Il discorso del senatore John McCain intervenuto nella discussione e votazione al senato sulla proposta di cancellare ObamaCare.
Nonostante fosse reduce da un'operazione al cervello per la rimozione di un cancro molto aggressivo. McCain ha portato una testimonianza di alta dignita' politica rivendicando con forza, sulla base dei trenta anni di appartenenza al senato, il diritto di restituire all'Istituzione il suo ruolo di guida primaria nell'esclusivo interesse del popolo americano e lasciando da parte gli interessi personali.
Nel suo attacco alle radio, televisioni e Internet che fanno propaganda "bombastica" molti hanno voluto vedere un riferimento a Donald Trump e alla sua paranoia twittarola.
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McCain's full remarks:
"Mr. President,
"I've
stood in this place many times and addressed as president many
presiding officers. I have been so addressed when I have sat in that
chair, as close as I will ever be to a presidency.
"It
is an honorific we're almost indifferent to, isn't it. In truth,
presiding over the Senate can be a nuisance, a bit of a ceremonial bore,
and it is usually relegated to the more junior members of the majority.
"But
as I stand here today — looking a little worse for wear I'm sure — I
have a refreshed appreciation for the protocols and customs of this
body, and for the other ninety-nine privileged souls who have been
elected to this Senate.
"I
have been a member of the United States Senate for thirty years. I had
another long, if not as long, career before I arrived here, another
profession that was profoundly rewarding, and in which I had experiences
and friendships that I revere. But make no mistake, my service here is
the most important job I have had in my life. And I am so grateful to
the people of Arizona for the privilege — for the honor — of serving
here and the opportunities it gives me to play a small role in the
history of the country I love.
"I've
known and admired men and women in the Senate who played much more than
a small role in our history, true statesmen, giants of American
politics. They came from both parties, and from various backgrounds.
Their ambitions were frequently in conflict. They held different views
on the issues of the day. And they often had very serious disagreements
about how best to serve the national interest.
"But
they knew that however sharp and heartfelt their disputes, however keen
their ambitions, they had an obligation to work collaboratively to
ensure the Senate discharged its constitutional responsibilities
effectively. Our responsibilities are important, vitally important, to
the continued success of our Republic. And our arcane rules and customs
are deliberately intended to require broad cooperation to function well
at all. The most revered members of this institution accepted the
necessity of compromise in order to make incremental progress on solving
America's problems and to defend her from her adversaries.
"That
principled mindset, and the service of our predecessors who possessed
it, come to mind when I hear the Senate referred to as the world's
greatest deliberative body. I'm not sure we can claim that distinction
with a straight face today.
"I'm
sure it wasn't always deserved in previous eras either. But I'm sure
there have been times when it was, and I was privileged to witness some
of those occasions.
"Our
deliberations today — not just our debates, but the exercise of all our
responsibilities — authorizing government policies, appropriating the
funds to implement them, exercising our advice and consent role — are
often lively and interesting. They can be sincere and principled. But
they are more partisan, more tribal more of the time than any other time
I remember. Our deliberations can still be important and useful, but I
think we'd all agree they haven't been overburdened by greatness lately.
And right now they aren't producing much for the American people.
"Both
sides have let this happen. Let's leave the history of who shot first
to the historians. I suspect they'll find we all conspired in our
decline — either by deliberate actions or neglect. We've all played some
role in it. Certainly I have. Sometimes, I've let my passion rule my
reason. Sometimes, I made it harder to find common ground because of
something harsh I said to a colleague. Sometimes, I wanted to win more
for the sake of winning than to achieve a contested policy.
"Incremental
progress, compromises that each side criticize but also accept, just
plain muddling through to chip away at problems and keep our enemies
from doing their worst isn't glamorous or exciting. It doesn't feel like
a political triumph. But it's usually the most we can expect from our
system of government, operating in a country as diverse and quarrelsome
and free as ours.
"Considering
the injustice and cruelties inflicted by autocratic governments, and
how corruptible human nature can be, the problem solving our system does
make possible, the fitful progress it produces, and the liberty and
justice it preserves, is a magnificent achievement.
"Our
system doesn't depend on our nobility. It accounts for our
imperfections, and gives an order to our individual strivings that has
helped make ours the most powerful and prosperous society on earth. It
is our responsibility to preserve that, even when it requires us to do
something less satisfying than 'winning.' Even when we must give a
little to get a little. Even when our efforts manage just three yards
and a cloud of dust, while critics on both sides denounce us for
timidity, for our failure to 'triumph.'
"I
hope we can again rely on humility, on our need to cooperate, on our
dependence on each other to learn how to trust each other again and by
so doing better serve the people who elected us. Stop listening to the
bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and the internet. To
hell with them. They don't want anything done for the public good. Our
incapacity is their livelihood.
"Let's
trust each other. Let's return to regular order. We've been spinning
our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a
way to win without help from across the aisle. That's an approach
that's been employed by both sides, mandating legislation from the top
down, without any support from the other side, with all the
parliamentary maneuvers that requires.
