service in uniform sergeant stout received several medals, awards and decorations including the bronze star medal, the purple heart, two army commendation medals, the army achievement medal, three army good conduct medals, the national defense service medal, two afghanistan campaign medals with bronze service stars, the global war on terrorism service medal, the army service ribbon,

the overseas service ribbon, the nato medal and the combat action badge. staff sergeant stout's commanding officer, chaplain captain voldick fou said this of his fallen comrade. he was not just a chaplain assistant. he was my friend, brother and shield of armor. his immensely sheer love for his fellow paratroopers epitomized the spirit of the army chaplain corps. his love for his wife misty and three princesses -- jacqueline audrianna and christen -- always kept a radiant smile on his face. his hometown pastor, of worthville united methodist

church added chris was a good boy all the way around, faithful to his church, faithful to his family and his wife. chris was born on knew tph*u year's day -- born on new year's day 1976. his mother remembers chris' childhood fondly. we had some hard times because i was a single parent, but those things just brought us closer together, she says. our song name was "you and me against the world." i remember you used to want name-brand things that we couldn't afford, so you went to work in an elderly woman's flower garden, sharon continues. you weeded, painted and mowed lawns to get money for those name-brand things. in doing so, you learned it isn't the clothes or the shoes that make the man, but who you are as a person that makes a great man. chris was an accomplished singer and often preached the gospel at worthville united pentecostal

church. he joined the army in 1997 and originally served as a parachute rigor with the 782nd main support battalion at fort bragg, north carolina. in september of 2006, at his request, he was reclassified as a chaplain's assistant. from 2007 to 2008 he deployed to headquarters 102nd airborne division until he was reassigned fourth brigade combat team 82nd airborne division based out of fort bragg. it is with this unit that chris deployed to afghanistan for what would be his final deployment. in late july of 2010, shortly after he was killed, his family, friends and those who wished to pay his respects gathered at the veterans memorial in general butler state park in carrollton, kentucky, to remember

christopher stout. daughter jacqueline stout sang "amazing grace" in his honor to a crowd of nearly 500. chaplain lieutenant colonel david graffs told the crowd that chris lived by the chaplain's motto. prodio et kadria, latin for the phrase for god and country. others spoke. he is a hero, the reverend suren said of chris. he said an example for the kwrupl -- young people today. chris stood for the truth. he lived it, he talked it. with that, the crowd stood at respectful attention to the firing of the three-volley salute by the american legion post number 41 followed by a bugler playing taps then the

carroll county executive unveiled a brick to be played in the veterans memorial to honor his sacrifice. thank you, chris, says his mother sharon. you gave your all. i hope my mind stays healthy so that i will always have my memories of your smiling blue eyes, your warm smile, those dimples and freckles, and our time of you and me against the world. those will have to do me until we meet again at heaven's gates. we're thinking of chris' family today as i share this story with my colleagues, including his wife misty, his daughters jacqueline, aud r*euanna and christen, his parents and many other beloved family members and friends. i want them to know that this united states senate is privileged to pay tribute to staff sergeant christopher t. stout for his life of service and honor of the eye -- of the

ideals for god and country. we recognize his service and honor his ultimate sacrifice. he truly was a man of god who died defending his country. kentucky is proud to call this good and faithful servant one of our own, and we mourn his loss. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 1:45 p.m. with senators permitted to speak therein up to ten minutes each, with the time equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first 30 minutes and the republicans controlling the second 30 minutes. mr. carper: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. carp while senator mcconnell is -- mr. carper: while senator

mcconnell is still here in the chamber, i want to follow up on his comments about the loss of christopher stout. my wife and i have a son of our own named christopher. he is roughly ten years younger than christopher stout at his death. and so, as soon as senator mcconnell began talking about the loss of his life, it resonated with me as a father. it also resonated with me as a commander chief in the national guard for eight years and as a navy veteran who served three tours in southeast asia in the vietnam war. sometimes we don't focus enough on what is being accomplished by our service men and women like christopher stout and their service to our country in afghanistan. and our purpose there, our role has been to go into a place in which 9/11 attacks were conceived and guided, killed

thousands of americans. our purpose is as we draw down on our troops there, to at the end of this year to be down to about 9,800 troops and roughly about a year from now, and even fewer in the years to come. but our goal is really threefold, and that is when we leave, we leave behind not only a place that's less likely to foment and launch attacks against this country or any other country, but also we leave behind a country that can feed itself, defend itself, and govern itself. the presiding officer was ajo tant general for the state, understands the importance of the role that has been played. i'd also hasten to add in following up on the minority leader's comments, there are

some things that we had in the military -- as a p3 aircraft naval officer and there were some things that we had in the military that frankly a lot of people haven't had for too many years. until last year about 40 million people in this country did not have health care. they did not have access to health care. and we have changed that. we have changed that dramatically. does everybody has access to affordable health care today? no, but we no longer have 40 million people anxious to get access to health care. it's been cut to roughly a quarter. we're going to reduce it again this year and again next year. but among the things that we wed in the military is an annual physical. my birthday month is january. my first annual physical was at,

i think, 17, and i got them every year after that. a lot of people in this country, including people on medicare, they could have lived to be 105 and until about three years ago with the option of the affordable care act, they go to one annual physical paid for by medicare, when they turned 65 and joined medicare. that was it. it was called "welcome to medicare physical." they could have lived another 40 years. the reason why the military provides physicals for its members, active member and rerks is in order to catch health problems when they're treatable. we do this to save money. i served at military bases all over the country, all over the world. and at almost every one of them, there was a place to go to if you had a problem. if you needed medical attention, you could get it -- a clinic. today we have thousands,

thousands of clinics all over this country where people, whether they have 5 cents or 50 cents, they can go and get primary health care. they can get primary health care. and we have grown dramatically access to people for primary health care in places all over america. not just delaware but all the other 49 states as well. one of the other things that they have -- we bring ateption on the v.a., some of the very disappointing things we learned from phoenix and other places like that in terms of waiting lists -- they knead t need to be addressed and they will. but one of the things that v.a. came up with was electronic health care records. when i was in the navy on active duty -- and the presiding officer may remember -- we used to carry around with us something with us, roughly this size, a brown in a ni manila fo. and it included my military

records. well, people on active duty don't carry these around anymore. we have electronic health care records, pioneered by the v.a. now we have them in the department of defense. and the reason why we have them is because it enables us to better coordinate delivery of health care. people would otherwise not have t the affordable care act introduces for the first time for millions of people electronic health care records, not for them to carry around with them. but for people to do it in a better way and more cost-effective way. better results for less, less money. the other thing that we had in the military was medicine, if you needed to take medicine, prescription medicines, that sort of thing, you could actually get medicine. it was going to help you stay well, be productive. understanand wii dopted seven -e adopted seven, eight years ago

the medicare part- d prescription drug program. they had a big problem when people would newly a doughnut hole. a lot of people who got pretty good coverage for the first hast year would lose their coverage and they didn't get any help from medicare part-d. we started fixing the doughnut hole with the passage of the ofe affordable care act. people won't fall off the cliff because of what is in the affordable care act. who pays for that? the pharmaceutical companies pay for that, not the taxpayers. the pharmaceutical companies pay for that expansion, making medicare part-d a good program, cost-effective, under imught. 85% of the people that use it like it. all of those things actually counside with the benefits we enjoidzeweenjoyed in the milita.

