Department of Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood defended his decision to back President Obama’s health care bill on Sunday saying, “I was in the house for 14 years and it’s not a matter of flipping, it’s a matter of voting for a good bill. The health care bill is a good bill and it really provides health care for people who don’t have it.”
He also made the argument in an op-ed piece that ran in the Chicago Tribune, saying that although he’s been a Republican all his life and still considers himself to be fiscally conservative, he would support the bill. “If I were still a member of Congress, I would proudly vote for the bill that President Barack Obama is championing and I would urge my colleagues to do the same, not because I don’t believe in fiscal discipline, but because I do.”
Lahood told Fox News it’s an important bill that will provide “affordable health care for people who have jobs, but don’t have access to health care or perhaps work in jobs where they can’t afford it. As Americans we should be looking out for people so they have access to the very best health care in our country.”
In his op-ed, he pitched bipartisanship to Republicans saying, “During my time in Congress, I was known for reaching across the aisle. I did it not for the sake of bipartisanship alone, but in order to get important things done. Now, my former colleagues have the opportunity to change the lives of their friends and neighbors for the better by voting for health care reform.”
Lahood predicted the health care vote would advance through congress, “I think it should be passed and I think it will be passed. All of us are working very hard to find the votes and I think by a week from today, we’ll have a bill that’s passed.”