Equal Rights for Health Care Act--Title 42

Floor Speech

EQUAL RIGHTS FOR HEALTH CARE ACT--TITLE 42 -- (Extensions of Remarks - December 28, 2007)

HON. LAURA RICHARDSON
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2007

* Ms. RICHARDSON. Madam Speaker, I am proud to introduce the ``Equal Rights for Health Care Act--Title 42.'' Our Founding Fathers wisely wrote that all Americans should have the equal rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In order to have life one must be healthy and have adequate healthcare. Ensuring those rights of my constituents and the American people is our primary responsibility as Members of Congress. H.R. 4849 will prohibition discrimination of health care services and research programs that receive Federal funding based on sex, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability status.

* The civil rights laws have historically been a powerful mechanism for effecting necessary change in the United States. Each law represents a national commitment to end discrimination and establish a mandate to bring the excluded into the mainstream. These equal rights laws ensure that the Federal government delivers on the Constitution's promise of equal opportunity so that every individual has the right to develop his or her talents. Healthcare should not be an exception to this precedent.

* In 1971, only 18 percent of all women, compared to 26 percent of all men, had completed 4 or more years of college. In 1972, Title IX was introduced by Representative Edith Green of Oregon. In 2007, celebrating the 35th Anniversary of Title IX, which assured woman's right to education equality, the U.S. Department of Education showed 56 percent of all women compared to 44 percent of all men in four or more years of college. This mandate created a sea of change in our expectations of what equal funding could achieve.

* Federal law prohibits discrimination across a wide array of public policy arenas, none more so than in relation to voting and public education rights. The ``Equal Rights for Health Care Act--Title 42'' H.R. 4849 seeks to have the same effect in the health care community. With the introduction of H.R. 4849, we as a Congress, are taking another step toward equal rights and I look forward to working with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to accomplish this goal.

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