WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) and U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) joined Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) in introducing a bill to halt implementation of Obamacare until the judicial review of the unconstitutional individual mandate is complete.

“Clearly the courts are going to continue to review Obamacare’s individual mandate, probably all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court,” Roberts said. “Given the ever growing number of problems and new costs associated with the law, it makes sense to suspend implementation immediately until we get a final resolution from the judicial review. Americans’ constitutional rights are at stake.”

“This week, another federal judge ruled that our Constitution prohibits the federal government from forcing Americans to purchase any good or service – including health care – as a condition of living in America,” Moran said. “Kansas is constitutionally prohibited from spending money it does not have, and should not be forced to make major budget decisions in this highly uncertain landscape. The Save our States Act provides certainty by delaying any implementation of the health care law until its constitutionality is determined by our nation’s highest court.”

The bill, the Save our States Act (SOS Act) would stop implementation of the new health care law until there is final resolution of the multi-state lawsuit on the individual mandate. The State of Kansas is a participant in the lawsuit.

Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson declared the individual mandate and the entire law unconstitutional and in violation of the commerce clause.

Judge Vinson said, "While the individual mandate was clearly 'necessary and essential' to the act as drafted, it is not 'necessary and essential' to health care reform in general. Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire act must be declared void."

The Department of Justice plans to appeal Vinson's ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Until a stay is granted by Judge Vinson’s court, the federal government may not force the states to comply with Obamacare.

Senator Roberts is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and is Co-Chairman of the Senate Rural Health Caucus. Senator Roberts has voted to repeal Obamacare.

When Senator Moran served in the U.S. House of Representatives, he was the first member to introduce legislation to repeal Obamacare in March 2010. Yesterday, he also voted to repeal the entire bill in the Senate, where he serves on the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Small Business Committee, and is a member of the Senate Rural Health Caucus.

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