Restoring American's Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, we are on the verge of a series of votes, and we are also just a few days away from the third anniversary of the hideous and horrific shootings at Sandy Hook.

Once again, the unspeakable has happened in America. The mass murders in San Bernardino reminds us of the inaction by this body. Congress has become complicit by its inaction in this mass slaughter which continues in America. Yet, listening to the debate on the floor, one would think it is business as usual.

We are debating whether to repeal the Affordable Care Act again. How many times have we voted on that issue? How many times have we voted to defund Planned Parenthood? Yet what we see on the floor of the Senate and throughout Congress is a shrug of the shoulders. It can't be done or won't be done.

Now is the time for action. We are past the point of platitudes and prayers. We need them. San Bernardino deserves them. But prayers, thoughts, and hearts need to be matched by action. The time for action is now. We need to pass sensible, commonsense measures that will make America safer and better.

There is no single solution or panacea to stop gun violence, but inaction is not an option. A shrug of the shoulders is not acceptable. That is not what we were elected to do. We were elected to act and provide solutions. Strong laws, such as what we have in Connecticut, are a good start, but State laws will not prevent guns from crossing borders from States without strong laws. The States with the strongest laws are at the mercy of States with the weakest protection because borders are porous.

The question in America today is, What will it take--30,000 deaths a year, a mass shooting every day? A mass shooting is four or more individuals shot. What will it take for this body to act?

We are not going away. We are not giving up. We are not abandoning this fight. We are on the right side of history, and we will prevail. Today will be an opportunity to show which side we are on.

I urge my colleagues to support these sensible, commonsense amendments which will at least take a step--by no means a complete or even a fully adequate step--in the right direction.

I thank the Presiding Officer, and I yield the floor.

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