{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221030737/http://www.vitter.senate.gov/newsroom/press/vitter-exposes-obamacare-exemption-for-congress-denials", "Vitter Exposes \u201cObamacare Exemption for Congress\u201d Denials", "2013-09-19", "2013", "2013-09", "Republican", "House", "LA", "David Vitter", "V000127", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Vitter Exposes \u201cObamacare Exemption for Congress\u201d Denials\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tSen. Landrieu (D-La.) has been misleading constituents about the Obamacare exemption\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThursday, September 19, 2013\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t(Washington, D.C.) \u2013 U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) has been pushing for a vote on his amendment to reverse and clarify the decision by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Obamacare. The legislation will require that all Members of Congress, the President, Vice President, and all political appointees in the Administration must purchase their health insurance on the Obamacare Exchange without the help of taxpayer-funded subsidies. Some in Washington have been denying that the exemption exists.\n\u201cSome are lying, trying to mislead the public about the Obamacare exemption for Congress,\u201d Vitter said. \u201cPresident Obama recently issued a special rule for Congress and congressional staff to get a special subsidy to purchase health insurance on the Obamacare Exchange unavailable to every other American at similar income levels. That\u2019s an exemption, plain and simple.\u201d\nThe statutory language of Obamacare, makes no provision for any special congressional subsidy. Section 1512 of that law clearly states that employees in general who go to the Obamacare Exchange lose any previous employer-provided subsidy. The language of the OPM rule says there will be no impact of the employer contribution to Members of Congress and congressional staff once they go to the Obamacare Exchange.\nAttached is a letter that Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) sent to a Louisiana constituent denying that the exemption exists. Also attached is a letter from Vitter to the same constituent. Below is an info graphic to better explain the exemption.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221030737/http://www.vitter.senate.gov/newsroom/press/vitter-exposes-obamacare-exemption-for-congress-denials"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4111511409282684, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}