WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) today issued the following statement following Senate passage of H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015:
“I applaud the Senate for passing a strong reconciliation bill that guts Obamacare and defunds Planned Parenthood. Since early this year I have strongly advocated using the reconciliation process to achieve these goals because it is the most sure fire way to put those conservative principles on President Obama’s desk.
“For a long time, the Senate’s failure to move conservative, House-passed legislation has been a major frustration for us. Today, a reconciliation bill cleared that Senate hurdle, and I look forward to the House taking it up so that we can send it to President Obama and force him to make a decision: Will he take this opportunity to undo the damage of Obamacare’s mandates, lost coverage, and unaffordable premium hikes? Or will he continue to force this failed, Washington-knows-best policy on the American people against their best interests? Reconciliation forces President Obama to make that choice and I’m proud to have helped lead this effort.”
As Roll Call reported this fall, Scalise pushed for the House to use reconciliation to repeal Obamacare and block funding to abortion providers because it “is likely the only legislative route out of the Senate, where Republicans lack the votes to overcome a filibuster. With a 60-vote threshold for bills to even be brought up for debate on the floor, Senate Democrats have stymied practically every bill passed by the House GOP this Congress. Reconciliation bills, however, only require a simple majority for passage, which could give Senate Republicans an opening… The simple majority-vote concept is especially appealing to congressional Republicans, who want to get things done in the face of partisan gridlock. For months, they have been looking at reconciliation as a powerful new tool in their arsenal that was only made possible by their sweep of Congress in the 2014 midterms. Reconciliation bills, which are limited to measures that would result in changes in revenue and spending, can only be pursued once both chambers agree to a budget resolution, which wasn’t attainable when the House and Senate were controlled by different parties.” Scalise began pushing for the use of reconciliation to repeal Obamacare in January of 2015.
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