Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants Republicans to meet with Democrats talk about healthcare reform, and told the GOP in a Friday letter that the two parties should start collaborating on the bill.
“Now, more than ever, Republicans and Democrats need to come together to find solutions to America’s challenges,” Schumer wrote.
Schumer, D-N.Y., said the meeting should take place in the rarely-used Old Senate Chamber, which is steps away from the actual Senate chamber where legislative business occurs.
“Our healthcare system affects every single American and one-sixth of our economy,” Schumer said in a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “We believe we all owe it to our constituents to meet to discuss your potential legislation that would profoundly impact so many American lives.”
Schumer said the GOP has been too secretive in its efforts to write a bill to repeal and replace the embattled Obamacare law. Republicans have been meeting for weeks behind closed doors to try to hammer out an agreement on legislation and have not said specifically what the bill may include.
McConnell has already noted that Democrats have refused to participate in the talks unless the GOP will abandon plans to repeal Obamacare, and Schumer’s letter did not say explicitly that Democrats have moved off of that position. A spokesman for McConnell did not respond to a request for comment about Schumer’s letter.
Democrats generally want to work on improving the law by spending more money on subsidies or by creating a public option. They point out McConnell does not plan committee consideration of any healthcare bill Republicans end up writing.
Schumer’s letter said Democrats “are dismayed at the reports that there will be no public hearings on your proposed changes to the American healthcare system.”
Republican and Democratic leaders pledged more bipartisanship Thursday night at the annual Congressional Baseball Game, which took place a day after Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., was shot on a baseball field in Alexandria, Va., by a man who first asked the party affiliation of the lawmakers.
The Old Senate Chamber was used for legislative business from 1810 to 1859. It was home to the Supreme Court from 1860 until 1935.
