Sen. Durbin: Affordable Care Act Is Here to Stay

WASHINGTON, June 22 -- Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Illinois, issued the following news release on June 21, 2021:

U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered a speech on the Senate floor recognizing the Supreme Court's historic decision to keep the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in place. The decision, announced last week, marks the third time the Supreme Court has upheld the law, which has allowed nearly one million Illinoisans to be insured. In his speech, Durbin spoke about the long history of the ACA, outlasting continued Republican efforts to repeal the law or challenge its constitutionality through the court system.

"After 11 years of fighting the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court finally said to the Republicans 'enough.' Millions of Americans have health insurance in a time when they desperately needed it, in the midst of a pandemic, and your theories on the Constitution and law are not adequate to end the Affordable Care Act. Thank goodness for that ruling," said Durbin.

Durbin went on to emphasize the importance of health care coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic. He thanked the Biden Administration's commitment to holding the ACA in place and its continued efforts to vaccinate Americans in hopes of ending the pandemic.

"The [Biden] Administration was heartened by that and by the knowledge that we are fast approaching the point where 70 percent of the adults in America are going to be vaccinated. Remember when President Biden took office six months ago? Yes, we had the vaccines, but we hadn't produced them in quantity. We didn't have a plan for vaccinating America," said Durbin. "Now the United States is leading the world in the effort to vaccinate its population...We still have a challenge. We still have a threat... I hope my Republican colleagues will join the Democrats in urging Americans to be vaccinated as quickly as possible."

Video of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FrJfCILO2o&feature=youtu.be

Audio of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here: https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/audio/listen/durbin-the-affordable-care-act-is-here-to-stay

Footage of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here (https://lfts.senate.gov/seos/1000/mpd/ui070720216bcc690836f658a181bb7211e1de89e5) for TV Stations.