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Smith Report 9.26.2013

Defunding ObamaCare
This week the House of Representatives voted on a continuing resolution to keep the government open for business, while defunding President Obama’s healthcare mandate. I wholeheartedly supported this plan to defund ObamaCare and keep the government open and working for all Americans. This vote was a victory for my constituents who are adamantly opposed to ObamaCare and the disastrous impact it will have on our rural Missouri economy.
Now that the House of Representatives has defunded ObamaCare, the United States Senate must justify to the American people why the mandate is too harmful for businesses, but should still be forced on families and individuals. The Senate must justify why special interests are eligible for waivers and delays while average Americans will be hit with ObamaCare’s tsunami of mandates, fines and confusion.
While voting to defund ObamaCare is vital, the continuing resolution now gives the House of Representatives the opportunity to act in regular order and pass all remaining appropriations bills to continue the fight to defund ObamaCare. The President’s healthcare mandate is simply too big, too costly, too complex and too unmanageable to be the law of the land. The law does nothing to make healthcare more accessible or affordable in rural Missouri. The mandate takes $500 billion from Medicare that will hurt our Greatest Generation and it is a new trillion dollar entitlement program that will only grow in cost and size.
Without a doubt our nation’s healthcare system needs reform. Healthcare needs to be affordable and accessible. Patients should be empowered and not overburdened with rules and financial penalties from Washington. We need smart reform that enacts medical liability reform, allows individuals to purchase health insurance across state lines, expands personal health savings accounts and ensures access for people with pre-existing conditions. After ObamaCare is defunded and repealed, I look forward to replacing the law with real healthcare reform.
When I talk to folks back home in Missouri, it remains clear that our families and businesses want to keep the federal government open and defund Obamacare. This week the House of Representatives listened to families across the country by doing just that. I hope the United States Senate and President Obama will start listening to the American people and realize that ObamaCare must be defunded and repealed in its entirety.