The Moment Upon Us – Congressman Al Green’s ‘Message to America’

America, there are momentous moments along the continuum of time that we must grapple with. They are pivotal moments imposing choices that impact and define our destinies far beyond our lifetimes.

Such a momentous moment is now upon us. We must here and now choose whether we will protect, preserve and defend the heart and soul of our democratic values or whether we, the richest country in the world, will proclaim ourselves to be too poor – too poor to provide a children’s health insurance program for the young in the dawn of life, too poor to supply Medicare to elders in the twilight of life, too poor to afford Medicaid to those living with the hardships of life and too poor to save Social Security for seniors to have a better quality of life.

Will we abandon our virtuous democratic values? Will we minimize Medicare, privatize Social Security and destabilize Medicaid? Or will we righteously embrace this pivotal opportunity to strengthen Medicare, to design a destiny with the dignity of Medicaid and to forge a future which secures Social Security?

Will we proudly stand and defend the web of our much-needed democratic social safety nets or will we sit and watch them being ripped apart?

As for me, I choose to proudly stand, defend and protect. To do otherwise is to indicate to the world that the greatest country in the world is monetarily rich and mentally poor.