White House Announcement About the President's Plan to Participate in the Health Insurance Exchange

Statement

Senator Chuck Grassley released the following statement about the announcement made today by the White House about the President's plan to participate in the health insurance exchange created by the health reforms enacted yesterday.

"The White House announcement that President Obama will participate in the health insurance exchange that starts in 2014 is effectively an endorsement of my amendment to make sure political leaders live under the laws they pass for everyone else, and I appreciate it. The principle shouldn't be voluntary for political leaders, though. Congress and President Clinton affirmed that in 1995 by enacting the Congressional Accountability Act, which Senator Lieberman and I sponsored. The Act applied 12 civil rights, employment and labor laws to Congress for the first time ever. Today, my amendment to the pending health care reconciliation bill would require the committee and leadership staff in Congress to live under the same health care law as all the other congressional staff and members of Congress. It also would make certain that the President, Vice President and other top administration leaders always live under the law they enacted, not just when they opt to do so. It's a matter of not having a double standard."

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