Republican Leadership Press Conference
September 9, 2009

Participants:
- Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
- Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA)
- Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN)
- Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)


Multimedia:
Video   |   Audio  

Transcript:

Republican Whip Cantor:

Good morning.  Our Members are back in town after having been at home with the people they represent over the month of August.  I think it’s very clear that Members of the Republican Conference feel strongly that the public has awakened, that the wind is at our back primarily because of the fierce debate over the President’s health care plan.  Tonight, we’re going to see the President address the nation in a joint session.  Clearly, the hurdle is very high for President Obama.  His task is going to be to convince the American people that the proposal of a government option doesn’t mean a government replacement of the health care system as we know it.  And I think secondly the test will include his being able to convince Members as well as the public that the expanded government role can save the taxpayers money.
 
I think intuitively most Americans believe that more government in health care means more rationing, more forced discrimination on the basis of gender and age.  What it really is, I think, for us as Republicans in the House is an opportunity hopefully for us to see our president willing to start to focus on areas that we can agree on, and not just focus on the areas that divide us.  We all understand we can rally around solutions having to do with preexisting conditions.  We can do things about making sure that if somebody loses their job, they don’t necessarily lose their health care, instead of trying to insist the government replacement or government competition is all that we should be about.  We’re hoping also that the premium is put on getting it right, not just getting it done now.  I think that does reflect where the American people are as well.
 
Rep. Marsha Blackburn:
 
Good morning. I had a great opportunity in August. I held 11 town halls and heard from my constituents; listened to what they had to say.  And time and again they said that putting a government bureaucracy on top of an insurance bureaucracy is not a way to fix health care. They also related to me that they felt engaging in the public deception of public option is not a way to fix healthcare. They’ve also talked about spending more money is not going to fix it.
 
What they want to see from us is spending less and actually addressing the problems that exist. The high cost, the restrictions to access, the insurance market reforms. What they do not want is $800 billion dollars in new taxes to pay for a program that they do not want. I’m looking forward to hearing what the President has to say tonight. I hope that he is going to agree to start over in a bipartisan manner.
 
Conference Chairman Pence:
 
I had seven town hall meetings across the state of Indiana.  After a five-week August recess the American people have spoken.  House Republicans reflected this morning among one another about what we heard.  What I heard were two things: number one, the American people want to see this government take action to lower the cost of health insurance to working families and small businesses and to lower the cost of health care in the long-term; and number two, the American people don’t want the federal government to create a government-run insurance plan that will lead to a government takeover of our health care economy, paid for with $800 billion in higher taxes.
 
As the president comes into the well of the Congress tonight, we hope that the president will not so much speak to the American people, as demonstrate that he and his party have been listening to the American people.  Our hope is that the president tonight will set aside the insistence of many in his party on the creation of a new government-run insurance plan, and that he will embrace a number of the Republican proposals that we have been advancing for months, and in some cases, for years. Why shouldn’t the American people be able to purchase health insurance the way that members of Congress and federal employees can across state lines?  Why shouldn’t this federal government take on the issue of medical malpractice reform and end the extraordinary costs of run-away jury awards?
 
Tonight the president has an extraordinary opportunity to lead this nation, and to strike a truly bipartisan stance, to reject the ideas the American people have rejected and to embrace the ideas that the American people are prepared to embrace.  Health care reform built on bringing real competition and real choice to our private insurance economy is the key.  We wish the president well and we look forward to his remarks this evening.

Republican Leader Boehner:
 
We welcome the president to the Capitol tonight and we look forward to hearing what he has to say. But the question I have is “has the president been listening to the American people?” I think the American people have made it pretty clear that they don’t really want another lecture, they want a new plan. They understand that we have a good system that works well for many people. Everybody understands that we’ve got problems in the current system that can be addressed. But to replace the entire current system with a big government-run plan is not what the American people want and certainly isn’t what I want.
 
Tonight, Dr. Boustany - one of our colleagues from Louisiana - will be giving our response to the president’s address and outlining some of those bipartisan reforms that we can’t agree on. I think the American people are saying, “Stop. Hit the reset button.” Let’s start to do this in a bipartisan way to make the current system work better. Let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater and replace it with some big government-run plan.