America has the world’s finest doctors, hospitals, and medical innovations. Obamacare puts the world’s greatest healthcare system in jeopardy.
Stopping Obamacare is one of my top priorities in Congress. In March of 2010, then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said of Obamacare, “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what’s in it.” Unfortunately, she was right. Democrats blindly passed Obamacare, and everyday Americans are suffering the consequences.
We need to repeal Obamacare – every single word. That is why I voted for
H.R. 596, which passed in the House on February 3, 2015 and, if enacted into law, would repeal Obamacare in its entirety.
A strategy to actually stop Obamacare will involve tying defunding provisions to must-pass fiscal legislation. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States grants the power over federal spending decisions to Congress. We should use the power of the purse to stop Obamacare.
We need to ultimately repeal Obamacare and replace it with a different system based on free-market principles. Healthcare reform should:
- Allow families and businesses to buy insurance across state lines.
- End frivolous lawsuits that result in defensive medicine and exorbitant malpractice insurance premiums.
- Enhance Health Savings Accounts.
- Help states provide high-risk pools for pre-existing conditions.
So far in the 114th Congress, I have voted in favor of, and the House of Representatives has passed, multiple bills dealing with shortcomings of Obamacare. These bills include:
- H.R. 30, the Save American Workers Act of 2015 (Passed House of Representatives on January 8, 2015) changes the definition of a “full time employee” under Obamacare from at least 30 hours of service per week to 40 hours of service per week standard.
- H.R. 1190, the Protection Seniors’ Access to Medicare Act of 2015 (Passed House of Representatives on June 23, 2015) repeals the establishment of an Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) in Obamacare. I am a cosponsor of this bill. Repealing IPAB is critical as the board will consist of fifteen unelected bureaucrats with the ability to enact reforms to Medicare using fast-track procedures. With bipartisan support, the Senate must work to get this important bill to the President’s desk.
- H.R. 2061, Equitable Access to Care and Health (EACH) Act (Passed House of Representatives on September 29, 2015) allows for a religious conscience exemption to the Obamacare to exempt Americans who rely purely on religious methods of healing. I am a cosponsor of this bill.
- H.R. 3762, Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act (Passed the House of Representatives and Senate, vetoed by the President, and Congress did not reach 2/3 majority to override and pass the bill on February 2, 2016) eliminates large parts of Obamacare, including individual and employer mandates, Cadillac plan tax, medical device tax, automatic enrollment, and a one-year defund of Federal reimbursements to Planned Parenthood. I voted in favor of this bill.
President Obama’s continued executive overreach is responsible for changes made to the law without consent of Congress. In the 113th Congress, I voted in favor of H. Res. 676, Providing for authority to initiate litigation for actions by the President or other executive branch officials inconsistent with their duties under the Constitution of the United States. More specifically, the resolution authorizes the Speaker to file a lawsuit in objection to the way the President made changes to Obamacare.
As the Chief Executive, the President must enforce the law, not change or create new laws. Rather than coming to Congress, the President made unilateral changes to the law. On July 30, 2014, H. Res. 676 passed the House 225-201.
Former Speaker John Boehner filed a lawsuit against the President on November 21, 2014. In the United States House of Representatives vs. Burwell, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Jacob J. Lew, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, a federal district judge ruled on September 9, 2015 that the lawsuit against Obamacare can move forward. Judge Rosemary Collyer wrote, “The Court concludes that the House has standing to pursue those constitutional claims.”
Obamacare must be repealed and America must return to a health care system based on the free market. I am committed to fighting and repealing this unfixable law.
