Georgia Congressional reaction to Senate Vote

The 49-51 vote in the Senate in the early Friday morning hours drew a mixed bag of reactions from politicians involved in the process to citizens impacted by the process.

Georgia’s 9th District Congressman Doug Collins:

“Some of my colleagues across the aisle believe that the Senate’s vote against repealing Obamacare was heroic. I believe it was a failure of process, a process that could have included both houses and both parties in a conference committee. People chose not to move forward on solutions for a health care system in crisis, yet the reason we come to these chambers is to move forward. Obamacare has brought Americans in northeast Georgia and across the country nominal positives and crushing negatives. Allowing Obamacare to remain intact today is no victory for them and only darkens the shadow that has hung over America’s health care landscape for seven years.”

Georgia’s 14th District Congressman Tom Graves:

“While I commend Senator Isakson and Senator Perdue for supporting the legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare, I’m deeply disappointed and frustrated by the Senate’s failure to pass a bill. The House made difficult choices and passed a bill to fulfill our promise, and the Senate needs to do the same thing. We cannot stand back and let the healthcare system implode. We have to keep fighting. We have to rescue the families caught up in Obamacare’s death spiral, which is only accelerating. I’m ready to do whatever is necessary to move this process forward. The American people are waiting.”

Georgia’s 11th District Congressman Barry Loudermilk:

Defeat is only ensured to those who surrender. The disappointing vote in the Senate is only a failure if we quit. And I will not! The most epic moments in our history are marked by Americans who, in the face of impending defeat, kept their eyes on their cause, not their circumstances. George Washington lost more battles than he won – but we ultimately won the war. The Alamo fell – but Texas won their independence. The US Navy was devastated at Pearl Harbor – but three years later, the Japanese surrendered. Now is not the time to raise the white flag. It’s time to keep pressing on until we fix America’s failing health care system, because Americans deserve better than the disaster they have now.”

And finally part of Senator David Perdue’s reaction:

Throughout this entire process, we have witnessed everything that’s wrong with Washington. The Senate had a real opportunity to dismantle the most damaging parts of Obamacare. As Republicans have railed against the failures of Obamacare for the last seven years, Democrats have failed to acknowledge any shortcomings of Obamacare and refused to try to fix a broken system. Now, due to an unworkable budget process and politicians who put their political self-interests ahead of national interest, Obamacare remains the law of the land…The American people should be outraged and should demand real change now. It is extremely important that we get this fixed. We have to make sure people have access to affordable health care, which they don’t under Obamacare. We have got to work to reduce premiums, which have skyrocketed and priced people out of the market. We have got to put Medicaid on a sustainable path and make sure preexisting conditions continue to be covered.