U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today released the following statement on the Senate vote to open debate on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act:
“I am hard-pressed to remember a vote in the U.S. Senate that has treated the American people with less respect. This is not a game. My Republican colleagues would be well-served to remember this is about the health and wellbeing of millions of families in every corner of this country. When lawmakers are this secretive, you can be sure that it’s because the only losers will be regular Americans already struggling to pay for health care, and the winners will be millionaire health care CEOs, lobbyists, campaign donors, and the lawmakers themselves. This bill will harm millions of Americans and I will use every tool I have as a Senator to fight it. I encourage all New Yorkers to join me and to speak out and demand better than a back-room deal that harms those who work so hard to provide for their families. Democracy only works when regular people stand up and demand action. We cannot give up in this fight.”