Rep. Ted Poe has called for the new Congress to repeal the new federal health care law and "right a wrong that has been forcibly placed like chains on the American people."
Poe, R-Texas, spoke in support of H.R. 2, the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act bill, Thursday on the House floor.
"This new Congress must be committed to listening to the will of the people and 
following the Constitution," Poe said, according to a version of the H.R. 2 speech printed in the Congressional Record.
Implementing the individual mandate provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which would require most people to own health insurance starting in 2014 or else pay a penalty, would steal individuals' liberty to make health decisions, Poe said.
"Congress must repeal this totalitarian act," Poe said.
The Constitution does not give the government the authority "to force any American to buy any product or face criminal penalties, whether it is a car, health insurance, or a box of donuts," Poe said.
PPACA "has been coerced upon the people without their consent," Poe said. "And that's just the way it is."
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