[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 9 (Monday, January 24, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E97]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             REPEALING THE JOB-KILLING HEALTH CARE LAW ACT

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                               speech of

                            HON. JEFF FLAKE

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 19, 2011

  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support H.R. 2, legislation 
repealing the massive health care law passed last year.
  Obamacare creates an unfunded mandate for states that took federal 
stimulus funds for Medicaid.
  This unfunded mandate will cost states like Arizona hundreds of 
millions of dollars.
  It also ties their hands from changing their Medicaid programs to 
prevent them from becoming unaffordable.
  States must be allowed to tailor their programs as they see fit in 
order to ensure their long-term sustainability.
  There are claims that repealing Obamacare would lead to massive 
deficits because it is supposedly paid for, but I would like to point 
out one item that was intended to raise revenues in order to help pay 
for the health care law that is already facing repeal.
  The healthcare bill includes a requirement that small businesses file 
a report every time they spend more than $600.
  This filing requirement went into effect at the end of last year and 
I am among a considerable bipartisan effort seeking to repeal it.
  Time and time again, we pass a law that is supposedly paid for . . . 
only to find out that the supposed pay-fors aren't worth the paper n 
which they were written.
  Sadly, when all of the budget gimmicks and fiscal hijinx are 
accounted for;provisions like these in Obamacare aren't paid for at 
all.
  In fact, the House Budget Committee Chairman recently noted that the 
true cost of Obamacare to taxpayers is more than $700 billion.
  Mr. Speaker, I agree that something must be done about the rising 
costs of health care, but Obamacare is not the answer.
  This is a bad law: we need to just start over and enact healthcare 
reforms that improve quality and control costs.

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