Cruz: This is a Terrible Deal
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) spoke on the Senate floor in opposition to the Senate deal that fails to provide relief from Obamacare to the American people:
Excerpts from Sen. Cruz:
"I rise today in opposition to the deal that the Senate is getting ready to vote on. This is a terrible deal. This deal embodies everything about the Washington Establishment that frustrates the American people. This deal kicks the can down the road. It allows yet more debt, more deficit, more spending and it does absolutely nothing to provide relief for the millions of Americans who are hurting because of Obamacare.
"This fight was always about the American people who are hurting because of Obamacare, and unfortunately today the United States Senate is saying, you don't have a voice in Washington. I would ask you, Mr. President, to imagine a different world. We saw in the last two months millions of Americans rise up, sign a national petition, light up the phones to the Capitol, and speak up against the enormous harms Obamacare is visiting upon them. We saw the House of Representatives stand with courage and listen to the American people.
"Mr. President, I ask you to imagine a world in which Senate Republicans united to support House Republicans. Imagine that one piece being different from what we saw. Imagine after the House Republicans stood together with the American people, if all 46 Senate Republicans had stood together and said, we are united against the train wreck that is Obamacare, we are united with the American people that if President Obama is going to give an exemption for big business, for members of Congress, that the American people deserve that very same exemption.
"I want you to imagine, Mr. President, if Senate Republicans had stood together and simply supported House Republicans and the American people. Mr. President, I want you to imagine what would have happened if all 46 Senate Republicans had united and gotten together and said, the House of Representatives has passed a bill funding the V.A.
"I want you to imagine, Mr. President, all 46 Senate Republicans, if we had stood together and simply supported the House Republicans in saying, the House of Representatives has voted to reopen our national parks, to reopen our war memorials, and the Majority Leader of the Senate refuses to allow the Senate even to vote.
"Mr. President, I want you to imagine simply that Senate Republicans had stood together and said, we support the House Republicans in standing with the American people. Mr. President, if that had happened, this result, I believe, would have been very, very different. It is heartbreaking to the American people that Senate Republicans, divided as they did and decided to direct their criticism, direct their attention, direct their cannon fire at House Republicans and at those standing with the American People.
"And yet, Mr. President, what we've seen in the last two months has been extraordinary. Millions of Americans speaking up in overwhelming numbers saying, Obamacare isn't working. Mr. President, the unions are jumping ship. Democratic members of The Senate and the House went to the President and said, we want to be exempted from Obamacare. This law isn't working. And it is worth reflecting on how extraordinary it is to see the American people rise up in such incredible numbers and to see The house of Representatives engage in what I consider to be a profile in courage, standing with the American people.
"The answers are not going to come from Washington. Washington is broken. But the answers are going to come from the American People. And so, Mr. President, I am today encouraged. I am encouraged by the millions of Americans who want to get back to our free market principles, get back to the constitution, and stop this train wreck of a law that is the biggest job killer in this country, that is hurting people all across the country.
"Mr. President, it is sad that today the United States Senate is telling people all across this country who are struggling, who are trying to provide for their kids and who are getting notifications in the mail 'your health care has been dropped.'
"Now, maybe you have an elderly parent and that health care policy is providing for that [person] and your family. Maybe you have children facing debilitating diseases, and yet you get a notification in the mail saying, your health care has been dropped because of Obamacare.
"Mr. President, it is sad that the U.S. Senate says we will do nothing to answer your plight. We created your plight, but we will do nothing. Mr. President, it is sad that when you have Hoffa, the President of the teamster, saying that Obamacare is destroying the health care of millions of working men and women in this country and the families that depend upon them, that the U.S. Senate says we're closed for business, the Washington Establishment has exempted itself, so the problems, the suffering of working Americans is not the concern of the Washington Establishment.
"That is sad, but at the same time, I am optimistic. I am inspired by the millions of Americans who have risen up. And if the American people continue to rise up, I am confident that in time the U.S. Senate will follow the lead of the House of Representatives and listen to the American people. That is our job. That is our responsibility.
"This is a terrible deal today. It is a terrible deal for the American people. But, at the same time… if the American people continue to rise up, we're going to turn this around. We're going to restore jobs, we're going to restore economic growth, we're going to restore the ability of people struggling to climb the ladder and achieve the American dream, and we're going to stop the number-one job killer in this country that is Obamacare."
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