Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Congratulations to Kyrsten Sinema

From a press release -
Assistant House Democratic Leader Kyrsten Sinema has been selected as one of 32 state legislators nationwide to help President Obama reform health care.

In a conference call today, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, told Sinema — the only state lawmaker chosen from Arizona — that real health care reform will come from Democrats and Republicans alike from across the country.

As a former state legislator himself, the President of the United States appreciates legislators’ unique perspectives on this issue, Jarrett said.

Sinema will work with other state legislators in the President’s health care reform group to share best practices and lessons learned from their respective states, which will help shape national health care reform. They will also work to create a dialogue between state leaders and the U.S. Congressional delegation and have weekly conference calls with the White House until the reform is implemented.

“I’m so grateful and honored for this amazing opportunity to truly reform our nation’s health care,” Sinema said. “Our health care system is broken and families and businesses are being crushed by high health care costs. The American people, including right here in Arizona, deserve better.”

Obama’s plan does three things:

Reduces costs to make health care affordable
Protects a patient’s choice of doctors, hospitals and insurance plans
Assures quality affordable health care for all Americans

Health care reform is one of Obama’s top priorities and he is committed to enacting health care reform this year, Jarrett said.

State legislators are able to see firsthand in their states and communities how rapidly escalating health care costs are hurting family, business, and government budgets, which is why President Obama is looking forward to working with the group, Jarrett said.

For more information, please visit www.healthreform.gov.

Seriously, while all I've done here is to publish a press release, this is a great honor for both Rep. Sinema and Arizona. It's nice to see somebody from AZ being recognized for their ability to contribute to the dialogue and planning for America's future, dialogue and planning that is taking place far from Arizona.

BTW - when they ask her what lessons can they learn from AZ's healthcare model/disaster, she can reply simply "Don't elect Republicans."

She could say that, but she won't. She's a lot more tactful than I am. :)

1 comment:

Eli Blake said...

Well, good!

Sinema is one of my favorite legislators and I've had the pleasure of meeting her at state committee meetings. It's a tragedy that we didn't get a Democratic majority in the legislature this year because she would have been a great leader there.

As far as health care reform is concerned I'm sure that she will bring the same kind of work ethic and dedication that she has brought to the legislature.