The "back and forth" concerning healthcare reform should be put aside in favor of reaching a resolution, as the Affordable Care Act is collapsing, Rep. Marsha Blackburn said Friday.
"It's too expensive to afford, too expensive to use, and out of fairness to the Americans that got put into this marketplace, we as Congress, working with the administration need to put our differences aside and put the American people first," the Tennessee Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
President Donald Trump tweeted Friday that if three House Freedom Caucus members, Reps. Jim Jordan, Raul Labrador, and Mark Meadows would get on board, healthcare reforms would go through, but Blackburn said there are several other factions that also need to come into play for the plan.
"I don't think you can place blame to any one group or any one individual," Blackburn said. "There are many of us that have been involved in meetings, trying to bring a solution forward and to find those commonalities we can agree on."
The American Health Care Act was "so close to being a finished product and a product most of us felt we could support," Blackburn said. "We need to be certain that we have those 216 Republican votes. I want to make sure some Democrats come in and support this. "
Blackburn said she does not feel betrayed by the Freedom Caucus, but instead is disappointed.
"They're friends of mine and it's a very hard time for them," Blackburn said. "It's a very hard vote but they're very good people."
But now that the bill has been pulled, the congresswoman said, it's time to close the door and negotiate and come to a consensus on what will happen.
"They're not going to get everything they want," she said. "It needs to be a consensus bill. That's the best way forward."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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