Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, said he and other Republicans will pressure the Senate to pass some kind of Obamacare repeal bill before the end of the month, before the Senate loses its chance to pass a bill with just a simple majority, without help from Democrats.
“We have until Sept. 30 to keep from being about as big a bunch of liars as has ever been in Congress,” he said on the House floor.
Gohmert spoke just before the House left for a week-long break, after which it will return for just one more week before the end of September. At the end of the month, the Senate will lose its authority to pass a repeal bill by a simple majority.
Gohmert said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is also interested in putting pressure on the Senate when they return.
“He has agreed with me and some other of the kind of pressure we’re going to put on when we get back the last week of September, if the Senate has not passed their Obamacare repeal bill,” Gohmert said.
“They have got to pass something or we can’t get it to conference,” he said. “We can’t get the American public what they need.”
Gohmert didn’t say how the House might pressure the Senate, but talked about shaming GOP senators to pass a bill. In late July, the Senate was one vote shy of passing a placeholder bill that would have let the House and Senate meet to negotiate a final bill.
“I’m looking forward, if the Senate doesn’t get a decent bill done, I want us to pass a sense of the House bill … that says it is the sense of the House that the Senate absolutely must pass a bill to give the American public the help they need with healthcare by repealing the worst parts of Obamacare at a minimum,” Gohmert said.
“And then follow the speaker out here on the steps and every one of us point to the Senate, and keep putting the pressure on … until hopefully they would do something,” he said.
