She ate the corn call that objection thank thank you Mr President and thank you for the recognition all across of my home state of new Mexico thousands of hard working people all their healthcare and in some cases their lives to the affordable care act since early January I've received over 10000 letters emails and calls from new mexicans pleading with me to help save their access to healthcare over 96 percent of my constituents who have contacted me about healthcare oppose trump care let me say that again because I think it's a very very important number here over 96 percent of new mexicans who have contacted me about healthcare over the past six months are opposed to trump care and they're opposed to the effort to repeal the affordable care act mister President the trump care bill is a disgrace and they just ask her it is a disgrace that Senate Republicans are trying to force an extremely on popular bill on the country in one week and they are doing this even though this bill affects one sixth of our economy and even though it would cause hundreds of thousands of people in new Mexico and millions of Americans to lose access to health care prescription drugs drug addiction counseling and other life saving services the Republican plan rates medicate it strips away protections that prevent insurance companies from cancelling your policy for getting set and reduces the services your insure has to provide and it does all this to pay for massive tax cuts for the wealthy Mr present this bill is a disaster because it would be devastating for older new mexicans families who are struggling to make ends me women people with preexisting conditions and new mexicans in rural areas are rural areas would be particularly hard here son in some cases uh it would be very very severe um damage to the health care in rural areas hospital administrators and world counties like County in support of County in my home state have told me that losing medicaid reimbursements could break their budgets and that could force the small world hospitals to limit services or even to close and you know the last thing you want to happen in a small rural communities have the hospital close because we all know what happens after that hospital closes and then uh the definition of services and it's very hard for communities to stay alive in that situation so it's no wonder that the American people don't want this bill they don't want trump care and I suppose it's no surprise that the Republicans have kept it hidden without letting anyone see it and I wanna talk about that for a moment that's not just talking point for Democrats but if this bill passes and becomes law many people will suffer and it has been kept a total secret mister President wish I could read on the Senate floor every story I've gotten from my constituents who are concerned if I could I could hold the record for the longest floor speech I've shared several in the past but today I'd like to re just want from laina from albuquerque this is a picture of a lane from albuquerque new Mexico and she has a very very moving story that she wrote me about that I think in this story you see the story of the affordable care act in the good that it does a lane is 31 years old earlier this week I told some of the lane is story in a speech on the Senate floor but today I want to tell his full story he later graduated last year from the University of new Mexico law school my all my modern and she is quite determined and motivated as you will hear she rolled her story in a facebook post to friends and gave me permission to share it with the American people and with my colleagues here in the Senate and here here is her story for the past eight the eighteen months this is elaine is story line is words for the past eighteen months I've been carrying around a big secret I felt really guilty for not sharing it and yep try as I might I could not work up the nerve to tell you all while key for me Center you'd always help me to rip off the bandaid in the spring of 20 16 I found out that I have a brac one mutation which puts me in a very high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer women with the bracket one mutation also tend to get breast and or ovarian cancer very young sometimes even in their twenties or thirties when you have a graco one minute mutation you have two options one as you can get breast screenings every six months and yearly of their in screenings and keep your fingers cross that nothing pops up or two you could get your breast and ovaries removed and significantly decrease your odds of getting cancer needless to say there's not really a right decision a woman's choice just comes down to what she feels is right for her body and her life in the last eighteen months I've gotten to check a whole lot of things off my quote absolutely not on my bucket list quote and April 20 16 I had my first breast mri which revealed a lump to my doctor thought might be breast cancer I then had my first mammogram my first breast ultrasound and my first breast biopsy these test thankfully reveal that I didn't have breast cancer they also help me to make the difficult decision to have a prophylactic mastectomy and significantly reduce my chances of getting breast cancer and August 20 16 I had a prophylactics mastectomy in October and February of this year I had follow up surgeries to have my breast reconstructive since February I've been focused on healing and I feel great obviously this isn't the end of the road doctor suggest that women with black a one mutation get their ovaries removed around the age of 40 and of course screening will continue to be important but for now I feel at peace knowing that I'm doing what I can to protect myself as senator you mention at the time that all of this health stuff came up I have health insurance thanks to medicaid expansion through the slash Obama care I first enrolled in medicaid about three years ago when I was a law