Let’s get one thing straight. Americans want health reform. Those who say otherwise should look in the mirror to check their noses. The uninsured do not have the time or the means to make their case to Congress. It is Congress’s responsibility to reach the almost twenty percent of their citizens who awaken every day praying that no one in their family is ill because they have no insurance and thus have no access to care and cannot get treatment.

Those congressmen who plead they must vote for what is best for their constituents do not know their constituents because the ‘plague’ of the uninsured is endemic to every corner of our county. They may know those who give financial support but they are elected to advocate for all of their constituents. They also are members of the Congress of the United States and have responsibility to do what is best for all Americans.

So let’s be honest. If you can sleep soundly at night knowing by morning twenty percent of your neighbors may have to choose the health of themselves and their family or putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads, then vote against the bill. But do NOT be the coward who says that ‘my constituents don’t want it’. Say that those corporations that gave me money for my campaign don’t want it.

R Freidin, MD