Rep. Stupak Denies Trading Health Care Vote for U.P. Airport Funding

Vote in Favor of Reform Plan Explained; 44,000 in District to Get Coverage

March 24, 2010
By: Dave Rogers

BULLETIN: Television news was reporting tonight that Rep. Stupak and other representatives who had supported Health Care Reform had received death threats.)

U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee), who represents the northern part of Bay County, responded to critics today.

Stupak, whose anti-abortion stance not only put him in the national news spotlight recently, but also made his vote and those of his supporters the key to passage of the controversial health care reform bill.

Critics have been attempting to link Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grants for three airports in the First Congressional District to Rep. Stupak's vote in favor of health care reform:

"Individuals and organizations who are falsely trying to link my vote for health care reform to annual FAA maintenance grants awarded to my district are simply grasping at straws," he said in a prepared statement today.

"It is absurd to think I would change my vote for a tow truck and a fence to keep deer from walking onto the runway of an airport in Escanaba. I have long advocated for comprehensive health care reform and voted in favor of the House health care reform bill -- a fact that many opponents of health care reform can't seem to acknowledge.

"Those making this disingenuous attack conveniently fail to mention that congressional districts in 47 other states were awarded these same grants during the same round of announcements, many with significantly higher funding amounts."

Historic legislation to provide 32 million Americans with access to affordable health care was signed into law Tuesday at the White House. Rep. Stupak, who has long advocated for health care reform, attended the signing ceremony as an invited guest of President Obama.

Rep. Stupak commented: "My vote on health care had nothing to do with airport grants and everything to do with providing access to affordable quality health care to the American people. I have said from the start that my goal was to see health care pass while maintaining the principle of the sanctity of life.

"The president's Executive Order, combined with the colloquy I held with Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman on the floor of the House, ensure that there will be no public funding of abortion in the new health care reform bill.

"When you apply the Hyde provisions protecting the unborn and add to it the fact that 32 million Americans will now have access to health care and millions more will not be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions, this is one of the most truly pro-life pieces of legislation in modern times."

Under the new health care reform legislation, H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 44,000 uninsured residents of Michigan?s First Congressional District will gain access to affordable health care. An additional 364,000 residents in northern Michigan will receive improved health insurance coverage under the legislation.

Rep. Stupak released the following statement after the bill signing ceremony:

"This legislation provides 32 million uninsured Americans with access to affordable, quality health care while putting in place critical consumer protections and cost savings for those Americans who already have health insurance.

"The reforms in this legislation are long overdue. It is unconscionable that insurance companies continue to put profits ahead of the health and well-being of their policyholders.

"This legislation provides key consumer protection reforms within the next six months assuring Americans with health insurance that their policy will be there for them when they need it. "Parents of children with long-term illnesses will not be forced into bankruptcy because of lifetime caps on coverage that run out long before an illness has been treated, and individuals with pre-existing conditions will no longer be denied access to health insurance policies.

"Parents will also be able to keep their children on their health insurance policy until age 26, ensuring many young Americans continue to have access to health care when they are first starting out on their own.

"There have been contentious moments throughout the process of passing health care reform for all Americans, but today we came together to celebrate the signing into law of H.R. 3590.

"This legislation is not perfect, and there is still work to be done. After a century trying to reform health care in this nation, we finally have a law that will ensure for the first time nearly every American has access to quality, affordable health care." ###