WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) today released the below statement following the House vote to override President Obama’s veto of H.R. 3762, the Restoring American’s Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act:
“House Republicans understand that healthcare decisions should not be put in the hands of Washington bureaucrats, and that hardworking taxpayers should not be forced to fund the practices of abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. That’s why Congress passed historic legislation last month to gut Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood, and that’s why we voted to try overriding President Obama’s veto of that legislation.
“Once again, millions of pro-life Americans are reminded that the only obstacle left standing in the way of protecting the unborn is a president who does not share our values. The same is true for the millions of families who have lost their healthcare plans and are suffering under the skyrocketing costs of Obamacare, and understand that repealing and replacing that law hinges on having a president who shares our goal of repealing Obamacare and replacing it with reforms that lower costs and put patients back in charge of their health care decisions.”
Earlier today, Congressman Scalise spoke on the House floor on this important vote to override the President’s veto:
Click on the photo above to watch Mr. Scalise’s remarks on the veto override
Highlights from his remarks:
“This is an historic day. This is the first time that the House of Representatives has had a vote to override President Obama’s veto. If you look at what the veto is about and what the legislation that was vetoed is about, it’s about letting the American people actually determine their own health care destiny. It’s about stopping taxpayer money from going to abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.”
“What this bill does is something very historic. By gutting Obamacare, returning that power back to families. I see in my district — and my colleagues share the same stories all across the country — millions of Americans have lost the good health care that they had. They were promised by this President ‘if you like what you have, you can keep it.’ Everybody knows that that’s a promise that was broken by this President in his own health care law.”
“We restore that ability back to the American people, with this bill. With this bill we also say that abortion providers like Plant Parenthood should not be able to get taxpayer money. We completely defund Planned Parenthood in this bill.”
“If you look at what this bill is doing, it shows very clear to the country what’s at stake this November…by having a president who shares our values, Mr. Speaker, who wants to gut this law that’s failing Americans, who wants to defund Planned Parenthood. By having a president with those values, we can accomplish those important objectives.”