WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, along with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), and Protect Our Care’s Chair Leslie Dach, on Sunday highlighted what’s at stake for health care and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ahead of the final Senate vote for Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in the Republican lawsuit to gut the ACA on November 10th, and Senate Republicans are rushing through Judge Barrett’s nomination so she can vote in their favor. On the press call, Murphy discussed the catastrophic impact if the Republicans’ lawsuit succeeds, stripping millions of Americans of their health coverage in the middle of a global pandemic made worse by this administration’s failure to protect the American people.

Stressing the fact that Republicans are relying on the courts to overturn the ACA after they failed to do so legislatively, Murphy said: “It is hysterical to watch our Republican colleagues try to pretend that the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett is about anything other than their decade-long attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It's as if they think all of us have been asleep for 10 years. That we didn't watch while they tried to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act 70 different times. Like we were looking the other way when they tried to repeal the entirety of the Affordable Care Act 31 different times.”

Murphy also laid out how the Republicans’ lawsuit to gut the ACA—if successful—could impact Connecticut: “There are going to be 23 million people in this country who will likely lose their insurance in the middle of a pandemic that is on its way to killing 300,000 Americans. In Connecticut alone—we're a small state, we have about three and a half million people—260,000 people in our state rely on the Affordable Care Act for coverage. There's no way that the state government or hospitals or health centers could pick up health insurance for a quarter of a million people in our state.”

Murphy has been an outspoken critic of the decision to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court before the next president is inaugurated, and has continuously emphasized the disastrous implications of confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Last week, Murphy addressed Republicans’ decision to ram through Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the United States Supreme Court, and push their unpopular agenda on health care, guns, and campaign finance through the courts after they’ve failed legislatively. Murphy launched a campaign to invite people across Connecticut to share their health care stories and describe how they would be impacted if the Republican lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act succeeded. Murphy took to the U.S. Senate floor last month to discuss the health care implications of her nomination. Murphy has also held numerous roundtables across Connecticut discussing how Judge Barrett’s confirmation would impact people’s lives, and has also been outspoken on Judge Barrett’s radical views around gun violence prevention.

A full transcript of Murphy’s opening remarks can be found below:

“Well, thanks for convening us, Leslie, I think my colleagues have covered this very well. So I'll be relatively brief. It is hysterical to watch our Republican colleagues try to pretend that the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett is about anything other than their decade-long attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“It's as if they think all of us have been asleep for 10 years. That we didn't watch while they tried to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act 70 different times. Like we were looking the other way when they tried to repeal the entirety of the Affordable Care Act 31 different times. Like we didn't see that the moment when they had finally, finally failed in the summer of 2017 in their legislative repeal efforts that they snuck a provision into the 2017 tax bill that made the Affordable Care Act, all of a sudden, vulnerable to attack. That we didn't notice, when a few months later, the Republican establishment, led by 20 Republican attorneys general, filed a lawsuit attacking the Affordable Care [Act], surprise, based on that change made in the 2017 tax law. And that we were looking the other direction when Donald Trump broke with precedent and told his Justice Department lawyers to join that lawsuit.

“And let's just be clear what this lawsuit that Amy Coney Barrett is being rushed on to the court to hear asks. It doesn't ask, as Donald Trump would have you believe, only part of the Affordable Care Act to be struck down. It doesn't leave the protections in place for people with pre-existing conditions. No, it reads, 'Once the individual mandate and guaranteed issue and community rating provisions are invalidated, the remainder of the ACA should not be allowed to remain in effect.' That is what the Trump administration, the entire Republican establishment is asking. In a court case that is pending as we speak, before the Supreme Court that Amy Coney Barrett will be able to rule on because we are here, a week before the election, getting ready for a rare Sunday night vote, because of the Republicans' 10-year desire to destroy people's health care.

“And let's just remember what this means. This is going to happen in the middle of a pandemic. There are going to be 23 million people in this country who will likely lose their insurance in the middle of a pandemic that is on its way to killing 300,000 Americans. In Connecticut alone, we're a small state - we have about three and a half million people—260,000 people in our state rely on the Affordable Care Act for coverage. There's no way that the state government or hospitals or health centers could pick up health insurance for a quarter of a million people in our state. And on top of that, we have 70,000 people who have been diagnosed with COVID, who will all have a pre-existing condition that will allow insurers to deny them care. There are 8 million people all across the country who have a COVID diagnosis, that they know about. That's 8 million people on top of the 130 million that already have pre-existing conditions that will be discriminated against because of that diagnosis.

“So it's just really charming to listen to our Republican colleagues try to claim that Amy Coney Barrett's nomination is about something other than the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. We have been watching them chase and chase and chase and chase this bus for a decade. And they are a couple days away from catching it. The result is going to be a humanitarian disaster in this country in the middle of a pandemic. And while it may be so late in the game that our chances are slim to be able to stop it, their voters will remember in 10 days. And then we will be left in January with the task of picking up the pieces.

“So Leslie, thank you very much for bringing us together to talk about the just tremendous, tremendously high stakes of this decision that the Senate is about to make.”

###