Video: Rep. Cummings: Health Care is a Life and Death Issue!

Five Democratic members of the U.S. Congress from the state of Maryland declared their support for “Health Care for America Now!,” (HCAN), on Oct. 31, 2008, at a press conference held at the AFSME headquarters in South Baltimore. Three members of the U.S. Congress, Rep. Elijah Cummings (7th D), Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger (2nd D), and Rep. John Sarbanes (3rd D), personally signed onto the statement of principles and also spoke at the event. Rep. Cummings said: Health care is a “life and death issue.” A lot of people in our society “are dying” because they can’t afford the enormous cost of health care and they “don’t want to be ‘a burden’ on their families...This is the United State of America. We can do better...We get our moral authority from how we treat our own people.”

According to the press release, the statement of principles advocates “quality health care for all,” while opposing “leaving Americas on their own with unregulated health insurance.” See the full statement of principles, at: http://hcfan.3cdn.net/517370ec1fddf45044_vbm6ivw3d.pdf. For background on the issue, see http://healthcareforamericanow.org/

An aide for Sen. Ben Cardin and Sen. Barbara Mikulski also signed on. The press conference was sponsored by Health Care for America Now, along with AFSME, and a host of other groups and organizations. Matt Weinstein, Maryland Coordinator for Health Care for America Now, and Director of Progressive Maryland, served as the moderator for the affair.

Patrick Moran, Director of AFSME Maryland, introduced the program and was also one of the many speakers at the affair, along with Fred Mason, President of the Maryland/DC AFL-CIO.

For background on Progressive Maryland, go to: http://progressivemaryland.org/page.php?id=268. To view the full press conference, go to Google, at:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-189661075159524140&hl=en