Washington—Last night, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced "the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful." If the Senate votes to proceed on the House-passed bill, McConnell said the first amendment would be "what a majority of the Senate has already supported in 2015 and that was vetoed by then-President Obama." Heritage Action released the following statement from Chief Executive Officer Michael A. Needham:
"For seven years, the Republican Party pledged it was the party of repeal. That longstanding promise cannot be allowed to die quietly on a Monday evening. Every single Senate Republican should vote to begin debate. They owe it to their constituents and the nation.
"Once on the bill, they should vote in favor of the 2015-era Obamacare reconciliation bill. They are on record supporting that bill. To be clear though, even if that partial repeal is adopted by Senate Republicans, it will mark just the first step in a long process toward unraveling the damage caused by Obamacare. As Heritage Action cautioned last year, that bill 'did not repeal the costly insurance rules, regulations, and mandates on plan offerings that have contributed to premiums skyrocketing, healthcare costs rising, and insurance plans being canceled.' The faltering Senate bill made significant progress on that front.
"Many conservatives are justifiably frustrated with the obstinance of their more liberal colleagues, but both wings of the Republican Party must continue working toward their longstanding promise of repealing and replacing Obamacare. Anything less will be catastrophic for the party and the nation."
Related:
Heritage Action: Senate Republicans Promised to Repeal Obamacare, Not Bail it Out (July 2017)
Heritage: Why the Revised Senate Health Care Bill Is an Improvement Over the Status Quo (July 2017)
Heritage Action: Americans Need Relief from Obamacare (June 2017)