'Congress doesn't know we've been arrested'
St. Mary’s doctor says single-payer health care option being ignored; Hoyer said it’s been heard
By JAY FRIESS
Staff writer
South Maryland News, SoMdNews.com
Friday, July 3, 2009
Leonardtown psychiatrist Dr. Carol Paris will not be required to complete community service for disrupting a U.S. Senate hearing May 5 on health care reform. So long as she doesn’t break any laws for nine months, the charge could be purged from her record.
Paris said Wednesday that the U.S. attorney originally wanted her to do 40 hours of community service, but dropped the demand Tuesday, since Paris lives more than an hour outside of Washington, D.C.
Five of her fellow protesters must complete community service.
“It’s a total crock,” Paris said of the plea deals. “What those people do for a living is a community service. Their protest was a community service.”
Paris and 12 other advocates of a single-payer health care, sometimes known as “Medicare for all,” were arrested for disorderly conduct after not being given an official opportunity to speak at the hearing conducted by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.). Paris and seven fellow members of Physicians for a National Health Program, a nonprofit advocacy organization, resorted to making statements from the audience without being recognized. Five other members of the organization were arrested at a subsequent hearing May 12.
“I interrupt this so-called public hearing to bring you the following unpaid, political announcement: put single-payer on the table. My name is Dr. Carol Paris, and I approve this message,” Paris proclaimed before she was led away by police and charged with disorderly conduct.
Paris’ protest and subsequent arrest was recorded and uploaded to YouTube.com. Paris said that the national media has ignored the arrests, and added, “Congress doesn’t even know we’ve been arrested.”
Paris said Wednesday that of the 41 people invited to speak at the May hearing, including representatives from insurance and drug industry groups, none addressed nationalizing health care. Paris charged that Baucus purposely banned single-payer advocates from the hearing.
“They represent their lobbied interests; they do not represent their people,” Paris said of the Senate Finance Committee, which is drafting health care reform legislation.
According to Open Secrets, an online database of congressional contributions maintained by the Center for Responsive Politics, Baucus took $3 million in contributions from health care interests in the 2008 election cycle and has already taken $2 million from the same interests in the 2010 cycle. Health interests constitute the second-highest contributing sector for Baucus. The senator’s fifth-highest donor in the last five years has been the health insurance company Blue Cross & Shield.
Paris also scolded Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md., 5th), House majority leader, for not pushing debate on a single-payer bill sitting dormant in the House of Representatives. She said that the public deserves to be educated about the issues. “All they know is that Steny Hoyer says that it’s not politically feasible,” Paris said.
Hoyer also counts the health industry as his second-highest donor, taking $910,000 in the 2008 cycle and $82,000 in the current 2010 cycle. The National Association of Retail Druggists has been his fifth-highest contributor in the last five years.
“Congressman Hoyer is committed to listening to the opinions and suggestions of his constituents as he always has,” Hoyer spokeswoman Katie Grant said Thursday in a prepared statement. “He will continue working with both his constituents and his fellow Members of Congress to bring a health care reform bill to the House floor that has broad support and increases access, contains costs, improves quality, and preserves choice of plan and doctor.”
Hoyer’s office said that the House Education and Labor committee held a hearing on the single-payer option. Proponents and experts testified before the Education and Labor; Energy and Commerce; and Ways and Means committees last week.
Paris said she is not looking to be arrested again, but she vowed to continue to advocate for national health insurance. She has drafted a journal article reviewing the corrupting effects of profit motive on health care.
“I have nothing to gain from this,” Paris said. “I will continue to do this, because I want people to be informed. What I see is that people are not informed about the issue.”
Paris said she has received words of encouragement from the community, including a supportive letter from Dr. Chinnadurai Devadason, Charles County’s health officer. She has been invited to give a presentation to the Minority Outreach Coalition on the evening of July 10 at St. Mary’s Church of Christ in California.
jfriess@somdnews.com
http://www.somdnews.com/stories/07032009/entetop155723_32202.shtml