Health Security Express

Last updated July 30, 2023

The Health Security Express was a 1994 series of 16 buses^[1] that traveled around the United States in groups to promote a 1993 plan for health care reform backed by Bill Clinton. Then-U.S. President Clinton campaigned on a bus alongside his wife Hillary, Vice President Al Gore, and Tipper Gore.^[2] The caravan was organized by health care reform supporters and various labor unions,^[3] who sponsored the buses at $20,000 each and were required to support health care reform legislation. The Health Security Express was announced by Clinton health care supporters on July 12, 1994 and coordinated by John H. Hoyt, a Democratic activist. The Health Security Express had a budget of $1.4 million to $1.9 million and was funded by donations ranging from $3,000 to over $100,000.^[4]

Events

Some riders joined the Health Security Express along the way, while others joined because they had "personal and professional stories of health care difficulties."^[4] During the national tour, some passengers, or "reform riders," told of their experiences with the U.S. health care system.^[2] Other events during rallies included music by Willie Nelson, speeches by Clinton himself, and the collecting of letters written by citizens supporting Clinton's reform plan.^[3]

During one stop in Independence, Missouri, Clinton spoke about universal health care proponent Harry Truman, an Independence native.^[2] Both supporters and opponents of Clinton's plan turned out, which he said was reminiscent of protests he encountered in an earlier 1992 bus campaign. The Health Security Express was often met with opposition by pro-life advocates, who did not want health care reform to support abortions, and conservative groups against increased government presence, including the National Taxpayers Union.^[3] Health care reform supporters disregarded the protests, focusing instead on the riders' stories.^[2] The tour fell apart when Citizens for A Sound Economy's Texas chapter turned out hundreds of protesters who greeted the bus when it arrived in Dallas. CSE had an old school bus with signs reading "HillaryCare Will Break HealthCare" which circled the event site. Hillary Clinton was on the bus and went into the meeting hall and met with a small group of people, canceling the public event. The Health Security Express bus went on to Oklahoma, with the school bus following it to the Texas border. That event marked the end of the bus tour, and essentially the end of the Clinton health care initiative.

Organization

The Health Security Express actually comprised several groups of buses that departed from different regions: Boston, Massachusetts; Dallas, Texas; Independence, Missouri; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Portland, Oregon.^[4] The caravan from Portland departed on July 22,^[1] carried around 90 passengers,^[5] and was scheduled to pass through Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, before meeting the other buses in Washington, D.C.,^[3] on August 3.^[6] Timing their arrival to the Congressional debate over Clinton's 1993 plan, the bus riders planned to bring out the letters amassed throughout the trip in D.C.^[3] Upon reaching their destination, the nearly 1,000 riders from 16 buses^[1] congregated on the South Lawn of the White House and heard three of the passengers recount their experiences with the health care system.^[6]

Response

The campaign started off slow, drawing little support while seeing protesters, and forcing organizers to ask members of the Cabinet to speak at stops. In addition, the Express experienced technical issues, including an overheating bus.^[5] The Clinton administration had hoped the caravans would be as effective as a six-day July 1992 bus tour during Clinton's presidential campaign. However, Tony Blankley said, "Public sentiment has crystallized against the Clinton health plan, and a bus tour won't change that."^[4] At some stops, more protesters than supporters turned out to meet the buses.^[7]

The largely negative public response to Clinton's initiatives has been compared to the Tea Party movement's response to U.S. President Barack Obama's efforts to enact Health care reform in the United States. Obama has used strategies similar to those used during the Health Security Express, such as reporting the stories of individual citizens, but the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was successful compared to Clinton's 1993 plan.^[8]

Related Research Articles

Maria Ellen Cantwell is an American politician and former businesswoman serving as the junior United States senator from Washington since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Washington House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993, and in the United States House of Representatives from Washington's 1st congressional district from 1993 to 1995.

The Clinton health care plan was a 1993 healthcare reform package proposed by the administration of President Bill Clinton and closely associated with the chair of the task force devising the plan, First Lady of the United States Hillary Clinton.

