Celebrating the One-Year Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act; Standing Up for Equality

Celebrating the One-Year Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act in San Francisco On Monday, I had the privilege of celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act with Bay Area constituents benefiting from health insurance reform. The stories we heard from seniors, students, small business owners and the parents of a child with a pre-existing condition are the most eloquent testament to the success of the Affordable Care Act for America’s families.

Congresswoman Pelosi celebrates the one-year anniversary of health insurance reform with Julie Walters and Matt McManus, whose daughter Violet benefits from the removal of lifetime caps on coverage and the denial of care based on pre-existing conditions.

I was pleased to tour the new South of Market Health Center (SMHC) with Charlie Range, Executive Director of SMHC, and John Gressman, President and CEO of the San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium. Community health centers in San Francisco serve as a model for the nation, and their daily work makes our community and our country healthier. That is why the Affordable Care Act invests an additional $11 billion in community health centers.

Right now, the Republican majority wants to cut these vital investments. They passed a budget plan in the House that would close 127 clinics in 31 states, reduce services at another 1,096 community health centers, and cut 2.8 million people from access to their primary care provider. While we must work toward a responsible budget that reduces the deficit, it does not make sense to diminish basic services that strengthen our country’s health and our future.

Standing Up for Equality This week, I was proud to be an original co-sponsor of a bill that will prohibit discrimination in the workplace: Rep. Barney Frank’s fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Every year qualified, hard-working Americans are denied jobs or live in fear of losing their jobs because they are or are perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The fully inclusive ENDA will provide nationwide workplace protections for LGBT employees similar to those contained in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect against racial and gender discrimination.

I have long supported legislation that expands our laws in order to better reflect the diverse society in which we live, including my recent co-sponsorship of a bill to repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which prohibits discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity to ensure that our students have access to public education in a safe environment. We have made great strides toward achieving equal rights for every American: passing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, ensuring equal visitation rights for all hospital patients and repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” However, we will not stop until we finally end discrimination in the workplace and in our schools by enacting the fully-inclusive ENDA and the Student Non-Discrimination Act.

Remembering Geraldine Ferraro
Geraldine Ferraro will be deeply missed. She not only made history when she was nominated for Vice President, she inspired women across the country to reach their own greatness as they strengthened our country. In 1984, her nomination was greeted with thunderous applause in the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

As Women’s History Month comes to a close, we honor the giants like Geraldine who paved the path for progress and equality. We must also recommit to addressing the economic challenges facing Americans; indeed women have been particularly hard hit by this downturn. Instead, some in Congress are prioritizing legislation that is extreme and divisive, dangerous to women’s health and is nothing less than the most comprehensive and radical assault on reproductive freedom in our lifetime. At the same time they are restricting reproductive choice, Republicans are limiting access to family planning and primary care, even when it saves lives.

With the women heroes of our nation’s past in mind, we will continue our best efforts to ensure progress for America’s women today. We will not go back.

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