Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement as top Washington Democrats hold closed door discussions to merge the House and Senate health care bills.

“Top Democrats in the House and Senate have systematically worked to keep the American public in the dark about their government takeover of health care,” said Congressman Price. “Approval of this bill and public trust of this Congress are in a race to the bottom, and in response Democrats have ducked behind closed doors. President Obama made a campaign promise that these deliberations would occur live on C-SPAN, not hidden away in a backroom. This is the same hijacked process that led to taxpayers getting stuck with the tab for hundreds of millions of dollars in political payoffs in the Senate.

“If the Democrats aren’t engaging in more nefarious backroom deal-making, why do they refuse to pull back the curtains and let the public see what’s going on? What are they doing that they don’t want us to see? If the Democrats hope to retain even the slightest vestige of credibility, they would be wise to negotiate in the light of day. And when it comes to a health care bill this bad, a little sunlight could go a long way.”