Timothy Michael Kaine is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006 and 70th governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010. Kaine was the Democratic nominee for vice president of the United States in the 2016 election as Hillary Clinton's running mate.

Hillary Clinton, the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States in 2016, has taken positions on political issues while serving as First Lady of Arkansas, First Lady of the United States (1993–2001); as U.S. Senator from New York (2001–2009); and serving as the United States Secretary of State (2009–2013).

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and as the first lady of the United States as the wife of President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the party's nominee for president in the 2016 presidential election, becoming the first woman to win a presidential nomination by a major U.S. political party. Clinton won the popular vote, but lost the Electoral College vote, thereby losing the election to Donald Trump.

The 2008 presidential campaign of Dennis Kucinich, House Representative of Ohio and former mayor of Cleveland, began on December 12, 2006 when he announced that he would seek the nomination for the Democratic Party to run for President of the United States. Although a Democratic candidate, he was not included in the New Hampshire debates on January 4, 2008 or the South Carolina debates on January 21, 2008 because of his poor showings in the Iowa caucuses and the polls.

The 2008 presidential campaign of Chris Dodd was launched on January 11, 2007, and ended on January 3, 2008, after a sixth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. Dodd, the senior senator from Connecticut, sought the nomination of the Democratic Party for president of the United States. Centering his campaign in the states of Iowa and New Hampshire, he centred his campaign on the theme of change. Dodd's performance in the opinion polls varied, but in the financial sphere, he had secured some notable and influential endorsements who were the ones largely funding his campaign.

The 2008 Pennsylvania Democratic presidential primary was held on April 22 by the Pennsylvania Department of State in which voters chose their preference for the Democratic Party's candidate for the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters also chose the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's candidates for various state and local offices. The selected candidates will be placed on the ballot of the 2008 General Election on November 4. The Democratic primary was part of a General Primary that also included the 2008 Pennsylvania Republican presidential primary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People United Means Action</span>

"People United Means Action" was a political action committee in the United States that opposed the Democratic Party leadership and the nomination of Senator Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for President in the 2008 presidential election. PUMA began as an effort by supporters of Obama's primary rival, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who believed that Clinton should have been the Democratic nominee. According to PUMA, "We [were] protesting the 2008 Presidential election because we refuse to support a nominee who was selected by the leadership rather than elected by the voters."

Hillary Clinton won many primaries, but lost the Democratic Party nomination to Barack Obama during the 2008 United States presidential election.

The history of health care reform in the United States has spanned many decades with health care reform having been the subject of political debate since the early part of the 20th century. Recent reforms remain an active political issue. Alternative reform proposals were offered by both of the major candidates in the 2008, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections.

The public health insurance option, also known as the public insurance option or the public option, is a proposal to create a government-run health insurance agency that would compete with other private health insurance companies within the United States. The public option is not the same as publicly funded health care, but was proposed as an alternative health insurance plan offered by the government. The public option was initially proposed for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but was removed after independent Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman threatened a filibuster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State</span>

Hillary Clinton served as the 67th United States Secretary of State, under President Barack Obama, from 2009 to 2013, overseeing the department that conducted the foreign policy of Barack Obama.

The 1994 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held November 7, 1994. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Robert Byrd won re-election to a seventh term. He won every county and congressional district in the state.

The 2016 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28, 2016. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party, the majority of them elected through a preceding series of primaries and caucuses, to nominate a candidate for president and vice president in the 2016 United States presidential election. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was chosen as the party's nominee for president by a 54% majority of delegates present at the convention roll call securing it over primary rival Senator Bernie Sanders, who received 46% of votes from delegates, and becoming the first female candidate to be formally nominated for president by a major political party in the United States. Her running mate, Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia, was confirmed by delegates as the party's nominee for vice president by acclamation.

Amy Kremer is an American political activist known for her roles in the Tea Party movement and as a supporter of Donald Trump. She became involved in the Tea Party movement in 2009 and campaigned as part of the Tea Party Express until 2014. During the 2016 presidential election she was a co-founder of two political action committees supporting Trump's campaign, and following Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election she supported attempts to overturn the election result. In 2017 she unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election in Georgia's 6th congressional district as a Republican.

