If all the Democrats need to move away from the Affordable Care Act is a Republican alternative, I believe we can accomplish that in fairly short order.
Joe Barton
The Public Record
Joe Barton is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 6th congressional district from 1985 to 2019. During his tenure, Barton served as the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he played a significant role in shaping energy policy and telecommunications legislation. He was known for his advocacy of fossil fuel interests and his support for deregulation in the energy sector.
Most of what we now call the Affordable Care Act came through this committee.
In my State of Texas, according to figures provided to me by Dr. Burgess, who is a very good researcher, less than 3,000 people signed up for the Affordable Care Act.
These increases are a heavy hardship on my constituents, on all of our constituents, Republicans or Democrats.
I've introduced H.R. 3348, which says let's make this system voluntary for the first year, since we're having so many problems, and let the American people decide.
Will you commit to the committee and to the American people that, one, you do want to protect their privacy; and, two, you will take this out, fix it, make sure that it doesn't have bearing on people that try to apply through the Web site?
Well, Madam Secretary, while you're from Kansas, we're not in Kansas anymore.





