Story highlights "I'm trying to protect people who are vulnerable," he said

MacArthur shared struggles of paying for medical bills for his eldest daughter

Washington (CNN) The Republican congressman who offered a key amendment that helped save the House health care bill grew emotional after its passage Thursday, citing his own family's medical history.

Rep. Tom MacArthur, whose tweak won the support of several wayward Republicans to the narrowly passed House GOP bill, said he wasn't concerned about political backlash.

"There's been a lot of misinformation about this bill. I am doing just the opposite of what they claim," he told CNN's Dana Bash. "I'm trying to protect people who are vulnerable."

MacArthur shared struggles of paying for medical bills for his eldest daughter, who died when she was 11, and his father's difficulties paying the medical bills of his mother, who died when MacArthur was 4 years old.

"If I have a target on my back, then so be it," he said. "I did not come here to decorate a chair."