WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator John Thune today praised the House of Representatives’ leadership for scheduling a vote to fully repeal Obamacare’s Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act entitlement later this evening and called on the Majority Leader to allow for a similar vote in the Senate. The Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act of 2011 (H.R. 1173) is expected to pass in the House with Democrat support.
“I am hopeful that today the House of Representatives will formally reject a major pillar of Obamacare, the disastrous CLASS Act entitlement, and vote to repeal the insolvent program,” said Thune. “Budget experts have issued dire warnings over the CLASS Act’s solvency and President Obama’s own HHS Secretary has admitted that the new entitlement is ‘totally unsustainable.’ Given this admission by the Administration, Americans have a right to know where their elected officials stand on the unsustainable CLASS Act. I call on Majority Leader Reid to allow a vote on my CLASS Act repeal bill in the Senate immediately.”
Thune has led the CLASS repeal efforts in the Senate. In April of 2011, he introduced his Repeal the CLASS Entitlement Act (S.720), which currently has 42 cosponsors. Thune has advocated for the repeal of the CLASS Act since he offered an amendment to strip the program during the Senate's debate of Obamacare on December 4, 2009. His amendment received a majority of votes in the Senate (51-47), including support from 12 Democrats, but fell nine votes short of passage.
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