are there problems with the affordable care act? sure there. are there things we need to fix? sure we should. will sylvia mathews bur a help us to fix those? she will provide great leadership. our lives are intertwined in a strange way. i called erskine bowles -- i learned over a year ago that the president had a nominated sylvia mathews burwell to be -- president obama had nominated her to be o.m.b. director. i recognized that she had worked with the clinton white house with erskine boassments i asked him, tell me about sylvia. he said, i'll tell you about sylvia mathews burwell. i've known people as smart as sylvia. i've known people that are as good as working with other people as sylvia. i've known people who are as good as getting things done. i have not known anyone who is

at good at all three things as she is. ruben was then secretary of treasury. president clinton was meating were erskine bowles. bob ruben, secretary of the treasury, and bob rubin had one of thinks top aides with them, sylvia burwell. erskine recounts the story how the president was grilling his freash secretary ruben on a particular issue and secretary rubin was kind of struggling to respond in an appropriate way to the president's inquiries. sylvia ma thew burwell writes a note, hands it when the president is not looking, hands it discretely to her boss bob rubin and then reengages the president on the issue and the president says, that is a brilliant insight. that is a really brilliant insight, bob. erskine bowles, not to be deterred, says to the president, mr. president, sylvia mathews

burwell wrote a note and gave it to him. if i had people as smart as sylvia on my starvetion i'd look a lot smarter, too. she was covered in ghoarry in those years in the white house. she grew up in west virginia. her husband steven proposed to her at the blue stone dam where my grandfather used to take me as a little boy to fish. she later graduated from hipna high school, a little coal mining town. where did she go to school? she went to harvard. after that, she went -- she was a road scholar. she went to oxford and came out and went to work for a great consulting company, and started working in the white house doing all kinds of things during the clinton administration, higher and higher responsibilities,

heading up as deputy o.m.b. director. she knows how to manage. she knows thousand manage people, financial resources, and she is terrific in, wooing with people. those why tom coburn, my wing man in terms of leadership on the senate committee on homeland security and government afairks he actually came along with jay rockefeller of west virginia to introduce her fo for the confirmation hearing to endorse her candidacy. i want to thank dr. coburn for doing that. you would expect senator rockefeller to do that. she is a long fan of sylvia. but tom and i have only gotten to know her for the last year, year and a half. love working with her. think she has done a terrific job at o.m.b. and think she will do a terrific job at the department of health and human services. i want to say a special thanks to her parents in hinton, west

virginia, for raising not one but two young women, including sylvia's younger sister stephanie, instilling the kinds of values in them and kind of education in them that have enabled them both to go on to do extraordinary things with their lives. i want to say to you steven -- i want to say thank you to steven who proposed marriage to then sylvia mathews on the bluestone dam all those years ago. these are tough jobs, demanding jobs, in some cases thanksless jobs. he is willing to take on some extra responsibilities as a dad to help raise their children. i think helene is about six and the other is about 4 years eeld. they know she still has a job. and it is a huge job. is there work to do?

sure there is. is there work to do in implementing the affordable care act? sure there. is there work in tweaking it and making it better? sure there. but i'll close with this. for my republican friends, and i love them all, who moan and groan about the burden put on the american people by the affordable care act, here's what he says: compared to what? ask him how he's doing? compared to what? well, if things are so bad now with the affordable care act, let's just say, well, compared to what? here's where we were three or four years ago. the country of japan spends 8 punish of their g.d.p. on -- 8 % of their g.d.p. on health care. we spend 18% or we did until recent lymprecently. the affordable care act, they get better results. higher rates of longevity, lower

rates of infant mortality. higher rates than we did until just a couple of years ago. in japan, they cover everybody. until this year we had about 40 million people that did not have health care. i regret anybody who is disadvantaged because of the adoption of the affordable care act. i regret every one of those piesm regret awful those folks in this country, tens of millions of them, who didn't have access to health care. i regret the fact that all of people on medicare never got a second physical. if they had gotten one, they would have had a much better life. i really regret all the folks in the medicare prescription drug system, millions of folks who fell into the doughnut hole, stopped take their medicine, ended up in nursing hoarnlings cost a lot of money, died, not a happy lievment i feel bad for

them. my dad used to say to you, rather than just moan about proficiencproblems, fix them. fix them. there are plenty of things that we can don't to make the affordable care act better. i know what they are. but the idea that we ought to go back to where we were, that's not a good thing in delaware, and i don't think it is a good thing in kentucky, where governor steven bashir has led, provided great leadership in this state to sure that the hundreds of thousands of people who need health care have it today and didn't have it before. we want to make sure that the opportunity that they realize in that state, in those states that don't have that opportunity, have no exto sign up in, they have no expansion of the medicaid program, my help is they'll look to kentucky as an eangsdz to delaware as an example to see what we can do for our people. last point: most of the people who serve here are people of faith some

are protestant, some are catholic, most people here are people of faith. and most of our sacred scriptures have a couple things in common. one is the golden rule. chaplain barry black who gives the opening prayer likes to say that the golden rule is to treat other people the wait we want to be treated. he says that's the cliffnotes of the new testaments. the cliffnotes of the new testament. as it turns out, the golden rule is the cliffnotes of every major religion in the world. i don't care if you're protestant, catholic, jew, hindu. all have something like the you sacred rule. there's something we've all heard. the scripture talks about when i was hungry, did you feed me?

when i was thirst city, did you give me drink? when i was naked, did you clothe snee when i was sick and in prison, did you come to see me? matthew 25 doesn't say anything about when i had no health car, when i had to depend on the emergency care for health care when i got real slick and ran up a big tab that somebody else had to pay for because i was hospitalized for while, a long while. it doesn't say that in matthew 25. but the intent is the same. where were you? we were here, and we voted to try to do something about it to make sure people did have better access to health care, and we can improve on what we've done and we immediate to do that. we have a moral imperative to the least of those in our society to help look out for them, to help them look out for themselves as well. we have a fiscal imperative to meet that moral imperative in a

fiscally responsible way. sylvia mathews burwell understands that as well as anybody i know. she's demonstrated that in her leadership at o.m.b. she will demonstrate that if we confirm her today to be the secretary of department of health and human services. i hope my colleagues, democrat and republican, will follow the leadership of senator tom coburn, republican from oklahoma, and his wing man, tom carper, a democrat from delaware, in supporting this nomination. with that, i yield back the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. grassley: mr. president?

