Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, tonight joined colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote against a government takeover of health care. Kline voted against the Senate-passed bill - a plan loaded down with tax hikes, Medicare cuts, and notorious backroom deals - as well as Democrats’ reconciliation “fix" bill with even more taxes, more Medicare cuts, and new special deals. Kline issued the following statement:
“With these votes, Congress has failed its most fundamental responsibility of representing the American people. Citizens descended on the U.S. Capitol this weekend to implore their elected officials to reject this legislation - yet their voices were ignored. Governors are lining up to challenge the mandates that will be imposed on the citizens of their states - yet their pleas have gone unheard. Republicans and Democrats alike stood up to vote no - yet backroom deals and a thirst for government control won the day.
“Time and time again, Republicans called on the majority to scrap this government takeover of health care and student lending and embrace commonsense, bipartisan reforms. And each time, Democrats rejected our offers and stubbornly insisted on their own partisan plan. Today will go down in history as a day when the balance of power shifted away from the people and their voices were silenced. The American people will not forget the way these votes were cast.
“Today’s votes were a loss for the American people, but the battle is far from over. We must now begin working to undo the government takeover of health care and replace it with meaningful reforms that will finally bring down health care costs."
