Sen. Cruz: ‘As Long As There is Breath in My Body I Will be Fighting For the Working Men and Women of This Country Who Are Being Hurt by Obamacare’
‘I believe this Congress will come back and in time we will honor our promise.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) yesterday spoke with reporters following the Senate’s health care vote. Below are excerpts of the Senator’s comments. Watch highlights of Sen. Cruz’s comments here.
“The losers tonight are the millions of Americans who have been hurt under Obamacare. The millions of Americans who have lost their jobs, been forced into part time work, forced to work 28, 29 hours a week. The millions of Americans who have had their health insurance canceled, who have lost their doctors, who have seen their premiums sky rocket. The six and a half million Americans each year who are fined by the IRS because they don’t make enough money to afford health insurance. So not only do they not get health insurance, but they get a fine from the IRS. And 80% of them are earning $50,000 a year or less and nearly half are earning $20,000 a year or less. It’s the single moms, it’s the truck drivers, it’s the steel workers, and it’s the working men and women who have been left behind tonight. That’s unfortunate.
“But I will say also, the democratic process is a long process. In the next 24 hours, in the next week, Democrats will crow exultantly, they will claim total victory for a collapsing and failing law that is Obamacare. And the media will write story after story after story about how Obamacare will remain, even though it is failing and hurting millions of Americans. But after all the chest-beating, after all the proud victory laps of the Left, I believe this Congress will come back and in time we will honor our promise.
“I understand the frustration and anger of the American people and think that frustration and anger is going to be heard by members of the Senate. I believe we will come back after all the victory laps by the Democrats, after all the media exaltations, I believe we will come back and we will honor our promise, and here is how we do it. They way that we get to 50, the way get a majority and honor our promises is we focus on lowering premiums. And they key to lowering premiums is the Consumer Freedom Amendment. Give you, the consumer more freedom, more choice, more competition. The Health and Human Services Department projected that the Consumer Freedom Amendment that I introduced would reduce health insurance premiums by $7,000 each year on average.
“When your premiums go up next year the Democrats are happy for you to pay more year after year after year, when you are struggling to provide for your family. That’s not right. In the five years that I have served in the Senate there is no issue I have fought harder on, devoted more time to, than stopping the disaster that is Obamacare. And mark my words, I am committed to this fight. As long as there is breath in my body I will be fighting for the working men and women of this country that are being hurt by Obamacare. And I believe it will be repealed.”
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