Indicating that Congress is well within its right to require individuals to secure private health insurance under new federal law, attorneys for the Obama Administration are asking a federal judge to dismiss a suit filed by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Virginia has joined Idaho as the second state in the nation to pass a law rejecting the federal government from requiring individuals to secure private health insurance.

Set to become the second chief executive to sign into law a way to rebuff any federal mandate to purchase health insurance, Virginia’s governor says he supports the state’s plan to sue to enforce that right.

When President Barack Obama signs his name to a landmark health reform bill, Virginia’s attorney general says that is the green light for a suit against the federal government over mandated health coverage.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is urging Democrats in Washington, D.C., to reconsider the use of the “deem and pass” rule to approve health care reform and is threatening a state suit against any such comprehensive bill.

While 34 other states have considered or partially passed legislation to ban any federal mandate to secure health insurance coverage, the Virginia General Assembly has passed a bill that is expected to get the signature of the state’s governor.

Virginia’s House of Delegates has given preliminary approval to a bill that would block any forthcoming federal mandate for individuals to purchase private health insurance.

As Congress debates a final comprehensive health care bill for the nation, one Virginia delegate is proposing that state residents, and possibly others nationwide, not be held to any coverage mandates.