WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Mark Walker (NC-06) released the following statement in response to the passage of a budget reconciliation bill in the U.S. Senate yesterday evening, which repealed significantly more of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) than the reconciliation bill passed by the U.S. House in October.

“I commend the Senate for stepping up and passing a reconciliation bill that truly repeals the infrastructure of Obamacare and defunds Planned Parenthood, instead of simply rubberstamping the House’s inadequate attempt at repeal,” Walker said.

Since passage of Obamacare in 2009, Republicans pledged to fully repeal Obamacare.  Further, in order to pass the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Resolution, House Leadership promised that the resolution’s passage would arm Congress with the tool of budget reconciliation – a process capable of bypassing the filibuster – for the express purpose of repealing Obamacare.

However, despite repeated warnings and appeals by Rep. Walker and his colleagues, the U.S. House passed a reconciliation package that fell terribly short of the promise Republicans made to the American people. The House version only repealed 6 of Obamacare’s 419 sections, or 1.4% of the law, and left major sections of the law intact.

House Leadership’s attempts to blame the Senate’s “Byrd Rule” for their unwillingness to take tough votes and really push for full repeal were exposed with yesterday’s vote in the Senate. The Senate bill cuts five times more funding and repeals six times more of Obamacare’s taxes that are crippling small businesses and hindering our economy.

The Senate reconciliation package passed 52-47.

“As the ‘more conservative body,’ our constituents and the American people deserved more than the hollow repeal bill from the House. The Senate proved House Leadership’s assumptions incorrect and decided to make good on our promises of repealing Obamacare and establishing meaningful health care reform. I will continue to lead on this issue and call on the House to take up and pass the Senate version as soon as practical,” Walker added.