Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, in closing, I yield myself the balance of my time. I respect very much the specific impetus for this bill. Unfortunately, though, there have been no hearings on this legislation, and it was not marked up in committee. I would like to provide information on current law, on the scope of this legislation, and its potential consequences on our health care system. This is why I do not support this bill in its present form. First, it is important to note that the Affordable Care Act contains a religious exemption incorporating one that has been in the Internal Revenue code since 1965. This provision permits an exemption to members of religion that join together to provide mutual aid as a community-- for example, the Amish and Mennonite faiths--or participate in a health care sharing ministry, which is akin to insurance. These groups do not participate in government-funded social services, including Medicare or Social Security. This is a longstanding, well-defined, easy to implement exemption, and it was carried over to the ACA. The ACA's minimum essential coverage requirement was challenged in Federal court under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.…”