Latino Community: Our Voice Matters

We applaud the senators on both sides of the aisle who stood firm and continue to stand firm against a terrible bill – the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act — and prevented it from being considered on the Senate floor. The action is a victory for all those who worked so hard once again to oppose legislation that would have undermined the most important protections under the ACA and left millions without health coverage. The near-universal pushback is a reminder that our voice—your voice—matters and the need to have the Latino community engaged in the political process has never been more critical.

We intend to stay vigilant and protect and defend the policies that create opportunities and benefit hardworking Latino—and all American—families.

UnidosUS’s research shows that the overwhelming majority of Latino voters support efforts to strengthen and improve the ACA, rather than repeal the law. At UnidosUS, we have worked tirelessly with the community organizations in our Affiliate Network to inform our community about what’s at stake. We intend to stay vigilant and protect and defend the policies that create opportunities and benefit hardworking Latino—and all American—families.

Rather than continue the overwhelmingly unpopular and seemingly futile attempts to repeal the ACA, the Senate must resume its bipartisan efforts to fix it. We encourage senators to come to bipartisan agreements that will give more of America’s children and families, not fewer, the opportunity for quality, affordable and accessible health care. There are enormous human and economic consequences and we must do this right because it is critical to our nation’s future.

Janet Murguía is the President and CEO of UnidosUS (formerly NCLR).