What happened to GOP vow of transparency on health care?
Before enacting the Affordable Care Act in 2009, Democrats in Congress held many hearings over many months so that the bill could be carefully considered.
The Republicans have chosen a dramatically different path. Republicans in the House drafted a secret bill they sprung on the American people without a single hearing – a bill that will gut the ACA, strip health insurance from 23 million people and cause premiums to skyrocket.
Now Republicans in the Senate – who promised a more open process – are crafting a bill they refuse to make public and are planning to ram it through with no hearings and virtually no debate.
Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris must fight this perversion of the democratic process with every tool at their disposal. They should withhold consent on routine matters until Republicans hold hearings on this bill.
If the bill comes to the Senate floor without hearings, they should offer as many amendments as possible to slow Senate proceedings to a crawl. The ACA and our health care are in jeopardy, and our senators should take the lead in fighting the Republican bill tooth and nail.
Wes Dodd, Clovis
This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 1:23 PM with the headline "What happened to GOP vow of transparency on health care?."