Hartzler: Obamacare must be repealed in its entirety

In her latest weekly report, Fourth District Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler shares her thoughts on the president's recent immigration announcement and the federal health care law.

Our offices in Washington and throughout the Fourth Congressional District have been receiving quite a few calls from citizens angry over President Obama’s executive order circumventing Congress to allow the Department of Homeland Security to grant temporary work visas to certain groups of illegal aliens.

I have made clear that I share the views of citizens who believe that the recent announcement by the President is an affront to the legislative process. Changes to our immigration laws must be debated in the open, in Congress. This executive order, concocted and executed behind closed doors, demonstrates the President’s disregard for our form of government and his willingness to ignore the rule of law.

I am co-sponsoring a bill aimed at preventing the bypassing of Congress on immigration matters. H.R. 2497, the Hinder the Administration’s Legalization Temptation (HALT) Act, will prevent the Administration from issuing broad “deferred action.” This bill is headed to the House Judiciary Committee for its consideration. Please know that I strongly support a clearly defined, firmly enforced immigration policy. I have, in fact, co-sponsored several immigration reform bills including H.R. 704, the SAFE for America Act, which would eliminate the visa lottery system. I have also co-sponsored H.R. 152, the National Guard Border Enforcement Act, which would deploy at least 10,000 additional members of our National Guard for heightened security along the U.S.-Mexico border. I will continue to work with my colleagues to develop new common sense proposals for immigration reform.

I welcome your thoughts on this important issue which is vital to our national security and our economy and will keep you updated on immigration reform efforts as they move through the legislative process.

On another matter, I joined several of my conservative House colleagues to discuss some of the important issues of the day with traditional media and bloggers. Conversations with Conservatives, as this group is known, meets monthly to share ideas and to answer questions from the media. I spoke of the common sense conservative proposals for dealing with America’s health care concerns – proposals that we are advancing in the House regardless of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of the President’s health care plan.

I shared the concerns expressed to me by Fourth District businessmen and women who say the Obama health care law has not made things better; it has only made things worse. The uncertainty associated with the costs of the new health care law has many businesses holding off on hiring additional employees.

ObamaCare must be repealed in its entirety. Americans deserve better. No matter the ruling by the Supreme Court, I and fellow House conservatives will continue to work on legislative proposals that increase accessibility and affordability of health care and will do so in a transparent manner so the American people will have an opportunity to read these ideas and comment on them before anything is passed. And, unlike the current law, ours will bring about health care reforms to ensure affordable coverage while maintaining Americans’ doctor-patient relationship. Decisions on health care should always be made by patients after consulting with their doctors – not by Washington bureaucrats.