the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask the calling of the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: this afternoon we're going to vote on the nomination of ms. burwell to be secretary of h.h.s. i'm going to support that nomination. i take the floor now to alert people to some problems that i think she's going to face and hopefully she can correct them. for starters, i hope everybody remembers checks and balances of the government. congress passes laws. the executive branch enforces them. it's our responsibility to make sure that those are enforced according to the intent of congress. when they aren't, we have a responsibility to point that out. that's what i will be doing. and i hope that these things i point out along with what other

colleagues will be saying this morning, she will be able to correct. but we also have a situation where congress passed the affordable care act, and in that process the president has done a lot of things that some of us think are illegal and maybe in some cases unconstitutional, and hopefully she as the new director will make sure that those practices don't continue. when ms. burwell was nominated, i said that anyone put in charge of obamacare would be set up to fail. the theme of this law really has been "by any means necessary." in other words, whatever it takes to get this program

underway, it doesn't really matter what the law says, the president can fix it, and he's done that 38 times. surely sometimes contrary to what the law says, and then contrary to what he took an oath to do, is uphold the laws of this country. the legislative process certainly was by no means necessary. if you want to change it, change it. the implementation of this law has operated similarly. the department that we're considering ms. burwell to lead has ignored the plain read of the statute whenever it was considered necessary. in other words, don't bother to come to congress to correct something that you think isn't working. just correct it yourself.

deadlines were considered to be written in pencil. if the statute needed to be creatively reinterpreted to make the program work, well, the department of h.h.s. did so. now, that still continues today, and consequently why i'm pleading with ms. burwell to change things. the department is supposed to implement the employer mandate, a year overdue, significantly altered from the statute. the department is supposed to implement risk corridors this year, though the legal authority to distribute funds is questionable and the standards used to make those distributions will likely be kept quite quiet. and speaking of things that will be kept quiet, congress is going to want to know what the premiums will be next year for

health insurance. we consider the information very important and relevant. my state of iowa is considered to be one of the states most at risk for premium spikes. the department will want to use any means necessary to hide the premiums until after the november elections unless, of course, the premium numbers are good. then i'm sure the department will shout them from the rooftops, much as they did with enrollment numbers. we have heard over and over again about enrollment numbers, but the enrollment numbers don't tell the whole story. not even close. i was under the impression that the law was supposed to increase coverage and lower costs. so far that is not the case. the independent research firm, mackenzie, found that 74% of the

people getting coverage through obamacare plans were previously insured. if those numbers are accurate, that means one in four people getting coverage were previously uninsured. certainly that is what i hear from my constituents. they have had to change their coverage and often that coverage has been much more expensive. furthermore, the mackenzie research you -- research also fd that the majority of people who shopped for an obamacare plan but did not purchase that plan cited affordability as the number one reason for not buying that insurance. a poll released by the kaiser foundation found one in ten americans cited affordability as their primary reason for going without health insurance. it is not working as it was intended.

so i hope ms. burwell will change the relationship the department has with the congress. i hope she will be willing to break the "by any means necessary" mind set that we have seen in the past five years. i hope she doesn't disappear into the bunker over there in that office building and that we'll never hear from her again. but her challenge is very severe. the law appears to be shifting around the previously insured more than it is covering the previously uninsured. the previously uninsured are citing costs as the primary reason for not purchasing insurance. i will support the nomination of ms. burwell today and hope down the road several months that i'm not sorry i did that. i think she's a person that has capability of turning things around and that she will do

that. but the law remains far, far from being worthy of support. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. thune: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, the obamacare train wreck just keeps rolling on. every day it seems there is another story about another obamacare failure. 80,000 oregonians must reenroll in health plans after the state's obamacare exchange site failed. the health care coverage that

two million americans enrolled on the exchanges could be in jeopardy. the congressional budget office says there have been so many delays in changes to obamacare that it can no longer estimate the fiscal effects of the law. and that's just the obamacare news from yesterday. the democrats' victory lap is a distant memory replaced by the constant flow of obamacare's many failures. americans losing their health insurance. americans losing their doctors. americans unable to obtain medications. employers facing higher costs. and employees facing higher costs. mr. president, the list goes on. the president promised that his health care law was going to be a solution for american families. if they like their health care plans and their doctors, they could keep them. if they didn't like their health care or if they didn't have health care, they'd be able to get an affordable plan. those were the

-- those were the promises made. americans quickly discovered that those promises would not be kept. millions of americans were forced off their health care plans and into the exchanges where they frequently found that they were paying more and getting less. too many americans discovered that their new health care coverage meant losing doctors and hospitals that they liked and that their choice of replacement was limited. when the president was campaigning for his health care law, he claimed that families would see their health care premiums drop by $2,500. well, in fact, health care premiums have increased by almost $3,700 under the president, and they are still going up. mr. president, middle-class americans are hurting. the past five and a half years of the obama administration have brought higher priced and fewer opportunities. gas prices have almost doubled. food prices have risen. meanwhile, americans' household income has declined by more than

$3,500 on the president's watch. so americans who once confidently expected to be able to put their children through college and retire comfortably, are struggling to make ends meet. too many families are living paycheck to paycheck praying they won't be faced with any unexpected bills. obamacare was supposed to make things better. it was supposed to make health care more affordable and ease americans' health concerns. instead, mr. president, it is making things much worse. today the senate will vote on sylvia burwell's nomination to be secretary of the department of healt health and human servi. a change in personnel at the department of health and human services won't make the mess that obamacare has created disappear. changing h.h.s. secretaries isn't going to lower americans' health care costs or give them back the doctor or the health plan that they lost. it's not going to help the small

businesses who are struggling under obamacare's burdensome and makes or restore the $1 trillion that americans will lose in wages thanks to the health care law. it's not going to bring back the jobs that have been lost as a result of obamacare. mr. president, every senator who voted for this law owes the american people an explanation, and every senator who voted for this law ought to be telling american families just what he or she is going to do to fix this mess. americans deserve better than obamacare. and we can give them better than obamacare, mr. president, if members of the united states senate would decide that this was the wrong approach and decide to go in a different direction. i hope eventually they will come this that conclusion. mr. president, i yield the floor.

