John Conyers Jr. is Dean of the US House of Representatives as the longest-serving representative (first elected in 1965). He’s been putting forward his Medicare-for-All bill in the House for the past 14 years. There has been a significant uptick in support for the bill this year (from fellow Democrats).
Rep. Conyers announced a press conference on the bill by posting a diary on DKos.
John Conyers Jr. (MI-13), Steve Cohen (TN-9), Peter Welch (VT-AL), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Jamie Raskin (MD-8), Mark Pocan (WI-2), Keith Ellison (MN-5), Jane Ross (National Nurses United) and Dr. Philip Verhoef (U. Chicago) spoke at the press-conference, a live-stream was posted on Facebook live.
Pocan is currently co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Khanna and Raskin are vice-chairs and all the representatives at the press conference are members of the CPC.
The 111 co-sponsors accounts for a solid majority of the Democratic Caucus (a first). As Conyers’ noted, the 111th co-sponsor is Democratic Caucus chair Joe Crowley (NY-14).
All the speakers discussed how detrimental the AHCA (TrumpCare) would be for many Americans, and the importance of protecting the gains made in the ACA (ObamaCare).
Cohen and Welch talked about John Conyers’ tireless efforts and championship of Medicare for All over the past 15 years. All the other speakers echoed these sentiments.
Watson Coleman spoke about the extreme income inequality in our country, and the economics of health-care and administrative costs. Khanna had an interesting comment about the view among business leaders in Silicon Valley that we’re at a competitive disadvantage without universal health care.
Pocan talked about a town-hall he held in Paul Ryan’s district where he said the largest applause was when they began discussing Medicare for All. Jane Ross noted that they brought on another representative today, so it’ll likely be 112 co-sponsors shortly.
What can I do to help?
It’s very unlikely that HR 676 will be considered during this Republican controlled Congress. But it is important to get as much of the Democratic caucus behind HR 676 as we can. If your Representative isn’t on the list of co-sponsors, give them a call and ask them why not. While you’re at it, you may want to ask them whether they’ve considered joining the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
— Cross-posted at NotMeUs.org | @subirgrewal