Politics

Republican Rep. Steve King’s discharge petition aimed at repealing Obamacare gains 80 signatories

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Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King’s discharge petition, aimed at repealing Obamacare, is gaining momentum in the House as more representatives sign on.

Today Rep. Tom Price, Georgia Republican and chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) is circulating a request that members support the petition. To date 80 representatives — all Republicans — have affixed their names to the document which, if a majority sign, would force House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring King’s bill, H.R. 4972 “To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” to the floor for an up-or-down vote. If a majority sign the petition it is likely that King’s bill will pass, as those who sign will vote for his repeal.

King is urging the 34 Democrats who voted against the health-care legislation to sign onto the petition. He was enthusiastic about the support his motion has received.

“I am optimistic that we will be able to attract the 218 signatures we will need to force a vote on repealing ‘Obamacare.’ The past week has seen significant momentum building for repeal,” King said. “Signatures on the discharge petition have come more quickly than I had expected. This has been partly due to a large number of co-sponsors on the repeal bill, but it also demonstrates the effectiveness of the efforts of the Heritage Action Team and a boost from the Club for Growth. I have asked for a national cooperative effort by all organizations interested in restoring liberty by repealing ‘Obamacare.’”

Heritage Action for America is a new conservative advocacy spin-off group launched by the Heritage Foundation earlier this year. King’s discharge petition is its first national campaign. The Club for Growth, a free-market 527 group, has been supportive of the effort as well.

“The Club has played a leading role in working to make sure this ill-conceived, over-reaching law gets fully repealed, allowing lawmakers to start over with something that will actually lower costs and reduce the size of government. This petition will force the House to act in that direction. This will be considered as a key vote on the Club’s annual congressional scorecard” said Andrew Roth, director of government affairs for the Club.

The aforementioned request memo, sent out by the executive director of the RSC, Paul S. Teller, notes that several high-ranking House members already have put their names on the petition, “including Leader Boehner, Whip Cantor, Conference Chairman Pence, other members of leadership, and dozens of other Republicans (RSC and non-RSC).”

The list of signatories:

1. Rep. Steve King, Iowa

2. Rep. Connie Mack, Florida

3. Rep. Michele Bachmann, Minnesota

4. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, Kansas

5. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee

6. Rep. Tom Price, Georgia

7. Rep. Paul C. Broun, Georgia

8. Rep. Jerry Moran, Kansas

9. Rep. Tom Graves, Georgia

10. Rep. Rob Bishop, Utah

11. Rep. Joseph R. Pitts, Pennsylvania

12. Rep. Mike Pence, Indiana

13. Rep. Lynn A. Westmoreland, Georgia

14. Rep. Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania

15. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Texas

16. Rep. Louie Gohmert, Texas

17. Rep. Judy Biggert, Illinois

18. Rep. John Boozman, Arkansas

19. Rep. Kenny Marchant, Texas

20. Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio

21. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Utah

22. Rep. Gary G. Miller, California

23. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Virginia

24. Rep. Doug Lamborn, Colorado

25. Rep. Robert E. Latta, Ohio

26. Rep. Tom Cole, Oklahoma

27. Rep. Trent Franks, Arizona

28. Rep. K. Michael Conaway, Texas

29. Rep. Jo Bonner, Alabama

30. Rep. Dan Burton, Indiana

31. Rep. J. Gresham Barrett, South Carolina

32. Rep. John Linder, Georgia

33. Rep. Bill Posey, Florida

34. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, Kansas

35. Rep. Mike Coffman, Colorado

36. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, Maryland

37. Rep. Virginia Foxx, North Carolina

38. Rep. John Campbell, California

39. Rep. Mike Rogers, Alabama

40. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, Texas

41. Rep. Charles K. Djou, Hawaii

42. Rep. Pete Sessions, Texas

43. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., Wisconsin

44. Rep. Howard Coble, North Carolina

45. Rep. Candice S. Miller, Michigan

46. Rep. Steve Scalise, Louisiana

47. Rep. Robert B. Aderholt, Alabama

48. Rep. Phil Gingrey, Georgia

49. Rep. Kevin Brady, Texas

50. Rep. Pete Olson, Texas

51. Rep. C. W. Bill Young, Florida

52. Rep. Tom McClintock, California

53. Rep. Joe Wilson, South Carolina

54. Rep. Mac Thornberry, Texas

55. Rep. John R. Carter, Texas

56. Rep. John Shimkus, Illinois

57. Rep. Mary Fallin, Oklahoma

58. Rep. Gus M. Bilirakis, Florida

59. Rep. John Fleming, Louisiana

60. Rep. Jeff Flake, Arizona

61. Rep. W. Todd Akin, Missouri

62. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, Michigan

63. Rep. Donald A. Manzullo, Illinois

64. Rep. Eric Cantor, Virginia

65. Rep. Scott Garrett, New Jersey

66. Rep. John A. Boehner, Ohio

67. Rep. Henry E. Brown, Jr., South Carolina

68. Rep. Kay Granger , Texas

69. Rep. Parker Griffith, Alabama

70. Rep. Ted Poe, Texas

71. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington

72. Rep. Rodney Alexander, Louisiana

73. Fred Upton, Michigan

74. Jean Schmidt, Ohio

75. John Sullivan, Oklahoma

76. Peter J. Roskam, Illinois

77. Blaine Luetkemeyer, Missouri

78. Michael C. Burgess, Texas

79. Ken Calvert, California

80. Lee Terry, Nebraska

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