mr. barrasso: mr. president? the presiding officer: the? er from wyoming. mr. barrasso: mr. president, thank you very much. i come to the floor today with huge concerns about the obama health care law, and i do it as a physician, as doctor who's taken care of families all around the state of wyoming for a couple of decades, as past president of our state's medical society, as someone committed to coordinated care, to give people low-cost screenings for health care around the state. those continue today. there's one in the small community of afton this very saturday two days from today. so the effort continues to actually make sure that people can get prevention, early recognition of problems, and actual care. the president's health care law hasn't done that. the president keeps focusing on the word "coverage" instead of what people really wanted which was care. and it's interesting today because in the wyoming tribune eagle, front page, today's

newspaper, headline, "health care law plagued by inconsistencies." "at least two million people enrolled in insurance have problems with data that could affect their coverage." this is an associated press article writ on the front page of the "wyoming tribune eyein e" a new paperwork problem for the government can be jeopardizing coverage for the people who just got cofnlg under the president tion new health care law. the president went on television just days before the kickoff of the health care law and said this is going to be easier than using amazon cosm and he said you could keep your doctor if you like yor your doctor. when people see how this rolled out and the problems that they have had with it, they have huge concerns about whether they can

actually trust the federal government with anything. they see all of the problems coming out of washington and saying, why should we trust the government, the washington-based government with anything in so let's take a look at some state ofs that set up their own exchange. yesterday's "wall street journal" state, "state exchanges seek costly fix." five state states that launchedh exchanges under the affordable care act expect to spend as much as $240 million to fix their sites or switch to the federal marketplace." not one person is going to get care because of that, mr. president. that's $240 million to fix the bad sites that have already wasted money. how can people in these states of oregon, minnesota, massachusetts, maryland, nevada, how can they say this is good for them? this health care law that people wanted, the care they need from a doctor they choose at lower cost, find more wasted government money.

in oregon alone $255 million money previously spent. the f.b.i. is investigating them now in oregon because of this. they want more money to upgrade the system. minnesota, $141 million. what are we hearing from minnesota with this? we're hearing school districts say, we have to pay a lot more so we're going to not be able to pay for teachers, we're not going to be able to pay for bus drivers, we're going to have to take it away from students to pay for the mistakes of this administration, this government, these -- this law forced down the throats of the american public a and voted for by many n this chamber, mr. president, who never read it, never read the bill. they trusted nancy pelosi, who said, first you have to pass it before you find out what's in it t and you don't have to at the pump the clock back very far to

go to the june 4 issue -- article posted on "roll call." headline "-- physical dig know " fiscal diagnosis only gets tougherrer for the health care law. first paragraph, "for democratic lawmakers hesitant to sign onto the 2010 health care law, one of the most powerful selling points was that the affordable care act would actually reduce the federal budget deficit. four years later, headline, fiscal diagnosis only gets tougher for the health care law." so when you talk about all these numbers -- i want to talk about em who have actually been hurt by the health care law. there are people that have been helped but there are many that have been hurt. people in my state, thousands and thousands who have had letters of cancellation. if they've gone onto the web site and bought insurance, they find they've paid a lot more for what they had to buy because a

lot of the times it wasn't what they needed for themselves or their for their family. included coverage they will never use, but still had to pay for because the president thinks he knows better what that family needs than they do. that's not what america was built on, the government telling people what they have to have, what they have to buy, what they have to have as their health insurance. it's interesting to even go to national public radio. national public radio, a story about a couple -- a family, because one of my colleagues from connecticut comes to the floor and say, he says obamacare -- it's working. this is from a couple who that says it does not work. one family opts out. this is a family in texas reported on national public radio. rachel was -- she wanted -- her husband wanted to make sure they had insurance. his name was nick.

rich l was skeptical but nick went online. started shopping. he had a lot of trouble getting through the glitchy web site but vauntsly found a plan that -- and he found one that would work just for his wife. he was concerned about his wife. she was pregnant. in january -- this past januaryness ias soonas the pland it to rachel, fulling feel you g like i had accomplished something for her. well, they called obstetricians because she was pregnant. some would say, we don't take obamacare. "the doctor takes it here at the actual practice, but whatever hospital you use, none of those hospitals take obamacare." she said, it was mind-numbing because i'm paying close to $400 a month just for me to have insurance that doesn't even work. what am i paying for?

how could this not work -- how could this not be working, her husband said. the united states government has set this up. it's this whole big deal. they're having commercials everywhere saying we need to use this. and these people are just saying, no, no you no, and it just made me so mad. as the headline said, they opt out. that's what the president has given the american people, not affordable care, not available care, not quality care, not access to care. a lot of promises, not delivered upon them. many people across this country have been hurt by this health care law, and i'm going to continue to work to ways to reform health care in america in a way that is good for patients, good for the patients as well as the providers who take care of them, and responsible for the american taxpayers. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: thank you, mr. president. my colleague from wyoming,

dr. barrasso, has just talked to a lost issues related to the affordable care act, otherwise known as obamacare. the mandates in this legislation don't wok for many americans. the one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work. he's also talked about the costs. it is not the affordable care act. it tends to be the unaffordable care act. costs have gone up already too hievment we're finding that a lot of small businesses in my home state of ohio are simply squeezed to the point where they are worried they can provide health care at all. so these are all very serious concerns and a reason that i think we do need to repeal but replace with policies that do work better to provide people more choices and provide lower cost of care so they can get health care for themselves and their family. i want to talk about a very specific aspect of obamacare and its implementation that concerns me. came to the floor a couple of days ago to talk about this because i had just learned actually from some press reports

about some problems with implementation. unfortunately, since that time, it's been confirmed through other sources that many of my concerns unfortunately are legitimate. the concern is very simple: that despite assurances by the administration to the contrary, they have yet to put in place a mechanism to assure that the people who are getting the subsidies under obamacare are eligible for them. this is a major problem because we're talking about billions and billions of dollars. and it's a surprise probably to a lot of my constituents and other folks who might be listening today that the administration hasn't even put in place the basic processes and mechanisms you would expect in an automated system to ensthiewr when people apply for these subsidies, which are substantial, up to 400% of poverty, remember, and up to $10,000 a family of four, for instance, that they may or may not be eligible and yet they may be getting these payments. some people may be overstating

their income, some people may be understating their income. this is unbelievable that after a few years of implementation still there is not in place some sort of a system to assure that the right people are getting these huge amounts of taxpayer dollars. improper payments of the subsidies may already be going, we're told, to over a million people who aren't eligible to receive them. just yesterday the associated press reported that the number is actually close er to 2 millin people who are receiving subsidies despite discrepancies between the data they're giving and what the i.r.s. already has. the health and human services folks at c.m.s. confirmed this report yesterday when they said, "the typical family of four generated 21 separate pieces of information that require verification and all were attested to under penalty of perjury. give than we expect this subsidy program to cost about $36 billion this year alone, these

improper payments would likely result in billions of wasted taxpayer dollars." so at the very least, i'm concerned that folks are going to find they have some very unpleas and and you expected tax bills coming up and at the most what we're seeing is a lot of taxpayer dollars that aren't going to the intended purpose. it's not like we didn't anticipate this problem. this is obviously a lot of people thought about and talked about. we knew it would be difficult to verify all these dozens of pieces of information we just heard about from c.m.s. that is why last year congress acted in a bipartisan fashion to require the department of health and human services to certify that it had these controls in place to verify the he will -- eligibility of subsidy. part of the ryan-murray budget agreement was to say c.m.s. and h.h.s. had to have in place these controls to make sure

