To Express Concern with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Undermining of Health-Care Reform

Economic Justice
UUSC signed on to a letter crafted by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Accountability (ICCR). For over three years, ICCR members, associates, and affiliates have engaged in dialogue or filed shareholder resolutions with more than 30 corporations, encouraging them to play a positive role in the national debate on health-care reform. Some of these companies have adopted principles for health-care reform. Yet, we are concerned that these efforts are being undermined by the approach the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — which runs a website encouraging people to sign a petition that reads, "Say no to government-run health care" — has taken in the reform debate.

Companies who have received the sign-on letter are as follows (each company has developed principles for health-care reform and made them public or stated their support of health-care reform in a letter to the lead ICCR shareholder): Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Aetna, UnitedHealth Group, WellPoint, Cardinal Health, Medco, 3M, Home Depot, Safeway, Staples, Target, Manpower, Marriott, Starbucks, Kellogg, Pepsi, American Express, Goldman Sachs, Verizon, Xerox, Duke Energy, DuPont, Exxon Mobil, Peabody, and United Technologies.

Purpose
The purpose of the letter is to express our concern with the Chamber's approach, which we find to be undermining the more positive role that some of the companies we have engaged are playing in debate on health-care reform.

The letter asks each company the following three questions:

1. Is the company in agreement with the Chamber's campaign on health-care reform?
2. What does the company plan to do to contribute constructively to the reform debate?
3. Is the company considering distancing itself from the Chamber's position in the health-care debate?