Phenomenal Work on the Maternal/Child Health House Letter in July!
“Around the world there is a tradition of oppressing women and treating them differently and not giving them the same opportunities, and husbands beating their wives, and children not being sent to school. Those are traditions. Treating women and girls as second-class citizens. Those are bad traditions: they need to change.”
These recent remarks by President Obama hint at the urgency of the very specific work we are currently engaged in regarding maternal and child health (MCH). As part of that work, we have an immediate opportunity. We were tasked with asking members of the House to sign a bipartisan letter to President Obama calling on him to maintain robust support for maternal and child survival programs in his 2017 budget, currently in formation . . . and boy, did you deliver! The letter had 105 total signers (including 21 Republicans). It was a true bipartisan showing far exceeding our goal of 60 total signers, including 20 Republicans. This provides incredible momentum as we anticipate a maternal/child health bill in the House later this summer.
Take a look at the text of the letter.
FY17 House Maternal and Child Health Letter (103 signers): Initiated by Representatives Barbara Lee (D-CA), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Dave Reichert (R-WA)
Cosigners: Mark Amodei (R-NV), Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Donald Beyer (D-VA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Corrine Brown (D-FL), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Kathy Castor (D-FL), André Carson (D-IN), Lois Capps (D-CA), David N. Cicilline (D-RI), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Gerald Connolly (D-VA), John Conyers (D-MI), Ryan Costello (R-PA), Joe Crowley (D-NY), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Susan Davis (D-CA), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Theodore E. Deutch (D-FL), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Robert Dold (R-IL), Daniel M. Donovan Jr. (R-NY), Donna F. Edwards (D-MD), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Renee Ellmers (R-NC), Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA), Elizabeth Esty (D-CT), Sam Farr (D-CA), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Mike Fitzpatrick (R-NJ), Alan Grayson (D-FL), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), James Himes (D-CT), Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Michael Honda (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Henry C. Johnson (D-GA), David Jolly (R-FL), David P. Joyce (R-OH), William R. Keating (D-MA), Dan Kildee (D-MI), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), John Lewis (D-GA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM), Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA), Thomas MacArthur (R-NJ), Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Jim McDermott (D-WA), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Grace Meng (D-NY), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), Dennis Ross (R-FL), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Tim Ryan (D-OH), Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), Scott Peters (D-CA), Robert Pittenger (R-NC), Stacey Plaskett (D-VI), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Jared Polis (D-CO), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), José E. Serrano (D-NY), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Adam Smith (D-WA), Lamar Smith (R-TX), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Marc Veasey (D-TX), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Frederica S. Wilson (D-FL), John Yarmuth (D-KY), Don Young (R-AK)