Obama's Claim Inaccurate

Wilson’s Rude but Correct

Sep 17, 2009 Linda Sue Grimes

Although impolitely breaching the decorum of a congressional joint session, Representative Joe Wilson was correct in his charge that the President's statement was false.

According to President Barack Obama, speaking on September 9, 2009, to a joint session of congress, “There are those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. This too is false. The reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”

Is the President’s Claim Accurate?

At first glance, it would appear that the President’s statement is correct, because H.R. 3200, section 246 states, “NO PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS. Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.”

However, according to the Congressional Research Service, “the bill's individual mandate to have health insurance (with tax penalties for non-compliance) would apply to legal residents and illegal aliens alike.” It goes on to explain: “H.R. 3200 does not contain any restrictions on noncitizens participating in the Exchange —whether the noncitizens are legally or illegally present, or in the United States temporarily or permanently.”

Also, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) claims, "[t]he Democrats' bill in the House, H.R. 3200, contains gaping loopholes that will allow illegal immigrants to receive taxpayer-funded benefits. And these loopholes are no accident.” By “no accident,” Smith means that the Democrats are attempting to placate the National Council of La Raza and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus both of which have insisted on inclusion of illegals in any new health care reform plan.

Heller Amendment Shot Down

The problem, of course, is that there is no requirement for proof of citizenship, an oversight the Republicans have tried to correct but which the Democrats have rejected.

In July during a session of the House Ways and Means committee, Rep. Dean Heller, (R-NV), sponsored an amendment that called for eligibility verification through the two programs SAVE and IEVS, both currently used by the federal government, but the amendment was rejected 26 to 15 along party lines.

Why do the Republicans want to require proof of resident status when the bill clearly says illegals are not allowed to participate?

Existing Laws Circumvented

It is estimated that there are currently 10-15 millions illegal immigrants in the United States, and the immigration problem is one that is debated perennially in congress and the media.

U.S legal statues prohibiting illegal immigrants from entering and working in the U.S. have not stopped the flow of illegals and have not stopped their securing jobs and government benefits.

Common sense dictates that the mere toothless statement in one section of this complex, gargantuan health care bill will have no force. This inevitable situation is what prompted Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) to shout out, “You lie!” The congressman immediately apologized to the President for his incivility, and the President graciously accepted the apology.

But then partisan forces began lining up behind who lied and who did not. After all of the information is allowed to be considered, it becomes obvious that the President’s claim is, in fact, inaccurate.

Proof of Citizenship

Further evidence of President Obama’s inaccuracy came the next day after his speech, when the White House began calling for “a provision that would require proof of citizenship before someone could enroll in a plan selected on the exchange” — the very provision that Republicans, like Reps. Joe Wilson and Dean Heller, have been calling for all along and which Democrats continued to reject. Also, the administration conceded that without that proof of citizenship, “hospitals would be compensated with public funds for the care of undocumented immigrants.”

Rep. Wilson understood immediately that, without proper verification of legal resident status built into the legislation, the President’s claim was false.

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President Barack Obama