Conyers spoke last night on Capitol Hill at a dinner in honor of outgoing Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook.
“There are three committees that have been designated to work on (health care) on the House side,” Conyers said. “[They are headed by] three dear buddies of mine – Charlie Rangel, Henry Waxman and George Miller. Guess what? All of them were on single payer (HR 676).”
“Guess what? All of them got off except for George Miller of California. Not only did he not get off, he said — you want a hearing, you got a hearing.”
“It’s one thing to go down in defeat, which I don’t plan to do by the way,” Conyers said. “But it’s another thing to say – we don’t want to hear the most popular bill. I’ve got 79 co-sponsors. Seventy-nine men and women saying – let’s get this thing on. We’ve got 300 to 400 unions. We’ve had three polls. The American people have spoken.”
“And here I am in the most Democratically controlled legislature in my life. And they are saying – it’s kind of too late because we have to get this thing through by the end of July. And we don’t have time.”
“Hey look – I’ve worked on this too damn long to let anybody – I’m going to every Committee not just Miller’s. Charlie Rangel – get ready for your pal to come to your Committee.”
“Henry Waxman, my brilliant friend, open up your door. And then if you want to try to pull something that’s okay. But to tell me it’s too late – I’ve got news for you. That means you really didn’t know me all of these years.”
“We’re going to have HR 676 heard in every committee of the House of Representatives or my name ain’t John Conyers.”
“I don’t mind losing a debate or losing the vote, but Jesus Christ don’t tell me that my proposal is off the table before we start, without even a hearing,” Conyers said.
“What kind of a Democratic congress is this?” he asked.
Conyers also gave the back of his hand to President Obama.
“I’ve finally persuaded my favorite president in life to – not put single payer on the table – but to at least let me in the room,” Conyers said. “That was a great complement I suppose.”
“How are you going to have a transformational health care program that has been vaunted and touted for so long if you take the most popular remedy for it off the table to begin the negotiations?” Conyers asked. “You won’t get it.”
“The reason is elementary Dear Watson,” Conyers said. “The corporate health care people, the insurance people don’t want to leave the room. And they are not leaving the room. And as long as they are there, you are going to have some sad version of the same crap you were supposed to be fixing in the first place.”
An overhaul of the health care system won’t pass the U.S. House of Representatives unless it includes a government-financed insurance plan for consumers, the head of the House’s tax-writing committee said.
Representative Charles Rangel said a public plan is essential to compete with private insurers and hold down medical costs. A Senate proposal that doesn’t contain the public option is “totally unacceptable,” the New York Democrat, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in an interview today.
Putting Bill Maher’s recent words into action, “Health insurance is like a hospital gown, chances are your ass isn’t covered,” bare-bottom protesters wore hospital gowns and dressed as Insurance Executives. The protesters jumped through hoops held by the insurance executives symbolizing the proverbial hoops that doctors, nurses, and patients have to go through in the current corporatized health insurance system.
PHIMG, Healthcare-NOW!, Progressive Democrats of America, and Act Up! marched in lock step on Saturday, April 4th with United for Peace and Justice and Bail Out the People through Wall St. to support strengthening the workforce by urging Congress to pass HR676, expanding Medicare into a single-payer system, to provide true universal health care to all.
On the following Monday, PHIMG brought the Not Covered Campaign to Congressman Charles Rangel’s office, whose 2008 campaign received three times the amount of campaign contributions from health insurance and pharmaceutical companies as his last run in ‘04, while conveniently not cosponsoring HR 676 for single-payer health care, as he has in the past.
The group also had a list of demands including meeting with him, cosponsoring the bill, using his power as the Chair of the Ways and Means Committee to hold single-payer health care hearings, and including single-payer advocates - not just the health insurance corporations in the national health care dialog Obama’s administration is so open to having. Barack Obama also supported single-payer health care before his run for President made his campaign the top recipient of contributions from the health insurance and pharmaceutical industry.
The group received confirmation that Rangel does support HR 676, and just hasn't signed on yet. Advocates and constituents look forward to a long sought meeting with Rangel's staff next week.
The Not Covered Campaign will be in full swing all summer long calling out the Congresspersons that let campaign contributions stand in the way of providing all citizens with single-payer health care - one by one. It’s critical that citizens act now and push Congress to pass HR 676 before inadequate reform maintaining corporate interests over patients passes. Join the fight for single-payer health care now!
