Political Quotes

“Thank you so much, Congresswoman Woolsey, for organizing us tonight. I appreciate it. I learned so much just sitting here listening to the women that have been talking about why this legislation is so important to women, why we need health care reform, and some of the facts of life about women. I learned from Congresswoman Jackie Speier an amazing fact that I'm going to carry with me--that a 40-year-old woman, she said, who does not smoke, has to pay more for her insurance than a 40-year-old man who smokes. This makes absolutely no sense. I think maybe it was put best by the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who said, Being a woman is a preexisting condition. That pretty much sums it up. According to the Commonwealth Report--that's a very well known and reputable think tank on health care--says that 45 percent of women are uninsured or underinsured; 52 percent of women have foregone necessary care because of the cost, including not filling a prescription. We know that. We have all heard about that, about people who come to our office and they are cutting their prescriptions in half, how they're not taking them to the drugstore to fill them, skipping a medical test, or not going to the doctor. And we know that for young women, only about 12 percent of the plans on the private market cover maternity. That was talked about tonight. And that's not just a problem for women. That's a problem for families.”