U.S. Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr., who represents the 8th District of Virginia that includes the City of Falls Church, issued the following statement on the House passage of a repeal of the Affordable Care Act today:

“The passage of Trumpcare is a dark stain on the history of the House of Representatives. Republican leaders forced this bill on the country without knowing what effect it would have on millions of Americans and one sixth of our economy. They don’t know what this updated bill will do, or how much it will hurt people, and yet they have rushed it to passage following no hearings, no score from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, no time to read or consider the bill’s text, and a paltry amount of floor debate. We do know that it will lead to loss of health care coverage for an estimated 24 million Americans, eliminate essential health benefits, jeopardize coverage for people with preexisting conditions, drive up costs for Americans while providing them with skimpier coverage, cut tax credits for millions of veterans,  gut funding for Planned Parenthood, and ration care for children with disabilities. A bill that does those things should never have been considered at all, and certainly not without a CBO score or legitimate debate.”

In another response, Virginia U.S. Senator Tim Kaine stated:

“President Trump promised the American public that no one would lose coverage under his health bill, those with pre-existing conditions would be protected, and no one would be worse off. Today the House rushed the TrumpCare bill through without waiting to hear how many millions of people would lose health insurance and protections for pre-existing conditions, how high premiums would go up for seniors and how much the deficit would explode. If they cared about health care, they would care about how this bill affects people’s health. But what they care about is giving a massive tax break to the wealthiest, paid for by slashing health care for everyday people. The Senate should put this bill into committee, let the CBO study it, hold hearings to hear from doctors and patients and engage in a meaningful bipartisan effort to improve health care. And we should never accept a bill that causes people to lose coverage or pay more. That’s what the President promised and we need to hold him accountable for it.”