Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement after the Republican Senate confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court:
"Eight days from Election Day, after 60 million Americans have already cast their ballots, President Trump and the GOP Senate have committed an act of supreme desperation by jamming through a Supreme Court justice -- all so that they can achieve their years-long campaign to destroy Americans' health care.
"Now, Americans must continue to make their voices heard in the election. Congress will have to reverse the damage of a radical Republican court and defend pre-existing condition protections together with every other benefit and protection of the Affordable Care Act.
"With this usurped Supreme Court seat, the President is ripping away millions of families' health care in the middle of a pandemic that has infected over 8.6 million and killed nearly one-quarter of a million Americans. In her confirmation hearing, Justice Barrett refused to answer whether she believes that Medicare is constitutional. She refused to acknowledge the scientific fact that climate change is happening, saying she isn't a scientist, calling it "controversial.'
"The President's Supreme Court manipulation threatens the very values and rights that define and distinguish our nation: a woman's constitutional right to make her own medical decisions, the rights of LGBTQ Americans, the right of workers to organize and collectively bargain for fair wages, the future of our planet and environmental protections, voting rights and the right of every American to have a voice in our democracy.
"We must have a Congress that is prepared to remedy what the Supreme Court will do to undermine the health, financial security and well-being of American families."