Boustany Says Republicans Agree With 80% Of The House Reform Bill

Statement

Boustany Says Republicans Agree With 80% Of The House Reform Bill

Today, Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Assistant to the Speaker, issued the following statement on Dr. Charles Boustany's (R-LA) comment that Republicans agree with 80 percent of the House health insurance reform bill. As a doctor, Rep. Boustany was tapped by Republican leadership to give the official Republican response to President Obama's Joint Session address on Wednesday, and presumably speaks for the party:

“We welcome the news that Republicans agree with us on 80 percent of our health insurance reform bill. This could be an important development in the process, and is a clear indication that this legislation has many elements that both parties support.

“This announcement begs the question, why would Minority Leader Boehner want to ‘hit the reset button' and Republicans work so hard to ‘kill' a bill when they agree with 80 percent of it? I hope Dr. Boustany's announcement represents an end to the Republican effort to play politics instead of offer constructive ideas to pass critical health insurance reform.”

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