Find the bill? Sen. Rand Paul, House Democrats scour the Capitol for GOP’s secret Obamacare replacement – Los Angeles Times
One of the most closely guarded secrets on Capitol Hill has been the House GOP's proposed legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known asObamacare.
On Thursday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wanted to have a look.
Paul, a critic of the House efforts,got word that draft legislation was available for viewing by House Republicans in a secure, undisclosed location in the Capitol.
So he headed over Thursday, copy machine in tow, for a look-see. He was denied entry.
"We dont know if its 1,000 pages, 1,500pages, but we know were not given access to read it, and I think thats a problem," Paul told reporters, standing outside a closed door on the first floor of theCapitol.
"Im not waiting until after it passes to find out whats in Obamacarethe new replacement bill."
Paul, the brash libertarian-leaning Republicanwho first swept into Congress on the2010anti-Obamacare wave, reminded reporters that one of his own early bills was the "Read the Bill Act."
At the time, Republicans had scolded Democrats for suggesting that once Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, Americans would come to understand its benefits.
Now, its GOP leaders who have tried to avoid public exposure for their proposal, even though various committees could begin debating the legislation as early as next week.
Rather than allow public access, the House Energy & Commerce Committee took the unusual step of allowing its GOP members to view the bill Thursday in a secure room, leaving their smartphones outside, aides said.
House Speaker Paul Ryan gave assurances Thursday that leaders would reveal the bill publicly "soon."
Predictably, the effort to keep the text a secret backfired. OncePaul got shut out, others leapedinto the hunt for the bill.
Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Energy & Commercepanel, led a "goose chase" around the Capitol complex Thursday afternoon in search of the bill, a spokesman said.
Pallone and Rep. Jan Schakowski (D-Ill.) tried their luck at the secure location where they believed the bill to beto no avail.
Then they ventured a few doors down to Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's office, only to be turned away.
From there, they snooped around the office of Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), the chairman of the Energy & Commerce Committee. Next, they went to the committee itself.
Nothing.
After about 45 minutes, they called it quits, for now.
"He's never encountered a bill in a secure room that only one side of the aisle could see," a Pallone spokesman said.
The theatrics have a serious side: Congress is deeply split over replacing the Affordable Care Act.
House Republicans face deep resistance from within their ranks, mostly from conservatives who, like Paul, say that the proposed bill is just "Obamacare lite."
At the same time, some Senate Republicans say the proposal goes too far.
Democrats, almost unanimously, oppose the GOP plans.
One key part of the House proposal, to replace the current subsidies that help people buy insurance witha new refundable tax credit, has drawn special fire from conservatives. They see it as another federal entitlement program.
"That sounds like Obamacare under another name. ItsDemocrat ideas in Republican clothing," Paul said.
Other Republicans worry that residents in their states will lose healthcare coveragebecause the GOP plan would make steep cuts to Medicaid.
"Everybody's saying the train's left the station and it's coming," Paul said. "Well, why dont we get to read it then?"
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Find the bill? Sen. Rand Paul, House Democrats scour the Capitol for GOP's secret Obamacare replacement - Los Angeles Times