Issued December 12, 2019
WASHINGTON — SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry released the following statement in response to the House passage of HR 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019:
“By passing HR 3, Congress has taken an important step toward making prescription drugs more affordable and making important investments in Medicare. These changes would ultimately lower costs for millions of people and make it possible for more people to get healthcare.
“For too long, far too many working people — Black, white and brown — have been forced to make the impossible decision of paying for life-saving medications or paying their bills. That’s why SEIU members and working people across this country — healthcare workers, college professors, fast food and child care workers — have been speaking out for affordable healthcare for all and an end to drug companies rigging the rules against the rest of us. HR 3 is groundbreaking legislation that finally begins to hold these corporations accountable to working Americans and, as a result of improvements negotiated earlier this week, will benefit even more people.
“Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats are responding directly to the voices calling out for change — those who believe that everyone, no matter where they work or what they do for a living, should have healthcare they can count on, a living wage, and a voice at work through a union. Senate Republicans ignore the will of working people at their peril.”
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The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) unites 2 million diverse members in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. SEIU members working in the healthcare industry, in the public sector and in property services believe in the power of joining together on the job to win higher wages and benefits and to create better communities while fighting for a more just society and an economy that works for all of us, not just corporations and the wealthy.