In the United States, on Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats launched a flurry of motions, speeches and procedural maneuvers to bring the Senate floor to a halt Monday night in order to protest the Republicans’ plan to push through a new healthcare bill without any public debate. The Republicans’ bill would strip 23 million people of their health insurance, while giving billions of dollars in tax breaks to wealthy Americans. Republican senators have been drafting the final version of the bill in secret closed-door meetings. They are pushing for a vote on the bill before July 4. This is California Democratic Senator Kamala Harris.

Sen. Kamala Harris: “Now, I remember when our colleagues across the aisle said the Affordable Care Act was being rammed down the American people’s throats in the middle of the night. Well, the ACA went, in fact, through 106 public hearings. It incorporated more than 170 Republican amendments. The whole process took an entire year. But this healthcare plan involves no hearings, no bill text and no transparency at all.”