Hillary Clinton is an American politician from the state of New York who was the Democratic Party's 2016 nominee for president of the United States. Clinton is the first woman in U.S. history to be nominated for president of the United States by a major political party. She was defeated in the 2016 general election by Republican Donald Trump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign</span> First presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders

In the 2016 presidential campaign, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders sought the Democratic Party's nomination in a field of six major candidates and was the runner up with 46% of the pledged delegates behind former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who won the contest with 54%. Sanders, the junior United States senator and former Representative from Vermont, began with an informal announcement on April 30, 2015, and a formal announcement that he planned to seek the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States on May 26, 2015, in Burlington, Vermont. Sanders had been considered a potential candidate for president since at least September 2014. Though he had previously run as an independent, he routinely caucused with the Democratic Party, as many of his views align with Democrats. Running as a Democrat made it easier to participate in debates and get his name on state ballots.

Hillary Clinton served as the first lady of the United States from 1993 until 2001, during the presidency of her husband Bill Clinton.

References

1 2 3 The Associated Press (July 15, 1994). "Bus caravan aims to sell health reform". Lawrence Journal-World . The Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
1 2 3 4 The Associated Press (July 31, 1994). "Clinton: Let's 'finish Harry Truman's fight'". The Register-Guard . The Register-Guard. Retrieved November 2, 2010.
1 2 3 4 5 Worthington, Rogers (July 31, 1994). "Cheers, Hoots Greet Clinton, Reform Bus". Chicago Tribune . Tribune Company. Retrieved November 2, 2010.
1 2 3 4 Pear, Robert (July 13, 1994). "THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE: THE BUS TOUR; Health Care Caravans To Deliver a Message". The New York Times . Retrieved November 5, 2010.
1 2 Manegold, Catherine S. (July 26, 1994). "THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE: THE CAMPAIGN; Travails Shape the Reasons for Being on the Bus". The New York Times . Retrieved November 5, 2010.
1 2 Wines, Michael (August 4, 1994). "THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE; Wiping Eyes at the White House". The New York Times . Retrieved November 5, 2010.
↑ O'Dell, Larry (August 2, 1994). "Health care bus draws hecklers". The Free Lance–Star . The Free Lance-Star Publishing Co. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
↑ Trafford, Abigail (February 2, 2010). "Obama's struggle with health-care reform echoes Clintons' failure in 1994". The Washington Post . Retrieved November 9, 2010.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[LJW-1] 1 2 3 The Associated Press (July 15, 1994). "Bus caravan aims to sell health reform". Lawrence Journal-World . The Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved November 5, 2010.

[ERG-2] 1 2 3 4 The Associated Press (July 31, 1994). "Clinton: Let's 'finish Harry Truman's fight'". The Register-Guard . The Register-Guard. Retrieved November 2, 2010.

[CT-3] 1 2 3 4 5 Worthington, Rogers (July 31, 1994). "Cheers, Hoots Greet Clinton, Reform Bus". Chicago Tribune . Tribune Company. Retrieved November 2, 2010.

[NYT_announce-4] 1 2 3 4 Pear, Robert (July 13, 1994). "THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE: THE BUS TOUR; Health Care Caravans To Deliver a Message". The New York Times . Retrieved November 5, 2010.

[NYT-5] 1 2 Manegold, Catherine S. (July 26, 1994). "THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE: THE CAMPAIGN; Travails Shape the Reasons for Being on the Bus". The New York Times . Retrieved November 5, 2010.

[NYT_arrive-6] 1 2 Wines, Michael (August 4, 1994). "THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE; Wiping Eyes at the White House". The New York Times . Retrieved November 5, 2010.

[7] O'Dell, Larry (August 2, 1994). "Health care bus draws hecklers". The Free Lance–Star . The Free Lance-Star Publishing Co. Retrieved November 9, 2010.

[8] Trafford, Abigail (February 2, 2010). "Obama's struggle with health-care reform echoes Clintons' failure in 1994". The Washington Post . Retrieved November 9, 2010.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]