GOP senators must keep their promises to repeal ObamaCare

As the Senate moves to take up ObamaCare repeal, the conventional wisdom among Washington elites is that the legislation will “move to the left” — that is, it will leave more of ObamaCare intact, and cost more than the American Health Care Act that passed the House last week. That’s odd, given previous declarations by key senators who will be involved in drafting the legislation. Do the Washington elites simply assume that key GOP senators are all liars, or that they will deliberately break campaign promises made for years?

{mosads}Rather than assign the task of drafting legislation to the committees of jurisdiction — the Finance Committee and the HELP Committee — Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has appointed a working group of 13 GOP senators spanning the ideological spectrum of his conference to fashion a repeal bill that can garner the votes of at least 50 senators.

Each of the 13 Senators on the working group is on record as calling for the full repeal of ObamaCare:

• Speaking to CPAC in 2013, McConnell himself firmly declared, “ObamaCare should be repealed root and branch.”

• Sen. John Cornyn’s official Senate website touts the 27 bills he has introduced or cosponsored to repeal of defund ObamaCare, and proudly proclaims: “Since passage, Senator Cornyn has voted repeatedly to repeal and defund ObamaCare …”

• Sen. John Thune issued a press release in December 2016, less than one month after the election, saying, “Repealing Obamacare and confirming a Supreme Court nominee are two important things we’re going to do next year, but they’re just the beginning,” before adding, “It’s time to repeal this law and replace it with something that works.”

• Sen. John Barrasso penned an op-ed for The Washington Times in January of this year entitled, “Why Obamacare Must Be Repealed,” in which he stated of repeal, “The alternative — to break our promise to the American people and do nothing to help them — is unacceptable.”

• Sen. Lamar Alexander’s official Senate website quotes the senator saying, “Obamacare was an historic mistake, and should be repealed and replaced with step-by-step reforms that transform the health care delivery system …”

• Sen. Mike Enzi issued a press release in November 2016 upon news that President Trump would nominate U.S. Rep. Tom Price to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services. That release reads, in part, “President-elect Trump will find Chairman Price to be an ideal addition to his administration, especially as Congress takes steps to repeal and replace the Obamacare law.” 

• Sen. Orrin Hatch’s official Senate web site lists “Health Care” as one of his “Key Priorities,” and says of ObamaCare, “This law is an imminent threat to our nation’s finances and to the continued functioning of our nation’s health care system. It must be repealed.” 

• Sen. Ted Cruz’s official Senate website declares, “[T]he first piece of legislation he filed, co-sponsored by 32 Republicans, was to fully repeal Obamacare,” and continues, “Congress should repeal Obamacare …” 

• Sen. Mike Lee issued a press release in March declaring, “Let’s fulfill our ObamaCare repeal promise immediately …”

• Sen. Tom Cotton released a statement on the sixth anniversary of the passage of ObamaCare stating, “Time and time again I’ve voted to repeal this unworkable law in full … But the fight isn’t over. Rest assured, I am committed to protecting Arkansans from the worst effects of Obamacare.”

• Sen. Cory Gardner’s official Senate website declares, “Fixing our healthcare system will require repealing the Affordable Care Act …”

• Sen. Rob Portman’s campaign website has a page entitled “Repealing ObamaCare,” which states, “Senator Rob Portman believes that Obamacare must be repealed and replaced with reforms that will actually lower costs and improve the quality of our health care.”

• Sen. Pat Toomey, speaking on Philadelphia radio two days after the 2016 election, said of ObamaCare repeal, “It absolutely has to get done in the first year … We promised that to the American people. It’s the right thing to do.”

So which one of these 13 GOP senators do the Washington elites believe to be liars?

In the spring of 2014, Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund — the Super PAC affiliated with Tea Party Patriots — endorsed conservative challengers in primary elections against several incumbent GOP Senators across the country. We worked hard, but came up short. Nevertheless, when we looked at the choices facing us in that fall’s general elections, our supporters told us they wanted us to support the GOP candidates who had defeated our challengers, largely based on their down-the-line promises to repeal ObamaCare.

We helped deliver the Senate to the GOP. We helped change Sen. McConnell’s title from “Minority Leader” to “Majority Leader.” And in 2016, we helped Senate Republicans maintain their majority, again largely on the basis of their pledges to repeal ObamaCare.

On ObamaCare repeal, the ball is now in their court. We expect them to score.

Jenny Beth Martin is president and co-founder of Tea Party Patriots.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.