May, 11 2009, 01:22pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Shum Preston, 510-273-2276 or
Chuck Idelson, 415-559-8991
Nurses and Doctors Call for "Florence Nightingale Day Protest" Against Max Baucus and Health Insurers: May 12
Baucus Again Calls Senate Finance Hearing Without Information on "The Nurses' and Doctors' Plan" for Healthcare Reform: Single-Payer Healthcare
WASHINGTON
What: Activist, registered
nurses, and physicians are calling for a "Florence Nightingale
Day Protest" against Sen. Max Baucus and his Senate Finance
Committee hearings on healthcare. The hearings include
representation from health insurers--but not from the
majority of the nation's RNs and MDs, who support the kind of
single-payer healthcare financing proven successful in Europe,
Canada, and Asia.
When: Tuesday, May 12, 10:00 a.m. -
the 189th anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birthday
Where: Outside Dirksen Senate Office
Building, 1st St. @ Constitution Ave., Washington, D.C.
Who: The protests are called by activist
caregivers and patients from the Leadership Conference on
Guaranteed Healthcare, including the California Nurses
Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, and Physicians
for a National Health Program
Why: May 12 is Florence Nightingale's
Birthday - an opportunity to honor her advocacy of
healthcare by protesting Congressional hearings that have been
stacked in favor of the big insurance companies while silencing
the voices of nurses and doctors who favor guaranteed
healthcare, as in a single-payer, expanded Medicare-for-all
system with a single standard of quality care.
The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing
Committee is asking nurses and doctors in the region to attend
these hearings "and support the guaranteed, single-payer
healthcare reforms that our nation desperately needs," said
Deborah Burger, RN, CNA/NNOC co-President.
CNA/NNOC is the largest and fastest-growing organization
of RNs in the U.S. with 86,000 members in all 50
states.
National Nurses United, with close to 185,000 members in every state, is the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in US history.
(240) 235-2000LATEST NEWS
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The House voted 219-199 for Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act (FANFSA), which won support from 96 Democrats and 123 Republicans, including the lead sponsor, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio). Named for the constitutional amendment that protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, H.R. 4639 would close what campaigners call the data broker loophole.
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The House notably included an amendment forcing a wide range of individuals and businesses to cooperate with government spying operations but rejected an amendment that would have added a warrant requirement to the bill, which the Senate could vote on as soon as Thursday.
Noting those decisions on the FISA reauthorization legislation, Ruddock stressed that "today's vote is a victory but follows a recent loss and ongoing threat as that Section 702 bill moves to the Senate this week too."
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