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Washington, D.C. – Earlier today, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) was joined by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, as well as several other Senate Republican colleagues and attorneys general, at a press conference regarding the Supreme Court’s consideration of ObamaCare. Senator Rubio delivered the following remarks, beginning in English and concluding in Spanish:

“Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you for a few moments. First of all, I am very proud that the state of Florida has taken the lead on challenging the constitutionality of this law. We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will see it the way we do, that this law violates simple and basic constitutional principles particularly in terms of what role the federal government should play.  We don’t know exactly how the case is going to turn out, although we are hopeful it will turn out on the side of the Constitution, but we do know this about it for sure and that is that ObamaCare has been an disaster for America and Americans financially.

“There is no doubt that our country has a health insurance crisis that has to be confronted, but this is the wrong way to confront it. This is the way that undermines and takes away the ability for our economy to grow and prosper. There are thousands upon thousands of small businesses in Florida and across the country that are afraid to grow or hire new people because they have no idea how this law is going to impact them, and so we know for them, it’s a bad idea. There are other Americans who are beginning to lose their existing health care coverage, breaking a promise that was made by the advocates when they first passed this bill.  There are others who are finding difficulty accessing an existing insurance plan that will take them as a result of the changes that have been made.

“The result is, that while we do not know how the case is going to turn out, we already know how ObamaCare is turning out. That is as a job-killing initiative that sets us back in the hopes of arriving at a solution to our health insurance problem in the United States. I hope that I can be a part of an effort here, to not just vote to repeal ObamaCare, but to replace it. To replace it with initiatives that embrace the private market, embrace free enterprise, embrace individual choice, and at the same time allow us to address the significant public policy issue that we face when it comes to health insurance.”

Spanish Transcript

“Brevemente en español: Simplemente estoy aquí para decirles que estoy muy agradecido al estado de la Florida por tomar un papel decisivo en términos de llevar esto a la Corte Suprema.

“No sabemos si la Corte va a encontrar que esta iniciativa viola la Constitución, pero sí sabemos que el plan de salud del presidente Obama ha sido desastroso para la economía de los Estados Unidos.

“Sabemos que hay miles y miles de pequeños comerciantes y pequeños negocios que no han podido crecer ó ampliar sus comercios ó traer nuevos empleados porque tienen miedo del impacto que esta ley va a tener sobre ellos.

“Así que es importante que no solamente esta ley se elimine, sino que también haya una alternativa a esta ley, una alternativa que enfrente el tema serio que enfrenta este país: el cuidado de salud para todas nuestras personas”.

Watch Senator Rubio deliver today’s remarks here.