GOP touts second repeal vote as doing the ‘will of the American people’

House Republicans defended their repeat bid to repeal the 2010 healthcare law on Tuesday, saying it’s important that they affirm their opposition to the law ahead of the November election.

The House will vote for a second time on Wednesday to fully repeal President Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement, less than two weeks after the Supreme Court upheld it as constitutional.

The repeal bill is unlikely to be taken up in the Democratic Senate, but freshman Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.) said it’s important for Republicans to take a stand.

“The voter that we will take tomorrow is not a symbolic vote. It is the will of the American people,” Hayworth said as she stood alongside party leaders after a House GOP conference meeting.

{mosads}Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the vote was in keeping with his promise upon taking control of the House in 2011. Asked how Republicans could actually succeed in scrapping the law without full control of the government, he replied: “Hope springs eternal. This law is driving up the cost of healthcare and making it harder for small businesses to hire people. This is not what the American people want.”

The vote on Wednesday is expected to resemble the breakdown of the House’s first attempt in January 2011, but Republicans expect more Democrats to join the repeal push. Three House Democrats voted for repeal last year, and one more, Rep. Larry Kissell (D-N.C.), announced his intent to switch sides on Wednesday.