Carolyn Maloney: “As we contemplate a historic vote to reform health care, I would like to emphasize how critically important this bill is…”

“As we contemplate a historic vote to reform health care, I would like to emphasize how critically important this bill is to the women of this country. According to a report prepared by the Joint Economic Committee, which I chair, an estimated 64 million women in this country lack adequate health care; over one-quarter of our daughters between the ages of 19 and 24 lack health care, and women between the ages of 55 and 64 are particularly vulnerable. That's because so many women depend on their spouse's employer-based health care, and, all too often, they discover they are not age eligible for Medicare when their older husbands retire. A staggering 39 percent of all low-income women lack health care. Ultimately, this is a vote about who we will be as a country. For our sisters, our daughters, and our mothers, yes, vote ``yes'' for them.”