Dozens of enthusiastic supporters greeted U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree as she returned to Maine yesterday morning. A boisterous crowd of sign-waving Mainers welcomed the congresswoman minutes after her flight landed at Portland International Jetport.
The crowd gathered to thank Rep. Pingree for her support of health insurance reform. She thanked citizens who came out to greet her at the airport on Sunday morning. The U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a reform bill on Saturday night.
Speaking on the floor of the House Saturday, Rep. Pingree said, “I’m here in the memory of my brother. He had no public option to choose. He did what so many young families did. They spent down their savings, they sold everything they had…so they could qualify for Medicaid because no doctor would see him without insurance.”
“I have often wondered,” she added, “if he would have survived if he had the medical care he needed.”
Speaking on the importance of the legislation, Rep. Pingree said, “This bill moves us much closer to a time when no one can be denied health care coverage because of a pre-existing condition, no one can be told you can’t have health care coverage, no one will have to go into personal bankruptcy....I am so proud to be here casting the vote that so many of my constituents have waited too long for,” the congresswoman said. “There can be no more delay.”
