Blog: Blunt Amendment Vote

Statement

I voted in favor of Senator Blunt's amendment to repeal the unprecedented and unconstitutional mandate under ObamaCare that infringes on religious liberty and violates the First Amendment rights of American citizens.

The President's recent mandate under the new health care law violates religious liberties and conscience rights of faith-based institutions and individuals by forcing them to offer their employees insurance coverage for contraception free of charge. While the Administration has back peddled a little by saying that some religious organizations would be exempt, we do not know how broad this exemption will be and who will be left out of it.

Unfortunately, Senate Democrats chose partisanship over protection of First Amendment rights, and Senator Blunt's amendment was tabled by a vote of 51 to 48. Even though tabling the amendment prevented the mandate from being reversed legislatively, this is not the end of the fight. The government does not have the power to trump the Constitution, and I am confident that the constitutionality of this mandate will be successfully challenged.

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