Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said there’s no way the Senate should be voting on the healthcare bill unveiled last week before it breaks for the July 4 recess.
“We don’t have enough information, I don’t have the feedback from constituencies who will not have time to review the Senate bill,” he said. “We should not be voting on this bill next week.”
Johnson — who refused to characterize himself as a “no” vote on the bill, instead saying “I’m not a yes yet” — said the bill unveiled by Senate GOP leadership last week doesn’t appear to be the full fix that he wants to the Affordable Care Act.
He said lawmakers in Washington “don’t have the courage” and “don’t have the honesty” to talk about healthcare in a real, meaningful way. Instead it’s all political rhetoric that gets in the way of policymaking, he said.
“These bills aren’t going to fix the problem,” he said. “They’re not going to fix the root cause.”
Johnson called on Senate Republican leadership to slow the process down and get more information on the bill before a vote. He said the American people haven’t had time to review the bills, and that should be a pre-requisite for any vote.
“There’s no way we should be voting on this next week, no way,” he said.
He added, “I have a hard time believing Wisconsin constituents, or even myself, would have enough time to be willing to vote on a motion to proceed.”
