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Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, here we go again. We are
back here using valuable legislative time to make a doomed attempt to
repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Next week the highway bill will expire. The week after that we are
facing the prospect of defaulting on our Nation's debt. Next month we
could shut down government because we don't have a long-term budget.
Yet, here we are again, repealing the Affordable Care Act, defunding
Planned Parenthood, because maybe the 65th time it will stick?
I would like to remind my colleagues that the Affordable Care Act has
insured over 17 million Americans and that Planned Parenthood provides
care to 2.7 million patients a year, often in underserved areas of our
country. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem determined
to replay these issues, despite the fact that we have already voted on
them.
Mr. Speaker, we have a lot of very important time-sensitive issues we
need to deal with. We need to fund our highway system. We need to pay
our bills. We need to keep government open. These are the very basic
functions we were elected to perform. These are the minimum of what
families need and expect from us.
Instead, we are wasting precious time debating backward, ideological
bills that roll back important progress made for women and families who
are working hard to get to and stay in the middle class.
I urge my colleagues to vote down this partisan attempt to repeal the
Affordable Care Act and defund Planned Parenthood. Let's get back to
solving this Nation's problems.
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