WASHINGTON – On Groundhog Day today, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), leader of the Senate Democrats’ #ACAWorks Campaign and a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, released the following statement on Republicans’ plan to vote to override President Obama’s veto and strip health insurance from millions of Americans. This is the latest misguided attempt by Republicans to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, which has provided health insurance coverage and new benefits to millions of previously uninsured individuals, and reduced federal health spending. To date, Republicans have tried to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act over 60 times.

Since passage of the Affordable Care Act, 17.6 million previously uninsured Americans have gained health coverage, and health care costs are growing at the slowest rate in 50 years. 

“House Republicans voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act on actual Groundhog Day is a perfect symbol of their governing philosophy. We’ve all lived through this charade before and we all know how it’s going to end – in a failed effort to take health care away from millions of Americans. But unlike Bill Murray’s character, who eventually learned from his mistakes and became a better person, Republican leaders are either willfully ignorant or intentionally wasting everyone’s time.

“The Affordable Care Act’s changes to our health care system are no longer theoretical. We know that the ACA’s opponents’ apocalyptic warnings and devastating predictions did not come true. Millions more finally have health coverage. Insurance companies can no longer discriminate against women or deny someone coverage due to a preexisting condition. And there are no annual or lifetime caps on benefits, so people in Connecticut no longer have to worry about their health care plan kicking them to the curb when they’d need it most. 

“The law is the law, and it’s here to stay. Democrats are more than willing to work with Republicans to find common ground on where we go from here. But we will not tolerate wasting more time. We’ve got real work to do.”