West Virginians Deserve Consensus Actions, Not Partisan Plan, Congresswoman Says

Statement

West Virginians Deserve Consensus Actions, Not Partisan Plan, Congresswoman Says

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., made the following statement this evening as President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress about the ongoing healthcare reform debate:

"While I applaud the president for laying out his views tonight, it will be the actions of his party's leadership in Congress over the coming days and weeks that will matter most," said Capito. "There's broad bipartisan consensus that we must reform our healthcare system, but there's far from consensus that the Speaker's plan is the right way forward.

"Instead of seeking areas of agreement like ending denials of coverage for pre-existing conditions, addressing healthcare portability, focusing on prevention or targeting the uninsured, legislation before the House amounts to a $1 trillion plan that hikes taxes on employers, ignores the need for meaningful tort reform and threatens to push millions of Americans onto a government insurance plan.

"West Virginians have seen Congress spend hundreds of billions on a taxpayer funded bailout, billions more on a misguided stimulus plan and consider cap-and-trade legislation that poses a serious challenge to the Mountain State economy. When it comes to healthcare, they want to know that they're getting a solution that will truly address what's broken, not a partisan plan that will simply trade the problems of today for the new ones of tomorrow."

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