Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI), incoming Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, made the following statement today in regards to the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson of the Eastern District of Virginia, which declared the Democrats’ health care law to be unconstitutional.  One of Upton's top priorities in the new Congress will be repealing the job-killing health care law.

“Today, a U.S. District Court ratified what many Americans have known for the past year: the health care law is not only bad policy, it is unconstitutional as well.  This decision strikes a blow for freedom and the enduring constitutional principles of our forefathers.

“When the health care law was being debated, Energy and Commerce Republicans warned that Obamacare represented an unprecedented intrusion by government into the lives of American citizens.   At the time, we argued that the individual mandate violated Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution – the Commerce Clause – because it purported to regulate an individual’s ‘inactivity.’  If the government could compel individuals to engage in activities they wished to avoid – such as the purchase of health insurance – what restrictions could there possibly be on government’s power? 

“That is why today’s decision striking down the individual mandate is so welcome.  While the legal fights over the health care law are just beginning, our Committee will vigorously weigh in and assert our oversight authority to ensure that the federal government is returned to its properly limited role.  Our top priority in the new Congress will be repealing the job-killing health care law. 

“In the months ahead, we will be holding hearings on the unconstitutional aspects of the health care law and other critical health care challenges facing our nation.  In the meantime, we urge the administration to cease and desist its efforts to implement the law and work with Congress on reforms that actually reduce costs for consumers in a free-market, constitutionally permissible manner.”