18 January 2011

The Honorable
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative:

On behalf of the National Council of Chain Restaurants (NCCR), I write to urge your support for H.R. 2,
the “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act” and H. Res. 9, legislation instructing certain
committees to report legislation replacing the health care law. All votes involving H.R. 2 and H. Res. 9,
including procedural votes, will be considered “key votes” for NCCR.

By way of background, the National Council of Chain Restaurants (NCCR) is the leading trade
association exclusively representing chain restaurant companies. For more than 40 years, NCCR has
worked to advance sound public policy that best serves the interests of both chain restaurants and the
millions of people they employ. NCCR members include the country’s largest and most respected quick-
serve and casual dining companies. The National Council of Chain Restaurants is a division of the
National Retail Federation, the world's largest retail trade group. www.nccr.net

NCCR has long supported reforms to our nation’s health care system that would bring about lower costs
for patients and for employers who provide insurance coverage to their employees. We have advocated
for solid policy changes in this area. Unfortunately, last year’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act will result in dramatically increased costs to employers in the chain restaurant industry. For
example, PPACA’s definition of full time employee, for whom employers must provide health insurance
coverage, is 30 hours per week, which stretches beyond credulity most Americans’ understanding of the
term “full time.” This definition will do great harm to the chain restaurant industry and our thousands
of small business franchisees. The chain restaurant industry has extraordinarily thin profit margins
compared to most other industries, and the burdens imposed by PPACA will result in large-scale shifts in
our workforce and the elimination of thousands of jobs.

We therefore support the effort to repeal PPACA. However, repeal of PPACA is not the end of the story.
Congress must refocus its efforts on enacting measures to lower costs in the short and long term, and
we will be looking to support those efforts wherever we find them.

As we noted in our letter from last March opposing passage of PPACA, we continue to stand at the ready
to work with you and your colleagues on bipartisan health care reforms that address the enormous
growth in health care costs. I thank you for your consideration of our views.

Sincerely,

M. Scott Vinson
Vice President

National Council of Chain Restaurants

Liberty Place 325 7th St NW  Suite 1100  Washington, DC 20004
202.626.8183  202.626.8185 fax  www.nccr.net