Floor Statement of Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith Regarding Obamacare Repeal

Chairman Smith: I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. [Madam] Speaker, I support this legislation to repeal the Democrats' health care law, which will shrink jobs, increase taxes and limit Americans' freedom.

Although the Supreme Court has delivered its decision on Obamacare, it is the people whose verdict counts the most. And the American people have consistently rejected this costly and ineffective government takeover of the health care sector.

They realize that the law fails our families, drives up the cost of health care, undermines the doctor-patient relationship, tramples on the religious liberty of millions of Americans, and vastly expands the role of the federal government.

And after the Supreme Court's decision, we now know that Obamacare is a massive tax hike on the middle class.

While the Supreme Court may have declared the law constitutional, that does not mean it is good policy for the American people.

Obamacare forces millions of Americans to abandon their current health care plans and give up the physician of their choice.

A recent Reuters' poll found that 56% of respondents oppose Obamacare and 61% oppose the individual mandate. With the costs and massive middle class tax increase this law imposes, these poll numbers are not a surprise.

This massive tax hike on the middle class must be repealed. Only when Obamacare is fully repealed can we enact real reforms that reduce health care costs without restricting the rights of Americans.

One reform Congress should consider to lower costs is medical liability reform. Medical liability reform will reduce the cost of health care by decreasing the waste in our system caused by "defensive medicine." This practice occurs when doctors are forced by the threat of lawsuits to conduct tests and prescribe drugs that are not medically required.

According to a Harvard University study, 40% of medical malpractice lawsuits filed in the United States lack evidence of medical error or any actual patient injury. Many of these suits amount to legalized extortion of doctors and hospitals.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that lawsuit abuse reform would save taxpayers $48 billion over the next ten years.

The American people do not want Obamacare. As their representatives, we must repeal Obamacare and enact real health care reforms that lower costs, increase access to health care and preserve the fundamental freedoms of all Americans.

I reserve the balance of my time.