Statements galore.
Republican Leader Cantor’s remarks from the floor:
Mr. Speaker, America did not become great by accident. We are a great country because we continue to strive toward the protection and expansion of individual liberties in a way that people cannot find anywhere else in the world. Our system of free enterprise inspires people to pursue opportunity, to take responsibility for their lives and to achieve success.
Yet for the past two years, Congress and the Administration have pushed an agenda that moves America in the opposite direction by eroding individual freedoms. It’s part of a philosophy premised upon government siphoning more money, control and power out of the private sector. And the health care law we seek to repeal today is the tip of the spear.
Mr. Speaker, let’s make something clear: both parties care deeply about health care. Likewise, Republicans have rejected the status quo. We simply disagree with our counterparts on the other side of the aisle that excessive government regulation and sweeping mandates on individuals and businesses are the right way to go about effecting the reforms Americans want.
The construct of this law is fundamentally unworkable. Instead of preserving the doctor-patient relationship, this legislation we seek to repeal, is rooted in having federal bureaucrats come between patients and their doctors, limiting choices.
If you go back to the health care debate last Congress, the President, then-Speaker Pelosi and Leader Reid often spoke of two goals: One, we should strive to lower costs. Two, if Americans liked the health insurance coverage they had, they should be able to keep it.
Mr. Speaker, we believe in the aftermath of the bill’s passage these goals have not and cannot be met. Therefore, doesn’t it stand to reason that we must repeal this law and begin an honest debate about a better way forward?
Of all the most disingenuous myths in this town, perhaps the biggest is the notion that repealing the health care law will increase the deficit. Let’s remember here: we are adding an open-ended entitlement.
The new law is riddled with budget gimmicks that double-count savings, offset 6 years of benefits with 10 years of tax increases, and rely on cuts to Medicare and tax increases to fund a new entitlement.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office works hard to provide accurate accounting, but it is only able to score the legislation put in front of them – even if it includes budget gimmicks and fiscal shell games designed to hide its true cost. The reality is that this trillion-dollar, new government entitlement will lead to a one-size-fits-all cure and put our country and our states on the path to bankruptcy.
At a time when we need to do everything in our power to encourage job creation, the health care law hangs around the necks of businesses and serves as a barrier to job creation.
If we want to deliver real results, the right way to go about health care reform is to lower costs and improve access. That is why, after the House passes this repeal of ObamaCare, we will begin a two-step process of, first, conducting oversight of the law and the impact its had on our economy and our health care system, and two, beginning work on a new vision to improve health care without bankrupting our country and taking away the health care that most Americans want and like.
This majority is dedicated to achieving results for the American people. As we’ve said before, we are a cut-and-grow Congress. We will cut spending and job-destroying regulation, and grow private-sector jobs and the economy. Repealing last year’s health care law is a critical step. Mr. Speaker: We can do better. We will do better. And I urge my colleagues to support repeal.”
Congressman Bob Goodlatte:
“Tonight House Republicans, with my support, delivered on our promise to the American people to hold a vote on legislation that would repeal the Democrats’ sweeping health care reform law. As I have said time and time again, the Democrats’ health care reform law is a monstrosity, which amounts to a big government takeover of our health care system – one that will lead to fewer choices, higher prices and rationed care.
The ‘health care reform’ law creates more than 150 new government agencies and programs at a cost of well over $1.2 trillion. It mandates that folks have health insurance, makes significant cuts to Medicare and includes $569 billion in devastating new tax increases imposed on individuals and small businesses.
Americans are frustrated by rising health care costs, and that is why we in Congress must focus on policies that cut health insurance costs and make health care better, more available, and more affordable for all Americans. It’s your job to make health care decisions for your family. The government’s job is to ensure you have access to affordable alternatives and then get out of the way.
I am a strong supporter of alternative proposals which allow for the purchase of health insurance across state lines, allow individuals and small businesses to join large pools to get more competitive rates, provide tort reform to cut down the high cost of defensive medicine, allow full tax deductibility of health insurance premiums, and provide for portability of health insurance and protection against pre-existing condition exclusions. In addition, I support health insurance tax credits for individuals and families who don’t have access to employer-based health insurance, increasing the number of community health centers, and encouraging the use of health information technology to achieve greater efficiencies.
I will continue working to advance a positive, patient-centered strategy that puts patients, families and doctors, not Washington bureaucrats, in control of personal health care decisions.”
