Florida Senate - 2012                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SM 1854
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 692868                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
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       Senator Garcia moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the resolving clause
    4  and insert:
    5         That the Florida Legislature urges the United States
    6  Congress to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
    7  Act signed into law by President Obama in 2010.
    8         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
    9  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
   10  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
   11  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
   12  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.
   13  
   14  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   15         And the title is amended as follows:
   16         Delete everything before the resolving clause
   17  and insert:
   18                           Senate Memorial                         
   19         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
   20         urging Congress to repeal the Patient Protection and
   21         Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Obama
   22         in 2010.
   23  
   24         WHEREAS, the health insurance mandate of the Patient
   25  Protection and Affordable Care Act is a form of government
   26  interference in the free market and an all-out assault on
   27  personal liberties, and
   28         WHEREAS, the mandate for individuals to purchase health
   29  insurance exceeds the scope and authority of the United States
   30  Congress, and
   31         WHEREAS, as the United States economy continues to struggle
   32  and the unemployment rate holds steadfast at alarming
   33  percentages, the employer mandate to provide health insurance to
   34  employees will raise the cost of hiring new employees and have
   35  an adverse effect on the state of our economy, and
   36         WHEREAS, regulations recently issued by the United States
   37  Department of Health and Human Services, 77 Fed. Reg. 8,725
   38  (Feb. 15, 2012), pursuant to authority in the Patient Protection
   39  and Affordable Care Act require all health insurers to cover
   40  certain services and products that violate the religious
   41  freedoms of some health insurance consumers, and
   42         WHEREAS, although the federal regulations exempt some
   43  religious organizations, the regulations require all health
   44  insurers, even those insuring religious organizations, to
   45  provide coverage for services that are contrary to the religious
   46  beliefs and practices of certain faiths, and
   47         WHEREAS, the mandated services and products must be
   48  provided without deductibles or copayments such that religious
   49  employers, including hospitals, universities, and service
   50  organizations, must pay the full cost of implementation of the
   51  regulations that violate their religious freedoms, and
   52         WHEREAS, these overreaching regulations constitute an
   53  assault on the free exercise of religion and the rights of
   54  individuals and organizations afforded under the First Amendment
   55  to operate according to their consciences, and
   56         WHEREAS, passage of the Respect for Rights of Conscience
   57  Act of 2011 (H.R.1179/S.1467) would permit a health insurer to
   58  offer coverage without the specific services and products that
   59  are contrary to the religious beliefs of employers or individual
   60  purchasers, without penalty, and
   61         WHEREAS, passage of the Respect for Rights of Conscience
   62  Act of 2011 (H.R.1179/S.1467) would be unnecessary if the
   63  Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is repealed, and
   64         WHEREAS, repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable
   65  Care Act would eliminate the authority for the federal
   66  regulations and restore the right to free exercise of religion,
   67  which is currently under assault by those regulations, NOW,
   68  THEREFORE,