To: Sen. Mitch McConnell (KY-1)
Senate GOP: stop hiding your healthcare bill from the public
The American people deserve a chance to weigh in on the healthcare debate -- but Senate Republicans are denying us that right by refusing to release their legislation until the last possible minute.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell must be straightforward with the American people, and bring us into the process by releasing the GOP healthcare bill for public scrutiny.
Why is this important?
Americans deserve transparency from our government, especially when our healthcare and financial well-being is at stake. But Republican leaders seem to favor rushing a vote to repeal Obamacare over transparency and accountability.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is refusing to release a draft version of the Senate’s healthcare bill for public scrutiny, as they make a mad dash to pass get it passed before the July 4th recess.
In doing so, they’re denying the American people a voice in a law that would profoundly affect each of our lives, all so they can meet an artificial deadline to appease President Trump, political donors, and special interest groups that want to repeal Obamacare.
House Republicans already greased the wheels for their own healthcare bill -- granting themselves a special waiver from House rules requiring the text of legislation to be posted online for 72 hours before a vote. They were in such a hurry to vote that they didn’t even wait for the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office score to find out how many people would lose healthcare under the bill -- a nearly unprecedented step for major legislation like this.
Congressional Republicans criticized the process by which the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2009, claiming it was rammed through without a fair hearing. Now, they’re doubling down on what they claimed to oppose, rushing a bill that could leave millions of Americans without health insurance.
When wealthy special interests set the healthcare policy agenda instead of the American people, we all pay the price with higher premiums and less coverage. And when politicians draft bills in secret and reject common sense transparency, we all pay the price with rigged rules that benefit big donors and wealthy special interests instead of everyday people.
The American people deserve transparency from our elected officials, and a fair chance to scrutinize and debate such consequential legislation. Without any publicly-available bill and public hearings, we can’t allow a vote on a bill that would affect millions of Americans. Add your name and tell Senate Republicans to share their healthcare bill with the public.