Rep. Biggs Issues Statement on Senate’s Obamacare Repeal Draft

WASHINGTON, June 22 -- Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., issued the following statement on the Senate's draft legislation to amend Obamacare:

"I am extremely disappointed by the lack of resolve from Congress to repeal Obamacare - most recently, with the U.S. Senate's legislation. The American people demanded a full repeal. Now, the 115th Congress is dangerously close to abandoning our promise and opportunity to completely repeal Obamacare, remove government from the health care industry, permanently defund Planned Parenthood, and give Americans their long-awaited relief from overwhelming premiums.

"President Trump said we would repeal this 'disastrous' and 'calamitous' law. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Congress would repeal Obamacare 'root and branch.' House Republicans said we would repeal Obamacare, not merely fix it, because it was a 'knot of regulations, taxes, and mandates [that] cannot be untangled.' We need a clean start, not a rewrite or fix to our current system. Neither the House-passed American Health Care Act (AHCA) nor the Senate's version meets our own stated objectives. We are in jeopardy of losing the trust our constituents have placed in us.

"Since taking office in January, I have participated in many meetings with House and Senate members to offer insights and solutions to this goal. I hope that my colleagues will see our grave error with the AHCA and reverse course to wholly repeal Obamacare. Only by doing so will we be able to fulfill our promises to the American people."