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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP/WKYT)- Senator Rand Paul released a statement regarding his thoughts on the California, Kentucky Travel Ban.

Senator Paul released the following statement to WDRB News; I thought we fought the Civil War a long time ago. We were going to be one country, not separate countries. Banning travel is a really really short-sided,

The Governors office has also already released a statement saying the only reason the California Attorney General made this decision was because Kentucky doesnt share ideological and political views and that this is just an excuse for West Coast Liberals to continue to rail against the president's orders.

Both statements come after California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Thursday that Kentucky, Alabama, South Dakota, and Texas were added to its list of states subject to travel restrictions because of laws that could be considered discriminatory against members of the LGBTQ community. North Carolina, Kansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee are already on the list.

A California statute that went into effect in January prohibits state-funded and state-sponsored travel to states with laws that authorize or require discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression or against same-sex couples or their families.

Those travel restrictions apply to state agencies, departments, boards, authorities, and commissions, including an agency, department, board, authority, or commission of the University of California and California State University.

Becerra says California taxpayers' money "will not be used to let people travel to states who chose to discriminate."

The state added Kentucky because of Senate Bill 17 which was passed during the legislative session earlier this year. Officials in California say the law could allow student-run organizations in colleges and K-12 schools in Kentucky to discriminate against classmates based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

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Senator Rand Paul comments on California, Kentucky travel ban - WKYT

President Trump will meet Tuesday with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, one of six Senate Republican holdouts on the GOP bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, according to a White House official.

Mr. Trump is aggressively pushing to get the Senate bill across the finish line this week.

The meeting with Mr. Paul follows a series of phone calls over the weekend to at least four of the Senate Republicans who have balked at the bill, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, plans to put to a vote by the end of the week.

Getting the Senate health care bill passed and a final bill to approval before Congresss August recess is a top priority for Mr. Trump and Republicans. But the effort was complicated by a Congressional Budget Office analysis that projected 22 million people would lose health insurance as a result of the Senate bill.

Senate Republicans can suffer two defections and still pass the bill. No Democrats are expected to vote for it.

The other GOP holdouts that Mr. Trump called over the weekend included Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Ted Cruz of Texas and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.

The president, who reportedly said the House version of the bill was mean, was impressed with the work done by the Senate, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday.

Hes very pleased with the developments, he said, repeating Mr. Trumps remark that he wants a bill that has heart.

He wants a bill that does what it is supposed to do. If you look at what happened with Obamacare, he wants to make sure we think through this, said Mr. Spicer. He will continue to support ways to make the bill stronger.

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Trump huddles with Sen. Rand Paul, pushes health care bill - Washington Times

Sen. Rand PaulRand PaulThree more GOP senators announce opposition to healthcare bill Rand Paul: Trump 'open to making bill better' Senate GOP delays ObamaCare repeal vote past recess MORE (R-Ky.) will meet with President Trump on Tuesday afternoon as GOP leadership aims to shore up the votes to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

A spokesman for the Kentucky Republican confirmed the White House meeting, which Paul also tweeted about.

I'll discuss w/ him how to fix bill & get more to a YES on real repeal, things I've tried to tell Senate leaders with no result so far

Paul has been a vocal critic of the Senate GOP's healthcare bill. He told reporterson Mondaynight that he would vote against an initial procedural hurdle that could come as early as Tuesday.

Asked if that meant he would vote "no" on the initial motion to proceed, Paul said, "absolutely," adding that leadership doesn't currently have the votes it needs.

Paul's meeting comes as GOP leadership is stepping up its efforts to win over opposing senators.

Sen. Ted CruzTed CruzThree more GOP senators announce opposition to healthcare bill Senate GOP delays ObamaCare repeal vote past recess Club for Growth opposes Senate ObamaCare repeal bill MORE (R-Texas) huddled in Majority Leader Mitch McConnellMitch McConnellMore than 300 abuse victim support groups oppose GOP healthcare bill Dem lawmaker: GOP healthcare battle is like the Titantic Behind closed doors, tensions in the GOP MORE's (R-Ky.) office for roughly 45 minuteson Tuesday. Vice PresidentPence is also reportedly hosting a handful of conservative senatorson Tuesdaynight.

