Resolution urging the State House to pass the Tennessee Health Freedom Act

Tonight the Davidson County Republican Party passed a resolution urging the State House to pass the Tennessee Health Freedom Act and urging the State Attorney General to file suit to challenge the constitutionality of the Health Care Reform Act. I drafted the resolution for the DCRP. House committee Democrats have The Tennessee Health Freedom Act bottled up in committee. Below is the text of the letter to the committee and the accompanying resolution.


March 23, 2010

TO: Members of the Commerce Committee/Industrial Impact

FROM: Kathleen Starnes, Chairman

RE: Passage of the Tennessee Health Freedom Act

At its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 23, the Davidson County Republican Party unanimously passed a resolution urging the State House to pass the Tennessee Health Freedom Act and requesting the State Attorney General to file suit to challenge the constitutionality of the recently passed Health Care Reform Act (HR 3590 passed 3/21/10).

A copy of the DCRP’s resolution is included with this cover memo and is being
provided to every committee member.

We believe the ideas and concerns expressed in this resolution speak for a great majority of citizens and GOP leaders in Tennessee whose voices and opinions were ignored or rebuffed by members of our United States Congress.

We ask you, as the governing leaders of our State, to hear the voice of the people for rational health care reform that relies on market forces and empowers the individual.

Thank you.


A Resolution Urging Passage of the Tennessee Health Freedom Act and Requesting the Tennessee Attorney General to File Suit Challenging the Constitutionality of the Health Care Reform Act (HR 3590 passed 3/21/10)


WHEREAS the Davidson County Republican Party (DCRP) recognizes the need for health care reform that will expand health care coverage and control costs, we support rational reform, including tort reform and the lifting of the prohibition on purchasing insurance across state lines,

WHEREAS we believe that the most efficient and equitable policies for reforming health care are those that rely on market forces and empower the individual,

WHEREAS we oppose the recently passed Health Care Reform Act which will greatly expand government control over the health care sector which is 1/6th of the U.S. economy,

WHEREAS we oppose the Health Care Reform Act that was passed on a strictly partisan vote employing arm-twisting, corruption, and parliamentary procedures designed to thwart the will of the majority of the American people,

WHEREAS we support the Tennessee Health Freedom Act which protects the right of Tennesseans to participate or not in any health care system, and prohibits the government from imposing fines or penalties on those citizens’ decisions, and it also protects the right of individuals to purchase—and the right of doctors to provide—lawful medical services without government fine or penalty,

WHEREAS similar legislation has been filed in thirty states and the Tennessee Health Freedom Act has passed the state senate by a vote of 26-1, but remains bottled up in the State House,

WHEREAS we also question the constitutionality of the mandate in the Health Care Reform Act which would require individuals to purchase insurance, and we believe that the government lacks the authority to require an individual to purchase health care insurance or any other product,

WHEREAS at least 13 state attorneys general have filed suit against the federal government after President Barack Obama signed the bill,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

The Davidson County Republican Party urges the State House to pass the Tennessee Health Freedom Act without delay.

The Davidson County Republican Party calls for the State Attorney General to file suit to challenge the constitutionality of the Health Care Reform Act (HR 3590).

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