On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 239-186 to repeal Obamacare. Of the 186 ‘nay’ votes, all were Democrats but three. Reps. Robert Dold (R-Ill.), John Katko (R-N.Y.) and Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine) were the only Republicans to cross party lines.
The GOP lawmakers later explained their votes to their constituents, the Daily Caller’s Alex Pappas reported.
“Casting yet another symbolic vote for full repeal of the law, without any replacement legislation, simply distracts us from the work that must be done to drive costs down, restore access to care and make healthcare work for everyone,” Dold said. “The people of the 10th district sent me to Congress to advance solutions, not sound bites, to the problems we face.”
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Poliquin said that he “strongly” agrees with his Republican colleagues that “Obamacare continues to hurt our hard-working families, taxpayers and small businesses, and is stifling our economy,” but claimed he couldn’t vote to repeal the law without a better “replacement law.”
“Any replacement law must also allow moms and dads to purchase health insurance plans that they can afford, and to choose the doctors and hospitals that best fit their family health care needs,” he said.
Katko echoed Poliquin’s comments, writing on Facebook, “Today, the House voted for a bill that would fully repeal the Affordable Care Act. As I promised to do, I voted against this bill, because we failed to include replacement legislation.”
Though the House still passed the bill to repeal Obamacare, Republicans do not have the required votes to avoid a filibuster when the bill goes before the U.S. Senate — or the power to avoid a presidential veto if it somehow made it through.
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