McConnell has a narrow window for passing their healthcare legislation, which he wants to move before theJuly 4 recess.

With 52 GOP senators, he can only afford to lose two seats and still rely on Pence break a tie.

So far, four GOP senators including Paul have said they will vote to effectively block the Senate from taking up its legislation on a procedural motion.

A spokesman for Sen. Mike LeeMike LeeThree more GOP senators announce opposition to healthcare bill Senate GOP delays ObamaCare repeal vote past recess Club for Growth opposes Senate ObamaCare repeal bill MORE stopped shorton Mondaynight of saying the Utah Republican would vote against proceeding, but stressed that changes needed to be made to win his vote.

"There would have to be changes in the base bill for us to vote for a motion to proceed," he said.

According to ABC News reporter Ali Rogin, Trump called Lee on Monday and hell dine with Pence on Tuesday night.

POTUS called Sen. Mike Lee yesterday to talk healthcare. Spox called it "positive call." Lee will also dine with VP Pence tonight.

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Rand Paul, Trump to meet Tuesday - The Hill

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made an argument on Tuesday that sounded a whole lot like support for a nationalized health insurance system.But when OutFront host Erin Burnett called him on it, Rand not only backtracked, he compared national health care to forced labor camps in the former Soviet Union.

Paul said buying insurance as an individual was expensive, but suggested allowing individuals to join group policies to get a way out of that individual conundrum.A big group he said, had the leverage to demand more complete coverage at lower prices.

So why not go for the biggest group of all and just have insurance for everybody? Burnett asked.

Socialisms not a good idea, Paul responded. Socialisms an utter failure.

He then pointed out the problems in Venezuela, a socialist nation that is currentlysuffering an economic collapse.

But you did just make a great argument for nationalized health care, Burnett said. You said the bigger the group, the lower the cost, so all Im taking is your argument to its logical conclusion.

Paul wanted nothing to do with that one.

I was talking about voluntary groups, he said. Not the gulag.

See the full discussions above.

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Rand Paul Just Compared Nationalized Health Care To 'The Gulag' - HuffPost

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said after speaking with President Donald Trump Tuesday he thinks its possible for the Senate to come together on an Obamacare repeal bill members across the conference can support.

Paul one of the most vocal critics of The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 said he and the president have a similar approach to things, and he believes he would like to see more of the Affordable Care Act repealed than the Senates working draft currently accomplishes.

The Kentucky conservative has been adamant throughout Republicans repeal efforts that the party needs to make good on their promise to constituents to do away with Obamacare a feat he doesnt think the House or Senate measures truly accomplish. Paul said he laid out a number of different ideas he has to make improvements to the legislationand plans to do the same for leadership.

I think the current bill doesnt adequately repeal Obamacare. It keeps too many of the regulations. It keeps too many of the subsidies, and then it creates a new federal subsidy for insurance bailouts, he told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview Tuesday. So I think the bill can get better, but we talked about ways to make it better and Im sending him a letter and his staff this afternoon and Senate leadership a letter of specific things I think we can do to make it better.

Paul was one of several Republicans in the upper chamber to voice his concerns over the lack of transparencyduring the Senates process of crafting the bill, having called for additional time to conduct negotiationsand review the text. The pushback came much to the dismay of Senate Republican leadership, who were forced to delay their vote on the motion to proceed due to a lack of votes which they hoped would have taken place before August recess.

He said he thinks the current impasse is a good thing, adding they have reached a point where those dissenting will now have influence in the process.

Ive been saying for months now if you get to impasse, come back and talk to me Im open to discussion. But I think you have to prove that there are enough votes to be at impasse. If they have enough votes, no one cares about your opinion, he continued. If there arent enough votes to pass it and they really want to pass it, now all of a sudden more people do care about your opinion.

Paul said hes laid out his vision for the bill to his Senate colleagues and thinks its doable to complete negotiations in coming weeks.

Ive spoken at the policy lunch probably a dozen times over the last few weeks, he said. So, I think people know where Im coming from, and its just a matter of whether or not there are enough of us to, I guess, influence the bill towards becoming more of a repeal bill.

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Rand Paul Says He Thinks Senate Can Pass Obamacare Repeal Bill Before August Recess - The Daily Caller