people were getting the funds that were appropriate for them. and on january 1, as required by law, secretary sebelius certified to congress -- and i quote -- "that the american benefit exchanges, the so-called marketplaces, verify that applicants for advanced payments of the premium tax credit and cost-sharing reductions are eligible for such payments and reductions consistent with the requirement of the affordable care act." secretary sebelius further told congress that the exchanges -- quote -- "implemented numerous changes and processes to carry out their verification responsibilities including their income verification responsibilities." this is an assurance given to us by the secretary of health and human services. we're now learning through reports in the press heard by confidential sources within h.h.s. that these verification methods aren't in place or if they are they are poorly functioning at best. h.h.s. is planning to begin the verification process for some of this information by hand at some

point in the future. when i learned of these reports and they have been in "the washington post" and they have been in "politico," i had hoped that they were mistaken. so i wrote to the secretary of health and human services. i also wrote to the i.r.s. commissioner. this was last month. asking if these allegations were true, and if they were what h.h.s. was planning on doing about them. if the post or "politico" got the wrong story i would have expected a response saying these reports are inaccurate. but instead i didn't get an answer. i gave them until june 1 to give them time to get back to me. it is now june 5 and i've received nothing, nothing to address my concerns. in fact i received no answer at all. i know some of my colleagues raised similar concerns without receiving answers. with regard to implementation of

obamacare concerns, we have received no response. folks are already paying a lot in terms of income taxes. they don't want to pay more. they don't want to know the income taxes they're paying are going to folks not eligible for this $36 billion worth of benefits going out this year. since the administration refuses to voluntarily provide the information we need to do our job to oversee the expenditure of these funds, i think serious action is necessary. that's why today i'm making a formal written request to h.h.s. inspector general daniel r. levenson to begin an investigation into these reports which call into question the secretary's certification required again by this continuing appropriations act, the ryan-murray legislation at the end of the year. i know that the i.g. is scheduled to provide a report to congress next month regarding how effective h.h.s. has been at preventing subsidy payments on the basis of fraudulent information but in light of the inconsistenty, i think a more in depth and targeted investigation

is warranted. i.g. response for ensuring action is its top priority so these allegations should strike at the heart of that mission. if it is true h.h.s. failed to implement a moderate system, we need to know about it. they say sunlight is the best disinfectant. simply get the information. let us know what's going on. i hope the obama administration and after her confirmation, secretary burwell will show her commitment to responsible government by joining me and responding quickly and accurately to whatever shortcomings it uncovers. but if the administration does not, then it will fall to those of us in this chamber on both sides of the aisle to take action. i sincerely hope it won't come to that. i plan to support director burwell's nomination today because i think she's a manager and i think it's what we need

now at the department of health and human services and i say this ought to be one of her top priorities as a new manager at h.h.s. to ensure the number of problems we've seen with implementation of obamacare don't continue and we're not seeing huge amounts of taxpayer dollars being misspent, being wasted through inaccurate verification of these subsidies. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor to my colleague from nebraska. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. johanns: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, the very start of my comments, let me make it clear that the nominee we are voting today, voting on today will have my support. i like her from a personal standpoint. i think she's competent. i think she's able, able to do the job that's before her. but i do believe that the problem she's going to face is that this law is so fatally flawed that she cannot be

successful in implementing it. the simple fact is it's deeply flawed, and it was from the beginning. the policy just simply doesn't work. we know now that obamacare drives up costs. it comes between the doctor and the patient. and it limits health care choices for individuals and for their families. but i urge the new head of h.h.s. when, and assuming she is confirmed, to address all those things that are within her control. it is critical that the new leader works to restore the transparency and accountability that has been lacking at this department. one of the latest has been mentioned in other comments by senators, but it's especially disturbing. it comes from "the washington post." the article from "the post"

said, and i'm quoting, "the government may be paying incorrect subsidies to more than one million americans. one million americans are getting incorrect subsidies. the article goes on to say that the computer systems necessary to verify the individual's income were either defective or they weren't even built. now, mr. president, that calls into question secretary sebelius' commitment to congress in january that in fact the systems were ready and that they were working. senator moran and i wrote a letter. we asked for answers from h.h.s. about this news report. well, nothing but crickets. no response whatsoever. and just yesterday the associated press reported that more than one in four, or at least two million obamacare

exchange enrollees have data discrepancies, casting even more doubt on h.h.s.'s competency to administer the obamacare subsidies. families could be in for a shock next april when the i.r.s. notifies them that they must repay money to the treasury because h.h.s. miscalculated their subsidy. this is troubling because nebraskans are definitely feeling the effect of obamacare, just like citizens across the country. let me talk about a couple of stories quickly. a college instructor from nebraska wrote to me saying -- quote -- "due to obamacare, i will be unable to teach more than two courses per term. overall, i am losing at least 20% of my adjunct income, and

i'll be definitely in a rough situation with zero money coming in this summer." unquote. regarding obamacare, she explains -- and again i quote -- "we have the 'one shoe fits all situation' and i don't wear that shoe." unquote. a young college student in nebraska shared identical or similar concerns. she says -- quote -- "through my job, i was previously able to work 32 hours a week. now i'm allowed 28 hours. this is a very significant amount of my already small college student budget." unquote. mr. president, americans like these constituents don't want a law that decreases their earnings and mandates

washington-prescribed insurance that costs more with less benefits. my colleagues and i stand ready to work toward a better health care alternative. we're committed to vigilant oversight of obamacare because americans' health care and trillions in taxpayer dollars are at stake. it is my hope that ms. burwell, if confirmed, will reverse these troubling patterns at h.h.s. and provide congress and the american people with the responsiveness, the accountability and the transparency that this post requires. with that, mr. president, i will yield the floor to my colleague, senator sessions. mr. sessions: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: i thank my colleague. i served as a ranking member of the budget committee and have worked with mrs. burwell as, just 13 months, i think, she served in the tremendously

important position of director of office of management and budget. i do not believe that she is the, has the background, the qualities and experience proven managerial leadership required at that huge department of health and human services. she has 500 people working in the budget office, and that's an important office. over 70,000. she once served on a board of a local hospital. she just simply is not the person that we need today to bring order out of a disarray that we have in the health care system of this country and the total collapse of integrity and consistency in the implementation of obamacare. and there are a couple of things that i care about, but i really

think that it's time for this administration to stop moving around insiders, political allies and put some people in these critical positions capable of operating them at the highest possible level. mrs. burwell violated the medicare trigger, for example. trustees of medicare issue a report that is heading to insolvency. it's a critical matter. the administration by law is required within two weeks to submit a plan to fix medicare, and they have been submitting this report for years. as the president's director on the 31-usc-1105, ms. burwell was the person responsible for submitting medicare legislation to congress. we asked her about that before she was confirmed. during her hearing, she said she would do everything in her power to comply with the federal law. yet, despite this assurance, she

refused to comply with the law and never submitted a plan. don't we need a plan to fix medicare? don't we need the chief executive of america through the budget director to submit a plan to fix it? she also violated the law and denied congress needed transparency with respect to the health care law, the obamacare law. so the omnibus appropriations bill signed into law in january required h.h.s. to include in its fy 2015 budget a detailed accounting of spending to implement the health law. but neither the budget director, ms. burwell, or the agency she now will head submitted sufficient information to comply with that. and i just would say my time is up, mr. president. i would just say i'm very much taken with mrs. burwell.

