The Religious Action Committee, the political lobby of the Reform movement, hailed House passage of President Obama’s health care reform bill.
“We know that the health reform bill adopted by the House is not perfect. But it is necessary. This is a unique and urgent moment in history; a moment of great promise and great challenge as Congress works together with doctors, hospitals, labor unions, businesses, insurers, drug companies and people of faith to ensure fundamental and comprehensive health insurance reform that provides for a healthy future for millions of Americans,” its executive director of the RAC, David Saperstein, said in a press release.
“Guided by teachings in our sacred texts, we remain committed to the passage of health insurance reform that provides the highest quality of care for the greatest number of Americans. We are pleased that yesterday’s House-passed bill brings us closer to that goal, and we are proud of the role Reform Movement activists played in this critical victory. Jewish tradition mandates that society provide for its citizens’ basic needs, including health care; reform is a medical, economic and above all, a moral imperative. We look forward to working with Members of Congress toward swift enactment of a final reform package.”
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Reform Jewish Movement Hails House Vote on Health Reform
Saperstein: “The bill approved by the House today is, like most legislation, a collection of compromises, but there is no mistaking that it is a vital step toward more affordable, accessible and quality health care for all Americans.”
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 22, 2010 – In response to yesterday’s House passage of the vital health insurance reform bill, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:
We applaud the House’s historic action last night in bringing the nation closer to a necessary and long-overdue reform of our broken health insurance system. The bill approved by the House is, like most legislation, a collection of compromises, but there is no mistaking that it is a vital step toward more affordable, accessible and quality health care for all Americans.
In the current crisis – in which 47 million Americans lack access to health insurance coverage and health care costs spiral ever higher – the House’s action moves us closer to reform based on the principles for which we have firmly advocated: protection of low income and other vulnerable populations, higher quality and more affordable care, and a system based on a financially sustainable foundation.
We know that the health reform bill adopted by the House is not perfect. But it is necessary. This is a unique and urgent moment in history; a moment of great promise and great challenge as Congress works together with doctors, hospitals, labor unions, businesses, insurers, drug companies and people of faith to ensure fundamental and comprehensive health insurance reform that provides for a healthy future for millions of Americans.
Guided by teachings in our sacred texts, we remain committed to the passage of health insurance reform that provides the highest quality of care for the greatest number of Americans. We are pleased that yesterday’s House-passed bill brings us closer to that goal, and we are proud of the role Reform Movement activists played in this critical victory. Jewish tradition mandates that society provide for its citizens’ basic needs, including health care; reform is a medical, economic and above all, a moral imperative. We look forward to working with Members of Congress toward swift enactment of a final reform package.
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The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is the Washington office of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose more than 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose membership includes more than 1,800 Reform rabbis.
