Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Eric Cantor: U.S. House rejects Obamacare 244-185

From House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)...

“I introduced this legislation on behalf of my colleagues so that we may all be on record following the Supreme Court’s decision in order to show that the House rejects ObamaCare and that we are committed to taking this flawed law off the books. This is a law that the American people did not want when it was passed and it remains a law that the American people do not want now.

“First and foremost, ObamaCare violates President Obama’s central promise to the American people that if they like their current health coverage, they can keep it. The vast majority of people in this country like the health care that they have and they want to keep it. But now, thanks to this law, patients across the nation are losing access to the health care they like. Millions stand to lose health care coverage from their employers because ObamaCare is driving up costs and effectively forcing employers to drop health care coverage.

“Beyond that, ObamaCare takes away from patients the ability to make their own decisions and individual choices. Instead of letting patients and their families work with their doctors to decide the best care, ObamaCare puts Washington in the driver’s seat to make health care choices for them and their family. Taking away choice, driving up costs and making health care dramatically more expensive is not the prescription that Americans asked for.

“We know in this tough economy we need to be doing everything we can to help our small businessmen and women. They are struggling because of uncertainty and facing the prospects of one of the largest tax hikes in history. ObamaCare increases that burden by adding new costs and more red tape. The new harsh reality is that creating new jobs and bringing on new employees may just be too expensive and too burdensome if this law is left to stand.

“The President said throughout the health care debate, as did former Speaker Pelosi and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, that this health care law was not a tax. Well, we now know, the Supreme Court has spoken: it is a tax. It’s time to stop all the broken promises and get back to the kind of health care people in this country want.

“It cannot be overlooked that ObamaCare also has disastrous implications for the moral fabric of our nation. Despite the claims to the contrary, this law actually paves the way for federal funding of abortion, violating many in this country’s individual religious, ethical, and moral beliefs. It is also the basis from which President Obama launched an assault on the religious freedom of millions of Americans, by requiring employers to cover items and services with which they and perhaps their employees fundamentally disagree.

“Washington-based care is not the answer. There is a better way to go about improving the health care system in this country. The American people want patient-centered care that allows them to make the very personal decisions about health care with their families and their doctors. They want to keep the care they like. They want to see costs come down. And, they want health care to be more accessible. That is the kind of health care we on the Republican side of the aisle support and frankly the type of care that the vast majority of the American people support.

“We have said since day one that we must fully repeal this law. Today, we can start over and we can tell the American people, we are on your side, that we care about your health care, we want quality care and affordable costs. We listened and we’ve acted.”

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