Bart Stupak speaks in Marquette

The U.P.’s longtime voice in Congress visited Marquette to speak about his opinion of what’s going on in Washington, DC.

Bart Stupak served nine terms in the House, leaving in 2011.

He’s pleased that the Affordable Health Care Act is taking effect in January, and he’s especially happy that people in Michigan can now shop around for health insurance.

“Whatever your employer gave you, that’s what you were stuck with,” Stupak said. “And I don’t mean that (to be) derogatory. I’m glad the insurers provided it, but you’re now empowered to protect your family with the health insurance policy that works best for you.”

Stupak was in the House during the 1995 government shutdown. He believes the current federal shutdown comes from a decreasing number of moderate voices in Congress. “I do believe that probably within the next 24 hours, we’ll see an agreement,” Stupak said. “They’ll probably vote on it Thursday, and at least for (the) next couple of months, we’ll get the government back running, and hopefully they can make the longer(-term) cuts that need to be made in our budget.”

Stupak now works in the Washington, D.C. area for the law firm of Venable LLC, one of the 100 largest law firms in the country. He spends half his time in or near Washington and the other half in Michigan.