Contact: Stephanie Valle 202-225-2931

Washington, Nov 4 - On Wednesday, November 4th, Congressmen John Fleming (LA-04), Joe Wilson (SC-02), Wally Herger (CA-02), Phil Gingrey (GA-11) and Steve Scalise (LA-01) to announce their Amendment to Pelosi’s health care takeover bill, H.R. 3962, that will automatically enroll all Members of Congress and all Senators in the public option. The Amendment, if passed, will deem Members of Congress no longer eligible for benefits relating to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and instead will receive coverage through the Health Insurance Exchange in the public health insurance option.

“If Speaker Pelosi and her Democratic counterparts truly believe that their government insurance option is the best way forward for health care in the United States, then they should be fully supportive of amending the bill to ensure that every single Member of Congress – both in the House and Senate – is enrolled in it. I offered this amendment at the Energy and Commerce Committee markup of H.R. 3200 and Democrats on the Committee defeated this amendment. Today, I stand with my Republican colleagues and challenge the Democrats to accept this amendment that simply says those who plan to vote for the public plan will also commit to joining their constituents in the public plan. To do any less smacks of hypocrisy and highlights the lack of Democratic leadership that exists here in Washington,” said Congressman Phil Gingrey, M.D. (R-GA).

“In July, I offered House Resolution 615, which urged my colleagues who vote for legislation creating a government-run health care plan to lead by example and enroll themselves in the same public plan. The resolution has 96 Republican co-sponsors and prompted almost 2 million Americans from across this country to contact my office in support of this measure. This Amendment we are submitting today is in direct response to their outcry. Members of Congress are exempt from this government takeover of health care and I believe that if something is good enough for the American people, then it should be good enough for the elected officials that represent them. I urge Speaker Pelosi to allow an up or down vote on this Amendment and prove that if a government takeover of health care is the best solution for hard working Americans, then Members of Congress should lead the way,” said Congressman John Fleming,M.D.(R-LA).

“After weeks of meeting behind closed doors, Speaker Pelosi unveiled the ‘Pelosi Takeover Bill’ which runs just shy of 2,000 pages and costs $1.2 trillion. In keeping with the lack of transparency trend, Speaker Pelosi still has not informed us about what the amendment process will be for this bill. If Democrat leaders in the House insist on shoving this bill through, then I believe that Members of Congress and Senators should be forced to forgo our insurance and go onto the public option. If it’s apparently good enough for the American people, then it’s certainly good enough for Congress. An issue as important as a health care overhaul that will impact every American is much too important to rush through without transparency or a democratic amendment process,” said Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC).

“If Speaker Pelosi and her Democratic counterparts truly believe that their government insurance option is the best way forward for health care in the United States, then they should be fully supportive of amending the bill to ensure that every single Member of Congress – both in the House and Senate – is enrolled in it. I offered this amendment at the Energy and Commerce Committee markup of H.R. 3200 and Democrats on the Committee defeated this amendment. Today, I stand with my Republican colleagues and challenge the Democrats to accept this amendment that simply says those who plan to vote for the public plan will also commit to joining their constituents in the public plan. To do any less smacks of hypocrisy and highlights the lack of Democratic leadership that exists here in Washington,” said Congressman Phil Gingrey, M.D. (R-GA).

“I believe that if Democrats in Congress think that a government takeover of health care is good for America, it should be good enough for them. Yet they have continuously rejected amendments to the Pelosi bills that Members of Congress should have to take part in the government plan. I think it speaks volumes for the significant decline in the quality of care we’ll see under government-run health care,” said Congressman Wally Herger (R-CA), Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health.

“The Pelosi health care bill could force millions of Americans off their current plan and onto the government-run plan, but there are hypocritical Members of Congress who are not willing to enroll in the same government plan. Speaker Pelosi and her lieutenants need to put their money where their mouth is and support our amendment,” said Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA).