Health Bill Worse Than ?Terrorist,? Republican Says
By Carl Hulse
The House is moving toward a health care showdown later in the week, and if comments by Representative Virginia Foxx are any indication, things might get a little rough.
As the House convened Monday afternoon, Ms. Foxx, a North Carolina Republican, lashed out at the proposal Democrats are trying to bring to the floor for a vote by the weekend, hitting it for potentially using tax dollars to pay for abortions, among other things.
But in the post-Sept. 11 world, she may have set a new standard for assailing domestic legislation, as she argued that many of her constituents were living in outright fear of the Democratic health care overhaul.
?I believe we have more to fear from the potential of that bill passing than we do from any terrorist right now in any country,? Ms. Foxx said, adding later: ?It is a bad bill and the American people should be frightened of it.?
Ms. Foxx, a member of the Rules Committee, has a reputation for fiery language. She was among the first to raise the notion that federal death panels were part of the bill -? an idea later discredited.
Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader, wouldn?t be drawn into a debate over the merits of her claim. ?Members are entitled to their opinion,? he said.
By Carl Hulse
The House is moving toward a health care showdown later in the week, and if comments by Representative Virginia Foxx are any indication, things might get a little rough.
As the House convened Monday afternoon, Ms. Foxx, a North Carolina Republican, lashed out at the proposal Democrats are trying to bring to the floor for a vote by the weekend, hitting it for potentially using tax dollars to pay for abortions, among other things.
But in the post-Sept. 11 world, she may have set a new standard for assailing domestic legislation, as she argued that many of her constituents were living in outright fear of the Democratic health care overhaul.
?I believe we have more to fear from the potential of that bill passing than we do from any terrorist right now in any country,? Ms. Foxx said, adding later: ?It is a bad bill and the American people should be frightened of it.?
Ms. Foxx, a member of the Rules Committee, has a reputation for fiery language. She was among the first to raise the notion that federal death panels were part of the bill -? an idea later discredited.
Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader, wouldn?t be drawn into a debate over the merits of her claim. ?Members are entitled to their opinion,? he said.
