(Washington, DC) – Congressman Wally Herger (R-CA), Ranking Member of the Ways & Means Subcommittee on Health, issued the following statement on the crippling impact the costs of the Pelosi takeover of healthcare will have on the national debt and future generations:

“One of our chief responsibilities, both as public servants and as a generation, is to ensure that we leave those who follow us with a higher standard of living and better opportunities for success. Part of living up to that responsibility is living within our means and acting in a fiscally responsible manner. Sadly, Washington isn’t living up to its obligations and Speaker Pelosi and President Obama are trying to ram through a government-run health care system and an expensive new entitlement that will explode the national debt and hand our children and grandchildren the tab. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the Democrats’ bill will spend more than $1.3 trillion over the next decade, and if the history of other government health programs is any guide, the actual cost will end up being far higher.

We all agree that we need health care reform, but we don’t need to spend over a trillion dollars and mortgage our economic future to do it. In fact, the Republican alternative accomplishes these goals without adding to the deficit and would actually bring down health care costs by up to ten percent. Massive debts, like the one the Pelosi Plan will deliver, threaten the strength and greatness of America. They threaten families and small businesses. I urge Speaker Pelosi to look at the big picture and abandon this plan that will cost our children not only financially, but also by harming the quality of their health care.”

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