Heading Home

August is the month that members of Congress leave Washington , DC and return to their home states and districts for August Recess. But we know that this recess is no break – they will be listening to their constituents (that’s you!) as they decide how to proceed on health care reform once they return to DC after Labor Day.

Where Things Stand

In the House of Representatives, all three committees of jurisdiction – Education and Labor, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce – passed roughly similar versions of health care reform. These three versions now need to be merged into one unified bill, which will be debated and voted upon when the members return in September.

In the Senate, progress has been slower. Of the two committees of jurisdiction, one – the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee – passed a version of health care reform in mid-July.  The other – the Finance Committee – continues to work out details but has yet to complete their version of health care reform legislation. Once the Finance Committee produces a bill and votes on it, likely in September, that version will be merged with the HELP Committee bill. Then, that final Senate version will be debated and voted upon by the full Senate this Fall.

What You Can Do

Here are four things you can do during the month of August to get up to speed on what's happening with health care reform and engage in conversation with your members of Congress and your community about this important issue:

1. Read the ELCA’s social statement on health and health care, Caring for Health: Our Shared Endeavor. Although not geared to any particular legislation, this statement provides the baseline principles that the ELCA uses to evaluate the health care reform legislation currently moving through Congress. The ELCA has not endorsed any particular health care reform bill, but we are working to ensure that all bills come as close as possible to the standards set in our social statement.
    
2. Learn about the legislation moving through Congress. The Associated Press put together some basic information on the three bills being worked on in Congress, and the Kaiser Family Foundation has an excellent online interactive side-by-side comparison tool that allows you to compare several pieces of introduced legislation by topic. To help you sift through the plethora of competing claims in health care ads and emails, check out the nonpartisan, 2009 Pulitzer Prize winning “Politifact.com” site, run by the St. Petersburg Times. 
    
3. Check with your federal elected officials' offices to see if they have scheduled town hall meetings or other opportunities to engage around health care reform. Many members of Congress are using the August district work period to talk with constituents about their thoughts on health care reform.
    
4. Plan or participate in an action during August. Whether it's making a call to your federal elected officials' state or district offices, attending a town hall meeting, or participating in a vigil, take the opportunity to have your voice heard this month. Faithful Reform in Health Care is hosting vigils throughout the country this month, as well as weekly conference calls. PICO’s “No Recess for Reform” campaign is coordinating a Faith-Based Day of Action on August 11 at sites around the nation. Families USA has put together a toolkit for use during the August district work period, which includes “Tools and Tactics” for making your voice heard. And for a toll free number with which to call your Member of Congress, use 1-888-797-8717.* Don’t forget to take pictures and send them along with stories about your action(s) to us!

Questions? Please feel free to contact the ELCA’s Director for Domestic Public Policy, Robert Francis, at robert.francis@elca.org.

*This toll-free number was made possible with support from the United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries and the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church .