"We're
getting nothing done. All we've really done this year is confirm Neil
Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Our healthcare insurance system is a mess.
We all know it, those who support Obamacare and those who oppose it.
Something has to be done. We Republicans have looked for a way to end it
and replace it with something else without paying a terrible political
price. We haven't found it yet, and I'm not sure we will. All we've
managed to do is make more popular a policy that wasn't very popular
when we started trying to get rid of it.
"I
voted for the motion to proceed to allow debate to continue and
amendments to be offered. I will not vote for the bill as it is today.
It's a shell of a bill right now. We all know that. I have changes urged
by my state's governor that will have to be included to earn my support
for final passage of any bill. I know many of you will have to see the
bill changed substantially for you to support it.
"We've
tried to do this by coming up with a proposal behind closed doors in
consultation with the administration, then springing it on skeptical
members, trying to convince them it's better than nothing, asking us to
swallow our doubts and force it past a unified opposition. I don't think
that is going to work in the end. And it probably shouldn't.
"The
Obama administration and congressional Democrats shouldn't have forced
through Congress without any opposition support a social and economic
change as massive as Obamacare. And we shouldn't do the same with ours.
"Why
don't we try the old way of legislating in the Senate, the way our
rules and customs encourage us to act. If this process ends in failure,
which seems likely, then let's return to regular order.
"Let
the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee under Chairman
Alexander and Ranking Member Murray hold hearings, try to report a bill
out of committee with contributions from both sides. Then bring it to
the floor for amendment and debate, and see if we can pass something
that will be imperfect, full of compromises, and not very pleasing to
implacable partisans on either side, but that might provide workable
solutions to problems Americans are struggling with today.
"What
have we to lose by trying to work together to find those solutions?
We're not getting much done apart. I don't think any of us feels very
proud of our incapacity. Merely preventing your political opponents from
doing what they want isn't the most inspiring work. There's greater
satisfaction in respecting our differences, but not letting them prevent
agreements that don't require abandonment of core principles,
agreements made in good faith that help improve lives and protect the
American people.
"The
Senate is capable of that. We know that. We've seen it before. I've
seen it happen many times. And the times when I was involved even in a
modest way with working out a bipartisan response to a national problem
or threat are the proudest moments of my career, and by far the most
satisfying.
"This
place is important. The work we do is important. Our strange rules and
seemingly eccentric practices that slow our proceedings and insist on
our cooperation are important. Our founders envisioned the Senate as the
more deliberative, careful body that operates at a greater distance
than the other body from the public passions of the hour.
"We
are an important check on the powers of the executive. Our consent is
necessary for the president to appoint jurists and powerful government
officials and in many respects to conduct foreign policy. Whether or not
we are of the same party, we are not the president's subordinates. We
are his equal.
"As
his responsibilities are onerous, many and powerful, so are ours. And
we play a vital role in shaping and directing the judiciary, the
military, and the cabinet, in planning and supporting foreign and
domestic policies. Our success in meeting all these awesome
constitutional obligations depends on cooperation among ourselves.
"The
success of the Senate is important to the continued success of America.
This country — this big, boisterous, brawling, intemperate, restless,
striving, daring, beautiful, bountiful, brave, good and magnificent
country — needs us to help it thrive. That responsibility is more
important than any of our personal interests or political affiliations.
"We
are the servants of a great nation, ‘a nation conceived in liberty and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.' More
people have lived free and prosperous lives here than in any other
nation. We have acquired unprecedented wealth and power because of our
governing principles, and because our government defended those
principles.
"America
has made a greater contribution than any other nation to an
international order that has liberated more people from tyranny and
poverty than ever before in history. We have been the greatest example,
the greatest supporter and the greatest defender of that order. We
aren't afraid. We don't covet other people's land and wealth. We don't
hide behind walls. We breach them. We are a blessing to humanity.
"What
greater cause could we hope to serve than helping keep America the
strong, aspiring, inspirational beacon of liberty and defender of the
dignity of all human beings and their right to freedom and equal
justice? That is the cause that binds us and is so much more powerful
and worthy than the small differences that divide us.
"What a great honor and extraordinary opportunity it is to serve in this body.
"It's
a privilege to serve with all of you. I mean it. Many of you have
reached out in the last few days with your concern and your prayers, and
it means a lot to me. It really does. I've had so many people say such
nice things about me recently that I think some of you must have me
confused with someone else. I appreciate it though, every word, even if
much of it isn't deserved.
"I'll
be here for a few days, I hope managing the floor debate on the defense
authorization bill, which, I'm proud to say is again a product of
bipartisan cooperation and trust among the members of the Senate Armed
Services Committee.
"After
that, I'm going home for a while to treat my illness. I have every
intention of returning here and giving many of you cause to regret all
the nice things you said about me. And, I hope, to impress on you again
that it is an honor to serve the American people in your company.
"Thank you, fellow senators.