Left Field
by Patricia Nell Warren

As a kid, I was taught in civics class that we should respect our elected officials because they represent us, the people. Today, however, I see a Congress that is less and less a guardian of the people, and more and more the captive of corporate and religious special interests. While there are exceptions—meaning a few women and men who still fight for their constituents’ welfare—many Congresspeople show by their actions that they don’t give a hoot about “the people.” Said Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office: “In my many years of working in Washington, I have never been so disheartened as when Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act with virtually no debate and little regard for protecting civil liberties.”

The tilt to the right during November’s election, and the uproar about Iraq, has given deadly new momentum to that lessened regard for “the people.” As I write this, Congress rushed to adjourn for the year without extending unemployment benefits for around 1 million out-of-work Americans—a lapse that will mean acute need for their families starting December 28. Meanwhile, before our “representatives” flew home for the holidays, they did find time to vote themselves a hefty pay raise.

Also dropped—in the Republican rush to capture Congress and legislate a more “moral” America—are healthcare issues affecting millions of Americans. To name just a few: the food industry lobbied a rider into the Senate farm bill allowing irradiated beef to be labeled “pasteurized” (safety of irradiation is not proven beyond a doubt, and the European Union puts limits on the practice). Right-wing Congressmembers openly say they will do away with Roe v. Wade, gravely impacting many women’s health. The pharmaceutical industry, which has been tightening its grip on Congress for years, finally got the armbreaking leverage it wanted by backing several Republican winners in the November election. As a result, real prescription drug relief for seniors appears doomed—indeed, drug companies want to boost prices. Our ability to sue HMOs may disappear. All this from Congressmembers who enjoy rich healthcare benefits. Worse, rightist control of Congress means appointment of more rightist judges at all levels, limiting our access to justice.

Right after the election, the Senate rushed to pass the Homeland Security Bill by a thundering majority of ninety to nine. Embedded in the bill were health clauses that affect many of us, including people with HIV/AIDS. Big Pharma will now enjoy freedom from liability for harmful reactions to vaccines. Congress says it wants only to facilitate smallpox vaccinations in case of biowar, and to oppose Americans who believe that vaccines contribute to the steep rise in child autism. But the new law affects all vaccines—including any AIDS vaccines that reach the market. So if that experimental AIDS vaccine makes you sick, or doesn’t work, don’t bother to get a lawyer—Congress and the drug companies have sold you down the river. Next I expect that Big Pharma will push to end their liability on other drug products as well.

With AIDS corruption, the new Congress seems to be losing interest in learning how its $2 billion in CARE funds are spent. This is too bad—before the elections, Congress had built up a head of investigative steam, as a result of stiffened accountability in the revised Ryan White Act. I wonder why Congress is so reluctant to look under the rug. Maybe it’s because the slipperiness out there isn’t limited to ASO executives who get caught embezzling, as in Puerto Rico. Accountability activists are turning up evidence of widespread misspending right in government agencies and public-health departments—meaning that millions of AIDS dollars aren’t reaching the sick people who need them. Failure by many cities and counties to spend their HOPWA dollars on housing, and inability by some agencies to even report how they spent their money, are only two of the ugly revelations. Due to a $82 million shortfall in ADAP funds, old clients languish on waiting lists, and new cases can’t get on lists. Indeed, Texas is moving to bar 2,400–4,200 poor clients from all access to HIV drugs—a decision that one attorney called “proposed murder.” In some states and cities, other primary AIDS services are being whacked as well, leaving some already-disbursed CARE monies unspent. What to do with these little windfalls? As I write this, the San Francisco CARE Council moved to spend its “unfunds” on cost-of-living raises and “infrastructure development,” not on restoring the lost services. Doesn’t Congress want to know what's going on?

And where are the Democrats when we need them? After all, it was Democrats who pushed for government AIDS funding in the 1980s. It was Democrats who made fun of President Reagan because he wouldn’t say the word “AIDS.” Today it seems that most elected Democrats can't say the words “AIDS corruption.” Max Baucus of Montana, re-elected in November, is one of the few Dems who pushed for scrutiny of AIDS spending. Why this Democrat silence, when Democrats supposedly stand for human rights and the little guy? Maybe because, for twenty years, AIDS-friendly Democrat politicians possibly profited from hard and soft campaign contributions by AIDS organizations, and are now unwilling to bite the hand that feeds them. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, now replacing Richard Gephardt as Democratic leader, has been curiously quiet on this issue, though the media air major questions about AIDS spending right in her home district of San Francisco.

Congress also drops the ball on prevention. For twenty years, condoms were championed as helpful in preventing STDs. Yet Congress supports Bush’s attacks on condom use. Decades ago, when I was young, it was the Catholic Church that raged against condoms, as part of its longtime opposition to any mechanical or chemical form of birth control. But in recent decades, right-wing Protestant office-holders started fishing for the Catholic vote and now oppose these forms of birth control as fiercely as Catholics do. As a result, government funding of condom use, both here and abroad, is ending.

Is Congress capable of caring about us again? Sure. Both Republicans and Democrats know they’ll lose their jobs if they don’t please their constituents. Unfortunately, during the November election, voters sent a weak message on health issues. Now, voters will have to blizzard their elected representatives with angry letters...and they’ll have to start voting the way they write. If enough Americans demand action on vital healthcare issues, Congress will fall over itself to pick up the ball.

Find out your Congressional representative's record on specific legislation by checking with:

The ACLU’s National Freedom Scorecard at http://scorecard.aclu.org

Voter Information Services at
http://CongressionalReportCards.org.

Patricia Nell Warren, author of fiction bestsellers like The Front Runner, also writes provocative commentary. Her writings are archived at www.patricianellwarren.com. Reach her by e-mail at patriciawarren@aol.com.

 
January 2003

Copyright (c) 2003 by Patricia Nell Warren. All rights reserved.