An Open Letter to my U.S. Senators regarding Health Care

Dear Senator John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchinson:

Allow me to introduce myself. I am David Ortez, a twenty-four year old recent college graduate from the University of Texas at Austin that is transitioning to pursue a career in the legal sector by attending law school in 2010. I am a native Houstonian that is proud to be a Texan.

I share the same alma mater with Senator Hutchinson and the same hometown as Senator Cornyn. So far, we have something in common and that is a good thing.

I would like to now take the opportunity to praise Senator Cornyn for taking a stand against comments made by Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich in reference to now Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

At the same time though, I am greatly disappointed with both Senator Hutchinson and Senator Cornyn for failing to support the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. You will be remembered in history as being the two senators from Texas that voted “nay” when they had the opportunity to confirm the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice.

Hispanics account for over 35 percent of the Texas population. I can guarantee that a majority of that voting bloc will not forget how you voted on August 6, 2009 when 68 Senators including 9 Republicans confirmed Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor.

Now, you have the opportunity to redeem yourself. More than 2 out of 5 (43.9%) Texans under the age of 65 did not have health care insurance between the two-year period of 2007 and 2008. 6 out of 10 or 60.4 percent of Hispanics were uninsured during that same time period. (Families USA)

Unfortunately, I am part of this statistic, not because I am some lazy high school dropout that would like to subsist on welfare for the rest of his life. On the contrary, I have fallen through the cracks (a big one I may add) in which 5 other Hispanics in Texas have joined me.  

As a result of my graduation from college, I am no longer eligible to be included on my parent’s insurance because I am not a full time student. I cannot afford health insurance and must wait until I officially enroll in the Fall 2010 semester before I may reapply to be included on my parent’s insurance plan.

In the mean time, I pray to God that I will not become a burden to my family, friends and fellow Americans if I shall need to seek emergency medical services.

The Houston Chronicle reported yesterday, August 11, 2009, that “Latinos favor Democrats, Obama on health by huge margins.” In fact, Latinos plan to vote for Democrats by a 55 percent to 19 percent margin in the 2010 Mid-Term Elections. This is one statistic that Governor hopeful Kay Bailey Hutchinson will not want to ignore if she wishes to oust Governor Rick Perry who has been hostile toward children and health care ergo SCHIP.

Alan Bernstein of the Houston Chronicle reported that, “U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, representing the state with the highest share of population without health insurance, said Tuesday [August 12, 2008] that Texas is a national model for improving access to health care because it limited lawsuits against doctors.”

How can anyone address a problem when they fail to acknowledge it? Allow me to enlighten you of the elephant in the room that we call Health Care. Now that you have been informed by one of your constituents of this issue, I shall hope that you address it in a prompt manner.

As Federal employees, you both enjoy Health Care services subsidized by the American taxpayers under a government program. If Government Health Care is good enough for you, millions of Federal employees and the United States Military then it is good enough for me.

Nothing is impossible and we should never underestimate the tenacity of the American people. We can reform Health Care and make it the paradigm that the international community will aspire to emulate.

Allow me to conclude by stating the following:

A “winner” is part of the solution. A “loser” is part of the problem. A “winner” envisions a solution in every problem. A “loser” can only see a problem in every answer. A “winner” will claim that something is difficult but possible. A “loser” will merely claim something is possible but it is too difficult.

What are you … a winner or a loser?