Join Call for Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street to Raise Funds For AIDS Treatment, Other Healthcare, Community Needs

Calling him one of the “premiere advocates for nurses and working people in the U.S. Congress,” National Nurses United, the nation’s largest union and professional association of registered nurses, today announced its endorsement of Rep. Raul Grijalva for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

“Raul Grijalva has an outstanding record of standing up on issues affecting working people, especially on healthcare, other public protections and other vital reforms, that has won the respect of nurses across the country,” said Jean Ross, RN, co-president of the 175,000-member NNU. “We are proud to endorse and stand with him.”

As co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Grijalva has “established a great model of national leadership in advocating on behalf of the critical issues that face our nation, especially in the midst of an ongoing economic crisis that has caused pain for so many of our patients and communities across the U.S.,” Ross noted.   

In its enthusiastic support for Grijalva, NNU noted in particular his ongoing support for guaranteed healthcare for everyone through Medicare for All as exemplified in the American Health Security Act (H.R. 1200, and the companion bill in the Senate, S. 915).

NNU also applauded Rep. Grijalva’s support for a small tax on Wall Street transactions, commonly referred to as a Robin Hood Tax, a high priority for the nurses. Such a tax is estimated by economists to generate up to $350 billion dollars annually that would provide sorely needed funds to rebuild the nation’s decimated social safety net.

“For too long now we have seen the results of Wall Street controlling the economy. It is time for the ‘Main Street’ values of financial equality and fairness to take precedence, and few have been as outspoken and effective in advocating for those positions as Raul Grijalva,” Ross said.  

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