Page 8A
NATION
East Oregonian
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Senate blocks proposal to repeal ‘Obamacare’
By ERICA WERNER
AP Congressional Correspondent
WASHINGTON — Prodded by
President Donald Trump, a bitterly
divided Senate voted, at last, Tuesday
to move forward with the Republi-
cans’ long-promised legislation to
repeal and replace “Obamacare.”
There was high drama as Sen. John
McCain returned to the Capitol for
the first time after being diagnosed
with brain cancer to cast a decisive
“yes” vote.
The final tally was 51-50, with
Vice President Mike Pence, exer-
cising his constitutional prerogative,
breaking the tie after two Repub-
licans joined all 48 Democrats in
voting “no.”
When the Senate voted Tuesday
evening on the bill’s initial amend-
ment, it underscored how hard it
will be for the chamber’s divided
Republicans to pass a sweeping
replacement of Obama’s law.
By 57-43 — including nine GOP
defectors — it blocked a wide-
ranging proposal by Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell to erase
and replace much of the statute. It
included language by Sen. Ted Cruz,
R-Texas, letting insurers sell cut-rate
policies with skimpy coverage,
plus an additional $100 billion to
help states ease out-of-pocket costs
for people losing Medicaid — a
provision sought by Midwestern
moderates including Rob Portman,
R-Ohio.
On the day’s opening vote to
begin debate, and with all senators
in their seats and protesters agitating
outside and briefly inside the
chamber, the vote was held open at
length before McCain, 80, entered
the chamber. Greeted by cheers, he
smiled and dispensed hugs — but
with the scars from recent surgery
starkly visible on the left side of his
face.
Despite voting “yes,” he took
a lecturing tone afterward and
hardly saw success assured for the
Trump cranks up
heat on Sessions,
says “time will
tell” fate
WASHINGTON (AP)
— President Donald Trump
cranked up the heat Tuesday
on Attorney General Jeff
Sessions, scorning him as
“very weak” and refusing
to say whether he’ll fire the
nation’s top law enforcement
officer and his onetime
political ally. It was an
extraordinary public rebuke,
and even fellow Republicans
pushed back forcefully.
All through a day of
anything-but-subtle tweets
and statements, Trump
rued his decision to choose
Sessions for his Cabinet
and left the former senator’s
future prospects dangling.
“We will see what
happens,” Trump said.
“Time will tell. Time will
tell.”
His intensifying criticism
has fueled speculation
that the attorney general
may step down even if the
president stops short of firing
him. But several people
close to the former Alabama
senator have said he does not
plan to quit.
In private, Trump
C-SPAN2 via AP
In this image from video provided by C-SPAN2, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. is embraced by Senate
Minority Leader Charles Schumer of N.Y. as he arrives of the floor of the Senate on Capitol Hill in
Washington, Tuesday.
legislation after weeks of misfires,
even after Tuesday’s victory for
Trump and Republican leader Mitch
McConnell.
“If this process ends in failure,
which seems likely, then let’s return
to regular order,” McCain said as
he chided Republican leaders for
devising the legislation in secret
along with the administration and
“springing it on skeptical members.”
“Stop listening to the bombastic
loudmouths on the radio, TV and
internet. To hell with them!” McCain
said, raising his voice as he urged
senators to reach for the comity of
earlier times.
At the White House earlier, after
senators voted to consider the bill,
Trump wasted no time in declaring
a win and slamming the Democrats
anew.
“I’m very happy to announce
that, with zero of the Democrats’
votes, the motion to proceed on
raged to confidants that
Sessions had been disloyal
in recusing himself from
the federal investigation of
Russia’s meddling in the
presidential election and the
possibility of collaboration
with the Trump campaign.
Sessions himself had met
with Russian Ambassador
Sergey Kislyak before the
election as a representative
of the Trump campaign and
thus stepped aside from the
probe.
Mic captures GOP
senator ripping
Trump, mocking
lawmaker
WASHINGTON (AP)
— Oh, that dreaded open
microphone!
Republican Sen. Susan
Collins got caught Tuesday
at the end of a hearing with
a microphone that was still
hot — and captured her
ripping President Donald
Trump and making fun of a
fellow lawmaker who had
been critical of her on health
care.
Collins, a moderate from
Maine, can be overheard
complaining about Trump
and his proposed 2018
budget, which slashes
health care has just passed. And
now we move forward toward truly
great health care for the American
people,” Trump said. “This was a big
step. I want to thank Senator John
McCain — very brave man.”
Trump continued to celebrate the
vote at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio
that doubled as a victory lap.
“We’re now one step closer
to liberating our citizens from
this “Obamacare” nightmare and
delivering great health care for the
American people” he said.
At its most basic, the Republican
legislation is aimed at undoing
“Obamacare’’’s unpopular mandates
for most people to carry insurance
and businesses to offer it. The GOP
would repeal “Obamacare” taxes
and unwind an expansion of the
Medicaid program for the poor, the
disabled and nursing home residents
The result would be 20 million to 30
million people losing insurance over
a decade, depending on the version
of the bill.
The GOP legislation has polled
abysmally, while “Obamacare” itself
has grown steadily more popular. Yet
most Republicans argue that failing
to deliver on their promises to pass
repeal-and-replace legislation would
be worse than passing an unpopular
bill, because it would expose the
GOP as unable to govern despite
controlling majorities in the House,
Senate and White House.
Tuesday’s vote amounted to a
procedural hurdle for legislation
whose final form is impossible to
predict under the Senate’s byzantine
amendment process, which will
unfold over the next several days.
Indeed senators had no clear idea
of what they would ultimately be
voting on, and in an indication of
the uncertainty ahead, McConnell,
R-Ky., said the Senate will “let the
voting take us where it will.” The
BRIEFLY
spending with deep cuts
to domestic agencies, food
stamps, Medicaid, highway
funding and medical
research.