she's a delightful person. many of my colleagues think highly of her, and some, like our west virginia senators and others, really think she will do a good job. but this is not the right position for her. this government is drifting into disarray in a whole host of ways. we need the strongest possible, capable leader with proven health care managerial experience for the good of america and for the good of president obama. this is not the right nominee, and i thank the chair and would yield the floor. mr. cardin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: mr. president, first, let me comment on vile i- comment on sylvia burwell, the nomination that is before us. she has done an excellent job as the director of o.m.b. her credentials are incredible. she is acknowledged by both democrats and republicans as being an outstanding manager, a person who is fully capable to

manage h.h.s., an extremely important agency that has over 70,000 work thaers -- workers that work for health and human services, a budget of over $1 trillion, 11 federal agencies. sylvia burwell is the right person to manage that agency and to move it forward in carrying out the very important work of our country. for maryland, i take pride because some of the agencies are headquartered in my state. the national institutes of health, world class, the best research in the world is done right here as a result of u.s. leadership, and that comes under h.h.s. the f.d.a., which ensures us safe products in the food and drug, that's headquartered in maryland. but again, world class, the best in the world. and it's important that we get the very best person as our

secretary and sylvia burwell is that person. c.m.s., headquartered in baltimore, medicare-medicaid, over 100 million people. again, the best in the world. so i -- i'm just very pleased that sylvia burwell is willing to step forward at this time to be -- head that agency and i encourage my colleagues to confirm her nomination and we'll have that vote a little later today. i want to just take a moment to thank secretary sebelius for her service to our country. she through very difficult times -- this has not been easy political times in our countr country -- she has steered a very steady ship at h.h.s. and i think did this country proud. and i thank her very much for her service to our country in helping hundreds of millions who have benefited from the services at h.h.s. but a significant part of the mission at h.h.s. is the implementation of the affordable care act since 2010.

and i've heard my colleagues talk about it, so let me just point out how much progress we have made. what a difference the affordable care act has made. and i would just urge the people in this country to look at the facts. my colleagues say things that just aren't true. look at the facts. and that is that the growth of health care costs have gone down. the projected expenses are less today than they were in 2010 when we passed the affordable care act. we have bent the cost curve of health care. and, yes, the affordable care act has helped us do it. one of the reasons is we have more people that have health insurance today, that have third-party payment. they go to doctors rather than emergency rooms. that brings down the growth rate of health care costs. we're keeping people healthier. that was the whole concept of the affordable care act. unfortunately, my friends on the other side of the aisle, their

answer is, repeal, repeal, repeal. they have no plan for health care in this country. and we've seen under the affordable care act that we've implemented delivery system reforms that keep people out of hospitals, that keep readmission rates down, that provide preventive health care so we keep people healthy. and that was the concept of the affordable care act. and now that we're implementing it -- and it takes time to implement it -- it is a complicated law when you're dealing with the health care of this country. it would have been i think more helpful if we would have had support to look at ways that we could make it even better. but we haven't had that type of cooperation in the united states congress. so more people are insured. the cost rates have been brought down. we've reduced the debt -- deficit of this country. but for the passage of the affordable care act, our deficits would be larger today.

now, that's not one member saying that. look at what the -- those who are charged with doing the projections for this country have said. and they have said that the debt today is smaller as a result of the passage of the affordable care act. as far as those who pay the cost, the consumers who pay the health insurance premiums and pay the doctor bills and hospital bills, they have seen relief urge under the affordable act. they're guaranteed value for their insurance premium. at least 80% to 85% of that premium dollar must go to direct benefits. as a result, millions of americans in 2012, over 8 million americans received rebates from their insurance company. they actually got checks back equaling about a half a billion dollars. consumers are getting better value for their dollars. we know it's not easy at time for actuaries to be able to

predict the exact costs of health care. but now we have protection in the code, that the premium they charge you is too much, you'll get a rebate for the excess that you paid. real protection. i must tell you, as i go around the state of maryland -- i know you find the same thing in the state of new jersey -- families are happy that they can keep their adult children on their insurance policies to age 26. millions of americans have taken advantage of that provision in the affordable care act, and they're very happy about that. i can't tell you how many people i've talked to in maryland who have benefited from the elimination of preexisting conditions or are in fear of losing their insurance policy because someone's gotten sick. insurance companies no longer can do that. so if you have a child with asthma and you tried to get insurance, before the affordable care act, they wouldn't have covered the costs of taking care

of that child's asthma. today you get full coverage. we've eliminated preexisting conditions because that's what insurance should do. it should cover your needs. and now it does. before the affordable care act, there were limits, caps. no longer caps. people had insurance and still had to file for personal bankruptcy. those days are over thanks to the affordable care act. it is being implemented in a way that americans are benefiting from the passage and implementation of the affordable care act. in regards to our seniors and our disabled population that are covered under medicare, they're very happy that the preventive health care benefits are now without any co-payments. they can take care of their health care needs. they can get the care that they need. and -- and as the presiding officer knows, we had -- when we passed the prescription drug plan, we have what's known as the doughnut hole which is a coverage gap. that after you incurred a

certain amount of costs, 100% then was your expense. and many seniors had to leave prescription drugs on the counter at the drugstore because they couldn't afford to pay for the cost of prescription drugs. even though they thought they had coverage. well, thanks to the passage of the affordable care act, that is being eliminated today. we're providing full coverage. and despite the claims on the other side of the aisle, take a look at the facts. medicare is more solvent toda today -- today -- than it was before the passage of the affordable care act. we helped ensure the future of medicare by the passage of the affordable care act. that's the -- that's the facts. that's the record. we're on this path to improve our health care system. and it's working. we reduced hospital readmissions. the accountable care organization, this is a provision where we take the creativity of private operators,

where they can work together to figure out how they can keep people healthier. in my state of maryland, there are several that are working that are figuring out ways that they can use community facilities and health care to keep people healthier and to reduce the costs of health care, make it more efficient by delivery system reform. it's working. we strengthened the primary care network. we all talk about that. we knew we had to provide more primary care doctors and nurses and we've done that under the affordable care act. it takes time, but we're already seeing the benefits of that. and i -- and we've increased dramatically community health center budgets. i have visited the community health centers in my state and i now see where they have mental health services being provided in the community that have wasn't being provided before the affordable care act. they now have dental services that are being provided in underserved areas that were not being provided before the affordable care act. we now have prenatal services that are being provided in communities that didn't have that service before the passage

