|
HEALTH CARE FOR AMERICA NOW
NEW YORK CITY ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2009
Statement by Mark Hannay
Director, Metro New York Health Care for All Campaign
at City Hall, New York
We who are gathered here today are partners in the New York City Organizing Committee for Health Care for America Now (HCAN), a broad coalition of over 1,000 national, state, and local organizations fighting for REAL health care reform. In addition to my own coalition, lead organizations in our local committee include: ACORN, AFSCME NYS, Children’s Defense Fund of NY, Citizen Action of NYC, Committee of Interns and Residents, Communication Workers of America, Community Service Society, Make the Road NY, MoveOn, National Physicians Alliance, NY Immigration Coalition, NYC for Change, NYS AFL-CIO, Raising Women’s Voices, SEIU Local 32 BJ, 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, and Young Invincibles.
Less than a week ago, thousands of New Yorkers gathered at these steps here at City Hall to celebrate one of our city’s home teams, the Yankees, in their victory in the 2009 World Series. We who are here today come to celebrate another home team: our city’s Congressional delegation in their victory for health care for all New Yorkers in passing the Affordable Health Care for America Act.
Our “Most Valuable Players” are (in alphabetical order): Rep. Gary Ackerman, Rep. Yvette Clarke, Rep. Joseph Crowley, Rep. Eliot Engel, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Gregory Meeks, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Rep. Charles Rangel, Rep. Jose Serrano, Rep. Edolphus Towns, Rep. Nydia Velazquez, and Rep. Anthony Weiner. We invited all the Congressmembers to attend today, and are delighted that Rep. Engel is here with us, and he will be speaking shortly. Unfortunately, we’re very disappointed that one of the New York team struck out: Rep. Michael McMahon who represents the 13th Congressional District that includes Staten Island and the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. We’ll be encouraging him to hit the ball during his next at-bat, once the Senate debate and vote is done, and a final conference committee bill comes up for a floor vote in the House next month. Unlike the Yankees victory of last week, our state and nation’s health care crisis is no mere game for millions of New Yorkers and Americans.
While the Yankees won their baseball victory in six games over 8 days, our health care victory extends back a century to when another New Yorker, President Teddy Roosevelt, first proposed a national health program. The legislation the House passed the past weekend is truly historic – it is the first time ever that a house of Congress has passed comprehensive national health reform legislation. The significance of this vote cannot be understated. It is on par with the enactment of Social Security in 1935, Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, and the State Child Health Insurance Program in 1996.
We also want to note with deep dismay the inclusion of strong anti-choice provisions in the House bill which will severely limit coverage for comprehensive reproductive health care for women. These measures are known as the "Stupak-Pitt amendment." To their credit, all members of our city's delegation, including Rep. McMahon, voted against it, so we owe all of them thanks for their courageous stand on this matter too. We’ll be working with Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to keep similar harmful measures out of the Senate bill.
Passage of H.R. 3962 was a momentous event where a majority of members of the House of Representatives, including 12 from New York City, finally stood up against the vested special interests and the defenders of a clearly-dysfunctional status quo who time and time again have defeated efforts at health care reform over the past century. This time, health care justice triumphed, and our city’s 12 members provided the margin of victory. They truly are “most valuable players” for health care for all in America, and we salute them for their political courage and fortitude, and thank them for their leadership. Millions of New Yorkers will benefit, and we are all very grateful.
Let’s hear it for the home team!
|
