Issue: H.R. 1217 To repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund.
Result: Passed in House, 236 to 183, 13 not voting. Democrats scored.
Bill Summary: Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009 (Obamacare) to repeal provisions establishing and appropriating funds to the Prevention and Public Health Fund.
Analysis: The Prevention and Public Health Fund is administered by the unconstitutional Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). A part of the 2009 health care law (Obamacare) established the Fund. The Fund has invested federal dollars in a broad range of community public health care activities — a clearly unconstitutional federal function.
The history of federal aid is that it comes with strings attached. Although the hype supporting the new program stresses the needs the aid is to serve, the end product is increased federal control and a mushrooming bureaucracy.
Unanimous GOP support (except for 4 not voting) for this repeal measure was consistent with several other measures to repeal portions of Obamacare that the House GOP leadership brought to a vote. All these measures would die in the Senate. We ignore the easy posturing vote for the Republicans. However, we give credit to the four Democratic representatives who bucked their party leadership to support this repeal.
We have assigned (good vote) to the Ayes and (bad vote) to the Noes. (P = voted present; ? = not voting; blank = not listed on roll call.)
The Cabinet-level Department of Health, Education and Welfare was created under President Eisenhower in 1953. In 1979, the Carter administration persuaded Congress to provide for a separate Department of Education (also unconstitutional). HEW then became the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
HHS represents almost a quarter of all federal outlays, and it administers more grant dollars than all other federal agencies combined.