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Protesters Draw Chalk Outlines of Bodies in Front of Rep. Rehberg's Great Falls Office

By KFBB News Team

Story Created: Nov 12, 2009 at 7:07 PM MST

Story Updated: Nov 12, 2009 at 7:07 PM MST

About a dozen protesters gathered in front of Congressman Dennis Rehberg's Great Falls office Thursday afternoon as part of a statewide day of action to denounce the his vote against the affordable health care bill in the House of Representatives last weekend.

They drew chalk outlines of bodies every 12 minutes to symbolize the 45,000 citizens who die every year in this country because they lack health insurance and can't get adequate care. That's one person every 12 minutes, according to researchers at Harvard Medical School.

Protester Pat Rosenleaf says, "You know, I think it's so important for us to pull together as a country and decide that we're going to take care of each other. We just can't let people die because they don't have insurance. It's just not right."

Protester Jerry Rukavina adds, "And I'm a little frustrated with Mr. Rehberg, that he just votes no. And I'd like to see some better ideas from him. These are significant problems for a lot of Montanans, and I think our congressional and senatorial representatives need to pay attention to that."

Rehberg Spokesperson Jed Link said said that the congressman's door has always been open, pointing to his many listening sessions he had back in August.

Link adds, "He heard from thousands of Montanans, and the vast majority agree that health care reform is necessary but don't want to merely replace an insurance bureaucrat with a more expensive government bureaucrat."

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