Scalise at Leadership Press Conference: "We're Leading a Rescue Mission"

WASHINGTON, D.C.— At a House Leadership Republican press conference today, Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) discussed President Trump's visit to the Capitol and the American Health Care Act.

Click on the image above to view remarks.

On President Trump…

"For weeks now, President Trump has gotten directly engaged in negotiating with our members. He reached out and said, “Bring me your best ideas”. You saw every element of our conference come together and bring their ideas. Everybody, from Republican Study Committee, Tuesday Group, and Freedom Caucus members, came forward and President Trump brought those ideas together. We agreed on the package we put together last night to add all those elements to the bill, elements that make it even better for families. At the heart of this, is the acknowledgment from President Trump to all of us that Obamacare has failed the American people."

On letting families be in charge of their health care decisions…

"I think that it’s important to get back to the reason that we’re doing this. We are leading a rescue mission to finally let families be in charge of their healthcare decisions again. CBO confirms that, literally saying 14 million people will choose to get off of Obamacare if we give them that freedom. I think that’s a novel idea: freedom for families to make their own choices in health care. That’s in our bill. Over 900 billion dollars in tax cuts, direct relief and money back in pockets of working families is in this bill."

On the American Health Care Act’s conservative wins…

"National Right to Life is scoring a yes because it is probably the most pro-life bill that will get to a president’s desk for their signature since partial-birth abortions. Revolutionary. Something else that’s revolutionary is giving states the ability to run their Medicaid program without having to come beg Washington bureaucrats for permission to do innovative things that help improve the health care of families in their states. All of these reforms and more are in this bill that’s coming up for a vote on Thursday."

On following through on promises to the American people…

"It’s really great to see, not only that the president is all in, but that the president has made it clear that this is the first step in us finally getting our country back on track. We’re following through on all those promises that have been made for years, that we would not only rescue people from Obamacare, but then it sets the stage for all the other big things we want to do to cut taxes, to get our economy back on track, to get regulations out of the way and make Washington work for families again."

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