Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) wanted to view the House GOP Obamacare replacement bill, but could not gain access to it from a secure room. This did not please the senator, who wants to keep everything transparent:
“If you recall where Obamacare was passed in 2009, 2010, Nancy Pelosi said we’ll know what’s in it after we pass it. The Republican Party shouldn’t act in the same way,” Paul said in a circus-like atmosphere outside the offices of House leaders. “This is being presented as if it were a national secret, as it if it were a plot to invade another country. … That’s wrong. It should be done openly in the public. And conservatives who have objections that don’t want Obamacare-lite should be able to see the bill.”
Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee hid the bill in a secure room on the first floor of the Capitol. When Paul heard the members of the committee planned to discuss the bill, he wanted to join them.
By the time Paul arrived, the bill was gone. Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) told Paul he could not read it:
“They said that this room was a holdover room,” Tonko said. “I said: ‘Where’s the room number?’ And they didn’t know. I want to read the bill because it’s affecting one-sixth of the economy.”
Paul even brought his own copy machine just in case he could make a copy of the bill:
The senator went on a tweet storm about the situation:
Democrats quickly joined Paul’s side in an effort to grab the bill:
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, arrived shortly after Paul to try to get into the room. After being told nothing was in there, he said that he had been told Republican lawmakers could go there to see the bill, and the GOP must have moved the bill.
Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), the chairman of the committee, responded to accusations that the group wants to keep everything a secret:
“Reports that the Energy and Commerce Committee is doing anything other than the regular process of keeping its members up to speed on latest developments in its jurisdictions are false. We are continuing to work on drafting and refining legislative language to provide relief from a failing law,” Walden said in as statement.”Simply put, Energy and Commerce majority members and staff are continuing to discuss and refine draft legislative language on issues under our committee’s jurisdiction.”
Why the secrecy? A leak last week of an Obamacare draft caused major problems for the party since many said they couldn’t support it as is:
“Am I for Obamacare repeal? The answer is yes,” Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina, head of a conservative wing known as the Freedom Caucus, said Tuesday. “Am I for this plan? The answer is no.” Representative Mark Walker of North Carolina, who chairs the 170-member Republican Study Committee, also said he couldn’t support the leaked draft and won’t recommend his colleagues do so, either.
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