The Wichita Eagle - Pompeo Joins Battle against Health Law

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By: David Goldstein

Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, has signed onto a legal challenge to health care reform, which claims that the law is unconstitutional.

The freshman Republican lawmaker from Wichita has joined nearly 50 House colleagues who signed a friend of the court brief in support of a lawsuit by the state of Virginia.

The suit filed by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli argued that the individual mandate provision of the law, requiring consumers to purchase health insurance, was unconstitutional. A federal judge in Virginia, ruling in the state's favor, said that the mandate exceeded the Constitution, but did not address the entire law.

The case is before the U.S. Court of Appeals.

"I have said this publicly on the House floor and I say yet again -- this law is unconstitutional," Pompeo said in a statement. "I have voted to repeal it, I have voted to defund it, and now I am pleased to join this lawsuit against my previous governor to ensure this law never has a chance to wreak havoc on our economy and our freedom."

The suit was filed against Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who was Kansas' chief executive before joining the Obama administration.

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