March 3, 2010 Republican Leadership Conference

March 3, 2010 Republican Leadership Conference

MARCH 3, 2010

Republican Leadership Press Conference
March 3, 2010

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

Multimedia:
Audio 

Republican Leader John Boehner

Well it was pretty clear that the Obama Administration and my colleagues in Congress are going to continue on their march to shove this government-run health care plan down the throats of the American people.  You can't add a couple of Republican sprinkles on the top of a 2,700 page bill and claim that it's bipartisan.  And the fact is it looks like they are going to move ahead.  And during the twenty years I've been in Congress, I've always found it pretty remarkable to watch the Congress try to pass something that the American people have already said ‘no' to.  They should scrap this bill and start over.  I thought we had a good conversation last Thursday.  There probably are eight or ten things that we could agree on to make our current health care system more affordable for more Americans.
 
With regard to Mr. Rangel, I understand that he is stepping aside.  I have not seen his letter, nor have I seen the Speaker's response.  And until I do, I'm curious about how this will be interpreted under the House rules.  As I understand the rules of the House, you're either the chairman or you're not.  And so until we see those letters and see what the parliamentarians do, I think I'll withhold judgment
 
Republican Whip Eric Cantor
 
Good morning. Today there are some reports indicating that Democrats have put some type of deadline in place and that is a two-week deadline to get their health care bill passed. The question that that raises in my mind is if they don't meet their deadline, because obviously they have not met any of their deadlines thus far, can the American people then expect Washington to focus on the real issue, which is jobs in this economy. We'll be working very hard to make sure that we do focus on that primary issue that is affecting so many Americans right now; it's how we regain our economic footing in this country.
 
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito
 
Thank you. I'm Shelley Moore Capito from West Virginia and I want to thank Eric for bringing up the topic that I wanted to talk about, that I think most Americans are interested in and that's jobs, the rising unemployment and the difficulty finding a job. My state of West Virginia, in the spring of last year, had around a 6.3 percent unemployment. At the beginning of this week, our unemployment was up to 10.5 percent. There is just staggering job loss in our state and it is concerning a lot of our communities and our families.
 
The policies of the Obama Administration and Speaker Pelosi's majority here in the House are directly attributable to the job loss that we're suffering in my state and in our region. You've got cap and trade legislation looming out there. That's a job-killing proposition for states such as mine. You also have now this EPA finding of endangerment that is going to come in and very heavy-handedly punish states that are reliant on fossil fuels and have large industrial complexes and manufacturing sectors, that's going to result in even more job loss.
 
My question is if the consideration I would think, at the very top level of the government - our president - should be looking at all the regulatory procedures and the legislative procedures and say to themselves, "How is this going to affect the jobs and the economy of our country?" I don't believe that's the first priority that I'm seeing, certainly not out of the EPA in our region of the country and certainly not out of the legislation, whether it be energy legislation or the health legislation that we're going to be seeing later.
 
Rep. Marsha Blackburn
 
On the Democrats continued push to push through a health care bill and the expanded Medicaid, let me just remind you of one thing. In Tennessee we rolled the dice on this over a decade ago and we gambled that these near-term accelerated expenses would yield a long-term savings. Well, the savings were never realized in Tennessee. You had continued expenses, and what we also know is when they tried the expanded Medicaid in Massachusetts, savings never came. In Maine the savings never came. This is a bill that is too expensive to afford. It is something that will restrict access to health care. And it will cause us to continue to lose jobs in this country. 
 
Conference Chair Mike Pence
 
Since the townhalls of last August and the streets of Massachusetts, the American people have spoken loud and clear: they don't want a government takeover of health care.  They don't want a government takeover of health care with a few Republican ideas sprinkled on top for good measure.  The reality is today, on process and on policy, this administration and this Congress are choosing to ignore the will of a majority of the American people and continue to drive a government takeover of health care.
 
House Republicans believe it's time to listen to the American people.  This nation knows we need health care reform that lowers the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government.  House Republicans believe, as many here and others that attended the summit said last week, the American people want us to scrap the bill, start over with a clean sheet of paper, and focus on reducing the burden and the cost of health insurance for working families, small businesses and family farms.
 
The president's new way forward today is not the way the American people want to go on health care.  Republicans stand ready to resist any effort at ObamaCare 2.0 but work in good faith to start from scratch and build a health care reform bill that will really meet the desires of the overwhelming majority of this country.