Focused on Jobs & Health Care
By Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) / 3.7.2011
I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss what is on many of your minds: jobs and health care.
We know that our community has been hard hit by the recession. The unemployment rate for African Americans is a staggering 15.7%. This is unacceptable.
This is why the focus of the Congressional Black Caucus is on the issues that matter the most to our constituents: bringing home a paycheck and providing quality, affordable health care for all.
I wish my Republican colleagues felt the same way. Sadly, instead of focusing on creating jobs, they are wasting our time with senseless attempts to repeal health care reform.
What they don’t understand is that we need to preserve health care reform precisely because it will create thousands of jobs in the health care field – from nurses to lab technicians to pharmacists.
As Republicans seek to roll back our rights, let us remember that the health care status quo in the Black community is dire:
- If Black America were its own country, we’d be 88th in infant mortality rates.
- The Black male death rate for cancer is 37 percent higher than for whites.
- On top of that, in recent years, 40% of African Americans have reported being uninsured at some point. This is intolerable.
Health care reform is critical for our community and we need to preserve and protect health care reform for future generations.
This is my personal pledge – and the commitment we in the CBC seek to uphold.
Rep. Frederica Wilson represents the 17th District of Florida.
