Dear Mr. Colley: Thank you for sharing your opposition to Obamacare with me. I share your concerns about this burdensome law, and I am glad we are in agreement about this important issue. Like you, I continue to disagree with Obamacare because it burdens Americas small businesses and families. At a time when we are trying to rein in our government spending, Obamacare adds $1.2 trillion to our debt and creates $569 billion of new taxes on American families. Texas alone will have to spend an additional $24.3 to implement the new system. The bottom line is that Obamacare is bad policy. It has been no secret that I oppose Obamacare. I voted against the original Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act when the Democrats pushed it through Congress in 2010, and I have supported every bill to repeal, defund, and delay the ill-conceived law since then. I promised you that I would lead the charge until this oppressive law no longer burdened our economy, and I have stuck to that promise. Thats why I stood by my principles during the recent government shutdown and voted for four separate funding plans to fully fund the government while protecting Americans from unfair treatment under Obamacare. The House passed Continuing Resolutions (CRs) that would have fully funded the government while permanently repealing the medical device tax, delaying Obamacares individual mandate, and eliminating Congressional healthcare subsidies. My main goal in supporting these resolutions was to treat every American equally under the law. I simply want to give the American people the same privileges that President Obama has already given to big businesses and special interests. I want Obamacare to apply the same to everyone – including President Obama, Senator Reid, and Representative Pelosi, who all gave themselves exemptions when they forced the law through Congress in 2010. I think equality under the law is a reasonable request, but the Senate rejected multiple bills that would have protected every American from Obamacare and prevented the government from shutting down. Senator Reid did not budge. He held onto his my way or the highway approach and only put forth one proposal – which allows businesses, special interests, and government officials to all have special treatment under Obamacare. Speaker Boehner formally requested a Conference Committee to sit down and negotiate an agreement, but the Senate refused to even discuss a deal with Members of the House of Representatives. While we waited for the Senate to come to the table, I voted to fund many government operations in order to keep America running. The House passed bills to give veterans the benefits they have earned, to reopen our national parks and museums, to fund pediatric cancer research, to provide disaster relief for American communities, to pay our National Guard and reserve forces, and to back-pay our furloughed federal employees. I also supported legislation to pay our military despite the shutdown, ensuring that armed forces and civilian personnel and contractors at the Department of Defense continued to receive uninterrupted pay. When the House of Representatives voted on the Senate proposal to fund the government through January 15 and extend the debt limit through February 7, I could not support it. I believe that our current level of debt is dangerous for our economy and a crippling legacy for our children and grandchildren. I simply do not support suspending the debt limit without securing any reforms to our runaway spending. I was also disappointed that this agreement did not do more to protect American families from the high costs of Obamacare. Addressing our growing debt will require honest negotiations between the House and Senate with everyone at the table. It is time to make difficult decisions about our spending problem instead of kicking the can down the road. I have made a promise to my constituents in West Texas and the Big Country, and I will honor that promise. I will continue to work on your behalf to get our debt under control and to prevent Obamacare from impairing your health care. I would love to hear your personal story about how Obamacare has affected you. I encourage you to email me at [email protected] with your individual account. Please include your name, address, and phone number in the email so that I can follow up with you. In todays world, it is critical that citizens in the 19th District of Texas know what is going on in their federal government. I know you would be interested in my weekly e-newsletter, Randys Roundup, which will keep you up to date on the important issues facing our country, and in particular, West Texas. Please join the Roundup by visiting randy.house.gov. Thank you for your continued support throughout this debate. I appreciate knowing your views, and I assure you that I will continue the fight against Obamacare. Sincerely, Randy Neugebauer Member of Congress
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 05:02:06 +0000
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