student at u and m school of law you and just giving qualifying students the opportunity to role and medicaid under the affordable care act I was a healthy 29 year old with no preexisting conditions and I doubted I would ever use my health insurance little did I know completing the medicaid application would be one of the most important decisions I ever made so a truly genuine hashtag thanks Obama to President Obama his staff and all our elected leaders who work to make the happen and are fighting to keep it alive I'm so grateful that I qualified for medicaid at a time in my life when I unexpectedly needed health insurance more than I could have ever anticipated and I'm so thankful the draft of the understood that allowing me to get to preventive care I needed was better for my health and also more financially sound the easy easy with which I have received my medical coverage has allowed me to focus on my recovery while it has been a challenging year and a half knowing that I could trust my health insurance made it so much easier than I imagined it would be I am so relieved that now I can focus on my future instead of figure and figuring out how to pay off in sermon Mobile medical dale I'm fully recovered from my surgeries and I'm working on moving my life and career forward I look forward to paying taxes I swear I really do to support programs like medicaid so I can do my part to assist other Americans and staying healthy if you had told me when I signed up for medicaid that I would make such extensive use of it I wouldn't have believed to at times I've felt guilty for having to utilize medicaid at a time in my life that is proven to be so medically and financially complicated friends and family have been good to remind me to this is what medicaid is about ensuring that Americans can't afford to take care of their health regardless of their financial state when an issues strikes the affordable care act has made this a reality for more people than ever before I am so grateful to be one of them I'm very scared for what the future will bring from for those many individuals with received insurance thanks to the aca I worry that it's affordable care act is destroyed my preexisting condition we'll make it financially impossible for me and many others to get health insurance I worry for people who couldn't get insurance to their work and we're fine and we're finally able to get it through the Exchange I worry that those who suffer from ailments that constance constantly affect their health won't be able to afford the care they need I worry about the millions of Americans who are about to lose so much I understand that the is not perfect it needs some work especially for people on the Exchange who are paying premiums that are way too high but the replacement plan that is being proposed is going to make it incredibly difficult for all of us to get quality affordable health care there are no words to adequately express my gratitude to all those who work so tirelessly to make the affordable care act happen I'm so hopeful that instead of destroying the our leaders will work to make it stronger so that all Americans can get the health care that they deserve and those are the words that he lane posted on her facebook page and and uh very moving very very moving words uh mister President before her surgery a lane to have an eighty seven percent chance of developing breast cancer and now it's less than 10 percent less than that of the average woman I commit to elaina and to every new Mexican and American that I will work to make the stronger so that all Americans get the health care they rightly deserved but the Senate Republicans cannot claim the same their bill drafted in secret behind close doors hurts people like the laina who have preexisting conditions it hurts people in her situation who have complicated health care needs with high medical costs and those who benefit from medicaid from the medicaid expansion Americans support the medicaid program they understand that even if they don't need medicaid neighbors friends family may needed and they understand that they may needed unexpectedly in the future like he lane idea medicaid expansion has met that his meant that for over 200 and 65000 Mexican it's they have health care coverage that they didn't have before pretty remarkable thing and six short years in new Mexico after the passage of the affordable care act you have people who didn't have any healthcare and now 200 and 50 200 and 65000 have medicaid coverage and they're in this it could be in a situation just like the lane up many of these are hardworking families families living in world the Mexico native American families living in new Mexico the Senate Republican bill like the House Republican bill will end medicaid expansion into Mexico for people like line up Mr pros and I want everyone listening to hear this bill cuts medicaid overall more deeply more deeply than the House version and when President trump said that this uh the House version was a mean bill this is a meaner bill they are not necessary these cuts are meaner and they are not necessary to repeal the affordable care act they will hurt millions of Americans they also devastating to our state economies Mexico can afford to pick up the tab for those cuts those so the state will be forced to cut services and reduce payments to doctors hospitals my clothes and that would mean healthcare jobs will dry up he lane his story is one of millions every senator has hundreds and thousands of constituents with these stories we all need health care at some point in our lives I urge I am floor my fellow senators across the aisle to reject the connolly trump care bill work with Democrats on a bipartisan basis to improve america's health care system so that every American has access to affordable health care don't do this don't got our health care system mister President night no the absence of a corm or call road Mr Alexander