(CNSNews.com) -- Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) told CNSNews.com that the constitutional authority for Congress to require individuals to purchase health insurance is the same that allowed for Medicaid and Medicare, and for states to require driver's licenses. He also said critics who suggest the health care bill is unconstitutional are making a "spurious argument."The health care bills in both the Senate and the House mandate that every American have health insurance. Back in September at a town hall meeting, Warner had also said there is "no place in the Constitution that specifically says health care" or education, but "we have made those choices as a country over the years."
On Tuesday on Capitol Hill, CNSNews.com asked Warner, "Does the Constitution give Congress the authority to mandate whether individuals should purchase health insurance, to mandate that they have to purchase health insurance?"
Warner said: "The United States Congress passed laws regarding Medicare and Medicaid that became de facto mandatory programs. States all the time require people to have driver's licenses. I think that this is a bit of a spurious argument that's being made by some folks."