Carper Statement on Senate Republicans’ Attempt to Repeal Affordable Care Act

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) voted against Republican legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act through budget reconciliation. 

“It is unfortunate and disheartening that we wasted meaningful time this week trying yet again to repeal the Affordable Care Act even though this legislation has no chance of succeeding. Our time would be better spent addressing our most critical national priorities. We must continue our efforts to degrade, dismantle and destroy ISIS and other terror threats, we need to fund our government so it stays open for business, and we need to pass legislation to reform and improve our education system, among many, many, many other things. Instead, we are wasting Americans’ time by voting on legislation to repeal the health care law that has been passed by both chambers of Congress, signed by President Obama, upheld twice by the highest court in the land and, most important, has expanded health coverage to millions of Americans, including thousands of Delawareans, and driven down the rate of increase in health care costs to the lowest level in recent history. It’s shameful.

“We have a moral obligation to the ‘least of these’ in our society, and that includes trying to ensure all American families have access to the affordable health care they deserve. We have a fiscal obligation as a government to meet that moral obligation in a fiscally sustainable way. Doing that by expanding Medicaid, providing tax credits to Americans on a sliding scale, and strengthening our health care system to reward better health outcomes and reducing costs is a good idea that will stand the test of time. However, the legislation I voted against today would increase the number of people without health insurance by nearly 22 million, destabilize our health insurance markets, particularly in small states such as Delaware, and hurt millions of Americans, the majority of them being the poorest among us, including children.

“The Affordable Care Act is the law of the land and the federal government will continue its implementation. Instead of trying to hinder that implementation with futile legislative attempts to repeal the law, Congress should move forward together to improve the health care reform law and our health care system, and strengthen our country’s health care system.”