WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Renee Ellmers (NC-02) released the following statement regarding last night's announcement to delay Obamacare's employer mandate for one year:

"Last night, the Obama administration conceded failure with a last minute decision to delay Obamacare. They postponed the requirement that companies with 50 or more workers either provide health insurance or pay fines of at least $2,000 per worker - which has already caused countless Americans to lose their jobs. Yet the average American will still suffer fines for failing to obtain individual insurance. By making this decision, President Obama and his administration have admitted failure for the law they forced upon the American people."

"Until now, the Obama administration has turned a deaf ear to countless witnesses, doctors, patients, and employers who have detailed the law's negative impact on their families and their well-being. But with this delay, the administration has confessed that the danger is real. The jig is up."

"I will not rest until the entire law is dismantled and truly affordable, patient-centered, and flexible health care solutions are put into place. Only by placing doctors, patients, and their families first will we be able to retain a health care system that has been the envy of the world."

The Associated Press reported on the decision this morning:

"On Tuesday, the administration unexpectedly announced a one-year delay, until after the 2014 elections, in a central requirement of the law that medium and large companies provide coverage for their workers or face fines. Under the health law, companies with 50 or more workers must provide affordable coverage to their full-time employees or risk a series of escalating tax penalties if just one worker ends up getting government-subsidized insurance. Originally, that requirement was supposed to take effect Jan. 1, 2014. It will now be delayed to 2015."

"Business groups have complained since the law passed that the provision was too complicated. For instance, it created a new definition of full-time workers, those putting in 30 hours or more. It also actually included two separate requirements, one to provide coverage and another that it be deemed "affordable" under the law. Violations of either one exposed employers to fines. But such complaints until now seemed to be going unheeded."

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A nurse for over 21 years, Congresswoman Ellmers sits on the

House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Subcommittee on Health.