“Whenever there was a
grant, they just X-ed it out,
with no metric, no thinking
about it, no nothing,”
she tells Democratic
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode
Island. “It’s just incredibly
irresponsible.”
“I think he’s crazy,” Reed
says. And Collins adds, “I’m
worried.”
Collins was also snagged
making unflattering
remarks about Rep. Blake
Farenthold, R-Texas, a
day after he blamed “some
female senators from the
Northeast” for blocking
health care legislation. He
said he wished he could
challenge them to a duel
“Aaron Burr-style.”
Trump shows the
Boy Scouts how to
start a political fire
CHARLESTON, W.Va.
(AP) — No knot-tying
demonstrations. No wood-
carving advice. President
Donald Trump went straight
to starting a fire in a speech
at a national Boy Scout
gathering.
Parents, former Scouts
and others were furious
after Trump railed against
his enemies, promoted
his political agenda and
underlined his insistence on
loyalty before an audience
of tens of thousands of
school-age Scouts in West
Virginia on Monday night.
“Is nothing safe?” Jon
Wolfsthal, a former special
assistant to President Barack
Obama, wrote on Twitter,
saying Trump turned the
event into a “Nazi Youth
rally.”
Trump, the eighth
president to address the
Scouts’ National Jamboree,
was cheered by the crowd,
but his comments put an
organization that has tried
in recent years to avoid
political conflict and
become more inclusive in an
awkward position.
The knot-tying was left
to Democratic Sen. Chris
Murphy of Connecticut,
who said on Twitter that his
stomach was in knots over
expectation is that he will bring up a
series of amendments.
Yet after seven years of empty
promises, and weeks of hand-
wringing and false starts on Capitol
Hill, it was the Senate’s first concrete
step toward delivering on innumer-
able pledges to undo former Pres-
ident Barack Obama’s law. It came
after several near-death experiences
for earlier versions of the legislation,
and only after Trump summoned
senators to the White House last
week to order them to try again after
McConnell had essentially conceded
defeat.
“The people who sent us here
expect us to begin this debate, to
have the courage to tackle the tough
issues,” McConnell said ahead of the
vote.
Democrats stood implacably
opposed, and in an unusual maneuver
they sat in their seats refusing to vote
until it was clear Republicans would
be able to reach the 50-vote margin
needed to get them over the top with
Pence’s help.
“Turn back,” Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer of New York
implored his GOP colleagues before
the vote. “Turn back now, before it’s
too late and millions and millions
and millions of Americans are hurt
so badly.”
Schumer’s pleas fell on deaf
ears, as several GOP senators who’d
announced they would oppose
moving forward with the legislation
reversed themselves to vote “yes.”
Among them were Dean Heller of
Nevada, the most vulnerable Repub-
lican senator in next year’s midterm
elections, Shelley Moore Capito of
West Virginia and Ron Johnson of
Wisconsin.
Johnson has recently accused
McConnell of operating in bad faith
on the bill, and stood in intense
conversation with him on the Senate
floor before finally becoming the
50th Republican senator to vote
“yes,” immediately following
McCain.
the president’s over-the-top
delivery.
“If you haven’t watched
it yet, don’t,” Murphy said.
“It’s downright icky.”
The Boy Scouts’ official
Facebook page was barraged
with comments condemning
the speech. Several people
posted links to the Scouts’
policy on participation in
political events — which
sharply limits what Scouts
should do. Boy Scouts are
typically 10 to 18 years old.
Justice Dept.
rules intensify
crackdown on
sanctuary cities
WASHINGTON (AP)
— The Justice Department
escalated its promised
crackdown on so-called
sanctuary cities Tuesday,
saying it will no longer give
cities coveted grant money
unless they give federal
immigration authorities
access to jails and provide
advance notice when
someone in the country
illegally is about to be
released.
Under old rules, cities
seeking grant money
needed only to show they
were not preventing local
law enforcement from
communicating with
immigration authorities
about the citizenship status
of someone in their custody.
Trump long promised
cuts in federal grants for
cities that refuse to cooperate
with federal efforts to detain
and deport those living in the
country illegally.
“So-called sanctuary
policies make all of us
less safe because they
intentionally undermine
our laws and protect
illegal aliens who have
committed crimes,” Attorney
General Jeff Sessions said
in a statement. “These
policies also encourage
illegal immigration and
even human trafficking by
perpetuating the lie that in
certain cities, illegal aliens
can live outside the law.”
The solar eclipse is coming
August 21
HONORED
Come
C
o
get th
the
he coole
coolest
olestt ecli
eclipse
ipse
e
glasses in town at your nearest
g
East Oregonian office, or come
E
visit us at our Umatilla County
Fair booth, Aug. 8-12.
$1 EACH
Best deal in town!
Pick some up for your friends
and family while supplies last.
to be a part of the communities we serve
EO Media Group newspapers are proud
to have won 18 first-place awards at this
year’s Oregon Newspaper Publishers
Association Summer Convention
We would like to thank the readers and
businesses in each of the communities that
we serve for their loyalty and support
eo
o
eomediagroup.com
East Oregonian
1-800-522-0255
211 SE Byers Ave. Pendleton 333 East Main St. Hermiston
• The East Oregonian won
General Excellence for the sixth
time in the past seven years
• The Daily Astorian won
Best Overall Website and placed
second in General Excellence
• Capital Press won the
Sweepstakes award as best
associate member publication
group
3 3
3 3
3 3
3
3
3
3 33
3
3 33
3 33
3 33
3 3 33
3
3
3
3
3 3
3 33
3 3
3 33
3
3
3
3
