DENVER (CBS4)- Sen. Michael Bennet voted with his party against the Blunt Amendment on Thursday. The amendment would have allowed employers and insurers to opt out of parts of health care they found morally objectionable.

Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, said the context of the debate is wrong during discussion on Capitol Hill.

“And we sit here and wonder why the U.S. Congress is stuck at an approval rating of 11 percent. Maybe it’s because we’re talking about contraception in the context of a transportation bill,” said Bennet.

Watch Bennet’s entire speech on the Senate floor in the YouTube video below.

Bennet also said he objects to the bill because it is so broadly written. It would allow insurers and companies to reject coverage for virtually any reason.

“In my home state of Colorado I have held hundreds of town hall meetings, in the red parts of the state and the blue parts of the state, and I don’t remember a single time this issue, this issue that is of concern with this amendment, has been raised by anybody. By anybody! In three years. I can tell you what people in Colorado are concerned about. They’re concerned that we aren’t spending our time creating more jobs for them, more jobs in the 21st century in this country. Or how to fix this nation’s debt or deficit. Or how we pass a bipartisan transportation bill that creates immediate jobs and fixes a crumbling infrastructure,” said Bennet.