WASHINGTON - Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) delivered the following statement on the House floor today in opposition to the House GOP’s 50th attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act:
“Well, here they go again. But this time it's the 50th time that House Republicans have brought up legislation to repeal or to undermine the Affordable Care Act. But this 50th time is no golden anniversary. It's a House Republican goose egg for millions of Americans. Just look at this -- 50 votes. With zero votes to raise the minimum wage. Zero votes to renew unemployment insurance. Zero votes to guarantee paycheck fairness. Zero votes to pass immigration reform. So let's spend a minute looking exactly at what would be the impact of this if it became law. In 2014 we would see an additional one million uninsured. One million. In 2015, two million more people would be uninsured than if the individual mandate stays in effect. And in 2016 another million people. And the irony of this, and I think my colleagues on the Democratic side will speak to this, is the individual mandate was a Republican idea. It was formed in the conservative Heritage Foundation in the 1980s, and throughout the 1990s Republicans argued its merits. It was one of the foundations of the Massachusetts law. Its parent, at least in good measure, was Governor Mitt Romney. I met an hour or so ago with representatives of a major insurance carrier in Massachusetts. He explained how it's working, 97%, 98% of the people are covered. That law has sparked an improvement in the delivery of health care, in the restructuring of health care delivery systems. So here we are. Instead of constructive action, essentially we have a Republican demolition squad. Can any law be made perfect? Yes, including this one. But that isn't what the Republicans are after today. They have never come up with their own plan. Indeed, they are a wrecking crew. America deserves much better."
