On the recordJanuary 19, 2011
Madam Speaker, the so-called Affordable Care Act has clearly failed to make health care more affordable. Since the passage of this law, I have heard from local families throughout my community concerned about what this will mean to their pocketbooks and from small business owners who are concerned about how they will keep their doors open. Making health care affordable requires that we address out-of-control costs, such as lawsuit abuse reform. This issue was completely and inexplicably ignored in this act. The act has also created paralyzing uncertainty and new layers of bureaucracy, putting new demands on businesses in the form of mandates and new taxes, forcing them to comply with yet-to-be-written regulations that prevent them from hiring and stalls the economic recovery that we need so dearly. After this vote, I look forward to working with all of my colleagues to find ways of lowering the cost of health care, maintaining a patient-focused system, making health care more accessible to all Americans, and working with families and businesses to find quality insurance. This act failed to accomplish such commonsense goals. In fact, it made matters worse. Therefore, I will vote for its repeal, and I encourage all of my colleagues to join with me on both sides of the aisle and vote 'yes.'
