McHenry and Myrick sound off on passage of health care reform

Gaston County’s two representatives in Congress – Sue Myrick in the east and Patrick McHenry in the northwest – both voted against health care legislation passed Sunday.

Here’s what Myrick, a Republican from Charlotte, had to say:

“For over a year, the American people have told Congress that they don’t want this kind of health care reform, and for over a year, the majority in Congress has ignored them. So now, as a result of arm twisting and billions of dollars in backroom deals, the Majority scraped together just enough votes to pass one of the most expensive, over-arching, unwanted pieces of legislation in the history of our government.

This bill will simply make sure that the government has more control over the American people and their health care. It isn’t going to reduce deficits; if you remove all of the budget gimmicks, this bill actually increases our national deficit by $433 billion in the first 10 years. It’s not going to save the American people money; insurance plans purchased on the individual market will increase by an average of $2,300. And it’s not going to help our economy; it raises taxes by more than $500 billion in the middle of a recession.

Does our health care system need reform? Yes, nobody is going to argue with that. We need to make coverage portable so that people don’t lose coverage if they lose their job or change careers. We need to eliminate pre-existing condition exclusions, and fully fund high-risk pools so that people who can’t afford coverage can access it. We must be committed to real medical liability reform so that doctors don’t pass along the high cost of practicing medicine to their patients.

Never in my time in Congress have I seen such a blatant disregard for the voice of those whom we represent. The American people want reform, but not this kind of reform. That is why I voted no”.

Here’s what McHenry, a Republican from Cherryville, had to say:

“Today’s vote means the President will sign federal funding of abortions, the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisiana Purchase, 19 tax increases and $500 billion in Medicare cuts into law. His so-called health care ‘reform’ plan raises premiums, ignores lawsuit abuse and adds billions to the federal deficit.

“This is an anti-jobs bill. Instead of helping businesses create jobs it will increase federal spending, raise taxes and slow economic growth.

“The fight goes on. This summer more than 5,000 people stood up against Obamacare at the 11 town halls I held across Western North Carolina. The battle against government-run health care is one of the most important I have ever fought and I am not about to give up now. I will work with like-minded Americans across our nation to repeal or challenge this unconstitutional government takeover.”