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“The Club has played a leading role in working to make sure this ill-conceived, over-reaching law gets fully repealed, allowing lawmakers to start over with something that will actually lower costs and reduce the size of government.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 |
