Dear Friend,
"Now is the time," declares St. Paul in the Ash Wednesday liturgy. Today, we are asking you for a few minutes of your time to help pass health care reform legislation for affordable, accessible health care for all.
The final push is on. It is reported that prospects for the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Senate health care reform bill are within sight, possibly within the next week. However, one thing that we have learned since the inception of this debate is that we can take nothing for granted.
Three weeks ago, at the beginning of Lent, Catholic Democrats sent a letter to all of the Catholic members of Congress - Democrats and Republicans - appealing to our shared Catholic tradition of "giving something up" for Lent. We asked them to forgo the "divisive politics that has pitted groups of Americans against one another and jeopardized our shared Catholic commitment to achieve universal health care."
Today, as we reach the halfway point through this penitential season, we are asking you again to be a part of this historic national effort. We are inviting you to join thousands of other caring people across our country, and requesting that you do a few things that will help ensure that this fundamental Catholic social priority becomes a reality this year.
- Pray for those who need health care and for the members of Congress to pass it.
- Contact your U.S. Representative and Senators now, even if you have done it before, in support of passing health care reform. You will find more information on the Catholic Democrats Lenten Intention Web pages about contacting Congress.
If this legislation is not passed now, it will be decades before the issue is addressed again and millions of people will needlessly suffer as a result.
It is Lent. Please join us in signing A Lenten Intention. Health care reform must pass. Now is the time.
Thank you for your continued support.
In our shared faith,
Patrick Whelan MD PhD
Suzanne Morse
Lisa Schare
Steve Krueger
PS Please consider making a contribution to Catholic Democrats. Whatever the outcome of this legislation, it will continue to be an issue - if not the issue - in the 2010 mid-term elections. Our voice and actions will be more important than ever.
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