Sen. Roberts Votes to Repeal Obamacare

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 -- The office of Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., issued the following news release:

U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The repeal resolution was approved by the U.S. Senate and now goes to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.

"Obamacare has failed Americans," Roberts said. "Kansans continue to seeing rising costs for health care, less access to their doctors, and less choice in their health care decisions. This is not what the American people want, nor what President Obama promised.

"Since the initial health care debate in 2009, many of the same problems that Republicans warned of, are still causing harm to consumers, and costs continue to rise. Now, we have the opportunity to do something about it. We have been saying for 7 years that we would fight this law. The Congress has listened to the American people. Now today, we have taken the first step towards repeal and replace. We can do better, and we will do better.

"I'm proud to sit on both the Senate Finance Committee and the HELP Committee, where we will work towards solutions that move health care away from Obamacare and toward a more affordable system where health care decisions are made by patients and their doctor. I will fight to ensure patients and providers are left with a system that make sense and improves access to care for all Americans."

The Senate passed their first Budget Resolution of the year, which related to the repeal of Obamacare. The Resolution contains reconciliation instructions that require committees to dismantle Obamacare by reducing federal spending by $2 billion. For more information and for text of the Budget Resolution, go here (http://www.budget.senate.gov/repeal).

The Budget Resolutions are privileged and require a simple majority to pass. The Resolution has been debated and amended over the past week and passed the Senate early this morning.

Once approved in the House of Representatives, select Senate committees would then begin work on reconciliation and report back to the Senate Committee on the Budget. Final Senate approval would then be required.

Senator Roberts serves on the two of the committees that will be tasked with reconciliation: The Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).

Since the health care reform debate in 2009, Senator Roberts has been an outspoken opponent of Obamacare. As a member of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Roberts fought against the flawed plan in both committees, and voted against the legislation on the Senate Floor. Senator Roberts, the co-chair of the Senate Rural Health Caucus, has supported several measures to repeal Obamacare in the nearly seven years since its enactment.

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