Rep. Michael McMahon, a
Democrat, has represented the
13th Congressional District,
covering all of Staten Island
and parts of Brooklyn, since
2009.
As a life long resident of Staten Island, I am committed to providing the highest quality of care possible for the residents of Staten Island and Brooklyn.
Despite my commitment to improving our health-care system, I could not in good conscience vote for the Senate health-care bill or for the changes presented in the reconciliation package.
I am very supportive of many provisions in the bill, particularly the efforts to provide strong consumer protections and reduced health-care costs for small businesses, but I remain concerned about the effect this package will have back at home.
I believe we need to reform our health-care system, but this legislative package is not the way to do it. We must contain the costs of health care and not hurt our local hospitals and doctors.
The bill doesn’t go far enough, in my mind, to hold the hospitals of my district harmless from future cuts, nor does it guarantee to hold down costs for those with insurance.
My vote is not a referendum on this Congress or administration.
Our country is facing tremendous challenges, from rising deficits and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to aging infrastructure and budget gaps in our city. As your member of Congress, I will meet the challenge to get our country’s deficit under control and our fiscal house in order.
I hope that going forward we meet these challenges in a bipartisan manner with comity and a commitment to doing what is right for the American people.