Butterfield: Health bill ‘cruel, ineffective and mean’

June 23--WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-Wilson, slammed the Senate Republicans' health care reform bill as a "tax giveaway to the wealthy at all costs" after the draft legislation was introduced Thursday.

The congressman representing North Carolina's 1st Congressional District branded the bill "every bit as cruel, ineffective and 'mean' as its House counterpart," which he voted against.

"In search of a political victory and a tax giveaway to the wealthy at all costs, Republicans continue to push a health care bill that will rip coverage from millions of Americans, force families to pay more for less coverage and severely cut Medicaid, which will harm our most vulnerable citizens," Butterfield said in a prepared statement.

"On top of the harmful impact this bill would have on working Americans, the secret process in which the bill was drafted -- that included no Democrats -- is a shameful and gross abuse of power. During debate for the Affordable Care Act, more than 25 public hearings were held and it was debated for over 100 hours on the Senate floor. Sadly, today, Republicans in the Senate continue to ram through major legislation without holding any committee hearings or public debate. For a bill that will impact every American and one-sixth of our nation's economy, Republicans plan to spend less than a week debating their proposal before holding a vote. This is unprecedented and disgraceful."

Butterfield vowed to "strongly oppose this heartless Republican effort" to "strip health care from millions of Americans."

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