Lucas,
I sponsored the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act and in my role as the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, I shepherded it through Congress.The 50 million people that hoped, dreamed and prayed that one day they could get insurance no matter what their income or medical history was, they all benefit.
As far as I'm concerned, it's one of the most exciting things that has happened in the history of the country. Most of my tenure in Congress was spent fighting for healthcare for everyone and with President Obama, we finally reached that milestone.
But the long struggle for affordable healthcare isn't over. We can't let Republicans have their way.
Even as Americans sign up for health insurance before the March 31 deadline, Republicans are still trying to repeal Obamacare. Last week, Republicans in Congress tried to vote to gut the Affordable Care Act for the 50th time. They just don't want Obamacare to succeed.
But we know how important it is to so many Americans. I go around Upper Manhattan and the Bronx and people are coming out of the woodwork talking about how their life will be better because they can finally afford medical care. The father who can finally afford a doctor's visit for her daughter, the woman who is now able to get healthcare coverage after her insurance was cancelled for pre-existing conditions, they are the people I'm fighting for.
And this is just the beginning. Thanks to the Obama administration, New York will have more Medicaid funding to improve the hospitals that treat so many of our least-advantaged citizens. My office is out on the streets, making sure that every New Yorker knows about how to sign up for health insurance. And I'm standing up in Congress to make sure that Republicans don't dismantle our signature achievement.
Thank you,
Charles B. Rangel
Member of Congress
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