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Republican Lawmaker Expects Supreme Court to Decide Constitutionality of Health Care Law’s Individual Mandate
Republican Reps. Jack Kingston (Ga.) and Michele Bachmann (Minn.) say the Constitution does not give Congress the authority to require individuals to buy health insurance, as mandated by the new health care law.
(CNSNews.com) - Reps. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) told CNSNews.com that the Constitution does not give Congress the authority to require individuals to buy health insurance, as mandated by the new health care bill that was signed into law on Tuesday.
Both representatives appeared with Actor Jon Voight at a Capitol Hill Tea Party rally over the March 20 weekend.
CNSNews.com asked Reps. Kingston and Bachmann what part of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to mandate that individuals purchase health insurance.
“It is not present in the Constitution,” said Rep. Bachmann. “In fact, there’s tremendous Constitutional problems with the bill. There is no precedent for requiring an American citizen, as a condition of citizenship, to purchase a product or service against their will because government mandates they must buy it.”
Rep. Kingston agreed with Bachmann and predicted that the constitutionality of the individual mandate will be decided by the Supreme Court.
“I don’t think that it’s in the Constitution, and I think there are going to be a lot of lawsuits to contest that point,” he told CNSNews.com. “It still will end up in the hands of the Supreme Court, though.” Kingston said the best way to deal with the constitutional problem is “just not to pass the bill."
Jon Voight, the father of actress Angelina Jolie, said the health care bill should not become law because it will lead to more “bureaucracy” and “debt.”
“We are going over the falls,” he told CNSNews.com. “We’re starting to leave America behind and we’ve got to stop it now. You want your kids, your grandkids to have this huge bureaucratic burden and debt? Is that what is meant to be? No. Madison and Jefferson talked about this. We must not pass a debt on to the next generation. So, stop this now.”
The 2,400-page health care bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, was passed by the Senate on Dec. 24, 2009, and by the House of Representatives on March 21, 2010 by a 219-212 vote. President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law on Tuesday.
The law requires every individual and most businesses to carry health insurance or pay penalties that will be monitored and collected by the Internal Revenue Service.
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the federal government has never before mandated that Americans buy any good or service. In 1994, when Congress was considering a universal health care plan formulated by then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, the CBO studied the plan’s provision that would have forced individuals to buy health insurance and determined it was an unprecedented act.
The CBO stated: “A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action. The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States. An individual mandate would have two features that, in combination, would make it unique. First, it would impose a duty on individuals as members of society. Second, it would require people to purchase a specific service that would be heavily regulated by the federal government.”
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) spoke at the House Call rally she organized to protest the Democrats’ health care bill. Thousands of conservatives joined her on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, on Capitol Hill. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)
Both representatives appeared with Actor Jon Voight at a Capitol Hill Tea Party rally over the March 20 weekend.
CNSNews.com asked Reps. Kingston and Bachmann what part of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to mandate that individuals purchase health insurance.
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.)
Rep. Kingston agreed with Bachmann and predicted that the constitutionality of the individual mandate will be decided by the Supreme Court.
“I don’t think that it’s in the Constitution, and I think there are going to be a lot of lawsuits to contest that point,” he told CNSNews.com. “It still will end up in the hands of the Supreme Court, though.” Kingston said the best way to deal with the constitutional problem is “just not to pass the bill."
Jon Voight, the father of actress Angelina Jolie, said the health care bill should not become law because it will lead to more “bureaucracy” and “debt.”
“We are going over the falls,” he told CNSNews.com. “We’re starting to leave America behind and we’ve got to stop it now. You want your kids, your grandkids to have this huge bureaucratic burden and debt? Is that what is meant to be? No. Madison and Jefferson talked about this. We must not pass a debt on to the next generation. So, stop this now.”
The 2,400-page health care bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, was passed by the Senate on Dec. 24, 2009, and by the House of Representatives on March 21, 2010 by a 219-212 vote. President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law on Tuesday.
The law requires every individual and most businesses to carry health insurance or pay penalties that will be monitored and collected by the Internal Revenue Service.
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the federal government has never before mandated that Americans buy any good or service. In 1994, when Congress was considering a universal health care plan formulated by then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, the CBO studied the plan’s provision that would have forced individuals to buy health insurance and determined it was an unprecedented act.
The CBO stated: “A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action. The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States. An individual mandate would have two features that, in combination, would make it unique. First, it would impose a duty on individuals as members of society. Second, it would require people to purchase a specific service that would be heavily regulated by the federal government.”
