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MARTINEZ — Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, raised his arms,
split the air and yelled into the microphone, "It's done!"And
the room packed with several hundred East Bay labor, minority
and Democratic leaders jumped to their feet and erupted into
another round of applause Thursday evening for the Martinez
congressman who played an integral role in the passage of the
largest reform of the nation's health care system in nearly five
decades.
"And
when you buy that health insurance policy, they are not going to
take it away from you when you need it like they do today,"
Miller said. "They are not going to say, 'We have spent enough
on your cancer.' They are not going to tell you they won't cover
your children because they have a pre-existing condition. And if
you lose your job and your spouse gets a disease, they can't
tell you, 'We won't cover you.' Those days are done."
He
went on to say, "Let me just tell you how honored I am to be in
this place at this time in history, to be able to participate
and to be at the eye of the storm in this debate."
Unlike other colleagues in the House of Representatives who
returned to less liberal home districts this week for Easter
break and whose constituents have mixed reviews of legislation
that has left the country divided, Miller and neighboring
Democratic Rep. John Garamendi, of Walnut Grove, were treated
like conquering heroes. Neither man faces a serious threat to
re-election in November.
Held
at the IBEW Local 302 Hall and sponsored by a slew of East Bay
labor groups, Contra Costa Democratic Central Committee, local
chapters of the NAACP and League of United Latin American
Citizens, the audience downed hors d'oeurves and nonalcoholic
punch before they heaped verbal praise on the two congressmen.
The
legislators were also presented with white lab coats, with
supporters saying they had saved the lives of the 32 million
people who will now have access to health insurance.
Garamendi, for his part, arrived in Congress on Nov. 5, just in
time to vote for the first House version of the health care
legislation. The former state insurance commissioner and
lieutenant governor flew into Washington, D.C., shortly after a
bruising special election to replace Ellen Tauscher, who took a
high-ranking job in the State Department under President Barack
Obama. He was one of the aye votes in the Democrats' two-vote
margin of victory.
He,
too, piled praise on Miller, along with House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi.
"Because of George Miller and Nancy Pelosi, we are on our way to
providing insurance to every American," said a smiling
Garamendi.
Miller, in his speech, also acknowledged his central role in the
addition of student loan reforms to this week's budget package
that contained the House changes to the health care legislation. |
