{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221104023/http://pearce.house.gov/press-release/pearce-no-special-deals-washington", "PEARCE: NO SPECIAL DEALS FOR WASHINGTON", "2013-08-09", "2013", "2013-08", "Republican", "House", "NM", "Steve Pearce", "P000588", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC (August 9, 2013) \u2013 Today, while meeting with constituents in southern New Mexico, U.S. Congressman Steve Pearce criticized Washington leadership for crafting a special exemption to Obamacare for members of Congress and Capitol Hill staffers.\n\u201cI want no part of any deal that exempts Washington from the laws Americans are forced to follow,\u201d said Pearce.\u00a0 \u201cThe President and the very lawmakers who passed this train wreck of a law are now realizing that they want no part of it, so they\u2019re letting themselves off the hook while the rest of America suffers.\u00a0 The New Mexicans I\u2019ve talked to this week are disgusted, and they should be.\u00a0 I am tired of the games and backroom deals: If Congress and the President pass a law, that law should apply to everyone.\u00a0 That includes Congressmen, Presidents, White House staff, career bureaucrats, and everyone on Capitol Hill.\u00a0 The privileges, free passes, and broken promises must end.\u201d\nOn Wednesday, the Office of Personnel Management, working closely with the President, announced a \u2018fix\u2019 to ensure Washington lawmakers and staff members continue receiving government-backed health coverage.\u00a0 Under the ruling, Washington staffers and representatives will receive hefty subsidies from taxpayers to offset the cost of their coverage on the new exchanges\u2014subsidies that taxpayers themselves won\u2019t have access to.\u00a0 A key provision in the original Affordable Care Act would have prevented this, by specifically mandating that Congress be subject to the law like everyone else.\u00a0 But the Wednesday ruling negates that provision, giving Congress a free pass while millions of Americans face higher premiums and financial hardship as a result of the law.\nCongressman Pearce has voted repeatedly to repeal Obamacare, and has vocally opposed any move that would exempt Congress from the rules Americans have to follow.\u00a0 As Congressman Pearce has met with constituents in New Mexico this week, many discussions have focused on the hypocrisy of Washington lawmakers exempting themselves from the law they passed for Americans.", 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/20140221104023/http://pearce.house.gov/press-release/pearce-no-special-deals-washington"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.285857055336237, "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"}