Congresswoman's first speech lauds Obamacare

Newly elected Congresswoman Alma Adams,  who took over the 12th district seat vacated by Mel Watt,  made her first speech on the House floor Wednesday and used it to praise the Affordable Care Act.

Adams

"Through the Affordable Care Act 208,000 individuals in my congressional district now have access to health insurance,"  Adams said,  referring to a mostly-urban zone that snakes through Charlotte,  Greensboro and Winston-Salem.  "The Affordable Care Act has also had a dramatic effect on unemployment,  creating 9.6 million private sector jobs.  My congressional district’s unemployment rate is 13.9 percent,  so for me this is not only about health,  but jobs and our economy."

Adams,  a Democrat from Greensboro,  was sworn in Nov. 12.  Most who won seats in the Nov. 4 election won't take office until Jan. 3,  but Adams is filling a gap left when Watt resigned early this year to become director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The ACA,  often dubbed Obamacare,  is likely to be a hot topic as the GOP takes a majority of the U.S. Senate,  as well as the House.  Many Republicans,  including Senator-elect Thom Tillis of Mecklenburg County,  made opposition to the act a theme in their campaigns.

Adams got a jump on the debate:  "I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to end talks of repeal and instead work with Democrats to strengthen the law to provide even greater access to health insurance."  She also called on state lawmakers to reconsider their  "purely political decision"  to reject Medicaid expansion.  The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that 319,000 North Carolina adults who would have been covered by the expansion remain without access to government insurance or subsidies that would help them afford private policies.