By Mariko Lamb – Talk Radio News Service

GOP Congresswomen and small business owners joined together Friday to voice alarm about the dire consequences of Congress passing the current health care reform bill.

“The Democrat way is not reforming healthcare, it’s destroying it,” said Rep. Michelle Bachman (R-Minn.).

“We are very concerned about the way it jeopardizes the doctor-patient relationship, we’re concerned about the additional debt, the trillions in spending that will add to the children and grandchildren that come after us, but worst of all, it’s going to further hurt our small business owners at a time when our economy is in trouble,” said Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Wash.).

“President Obama’s prescription for healthcare reform for our nation is the wrong prescription for American families. We do not believe that we should put a federal bureaucrat between the patient and the doctor,” said Rep. Mary Fallin (R-Okla.).

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said Republicans have a plan that addresses costs, access, and insurance company accountability, but her Democratic counterparts will not listen. “We have been pushing forward our ideas, pushing forward our plans. It is unfortunate that the Democrat-led House is not wanting to make this a bipartisan goal of doing healthcare right,” she said.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) disputed President Obama’s claim that 47 million Americans lack healthcare. “There are no Americans who don’t have healthcare. Everybody in this country has access to healthcare,” she said. “We do have about 7.5 million Americans who want to purchase health insurance who can not afford it,” she said, urging Congress to adopt a new plan for health care reform that won’t “destroy what is good about healthcare in this country” and “give the government control of our lives.”

By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service

House Republicans gathered on Tuesday to denounce the inclusion of publicly funded abortions in the proposed health care reform.

“If the President is serious about passing true health care reform… [he] needs to step up, clarify his position about whether he wants abortion to be included in his health care reform,” said Rep. Mary Fallin (R-Ok.)

The proposed health care reform legislation requires every American to have the right to benefit from a minimum health care coverage, which may include abortion unless Congress makes abortion a statutory exception.

Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Penn.) warned that “The issue here is clear – abortion is not explicitly excluded, it is implicitly included. The stakes are high and the implications incredibly far reaching.”

GOP leaders claim that allowing abortion to be funded by taxpayers may legitimize the procedure, which in turn could lead to an increase in abortion rates.

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) noted the disrespect shown to pro-life Americans who, through this legislation, would indirectly fund abortion through taxation.

“Millions and millions of American women have profound moral qualms about the killing of unborn children by abortion, putting these American women in a position that violates their deeply held beliefs on abortion… [The legislation] will trespass their rights to refrain from funding an industry that they find to be destructive to our nation’s social and moral fabric,” Foxx said.

“Abortion, except in rare circumstances, is not heath care,” noted Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.)

At the protesting House Republicans’ afternoon press conference, Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) says that Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) efforts to silence the Republican protest for energy this week has only energized the Republicans’ efforts to bring back Congress and force a vote on their American Energy Act. (0:59)

 

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The protesting House Republicans held another press conference calling for an immediate vote on their American Energy Act, despite Congress being out for a five-week vacation. House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) returned from Missouri to participate in the protest. Blunt said it takes only five minutes for a representative in their home state to realize that the most important and urgent issue is the economy. (more…)

Continuing their protest, the House Republicans held a press conference in Statuary Hall in the Capitol with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Congressman Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) said Congress must come back from its five-week vacation and produce an up-or-down vote on the Republicans’ American Energy Act. He said the Republicans will continue their protest on the House floor without microphones and lights until they get their vote.

Gingrich said there are pro-energy Democrats as well as pro-Energy Republicans. He said that although Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will block any vote, he is confident that the bill will achieve a majority when Congress returns in early September. Congressman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) said Democrats and Republicans can come together to make lasting pro-energy changes, but Speaker Pelosi must call back Congress, or at the very least schedule a vote on the first day Congress returns. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) called on Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to speak to Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) about bringing back the Senate as well, as the push for pro-energy legislation should be a two-party effort.

After the press conference, at 11:00 a.m., Putnam and Foxx, among other representatives, retreated to the House floor to continue their protest. Representatives spoke in front of more than four hundred tourists in the chamber. Putnam said that every day the House is out of session is another day the U.S. is dependent on foreign energy. The crowds in the chamber gave a massive standing ovation when Foxx declared the United States “the greatest country in the world.”

At a press conference held by the protesting House Republicans, Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), likens Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to Marie Antoinette. She mentions a quote by a Pelosi aide saying the Democrats’ energy solution is to “drive small cars and wait for the wind.” Foxx likened it to the Antoinette’s words, “let them eat cake.” She says the Speaker of the House should be expected to take action in response to the needs of the American people. (1:02)

 

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In an interview with the Talk Radio News Service’s Dawn Jones, Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) criticizes Congressional Democrats for their inability to formulate a plan to lower the cost of fuel and their unwillingness to entertain potential solutions to record high oil prices. Foxx advocates increasing the United States’ supply of oil by drilling in the ANWR, drilling for oil on continental shelves, and exploring alternative fuel options that use “everything but the squeal,” a reference to killing hogs. Foxx criticizes the Democrats actions as “fluff” and questions whether or not they understand the basic rule of economics. Foxx suggests that government lessen its involvement in the development of alternative technologies because “when government gets involved we usually screw it up.” (7:03)

 

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