Senator Durbin- Affordable Health Insurance for Every American by 2010: America's Moral and Economic Imperative

May 11, 2006, 12:00pm – 12:45pm

Lunch will be served at 11:30 AM Admission is free

Featuring:
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)

Introduction by:
John D. Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress

Five years into the Bush presidency and 11 years after Republicans took control of Congress, America's health care system is near the breaking point. Forty-six million Americans are uninsured, six million more than five years ago. Soaring health care costs are harming America's families, businesses and our ability to compete in a global economy. While the country struggles to cope with these challenges, this week the Senate will debate legislation which would, according to independent analysis, make health coverage more expensive for most small businesses. In contrast, Senator Dick Durbin has introduced the Small Employers' Health Benefits Program Act (S. 2510), which would enable more small businesses to offer health insurance to their workers. Durbin has also offered a resolution urging that all Americans have access to health insurance by 2010. Please join the Center for American Progress Action Fund to hear Senator Durbin discuss his ideas for increasing health insurance coverage for all Americans, including those who work for small businesses, and why the Enzi bill the Senate is debating this week would make a bad situation worse.

Resources

Video:

Note: All video provided in  QuickTime (MPEG-4)  format.

Location

Center for American Progress
1333 H St. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Map & Directions

Nearest Metro: Blue/Orange Line to McPherson Square or Red Line to Metro Center

Biographies

Time magazine recently named Senator Dick Durbin one of "America's 10 Best Senators." He is the senior senator from Illinois, the assistant Democratic leader of the United States Senate and the co-sponsor, with Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), of S. 2521, the Small Employers Health Benefits Plan. Their plan would create a national insurance pool, modeled after the successful Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan, to offer small business owners and employees health care choices as good as Congress gets. The bill has been endorsed by organizations including the American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, the March of Dimes, the National Association of Women Business Owners, the Small Business Majority, Families USA and Consumers Union.

John D. Podesta is the President and CEO of the Center for American Progress and visiting Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center. Podesta served as Chief of Staff to President William J. Clinton from October 1998 until January 2001, where he was responsible for directing Congressional relations and staff activities of the White House. He coordinated the work of cabinet agencies with a particular emphasis on the development of federal budget and tax policy, and served in the President's Cabinet and as a Principal on the National Security Council. Podesta has also held a number of positions on Capitol Hill including: Counselor to Democratic Leader Senator Thomas A. Daschle; Chief Minority Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittees on Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks, and Security and Terrorism; and Counsel on the Majority Staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Podesta is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and Knox College.