HR3590 Health Care Bill & Government Health Insurance

Health care reform could not have a better ally than someone who knows the medical and health field quite well – such as a doctor. It had one such ally in the person of Rep. James McDermott, currently the representative of the 7th Congressional District of Washington.

James McDermott was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 28, 1936. He is a licensed physician with a degree in medicine from the University of Illinois Medical School, which he earned in 1963. During the Vietnam War, McDermott served with the United States Navy Medical Corps.

His foray into politics landed him a seat as state representative in the 43rd district of Washington in 1970. He won a seat in the State Senate in 1974 and won the Democratic nomination for Governor of Washington in 1980, although he lost the seat to John Spellman. In 1987, McDermott left the Senate to work in Zaire, where he provided psychiatric services to the volunteers of the Foreign Service, AID, and Peace Corps.

McDermott won a seat in Congress in 1988, and is now on his ninth term in Congress. Among his accomplishments while in office was the African Growth and Opportunity Act; he also founded the Congressional Task Force on International HIV/AIDS, of which he is now co-chair along with Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald. He introduced the AIDS Housing Opportunities Act which provides housing for patients suffering from HIV/AIDS. He is known to be interested in particular with health-care related issues, not the least of which is ensuring that every American is guaranteed quality health care.