U.S. Rep. Raúl Labrador joined other conservative members of Congress Wednesday in rejecting the GOP health care overhaul made public this week, calling it not the Obamacare replacement he came to Washington to enact.
The Idaho Republican, a member of the conservative House Freeom caucus, said in a statement that voters “sent me to Washington to get rid of Obamacare” and replace it with an alternative. He said he had spent two days reviewing the GOP-backed American Health Care Act, “and unfortunately, it is not that bill.”
President Trump, Labrador continued, “signaled his willingness to negotiate” on a plan. “I’m eager to take him up on this offer.”
“All good legislative solutions must go through rigorous debate, and I'm willing to work with the leadership in the House, and the President, to find a solution to this critical problem,” Labrador said. “What I won’t do is break the pledge I made to the people of Idaho who sent me here to fix this.”
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Facing opposition from both the left and right in Congress, as well as outside interests including health providers and advocacy groups such as AARP, House Republicans are seeking to fast-track their two related health care bills through committees and to a floor vote. Supporters of the bill outside of Congress and the Trump administration include business interests whose taxes would be cut and other anti-tax groups.
Other members of Idaho’s Congressional delegation have yet to chime in on the proposal.
Bill Dentzer: 208-377-6438, @DentzerNews
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