Congressman Frank Wolf:
“Today I voted to repeal health care ‘reform’ legislation that President Obama signed into law last year. Our nation’s health care system is far from perfect, and I will continue to support reforms such as guaranteeing that no one is denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition, allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ health care plans until they reach age 26, allowing individuals to purchase insurance across state lines, and working for medical liability reform.
“But I believe that Congress must find ways to pay for these reforms rather than continuing to add to the national debt. The health care reform legislation pushed by Democrats and the Obama Administration uses budget gimmicks to hide new costs, imposes new taxes on small business owners looking to hire, forces individuals to buy health insurance, and drastically cuts Medicare. Their version of health care reform will stifle economic growth – the wrong action to take during an economic downturn.
“The vast majority of 10th District constituents who have contacted me about health care reform let me know that they want Republicans and Democrats to work together, in an open and transparent process, to pass responsible health care reform that will lower costs and offer greater access to affordable health care.
“In order to achieve these shared goals, we must repeal the law passed last year and start a bipartisan process that protects both the health care security of Americans and the financial security of America. That’s why I will also vote tomorrow for legislation which will instruct four House committees to begin preparing replacement bills that will lower health care premiums through increased competition and choice; preserve a patient’s ability to keep his or her health plan if he or she likes it; provide people with pre-existing conditions access to affordable health coverage; reform the medical liability system to reduce unnecessary and wasteful health care spending; increase the number of insured Americans, and protect the doctor-patient relationship, among other reforms.
“We must work to provide care to those currently in need without unduly burdening future generations. With nearly $62 trillion in liabilities and unfunded entitlement obligations, we cannot continue to add to the nation’s credit card and deny the truth about our nation’s debt. I want to see Congress pass thoughtful, bipartisan health care reforms that do not violate our moral obligation to pass on a better society to our children and grandchildren. Voting to repeal the flawed legislation passed last year is the first step toward that end.”
Congressman Robert Hurt:
“The Democrats’ health care law raises costs, increases taxes, places burdensome government regulations and mandates on small businesses, and will destroy jobs and hurt our economy.
“Voting to repeal the government takeover of health care is another way to help foster an economic environment of certainty that will give businesses the confidence necessary to hire and expand.
“This does not mean a return to the status quo. As a co-sponsor of the resolution that instructs committees to develop legislation to replace the Democrats’ health care law with market-oriented solutions, I am committed to finding ways to reduce health care costs and keep quality care while removing the government from the patient-doctor relationship.
“I look forward to debating and finding these solutions in an open and transparent manner throughout the 112th Congress.”
Texas Governor Rick Perry, Republican Governors’ Association:
“Today’s action by the U.S. House of Representatives is welcomed by governors and the states as a first step towards repealing the unaffordable federal health care takeover that shifted billions of dollars onto state governments while limiting governors’ ability to manage state-administered health care programs.
The United States Senate should quickly act on the people’s will to repeal Obamacare, which was reflected by last November’s election results and by today’s vote in the House.
The current law is unaffordable, unsustainable, and unworkable. Governors remain committed to improving our nation’s health care system in a responsible, cost-effective way, but the federal government must give states the flexibility they need.”
Congressman Scott Rigell:
“Last year, Congress passed and the President signed into law, a health care plan that I believe is unconstitutional. It creates a government-run health care system that will further bankrupt America while threatening the coverage of those already insured. By repealing this law, we will have the opportunity to focus on the challenging issues facing our health care system while implementing market based solutions. Government run health care is not the answer: addressing issues like improved access and increased quality of care is,” said Congressman Scott Rigell, who is a co-sponsor of the repeal effort.
Today’s measure would repeal the existing health care law and provide Congress the ability to address our health care challenges without creating massive new entitlement programs. The current health care law is generating thousands of pages of excessive new regulations, and over $500 billion in tax increases that will further cripple small businesses and our struggling economy. According to the House Committee on Ways and Means, it is estimated that approximately 70 percent of employer-provided health care policies could lose their coverage and be forced into a government system.
“As a business owner, I know firsthand the challenges we face due to ever-increasing health care premiums. We must replace this current law with responsible health care reform using market based solutions that include: creating a uniform tax credit that individuals can use to select their own personal health insurance plan, ensuring choices for Americans with pre-existing conditions by creating high risk pools, and enacting common sense tort reform.”