Protesters rally against Rep. Connolly's health care vote

They call him "Tito the Builder," but he was more like "Tito the Health Care Crusader" on Tuesday.

Tito Munoz wore a hard hat adorned with images of a bald eagle and an American flag, and in the breast pocket of his fluorescent green vest was a copy of the Constitution.

He also was not above pointing his finger at the staff of Rep. Gerald E. "Gerry" Connolly as he railed against the congressman's vote in favor of health care legislation.

Munoz was the featured speaker at a rally in front of Connolly's Woodbridge office organized by the conservative group Americans for Prosperity.

The congressman, who represents much of Prince William County, voted for the reform bill that passed the House of Representatives 220 to 215.

Connolly contends that the bill will expand insurance coverage to 96 percent of Americans and make premiums more affordable for families.

"If we have common American values that include compassion and economic common sense, if we have some sense of commonwealth in which your need is also mine, if we can rise above partisan advantage and understand our responsibilities to our fellow countrymen, here in this place, then we will seize this moment, this one transformative moment, to make America a better place," the Democrat said on the House floor Saturday.

But his vote has made him a target for those who say the bill is a tool the government is using to take over the lives of citizens.

Americans for Prosperity brought its "Hands off my Health Care" bus to the Ridgewood Center on Prince William Parkway, and dozens of angry people came at midday to talk health care.

"It's shameful, in America, that I came to America, and I have to fight socialists when I left a country full of socialists," said Munoz, a native of Colombia.

Benjamin Marchi, Americans for Prosperity's Virginia state director, estimated the crowd at close to 200, though others put it at more like 100.

Regardless, Marchi said the turnout was great considering the number of commuting residents who are away from Woodbridge during the day.

Because the House has already voted, Marchi said, Tuesday's event was also about trying to influence Virginia's U.S. senators, James H. Webb Jr. and Mark R. Warner.

James Walkinshaw, Connolly's chief of staff, and other aides provided water and candy for the protesters and offered them forms to use to leave comments for the lawmaker.

Walkinshaw said the congressman has heard from people on both sides of the health care divide in recent days.

However, he noted that Americans for Prosperity's first president, Nancy Pfotenhauer, said Northern Virginia wasn't part of "real Virginia" when speaking on behalf of U.S. Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign last year.

"I haven't yet heard Americans for Prosperity apologize to Prince William County residents for the way that they slandered them," he said as protesters held signs and wore stickers endorsing Keith Fimian, a Republican who plans to challenge Connolly in next year's congressional election.

Americans for Prosperity had Connolly in its cross hairs because the other two congressmen who represent the Prince William area voted against H.R. 3962 on Saturday.

They are Republican Reps. Frank R. Wolf and Robert J. Wittman.

Wolf, who represents Manassas, Manassas Park and part of western Prince William, said in a prepared statement Monday that the legislation, passed mainly along party lines, should have been handled in a more bipartisan manner.

He also said that the Congressional Budget Office estimates it will cost Americans more than $1 trillion over the next decade.

"I do not question the need for Congress to find a way for the millions of Americans without health insurance to be assured of quality, affordable health care," Wolf said. "But I believe Congress can do better than this legislation."

Wittman, who represents much of southern Prince William, said that the bill is more about "government takeover" than about topics such as "allowing the sale of insurance across state lines, enacting meaningful tort reform and allowing those with pre-existing conditions to purchase affordable coverage."

"We need reform that will truly lower costs, not create more bureaucracy and new government programs at the price of further debt upon an already bloated budget," he said in a prepared statement Saturday.

Staff writer Jonathan Hunley can be reached at 703-369-5738.