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Aderholt Urges Supreme Court to Reject ObamaCare's Individual Mandate

Press Release

Date: Feb. 8, 2012
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Health and Health Care Federal, State and Local Relations

Congressman Robert Aderholt (AL-04), released the following statement regarding the filing of an amicus brief by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) on behalf of 119 members of Congress and nearly 145,000 Americans urging the high court to uphold the decision of a lower court which ruled the individual mandate in ObamaCare is unconstitutional.

"I appreciate the work of the American Center for Law and Justice in defending the Constitution of our great nation," said Aderholt. "The individual mandate that is included in ObamaCare is a clear violation of the Constitution of the United States and seizes the rights given to individual states. I hope the Supreme Court will take action against this great injustice, side with the Constitution and the laws of the land, by upholding the decision of the 11th Circuit court and reject the individual mandate."

In an amicus brief filed with the high court yesterday, the ACLJ argues the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit was correct in declaring the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional.

The brief contends: "The individual mandate exceeds the outermost bounds of Congress's Article I authority and is inconsistent with the constitutional system of dual sovereignty that divides power between the federal and State governments. The individual mandate's unprecedented requirement to buy a product from a private company is inconsistent with our constitutional tradition. Although the ACA is the first federal law relying on the Commerce Clause to cross the line between encouraging increased market activity and mandating individual purchases, it will certainly not be the last if the individual mandate is upheld."

Aderholt currently serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security for the powerful House Appropriations Committee, is a member of the Committee's Commerce, Justice and Science; and Agriculture Subcommittees, and also serves on the Helsinki Commission.


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