Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Sunday warned House Republicans could pay the ultimate price in the 2018 elections if they vote in support of the Obamacare replacement bill.
“I would say to my friends in the House of Representatives, with whom I served, do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass the Senate and then have to face the consequences of that vote,” Cotton said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week.”
Host George Stephanopoulos asked Cotton if he was warning House lawmakers about the price they could pay at the cost of reaping no benefit for their vote of support.
“I’m afraid if they vote for the bill, they’ll put the House majority at risk next year … I don’t want to see the House majority put at risk on a bill that won’t pass the Senate,” Cotton said.
The first-term senator pointed to 1993, when House Democrats voted for an energy tax, which never received a vote by the upper chamber. Cotton said the result cost Democrats their next election.
Instead, Cotton wants the House to “get as close as we can to a good result” before sending it to the Senate for more thorough consideration.
“This is permanent legislation trying to remake our healthcare system,” said Cotton. “We need to get it right, not get it fast.”
