Hillary Clinton: At work in the Senate - Speaking up about health care

02/02/2005

Dear Friends,

Speaking at Canisius College in Buffalo this week, Hillary talked about health care, and about the real face of the uninsured: “These are real families who face the risk of financial disaster when a child falls ill. These are real families who have to sell their homes or their cars to pay for treatment,” she said. “The richest nation in the history of the world should be able to find some way to allow every citizen to have health care coverage.”

Earlier, at her first meeting as a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Hillary called for the reimportation of prescription drugs. “The increasing cost of these drugs means that many of our seniors face tough choices about their health, choices no one should have to make…We need to make drug reimportation safe, we need to make drug reimportation legal, and we need to do so as quickly as possible.”

And speaking to Families USA, she listed her health care goals: “expanding coverage and affordability, eliminating health disparities among minorities…and using information technology to reduce fragmentation and waste.” Hillary warned that we have to make sure that Medicare and Medicaid will be available to those who need them, and warned against attempts by the Bush administration to roll back coverage for the most vulnerable.

Read Hillary’s remarks on health care from this week.
http://www.friendsofhillary.com/speeches/20050127.php

In other action, Hillary and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) nominated Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko for the Nobel Peace Prize. In their letter to the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Senators Clinton and McCain said, “In leading freedom movements in their respective countries, [these two presidents] have won popular support for the universal values of democracy, individual liberty, and civil rights…We believe that the actions of Presidents Saakashvili and Yushchenko testify to the power of peace and human rights in their battle against oppression.”

Speaking in the Senate, Hillary explained her decision to vote for the nomination of Dr. Condoleezza Rice: “…this was a difficult decision. The Administration and Defense Department’s Iraq policy has been, by any reasonable measure, riddled with errors, misstatements and misjudgments...In her role as National Security Advisor, Dr. Rice was a member of the team responsible for our flawed Iraq policy. She made several misleading statements about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in the lead up to the war….Although I profoundly disagree and deeply regret how this war has been conducted, my concern has less to do with Dr. Rice and more to do with President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Secretary Rumsfeld…”

Read Hillary’s full statement.
http://www.friendsofhillary.com/speeches/20050126.php

And Hillary announced that she will once again work for legislation to help local communities deal with the costs of homeland security. She introduced the Domestic Defense Fund Act of 2005, saying “Throughout the more than three years since the September 11th terrorist attacks, communities across America have found themselves on the front lines in the war against terrorism and our states, cities, counties, towns, and villages—working with our first responders—have been forced to shoulder a significant portion of the burden that goes along with that responsibility…” Hillary’s legislation would ensure that more funds go to badly strapped local communities.

Finally, a word of thanks to those who wrote or called us to express your concern for Hillary’s illness on Monday. She resumed her regular schedule that afternoon telling her audience at Canisius College: “What better place to come and talk about healing the sick!”

Thanks again for your interest and your support.

Sincerely,

Ann F. Lewis
Director of Communications