of the affordable care act. what's the result? low birthweight babies, we've reduced that number. infant survival rates are increasing. and, yes, i take pride that in supporting the affordable care act, i helped to bring about those results. because we are providing those more resources in our community. that's the record of the affordable care afnlgt that's what we've been -- affordable care act. that's what we've been able to do.i'm particularly proud about undethe fact that we now provide pediatric dental benefits. it's a little bit personal to us in maryland because in 2007, we lost a youngster, a 12-year-old, demonte driver. he liferred not more than 10 miles from here. -- he lived not more than 10 miles from here. his mom tried to get him to the dentist. he had a tooth problem. couldn't get anybody to treat him, had no insurance. his tooth decay became an abscessed tooth that went into his brain. two emergency surgeries that

cost $8 million. he should have had a $160 procedure, that would have taken care of his needs. as a result, he lost his life. so this bill is making a huge difference. my point, mr. president, is this. for small businesses, they have greater choice and they have credits available to make it easier. we expanded medicaid. we've done a lot. we had the best health care in the world that's provided right here in the united states. we are now on the path of having the best health care system in the world. and the affordable care act helped us get there. we can take a giant step in that direction by approving the nomination of sylvia burwell as secretary of health and human services. with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor. mr. vitter: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. vitter: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, on april 29 of this year, louisiana's house republican delegation wrote a letter to senator landrieu as well as myself urging us to

represent a majority of louisianans' opinion and oppose the nomination of sylvia burwell to become h.h.s. secretary unless significant changes were made to the path we're on regarding the implementation of obamacare. they asked us to oppose miss burwell's nomination until an agreement is reached to provide for the equitable treatment and protection of all americans under obamacare. and until the administration, including miss burwell, committed not to pick and choose what parts of the law they would implement, not to pick and choose what deadlines they would meet, what deadlines they would ignore. not to pick and choose what mandates they would enforce, like the individual mandate. what mandates they would ignore, like the employer mandate. this is that letter dated april 29, and i ask unanimous consent that it be made a part of the record. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. vitter vitter: well, i agreh that sentiment. i agree with those concerns. so i responded shortly thereafter in a letter dated may 19 that i would oppose miss burwell's nomination because of those concerns, because there's no evidence that miss burwell would put an end to any of that, would put an end to the administration's common practice of creating special rules for big business, special rules for washington insiders, for not simply following the law, not simply implementing the law but picking and choosing, doing parts of the law it liked, delaying parts of the law when it was politically convenient. the senate's consideration of miss burwell's nomination to become secretary of h.h.s. invited a conversation to discuss all of that, to discuss her responsibilities for the

full, impartial, fair, legal implementation of obamacare. i paid attention very much to that discussion. i was hopeful about it. unfortunately, it was disappointing, in my view, in terms of her responses. during the nomination process, miss burwell was asked on a number of occasions how she will continue to implement and enforce various aspects of obamacare. again, these concerns obviously arose because of the administration's decisions to make more than 20 unilateral changes to the law as written, to timing, applicability of various provisions. one of these decisions that was particularly highlighted in my house colleagues' letter of april 29 was to give big business relief from the employer mandate while there was no relief for individuals. millions will face a steep penalty, face it right now under

the individual mandate. not only did miss burwell punt to the treasury department, her response failed to even acknowledge that the administration has failed to execute the law as written because the law is broken. the american people have really had enough of the administration passing blame to certain federal agencies or to bureaucrats or to congress or to political parties. they've had enough of the blame game. they've had enough of finger pointing. what i find even more hypocritical in this regard is that the administration worked with many members of congress behind closed doors to give congress and washington insiders special treatment under obamacare, to give them a way to avoid higher costs and lower quality care the way many americans are suffering from that. so i'll also oppose miss burwell's nomination until the american people get the same

relief from obamacare as the washington elite, as the washington exemption from obamacare, as the congressional subsidy. to date, at least 4.7 million americans, including at least 92,000 louisianans, have had their health insurance plans canceled as a result of the mandates of the law. many of these folks were then dealt with the choice of going without health insurance or taking the gamble of purchasing an expensive plan on the government-run obamacare exchange. again, the law as written was intended to make every member of congress and our staff walk in those same shoes, but the administration again was fast and loose with the law, created a special rule contrary to statute. miss burwell was part of that

administration, creating a special exemption, a special subsidy, a special rule not found in the statute. so in contrast to that experience of many, many louisianians, millions of americans, members of congress and congressional staff can get out of that mandate of obamacare. many congressional staff have been exempted from having to go to the exchange, which is clearly a requirement under the statute. and members of congress and staff who do go to the exchange get a huge taxpayer-funded subsidy nowhere in the statute and nowhere available to any other american at the same income level. for all of these reasons, because of this disparate treatment, because of ignoring the law, because of amending the law over and over by administrative fiat, i have to

oppose miss burwell's nomination. she gave no indication in any of her testimony, in any of her discussions leading up to this confirmation vote that she would change any of that, and it's pretty clear she will not. so i will oppose the nomination. again, i would also ask to submit for the record my may 19 response to louisiana house members regarding their letter, and i ask that be made part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. vitter: if miss burwell is passed by the senate as secretary of h.h.s., i ask her to take heed of these calls. we have a law before us. we need to follow the law. not in some cases, in all cases. not implement here but not there. not give some folks special treatment and special exemptions not found under the statute, but implement the law as written.

that will be her responsibility as much as anyone in the administration. i urge her to be a true leader in the administration, to start doing that in an appropriate legal way. thank you, mr. president, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: will the senator please withhold his request? mr. vitter: yes, i will. mr. kaine: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. kaine: i have four unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i also ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and the requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaine: mr. president, i rise today also to speak about health care issues. the affordable care act and sylvia mathews burwell, the nominee to be secretary of health and human services. the affordable care act has completed its first year of open enrollment, and despite some significant technical challenges, eight million americans have used the state or

federal health insurance marketplace as created by the a.c.a. to access insurance. i want to talk about the status of the a.c.a. today, some challenges including some comments made by my colleague from louisiana and then talk about sylvia matthews burwell. of the eight million americans who have used the exchanges to access health insurance, over 116,000 of them are virginians. in ause to the eight million, three million more people have been enrolled in medicaid or chip as of february, compared -- in addition to the marketplaces opened, and those medicaid chip expansions were because of the affordable care act provisions. in addition, an estimation of 3.1 million young adults have gained coverage by being able to stay on family policies until age 26. the combined numbers just in this expansion of coverage is now more than 14 million americans. mr. president, let me put that in context. one year in, 14 million

americans have insurance through the a.c.a. that is more than the total population of the following states -- west virginia, idaho, hawaii, new hampshire, montana, delaware, south dakota, north dakota, vermont and wyoming. one year in, more people have insurance through the a.c.a. than the combined populations, entire populations of those ten states. mr. president, the number dwarfs the population of new jersey, which is about nine million right now. this 14 million number, which is growing every day, growing every day. so imagine a program even with all the challenges and the rollout within one year, within one year, providing insurance to more people than the combined population of these ten states, significantly more than the virginia population as well. gallup has polled since 2008 the percentage of americans who don't have health insurance,

