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Schock Says Repeal of CLASS Act is Likely

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-18, Ill.)
Rep. Aaron Schock (R-18, Ill.)

Congressman Aaron Schock (R-18) of Illinois said a bill he has co-sponsored has cleared the House Ways and Means Committee.

The bill would repeal a part of the health care reform act called the CLASS Act.. The act would offer insurance that would pay for long-term care such as assisted living. The Department of Health and Human Services said in October the program is not viable for the long term. The deparment canceled the program.

The law remains on the books, however. Schock said the law should be repealed. Otherwise, it could be implemented in the future. He said the repeal has bi-partisan support.

He said, “I'm confident it will pass the House of Representatives and-based on the Senate Chairman's comments about it-it will get voted on in the Senate and passed. And I'm optimistic the president will sign it into law.

This week's rejection of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline drew Schock's criticism. He said he was ”very disappointed” with President Obama's decision.

The pipeline would have carried oil from Canada to the Midwest. Schock said the pipeline  construction would have created jobs in his district.

He said, “Much of the construction equipment the pipeline would use would have been constructed in my district. Folks would have seen a benefit from that project.”

His district includes Peoria, the home of Caterpillar.

He said the pipeline would have provided a reliable source of crude oil that would reduce the country's dependence on oil imports from unstable countries.

Schock also said a House bill addressing Internet piracy takes the wrong approach. The Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA triggered protests by Google and Wikipedia. He said the flaw in the bill is the provision that forces private companies to police all their content for copyright violations.
    
He said, “I don't believe that is an appropriate place to place the responsibility, the burden or the liability.”

He expects Congress will take a different approach in future bills as SOPA has generated a great deal of opposition. Schock supports aggressive enforcement of existing copyright law to shut down sites that illegally use copyrighted material.