Rush rallies for health care
Cancer-free congressman urges Obama to make universal coverage a priority
Before cheering supporters, Rep. Bobby Rush Monday proclaimed himself cancer-free and challenged Sen. Barack Obama to make universal health care a bigger focus of his presidential campaign.
His voice heavily slurred, Rush said this "life-transforming experience" beating salivary gland cancer has made him "an aggressive advocate for health care for all Americans."
(Sun-Times/AP)
In an atrium at the University of Chicago Hospitals, Rush folded his hands and raised his head to look toward the heavens after thanking God for his recovery. The South Side Democrat, who has started his own church in Englewood, said the experience also brought him even closer to God.
Rush said neither candidate for president is talking enough about the need for universal health care. Asked what message he would send Obama, Rush said, "He should be talking about national health care as one of his priorities. I'm calling on him to do that."
Rush soundly defeated Obama when Obama challenged him for Congress in 2000, but the two have since become allies. Rush is a former Black Panther and Chicago alderman.
Rush said he was "disappointed" earlier this year when amid his battle with cancer he read an item in Michael Sneed's column in the Sun-Times saying Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th), the wife of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., was being touted as his replacement.
"I've known Jesse Jackson Jr. since he was just a toddler," Rush said. "It was a real disappointment to me. We soon got beyond it."
Both Jacksons said at the time, and Rep. Jackson said again Monday, that neither he nor his wife ever touted her to replace Rush.
"All we've been doing is spending time praying for Bobby Rush to get well," Rep. Jackson said.
Rush said Rep. Jackson's father, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, "met with me in my home and prayed with me. I'm still close to the Jackson family."
Rush returned to Congress last Wednesday. His doctors said they are not discouraging him from jumping back into politics as he continues his recovery.
"I don't know that asking Congressman Rush to sit down and relax would be good for him," said Dr. Elizabeth Blair, the surgeon who removed a tumor the size of a large plum from his jaw earlier this year.
Could anyone have gotten his treatment, estimated to cost $500,000?
"I'm a member of Congress. I have access to the best health care in the nation, the best insurance in the nation," Rush said.
But one of his doctors and hospital Chief Operating Officer Carolyn Wilson insisted the indigent get the same level of care at the hospital.