Locals weigh in on health care reform bill

The U.S. House and Senate passed sweeping legislation Sunday night extending health care to millions and clamping down on insurance companies.

Congressman Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, issued the following statment on Sunday night after Congress approved the health care reform bill:

“Tonight, the same Members of Congress who are sent to Washington by the voters in their districts to represent their best interests, told the American people ‘we don’t care what you want, we don’t care what you need, we are going to pass a health bill which you oppose anyway.’ Democrats said, ‘forget what’s best for the country, forget bipartisanship’ – the only thing bipartisan about this bill is its opposition.

“Billions of dollars will be spent to hire the thousands of new IRS employees needed to collect the taxes and fees created by this massive health reform bill. Yet, 3 out of 10 doctors have said that if Congress goes against their will, and the will of the American people, and passes this bill, they will retire from practicing medicine. So that’s what the American people will get – more IRS agents but less doctors. How is this health care reform?

“The truth is, the reason Democrats have had so much trouble passing this bill is not because of Republican opposition, it’s because they have never had, and still do not have, the support of the American people. With a bill this large, it is critical to have popular support before you start to undertake this type of change to our nation’s health care system.

“President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, Harry Reid and Congressional Democrats ignored the families and businesses who they are supposed to represent because they are so blinded by their ‘Washington-knows-best’ attitude and infamously out-of-touch with the concerns of the American people. It is now my job to try to reverse or prevent the vast damage this bill will inflict on our country – and I vow to the American people to do all that I can to rescue them from the consequences of this historic example of Congressional malpractice.”

Read more local reaction to the legislation here.