(WASHINGTON) - SEIU President Mary Kay Henry's statement on Republican attacks on local navigators, who SEIU members know are crucial to signing African Americans and Latinos up for health coverage:

"SEIU members are partnering with established community groups serving as navigators in our local communities on a regular basis, with our focus on directing Africans Americans and Latinos to navigators for full information about their individual options and how to sign up. Instead of highlighting the availability of these local resource people to constituents, extremist Republicans like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are fear-mongering, especially in the Latino community.

"These obstructionist Republicans -- in Congress and in the states -- should stop their smear campaign and faux fraud legislation targeted at navigator groups who are pivotal to enrolling the disproportionately large numbers of African Americans and Latinos lacking health coverage. Navigators and other application assistors are part of our communities--they are local clinics, churches, and community service agencies who have received intense training and on-going education. These Republican intimidation tactics are just one more effort to stop our communities from getting the information they need to make informed healthcare choices.

"SEIU's nurses and doctors, nursing home aides and childcare providers know the disturbing personal stories behind the statistics on the racial disparities among uninsured Americans. SEIU member volunteers are blanketing Latino and African American communities nationwide to spread the good news of affordable healthcare and want these extremist Republicans to stop standing in the way and start doing their part. It is time for all of us to work together to make sure that our communities know their options for quality, affordable healthcare.

"Members of Congress should use the power of their bully pulpits to inform millions more African American and Latino constituents about their new options for affordable health coverage, rather offering these communities more False Evidence Appearing Real about the application process."

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