In The House: 220-215

Tap, tap tap.

Hey. You.

Take a look directly above this post, right below the title of this blog, Talk to Me.

A quote from singer Marian Anderson has long headlined my thoughts.

"There are many persons ready to do what is right because in their hearts they know it is right. But they hesitate, waiting for the other fellow to make the make the first move - and he, in turn, waits for you."

Saturday night, Anh "Joseph" Cao, (R-LA) didn't wait for his fellow Republicans to make the first move.

He cast his vote as the single Republican in support of House health care bill, HR 3692, The Affordable Health Care for America Act.

In his own words: "I have always said that I would put aside partisan wrangling to do the business of the people...My vote tonight was based on my priority of doing what is best for my constituents."

Via the pen of The Washington Post (11/8/09):

(...)

Freshman Rep. Joseph "Ahn" Cao (R-La.) said becoming the only one of the 177 Republicans in the House to back the bill was a vote of "conscience" that would help the poor and uninsured in his district.

(House Minority Whip Eric) Cantor, in charge of rallying Republicans against Democratic proposals, had been by Cao's side when the voting started. As the two men chatted, they kept looking upward at the tally displayed on the wall high above them.

While neither man or their staffs has said what the two discussed, it became clear that Cao would not vote until after the Democrats had reached the required 218 to pass the bill. But once the Democrats reached that threshold on their own and started cheering, Cao cast his vote, one of the last five members to do so. Cantor stood and walked away, while Rep. Michael Honda (D-Calif.) crossed over from the Democratic side of the chamber to shake the hand of the only Republican to back the health care reform bill.

"I felt last night's decision was the right decision for my district even though it was not the popular decision for my party," Cao said in an interview Sunday on CNN. He had become the first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress in a stunning victory in December in a heavily Democratic district.

"I have a great belief in the future of my people and my country," Marian Anderson once said.

True that, Marian.

And the future is Cao.

Read more about Joseph Cao over at Daily Finance.

(...)

Among the 535 elected representatives deciding the future shape of the American health care system, some 44% are millionaires, according to a new study by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), a nonpartisan reseach group that tracks the effect of money in U.S. politics and policy. Rep. Cao is not among them. Neither are his constituents."I listened to the countless stories of Orleans and Jefferson Parish citizens whose health-care costs are exploding -- if they are able to obtain health care at all," Cao, the first Vietnamese-American to be elected to Congress, said in a statement after the legislation passed the House with a 220-215 vote.

"Louisianans need real options for primary care, for mental health care, and for expanded health care for seniors and children," he added. Cao fled Saigon with two siblings three days before the city fell when he was 8 years old and came to America. Last year he defeated William J. Jefferson -- the Democratic lawmaker busted with $90,000 in his fridge -- who ran while under indictment on federal corruption charges and has since been convicted.

The Bill is Passed."

Roll Call.