National Civil Rights Groups Join Forces in Efforts to Strengthen the Health of the Nation’s Children
April 16, 2009 National Civil Rights Groups Join Forces in Efforts to Strengthen the Health of the Nation’s Children AAJC, CDF, NAACP, NCAI, and NCLR Unite and Urge Congress to Pass Legislation to Cover Remaining Millions of Uninsured Children WASHINGTON, DC- Commemorating National Minority Health Month, leading civil rights groups, including the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), will hold a briefing on Capitol Hill on Friday, April 17 at 12:30 p.m. to announce their partnership and outline how to realize America’s promise of covering all children, ensuring that the millions of uninsured and underinsured children are not forgotten during the health care reform debate. The groups will be joined by Neera Tanden, Counselor for Health Reform in the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services where she is working on the President’s health care reform plan. The briefing, being held in collaboration with the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), will be moderated by Victoria Tung, Executive Director of CAPAC. The expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program’s (CHIP) took critical steps for America’s children, but there is more work that needs to be done to cover the remaining 5-6 million uninsured children. This coalition urges members of Congress to pass legislation this year that will ensure every child in America is provided access to quality, affordable health care. WHAT: Briefing on the plight of children in the current health care system and presentation of shared principals to ensure all children are provided access to health care in 2009 WHO: Marian Wright Edelman, President, Children’s Defense Fund Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and CEO, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Jacqueline Johnson Pata, Executive Director, National Congress of American Indians Janet Murguía, President and CEO, National Council of La Raza Vincent A. Eng, Deputy Director, Asian American Justice Center Neera Tanden, Counselor to the Health and Human Services Department Victoria Tung, Executive Director of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus WHEN: April 17, 2009, 12:30 p.m. WHERE: 2105 Rayburn House Office Building
AAJC: Leonie Campbell Williams CDF: Ed Shelleby
lcampbell@AdvancingEquality.org eshelleby@childrensdefense.org
(202) 492-4591 (202) 662-3602
NAACP: Chris Fleming NCAI: Adam McMullin NCLR: Jackeline Stewart
cfleming@naacpnet.org amcmullin@ncai.org jstewart@nclr.org
(202) 463-2950 ext. 1021 (202) 466-7767 (202) 785-1670