american adults who don't have health insurance, and the number was down to 13.4% when the poll was last taken in april, which is the lowest monthly uninsured rate since gallup started taking this poll. have there been challenges? sure. have there been those who have had some difficulties? sure. we have been dealing with them on the phone, mr. president, as you have, too, but the uninsurance rate is dropping dramatically, and even one year in with with all the problems, people are receiving insurance as a result of the a.c.a. and each one of them has a story. each one of them has a story about what it was like to live without health insurance and what it is like to live now with the security and comfort of health insurance, not only for when you get ill but also for when you're going to bed at night worried about what will happen to you if you get ill, what will happen to you if your spouse is in an auto accident, what will happen to you if your children get diagnosed with something that might be a

preexisting condition under an earlier day. and, mr. president, the stories aren't just of the 14 million who have health insurance because of the a.c.a. it's also stories of the nearly 20 million americans who have gotten rebates because they overpaid premiums and insurance companies now have to send them money back. it's people who cannot be charged discriminatory rates because they're women. it's seniors who are able to get preventative care under medicare for free or reduced price prescription drugs for free. and, mr. president, it's all the americans who had conditions, preexisting conditions which would have blocked them from insurance coverage before the a.c.a. passed. now, mr. president, just briefly, i'm one of these stories. i'm one of these stories because when i went onto the open market to buy health insurance a couple of years ago, and like most good families, when you want to do something, you put this really

smart person on it, my wife. and she started to call around about health insurance. two insurance companies said the same thing to her -- we can write you a policy on four of your five family members. one wouldn't insure me. i think politics is viewed as a dangerous line of work. one wouldn't insure one of my children. well, important safety tip -- don't tell my wife or any wife or mother we will only insure part of your family. and my wife said in each instance, i actually think this is against the law now. i think you have to provide insurance for everybody and not just for four of the five, and the insurance company rep called thes about and then called back and said we're sorry, you're right, we have to write you an insurance on the entire family. everybody has a story, and increasingly these stories accumulate, whether it's coverage or preexisting condition ban or equal treatment in rates between men and women, these stories are starting to accumulate and showing us that

this a.c.a. can and will be successful. of course, mr. president, there is measures to improve it that we still need to embrace. i'm proud to cosponsor today a bill that is the lead sponsor of senator franken, called the family coverage act introduced today. the a.c.a. requires large employers to offer affordable health care coverage to the employees, and the i.r.s. definition of affordability suggests that that means an employer's share of the premiums of individual coverage rather than family coverage is less than 9.5% of family income. if the employee has an offer of affordable insurance, the employee in the family cannot receive premium tax credits. if it's not affordable, you can receive tax credits. this measure of affordability based on what the premium is for the individual versus what the family premium is leaves a lot of spouses and families cut out from the possibility of receiving tax credits under the a.c.a. an average plan for an

individual costs about $5,600, but according to the kaiser family foundation, that average goes up to about $15,700 for families. so g.a.o. estimates that the currently used definition of affordability would prevent nearly 460,000 uninsured kids from accepting tax credits even though their parents qualify for that affordability -- for the tax credit under the a.c.a. this is known as the family glitch. it was sort of an unforeseen consequence when the bill was written. so the family coverage act that senator franken is championing with many other cosponsors would change the definition of affordability within the a.c.a. so that family members of the parent who works for a company that offers health insurance can qualify for tax credits as well. mr. president, i have cosponsored other fixes and improvements to the a.c.a. a small business tax credit enhancement, expanded consumer choice through a plan called the copper plan which provides all the coverages but at a lower

premium because those choosing the plan will pay more on the deductibles. they can buy down their premium by more cost sharing. a reporting act introduced by senator warner to ease compliance burden on employers. an act to protect volunteer firefighters and emergency responders. many of us were cosponsors of that bill. an act called the each act, which is a technical correction to the religious exemption in the a.c.a. and i have also written a lot of letters to the administration asking them to do things within their administrative purview to make the act better. and, mr. president, this is what we should be doing. we shouldn't be talking about repealing the affordable care act and taking 14 million people who have insurance through the a.c.a. and telling them back out into the street with you. we shouldn't be talking about stonewalling a wonderful public servant from coming in and being head of the h.h.s. we should be engaged in the business of reforms and

improvements. this is what legislators do. when i was governor of virginia, my legislature would pass about a thousand bills a year. they would come to my desk for my review, editing, amending, signing, potentially vetoing. what i noticed, mr. president, was the act of my legislative body, 800 bills, were reforms to existing law. only about 200 were new laws. what legislative bodies do is they go into existing laws and they improve them and fix them and make them better, and that's what we should be about here. certainly, we've learned through the bad rollout and some other things that nobody can stand back and say this thing is perfect and no reforms are needed. reforms are always needed. but i would also hope my colleagues might have learned something, those who wanted to repeal the affordable care act, those who were willing to shut down the government of the united states to advocate a repeal of the affordable care act. they should also be focused now on reforms, not repeals, because

repeals mean those 14 million would lose insurance and families like mine would now be subject again to being turned down because of preexisting health conditions. it strikes me, mr. president, that the reform caucus is growing and the repeal caucus is shrinking, as it should, and every day finds more and more people who have had this experience and understand that the a.c.a. should not be allowed to be repealed, and i am thrilled that that is occurring. one more item about the affordable care act. it has been stated by some, including some in this chamber, that the affordable care act has done a horrible thing by allowing members of congress and their staffs to get a subsidy in their health insurance that the american public doesn't get, and there are those who have stood up and made that case on the floor of this body and on television and in this country, and they have talked about that subsidy as this horrible thing that -- that these congressional

staffers like those who are sitting here at the desk or those who work in my office shouldn't be getting. mr. president, you know and i know that statement is inaccurate. the subsidy that anyone gets in this building is an employer contribution to their health insurance premium, and it has been a long and standard feature of employer-provided health plans in this country that employers contribute to the health insurance of their employees. in the private sector, over 55 million americans have employers who contribute to the health insurance premium of their employees. and hardworking men and women who are working in this senate or working in the house or are working on congressional staffs have every bit as much right to have an employer that would contribute part of the premium cost for them as do the people who work at newspapers,

automobile manufacturers, retail stores, restaurants, all over this country, employer provision of a portion of the premium is a standard feature of how insurance has been provided for decades, and for those -- those who say that members of congress are getting some special treatment, some congressional subsidy, when the reality -- and they know the reality -- is that this subsidy is just the employer-provided share of a premium that is standard among all americans, i find it very, very troubling. because what would they propose? would they propose that uniquely if you happen to work for the article 1 branch, the legislative branch, you should be denied an employer contribution to your health insurance, just like other americans get it, because you work for the article 1 branch that's specified in the constitution? i think that is