NFIB Joins Lawsuit Challenging Healthcare Law

WASHINGTON, DC – May 14, 2010 – Dan Danner, president and CEO ofThe National Federation of Independent Business, America’s leading smallbusiness association, issued the following statement. For moreinformation visit www.nfib.com/hclawsuit.

“Today the NFIB joined the 20 states in this historic lawsuitchallenging the constitutionality of the Patient Protection andAffordable Care Act. The fundamental mission of our organization is topromote and protect the rights of small businesses and the self-employedto own, operate and grow their business, and this healthcare lawdirectly undermines this core value.

“We didn’t enter into the decision to join this lawsuit lightly – wehave been representing small business owners since 1943 and we take thisresponsibility extremely seriously. But the outpouring of opposition tothis new law was overwhelming and our members urged us to do everythingin our power to stop this unconstitutional law.

“Small business owners everywhere are rightfully concerned that theunconstitutional new mandates, countless rules and new taxes in thehealthcare law will devastate their business and their ability to createjobs.

“They are also concerned about their personal freedoms. This law is thefirst time the federal government has required individuals to purchasesomething simply because they are alive. If Congress can regulate thistype of inactivity, then there are essentially no limits to what theycan mandate individuals to do.

“We want to make it very clear: NFIB has a long history of working onand supporting healthcare reform. We are not part of the ‘Just say no’crowd. Small businesses DO need reforms that help to reduce costs andincrease choices. We have encouraged reforms that cover pre-existingconditions, help to create effective and affordable national exchanges,provide the ability to buy across state lines, and include liabilityreform. But this new law resulted in more bad than good for our nation’sjob creators. And this law is a bridge too far in terms of the futureof our constitutional freedoms and liberties.”

About NFIB

NFIB is the nation’s leading small business association, withoffices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 states. Founded in 1943 as anonprofit, nonpartisan organization, NFIB gives small and independentbusiness owners a voice in shaping the public policy issues that affecttheir business. NFIB’s powerful network of grassroots activists sendstheir views directly to state and federal lawmakers through our uniquemember-only ballot, thus playing a critical role in supporting America’sfree enterprise system. NFIB’s mission is to promote and protect theright of our members to own, operate and grow their businesses. Moreinformation about NFIB is available online at www.NFIB.com/newsroom.