Following this morning’s White House meeting on health care reform between President Obama and congressional Democrats - but not a single congressional Republican - Rep. Howard P. “Buck" McKeon (R-CA) issued the following statement:
“We stand ready to work with the President and Democrats in Congress on common sense health care reforms. The question is, are they ready - or willing - to work with us?
“It is often said that actions speak louder than words. And while President Obama has spoken often of his desire to enact bipartisan reforms to our nation’s health care system, the decision to convene a partisan planning session and establish arbitrary deadlines for action points to a very different, and very divisive, outcome.
“Republicans have been clear about our desire to pursue bipartisan reforms that will make health care more affordable and accessible to American families. In the absence of meaningful cooperation by Democrats, we have developed a series of principles that will guide our plans to reform health care in a way that builds on what works and fixes what is broken."
NOTE: McKeon is the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee and a member of the House GOP Health Care Solutions Group.
