Bennet Reacts To Skinny Repeal Defeat
WASHINGTON, D.C. – One day after the typically reserved Colorado Democratic Senator Michael Bennet unleashed on the Senate floor about the GOP so-called "skinny repeal" he is talking about the defeat of the bill.
"Over the last several months, Americans all over the country, and Coloradans in my home state, have relentlessly raised their voices to defeat this disgraceful health care bill. While this is a win for tonight, we cannot be complacent. There are millions of people who still need us to fix our broken health care system. Now is the time to work together to increase competition, affordability, and transparency; to lower costs and improve quality; and to craft a bill that is responsive to the needs of Americans," said Bennet in a statement released after the bill failed.
On Thursday, Bennet gave an emotional speech about health care before senators voted on the measure.
"We've wasted six months, not of our time, but of the American people's time. I've got people all over the state of Colorado who would love to come here and testify at a committee hearing about how health care is intersecting their lives and making their lives difficult or how they're benefitting," said Bennet on the Senate floor Thursday.
On Friday, Gov. John Hickenlooper released a statement about the skinny repeal failure: "We are encouraged that the Senate has rejected efforts that would have raised health care costs, limited health care coverage, and hurt hundreds of thousands of Coloradans. It's time to roll up our sleeves and deliver specific plans that will improve our health insurance system by lowering costs and providing stability for the marketplace. As governors, we are on the front lines of this debate. We must move forward in a transparent, collaborative, bipartisan manner to address problems we can all agree need fixing."
