Congressman's actions don't value women

Another Mother's Day has just past and that may give Congressman Peter Roskam an opportunity to profess his appreciation for the women of the 6th District. But, it's clear that while Roskam talks a good game, his actions have hurt the mothers and grandmothers that he is supposed to be representing. To name a just few of Roskam's "greatest hits" against women:

• In 2009 he voted against the Lily Leadbetter Fair Pay Act;

• In 2013 he voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act;

• In 2013 he voted against funding Medicare Nutritional Assistance; and,

• By voting 70 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Roskam, apparently, doesn't see a problem with eliminating health coverage for 16 million women (nonpartisan CBO estimate).

Yet, his latest actions are particularly damaging to the lives of the moms and grandmothers of his district. Because of Roskam's 2017 tax law (again according to the CBO); 1) 6.5 million women will lose their health insurance; 2) health care premiums next year for women will go up 10 percent on top of the normal increases, and; 3) women who get their coverage under the ACA exchange (11,000 … more than any other district in Illinois) will experience up to 40 percent increases in their premiums.

Distressingly, the most damaging of Roskam's actions toward women are yet to come. His right-wing pals in Congress are now talking cutting Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security to pay for the huge deficits that Roskam's tax law has created. In fact, just this week, they proposed cutting billions from the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the ACA.

So, when you hear Roskam talk about how much he values women, remember that his empty talk does not match up with the reality of his actions.

Jerry Freda

Inverness