[StBernard] E Update 02 07 11 Voting to Repeal Obamacare

[Westley Annis]

e-update
2.7.11 

	

When the 112th Congress began last month, I immediately hit the ground
running and introduced a package of nearly 40 bills on the first day that
senators were allowed to do so. These pieces of legislation reflect my
commitment to fighting for the conservative reforms that the people of
Louisiana demanded last November, and I'll continue to be your voice in
Washington on the critical issues facing our state and our country. 

	

I recently had the opportunity to cast my vote in support of the repeal of
Obamacare, and I'm continuing to fight for pro-life policies that protect
the lives of women and the unborn. I'm also continuing to pressure the Obama
administration to end the de facto drilling moratorium that is causing
economic hardship across coastal Louisiana. Read below to find out how I'm
fighting for you on these and other important issues. 

David Vitter

P.S. - Please feel free to forward the newsletter to your friends, neighbors
and business associates, and encourage them to sign up for their own copy by
visiting my Web site at http://vitter.senate.gov/. 

VOTING TO REPEAL OBAMACARE 

Last week, I joined 46 of my colleagues in supporting an effort to repeal
President Obama's health care bill. Obamacare is unconstitutional, raises
taxes and premiums, cuts Medicare by half a trillion dollars and puts
government bureaucrats between patients and their doctors. Instead of this
big-government approach, we need the targeted, common-sense reforms I've
laid out with others to dramatically reduce costs and make health services
more accessible. 

Immediately after President Obama's health care bill passed Congress last
year, I filed legislation to repeal the entire bill outright, and I
reintroduced the same repeal bill when the new Congress began last month.
While our repeal effort didn't succeed last week, the fight is not over, and
I will continue to push my own repeal legislation in the Senate. You can
watch a clip of my Senate floor speech in support of the repeal effort here
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Multimedia.Video&Video
_id=e8910057-03b0-c6df-2711-fdd8110866a3&PageNum=1> . 

PROTECTING THE LIVES OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN 

Like many of you, I'm staunchly pro-life, and so I was horrified by the
recent reports of a Philadelphia abortion doctor who was charged with
several counts of murder for deaths resulting from the deplorable conditions
at his clinic. I was even more disturbed to learn that one of the
Philadelphia clinic's employees, Eileen O'Neill, is a former employee of the
Delta Clinic in Baton Rouge.  She has been arrested for a number of
violations that include theft by deception for pretending to be a licensed
physician. 

Because of this, I've urged
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressRelease
s&ContentRecord_id=e74c2d6e-a38e-70ab-c286-ed2f9031b475&Region_id=&Issue_id=

>  Gov. Bobby Jindal and Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals

Secretary Bruce Greenstein to investigate serious allegations against the
Delta Clinic and take appropriate action against the abortion facility.  If
it is true that the Delta Clinic is in violation of Louisiana or federal
law, I believe the facility's license should be immediately suspended to
ensure the protection of women seeking their services.  We must take the
appropriate steps to prevent practices that endanger the lives of Louisiana
women and children. 

As part of our overall efforts to protect the lives of women and children,
I've introduced the Pregnant Women Health and Safety Act, which would
require that any physician that performs an abortion have admitting
privileges at a local hospital, and that their patients have access to a
nearby hospital where the patients can receive follow-up care in case
complications do occur.  This requirement offers a simple way to protect
against the horrific practices that went unnoticed in Pennsylvania until
many innocent human beings lost their lives.  

ADMINISTRATION'S MORATORIUM COULD COST TAXPAYERS BILLIONS 

The Obama administration's energy policy has clearly stifled Louisiana's
coastal economy, and now all American taxpayers could seriously pay the
price by having to foot the bill for breaches of contracts caused directly
by the Interior Department's ongoing de facto drilling moratorium. 

Last week, Century Exploration New Orleans, Inc. filed a complaint against
the Interior Department based on a claim for breach of contract due to the
ongoing de facto drilling moratorium.  Coupled with Judge Martin Feldman's
recent ruling
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressRelease
s&ContentRecord_id=e8c58612-ae4c-5e46-eb88-cbded95305ac&Region_id=&Issue_id=

>  that held Interior in civil contempt for its handling of moratorium-based

litigation, any future lease contract suits could put the federal government
on the hook to pay out billions of taxpayer dollars in damages.

I'm continuing to press the administration for answers about its ongoing
moratorium, and I'm pursuing legislation that would make the Office of
Management and Budget account for the projected loss of federal revenues
that would otherwise be generated from offshore energy exploration.  Click
here
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Multimedia.Video&Video
_id=ed7aa812-aee1-1389-eab4-a25b1d74e8f7&PageNum=1>  to watch a short video
about my efforts to stop the destruction of our energy economy. 

ENDING AUTOMATIC PAY RAISES FOR CONGRESS 

I recently reintroduced my bill to end automatic annual raises for members
of Congress and require that any future increase be voted on. Many employees
in Louisiana and across the country have lost their jobs or been forced to
accept pay freezes, and it makes no sense for Congress to continue
automatically receiving annual raises. If members of Congress want a raise,
they should have to explain to the American people why they deserve it,
rather than automatically receiving it year in and year out.

My bill has received bipartisan support and is the latest step in my ongoing
effort to eliminate automatic congressional pay increases. In 2009, the
Senate adopted a provision nearly identical to one I introduced, which
sought to eliminate the annual raises for Congress, but the bill languished
in the House as Speaker Pelosi never called it up for a vote. I also
introduced an amendment to last year's budget to pay down the national debt
with money originally intended for congressional pay raises.

Click here
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.Articles&Con
tentRecord_id=a5ff0f53-a4bb-4d62-2a5b-daa19846dfbb&Region_id=&Issue_id=>  to
read a bipartisan op-ed piece I wrote in 2009 with former Democrat U.S. Sen.
Russ Feingold, a past leader on the issue like me.