Despite voting against the bill, Democrat Senate candidate U.S. Representative Charlie Melancon (D-LA) has refused to say whether or not he supports efforts to repeal and reform his party’s contentious health care legislation, which President Barack Obama signed into law yesterday.

Melancon’s silence comes as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) – the same organization that recruited him into the U.S. Senate race and oversees his campaign – has aggressively called on Republican Senate candidates to publicly state whether or not they support efforts to repeal this bill

This morning The Hill asked a critical question: Where do the Democrat candidates who strenuously opposed this legislation stand on the repeal and reform efforts?

Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) is the only Democratic House member running for Senate who opposed the bill. And in fact, he came out strenuously against it, saying it raised taxes and didn’t bring down costs enough for those already insured.

Upon passage, Melancon went so far as to issue a sharply-worded statement attacking the President’s health care bill, stating that the legislation “costs too much… doesn’t do enough to lower health care costs,” and “raises taxes for the majority of Americans who currently have health insurance, while doing little to lower their premiums.”

But thus far, Melancon has refused to step forward and tell voters whether or not he supports efforts in Congress to repeal and reform this bill, which increases taxes by over $400 million, cuts Medicare by $500 billion, and fails to curtail the rise of increasing health care premiums.

“Charlie Melancon’s silence on repealing and reforming this massive health care bill that he claims to oppose raises the question of whether he cares more about offending his campaign strategists in Washington than standing on the side of Louisiana taxpayers,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokeswoman Amber Marchand.

“If Melancon truly opposed this government takeover of our health care system and believes it costs too much and taxes too much, why wouldn’t he support efforts to repeal and replace the bill with a commonsense alternative that is aimed at lowering costs?” asked Marchand. “Melancon owes voters a clear answer immediately: Does he stand by his vote and efforts to repeal and reform this bill, or was that just lip-service to disguise his inherent support for this massive government health care bill. We look forward to his immediate response.”