Health Care
Time for a sad statistic. The US government estimates that 45 million people in this country do not have health insurance. Many more have only marginal coverage that is not adequate to cover a serious illness or injury in the family. A nation that can afford endless war cannot provide access to medical coverage to nearly 1/6 of its population.
I've always thought of access to medical care as the right of all, not the privilege of the few. As a Shelby County Commissioner, I was one of the driving forces behind the creation of The Regional Medical Center of Memphis, also known as The Med. When I moved on to the State Senate, I continued fighting for increased access to medical care for all Tennesseeans, particularly children. I was one of the most vocal opponents of the TennCare cuts which deprived many Tennesseeans of their medical coverage.
I supported the SCHIP bill which would have broadened access to medical care for the children of working class families and pleaded with the Senate to override President Bush's veto of a bill that would help so many.
I'm proud to lend my support and my name as a cosponsor to HR 676, Congressman John Conyers' National Health Insurance bill. It will create and provide National Health Insurance, finally bringing us in line with the rest of the industrialized world by providing health insurance to all of the citizens of the United States.
I supported the CHAMP Act which provided health care to 11 million children that didn't have it before and brought to a dead stop the Republican Party's attempts to privatize medicare.
I cosponsored the Wakefield Act, which assured continued funding for Tennessee's Emergency Services for Children Program. This program has improved the survival rate for children with serious illnesses and injuries. It also funded some groundbreaking research and education programs that will pay off in happier, healthier children across Tennessee and across the nation.
I'm cosponsoring HR 2210, the Diabetes Prevention Access and Care Act of 2007, which will promote diabetes prevention and attempt to find a cure.
I've always been a staunch supporter of medical research, including stem cell research, which could very well unlock the secrets to many of medicine's mysteries to us.
Since taking office in January 2007, I've helped steer $4.5 million in research grant money to UT Memphis. The labs at UT Memphis are among the finest in the nation, and the groundbreaking research conducted there could well lead to longer, healthier lives for all of us.
In 2008 alone, I've steered well over $5 million into preventing and treating HIV here in the Ninth District.
As a proud member of the Congressional Nursing Caucus, it is my job to learn about the issues relating to the nursing industry so that I may report to my fellow members of Congress about how to tailor legislation so that it allows them to provide the best, safest care for all Americans.