Staff Report
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Representative Martha Roby (AL-02) made the following comments today after the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act:
“I respect the authority of the Supreme Court, but I disagree and am deeply disappointed with its decision today.
“The Court’s opinion is lengthy and complicated, and will require careful evaluation. However, we know that the Court today has affirmed the view that President Obama’s law represents a huge tax on the American people, and that it is through the federal government’s power to levy taxes that the Court upheld the law as constitutional.
“In my opinion, that legal analysis is dubious and cause for concern given the dangerous precedent it sets: can the government now require Americans to purchase government-approved goods and services or else face the threat of a tax? What we do know, however, is that the Court put restraint on the power of Congress to mandate the purchase of goods and services under the commerce clause.
“The court ruled on the legal issues, not the wisdom of the policy. The American people have already weighed in and overwhelmingly rejected this law. As a whole, the law, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicts will cost $2.6 trillion and will result in as many as 20 million Americans losing their existing coverage, remains deeply unpopular with the public.
“The President’s health care reform has proven ineffective at reducing the cost of health care, has suffocated small businesses, and has hampered job creation. Despite the court’s ruling, I remain committed to working toward the repeal of this harmful law. We will again vote to repeal the law in the House of Representatives on July 9, we should immediately begin deliberate work to replace the law with free market reforms that truly improve access to quality and affordable care. Individual Americans and their doctors, not federal bureaucrats and politicians, are in the best position to determine which health care options best meet their individual needs.”
