Congressman Vern Buchanan: Will He Follow Through?

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By Kenneth Briggs (about the author)

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For OpEdNews: Kenneth Briggs - Writer

Congressman Vern Buchanan [R- Fl13] is one of few who are "putting money where their mouth is". The Congressman, in a Press Release dated August 27, 2007 says " CONGRESS MUST PUT PEOPLE AHEAD OF PARTY POLITICS", therein he stated "I ran for office to serve the people of Florida’s 13th District - all the people. Americans don’t care whether a proposal is Republican or Democrat - they want common-sense solutions that work.

Along this line, he was encouraged to see " AARP, The Business Roundtable, and the Service Employees International Union [SEIU] - three groups that often disagree on federal issues — launch a national campaign to urge action on the important issues of health care and financial security. The "Divided We Fall" campaign is encouraging elected officials and advocacy groups to work together in a bipartisan effort to find solutions that are fair to all generations.

I commend the organizers of this campaign and support their effort."

Buchanan goes on to say "Many American families are struggling to afford health care, save for retirement, send their children to college, and support aging parents. At the same time, the high cost of health care is limiting the ability of small businesses to survive and expand." He says "I recently signed the ‘Divided we fall’ pledge to work with diverse groups and individuals as well as my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to develop and implement common-sense solutions to provide all Americans with access to quality, affordable health care and promote life time financial security.

Many of us will have legitimate differences of opinion on how best to resolve these issues and I look forward to a healthy public debate."

The next big issue on the agenda is SCHIP.

Its not clear from the materials at hand whether or not Buchanan will vote to overturn the president’s veto. Others are very clear about their position concerning SCHIP .For example, the Alliance for Retired Americans is very clear in advocating an overturn of the veto. The Alliance urges everyone to call the White House at 202-456-1111 and "tell them that you are tired of the President not listening to the American people or to Congress. Tell him you don’t appreciate his careless veto. ...and tell them that you NOTICED his thoughtless veto and can’t believe he is so out of touch with what Americans need and want....tell them that you are sick of our President neglecting our grandchildren. Tell President Bush you are ashamed of his veto.
The U.S. House will "Attempt Override of SCHIP Veto on Thursday". President Bush’s veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance program [SCHIP] reauthorization bill last Wednesday set off a massive political fight that is expected to continue dominating Congress" all week. On Monday, Ohio Alliance activists will be targeting Reps. Steve Chabot [R] and Jean Schmidt [R]. Moreover, "Alliance members will be receiving a Get Active message this Monday with an attached letter, urging an override of the President’s veto, which they can e-mail to their Member of Congress," said Edward Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance . "Thank you for all you have done so far, and please continue yourhard work, which is very much noticed across Capitol Hill."

And the Alliance is not alone, several other organizations including MoveOn are taking action. On Tuesday, MoveOn is holding candlelight vigils across the nation. What are you doing?

An OEN Editor. Born-03/20/1934, BA Pol. Sci.-U of Washington-1956, MBA-Seattle U-1970, Boeing-Program Control-1957-1971, State of Oregon-Mental Health Division-Deputy Admistrator-1971-1979, llinois Association of Community MH (more...)

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