AFSCME President Issues Statement on Senate Vote on Health Care Debate

WASHINGTON, July 26 -- The AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees - AFL-CIO) issued the following statement by President Lee Saunders on the Senate vote to advance debate on repealing the Affordable Care Act:

"The U.S. Senate has just moved one step closer to taking insurance away from tens of millions of people and gutting Medicaid, dealing a devastating blow to working families that would exact a steep human cost - all to pay for more tax cuts for the wealthy.

"Repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act is both morally indefensible and deeply unpopular. That's why the Senate has done this in a way that has degraded the process - without hearings and without transparency, forcing a vote on the 'motion to proceed' before anyone knows what bill we're actually proceeding to.

"This is not the end. With unrelenting grassroots pressure, we can still stop repeal-and-replace - and preserve a health care system that empowers and protects working people. EMTs, nurses like Pat Waller, home care providers like Paula Stinyard and other public service workers dedicate their lives to taking care of the sick and vulnerable. They won't rest while Congress and the President try to put them at greater risk. AFSCME members are in this fight to the finish."