RICHMOND - Even before President Obama signs landmark health care reform legislation into law, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is making plans to challenge it in federal court. Cuccinelli, a Republican, announced this morning that he will "move forward with our lawsuit against the federal government and its unconstitutional overreach of its authority with the passage of the federal health care bill."

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a Senate version of the health care bill Sunday night, as well as a separate reconciliation bill that makes certain changes to the legislation. The legislation passed by a slim margin without a single Republican vote.

"We will file our complaint with the court as soon as the president signs it into law," Cuccinelli said in a statement released by his office.

The lawsuit will be filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Cuccinelli said. He indicated it will take aim at a provision which imposes a penalty on individuals who do not purchase health insurance.

“With this law, the federal government will force citizens to buy health insurance, claiming it has the authority to do so because of its power to regulate interstate commerce," Cuccinelli said. "We contend that if a person decides not to buy health insurance, that person – by definition – is not engaging in commerce, and therefore, is not subject to a federal mandate."

The General Assembly passed legislation this winter declaring that Virginia residents cannot be forced to buy health insurance, taking aim at the “individual mandate” provision in the federal law. Cuccinelli said the state legislation puts Virginia in "a unique situation that allows it the standing to file such a suit."

"The health care reform bill, with its insurance mandate, creates a conflict of laws between the federal government and Virginia," Cuccinelli said. "Normally, such conflicts are decided in favor of the federal government, but because we believe the federal law is unconstitutional, Virginia’s law should prevail.

“Just being alive is not interstate commerce. If it were, there would be no limit to the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause and to Congress’s authority to regulate everything we do. There has never been a point in our history where the federal government has been given the authority to require citizens to buy goods or services."