Building on a background as a public servant, university president, and teacher, United States Senator Roy Blunt was elected to the United States Senate in 2010.
Senator Blunt serves as the Chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee and as the top Republican of the Senate Rules Committee. He also serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee; the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He is also the top Republican of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.
Senator Blunt believes every American deserves access to quality health care they can afford. Unfortunately, President Obama’s massive health care takeover has led to fewer choices, higher costs, and lower wages for families, seniors, and workers in Missouri and nationwide. That’s why Senator Blunt supports repealing and replacing this law with policies that make quality health care more affordable and accessible for all Americans, while upholding our traditions of choice and privacy.
Senator Blunt repeatedly co-sponsored legislation to repeal ObamaCare in its entirety. As part of his ongoing work to repair the damage created by this flawed law, he also supports efforts to repeal damaging components of the law, including the individual and employer mandate. He co-sponsored legislation to successfully repeal the costly “1099” mandate, and he backed the successful efforts to defund the CLASS Act.
Senator Blunt believes small businesses should have the power to pool together and offer health care at lower prices, just as corporations and labor unions do. He supports allowing Americans to shop for coverage from coast-to-coast by providing them with the flexibility to purchase their coverage in another state. Senator Blunt believes Congress should take steps to end costly lawsuits with medical liability reform, and he supports policies that encourage the coverage of young adults on their parents’ insurance plans through age 26.
Senator Blunt also believes that Congress must find ways to spend federal dollars more wisely when it comes to identifying and treating people who are mentally ill. In 2014, Congress passed a version of the Excellence in Mental Health Act, a bipartisan bill that Senator Blunt helped introduce to address our nation’s fragmented mental health system.
As part of his efforts to help America’s heroes, Senator Blunt co-sponsored the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act to improve mental health and suicide prevention resources available to our nation’s servicemen and women and veterans. He also successfully passed provisions to help bring mental health treatment for the nation’s veterans and military dependents in line with the way physical injuries are treated under TRICARE.
Senator Blunt understands community officials need better tools to identify, understand, and respond to the signs of mental illnesses and addiction disorders. He also believes we should improve access to mental health services for people in the criminal justice system. Senator Blunt supports legislation to improve mental health first aid trainings, and he is working to ensure law enforcement officials have access to the tools they need to identify and respond to mental health issues.
Senator Blunt is the co-founder of the Senate Community Health Center Caucus, and he serves as the Honorary Co-Chair of the nonpartisan Alliance for Health Reform. He understands that we must fix our nation’s health care system, but President Obama’s one-size-fits-all government takeover is simply not the right answer.