Saturday, November 21, 2009 East Central Illinois

U.S. Rep. Johnson rejects both parties' efforts

By Tom Kacich
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 8:13 AM CDT

URBANA – U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana, is the only Republican member of the U.S. House to vote against both the Democratic health care bill that passed Saturday and a GOP-sponsored amendment that fell far short.

The five-term Republican had signalled for months his opposition to the Democratic-sponsored legislation, but his vote against the Republican measure – which failed 176-258 – was more of a surprise.

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The Republican proposal "certainly was better than the Democratic bill, but it didn't address a number of the concerns that I had pledged to address," Johnson said. Six amendments he offered to the GOP legislation that dealt with wellness, fitness, smoking cessation and other personal responsibility issues were not permitted, he said.

"I didn't think that the Republican amendment adequately addressed the issue of pre-existing conditions, and I had said that I was a supporter of addressing that issue," he said Monday in Urbana. "Secondly, the Republican amendment nationalized our entire health care delivery system, not to the extent that the Democratic bill did, but nonetheless it nationalized the system, including the civil justice system."

Johnson, an attorney, said he was opposed to provisions that limited damages in malpractice cases.

"That's an issue that should be left to the individual states," he asserted. "I don't support the nationalization of most components of our life and I certainly don't support the nationalization of our civil justice system.

"The Republican position has been that we don't support nationalization of health care. We don't support nationalization of energy policy. We don't support increased government control."

"And yet that amendment, as to the civil justice component of the bill, would effectively pre-empt state law and put the federal government in charge of our civil justice system, at least this segment of it," he said."

Johnson said he also was concerned that neither health care proposal "adequately addressed the woeful reimbursement rates for physicians and hospitals in rural areas. That's a real concern for me and others in rural areas."

Johnson said he didn't believe that being the only Republican vote against a Republican measure would cause him trouble among his GOP colleagues.

"None at all," he said. "It's just one amendment among many."

The Democratic bill that passed the House Saturday, 220-215, will, if enacted, "diminish the quality of health care" and damage the economy, Johnson said.

"This plan shows contempt for the liberties we hold dear," he said in a statement. "It shows contempt for the American people and contempt for the free marketplace."

It forces people to have insurance who may not want or need it. It forces employers to take on burdens they can't sustain and prosper. It forces taxpayers into regions far beyond the limits of the Constitution we hold dear.'

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