FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fri., Oct. 19, 2018
CINDY AXNE ON VICE PRESIDENT PENCE CAMPAIGNING IN IOWA FOR DAVID YOUNG
Des Moines, IA – Today, Cindy Axne, Democratic candidate for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, released the following statement in response to Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to Iowa to campaign for Congressman David Young:
“If David Young hadn’t voted with his party on the disastrous health care bill and a massive tax giveaway to the wealthiest Americans and large corporations, I don’t think Vice President Pence would be here in Iowa today. Over the past four years, David Young has proven to be a reliable vote for Republican leadership, even voting with his party on a bill that would have stripped away health care from over 150,000 Iowans,” said Cindy Axne.
In Washington, David Young voted for a Republican bill to gut protections for pre-existing conditions, raise premiums for everyone, and strip away health care from thousands of Iowans. Young has repeatedly voted with his party to raise the cost of prescription drug prices. Additionally, Young voted for the Republican tax bill that gave massive tax cuts to corporations and the wealthiest Americans at the expense of crucial programs like Medicare and Social Security.
This isn’t the first time David Young has been rewarded for his party loyalty. After David Young went back on his promise and changed his vote in support of the American Health Care Act, the Republican Super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), decided to pour over $1 million into this race. CLF made it publicly known that they would not support Young financially if he did not vote for the American Health Care Act.
“What’s worse than voting with his party 99% of the time is that David Young was rewarded with $1 million in campaign spending by a Republican Super PAC for voting for a health care bill that would have gutted protections for Iowans with pre-existing conditions,” added Axne.
During the health care fight on Capitol Hill in 2017, David Young said he would oppose the GOP healthcare bill on March 22. On March 23, CLF announced they would no longer support David Young’s re-election bid, closing their Des Moines operations and pulling all funding. On May 4, David Young turned his back on Iowans by voting for the American Health Care Act, which would have gutted protections for pre-existing conditions and raised health care costs.
David Young defends his vote by falsely claiming that a last-minute amendment to the American Health Care Act provided protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Health care experts from the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society and over 30 leading health care organizations and think tanks disagree.
