Congresswoman Lauren Underwood
(Photo/Chicago Sun Times)
By Karen Stokes
Lauren Underwood, the Democratic U.S. Representative for Illinois’s 14th congressional district, is in Milwaukee today to support the Biden-Harris campaign’s kick-offs and office openings ahead of the Wisconsin primary in April.
“I think that the Biden Administration has really delivered on promises that they made,” Underwood said. “When I think about where our economy has come since President Biden took office, we’re seeing over 15 million jobs created nationally and unemployment is at record lows across the country.”
Underwood shared positive news for the people of Wisconsin.
“In Wisconsin under President Biden’s leadership 160,000 jobs were created, unemployment has fallen to 3.3 percent. There’s been record levels of small businesses created and in Wisconsin over 184,000 applications to start new businesses,” she said.
Underwood continued, “I think there still some progress to make in terms of our efforts to defend our democracy and we’ve got to get voting rights across the finish line. There’s insidious versions of suppression tactics. We know that in battleground states like Wisconsin, it is truly competitive. It’s competitive for the president, it’s competitive for the senate. We’re trying to re-elect Senator Baldwin. We must pass and reauthorize the John Lewis Voting Rights Advance Act. This must get done.”
The right to health was first recognized in the 1946 World Health Organization (WHO) constitution, which states that “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.
“When I first ran for Congress in the backdrop of the Trump Administration attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) we didn’t believe in taking away healthcare coverage for people like me who have a pre-existing condition. In my first campaign I outlined for my community the way that we would be able to come together to protect pre-existing conditions but also to lower out of pocket healthcare costs for the American people,” Underwood said, “I got elected and introduced a bill called ‘The Healthcare Affordability Act’ that says no American will pay more than 8 ½ percent of their income for Silver level marketplace plans.”
“Three months into President Biden’s tenure in March of 2021, he signed this legislation into law as part of the American Rescue Plan, so now we have 21 million Americans enrolled in coverage in the most recent open enrollment in December. We have four out of five enrollees getting a plan that is $10 or less a month and the average family of four is saving $2400 a year.”
Trump, the Republican Party nominee, is renewing his vow to repeal the Affordable Care Act, presenting American voters with a genuine choice not just on the ballot, but also in their search for healthcare coverage.
Underwood explained the contrast between President Biden and Trump.
“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans lead with hate, anger, revenge and retribution we heard in the last several weeks Donald Trump bragged about overturning Roe and he and his MAGA allies are on record talking about their desire to pass a nationwide abortion ban, we’ve heard Donald Trump promising to cut Social Security and Medicare. It’s unacceptable and represents backwards, outdated old ideas. President Biden has an inclusive positive vision for the future and our version of America that we’re fighting for is taking on big pharma, making corporations pay their fair share and helping working people get ahead,” Underwood said.
As for the future Underwood is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois’ 14th Congressional District.
“We have a primary on Tuesday! I was in my district yesterday, we have St Patrick’s Day tomorrow, I’ll be decked out in my green getting people out to vote,” Underwood said. “We are locked in and really focused on reclaiming the House majority in November making sure that competitive districts like mine, that we have a big Democratic victory and I also believe very strongly that even with the House Democratic majority we have to reelect President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.”