Oral history interview with James "Jim" H. Houser Jr. and Helen M. Dally, 2022
Abstract
Jim Houser and his daughter, Helen Dally, reflect on their experience of the years of the Obama presidency, discuss their advocacy for healthcare reform, and remember their encounters with the Obama administration, including their attendance at the 2011 State of the Union address as guests of the first lady. Houser and his wife, Liz Dally, founded the Hawthorne Auto Clinic in Portland, Oregon in 19 83, and Houser outlines their management of the shop and the burden of rising healthcare costs on their business during the years leading up to Obama's election in 2008. Houser describes his advocacy for healthcare reform both nationally and in Oregon, and he details his activities representing the interests of small businesses through the Main Street Alliance, in hearings with House and Senate subcommittees, in meetings of the Oregon Health Authority board, on the task force working on Oregon's health insurance marketplace (Cover Oregon), and on the Cover Oregon advisory committee. Houser also discusses his interactions with Obama administration officials, and shares memories of his meeting with President Obama at an event in support of the Affordable Care Act in Falls Church, Virginia, in 2011, and of the 2011 State of the Union, which Helen also attended. Also discussed are Houser and Dally's experience of the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic recession; the implementation of the Affordable Care Act; and Dally's work in support of the normalization of diplomatic relations with Cuba, including her involvement in the organization of Obama's first cultural delegation to Havana
Presidents--United States; Health care reform--United States; Medical care, Cost of--United States; Small business--Oregon; Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009--United States; United States Foreign relations Cuba; Cuba Foreign relations United States; Houser, Jim; Dally, Helen; Obama, Barack; Oregon Health Authority; Cover Oregon (Organization); United States; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
53 pages
Note (Biographical)
Jim Houser and his daughter, Helen Dally, are from Portland, Oregon. Houser and his wife, Liz Dally, founded the Hawthorne Auto Clinic in Portland in 1983. During the years of the Obama presidency, Houser became a leading advocate for healthcare refor m in Oregon and across the country, and he participated in a September 2010 event in Virginia with President Obama in support of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In 2011, Houser attended the State of the Union address as a guest of First Lady Michelle Obama, and the president referred to the impact of the ACA on the Hawthorne Auto Clinic in his remarks. Houser has also testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, served on the Oregon Individual and Employer Consumer Advisory Committee, and served as co-chair of the Main Street Alliance [MSA] of Oregon. Helen Dally accompanied Houser to the State of the Union in 2011, and spoke to the media in support of the ACA from the steps of the Supreme Court on the day of the first ruling that confirmed the constitutionality of the ACA. During the years of the Obama presidency, Dally also worked on programs and initiatives to promote educational and cultural exchange and the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba, including service as an international host and interpreter for President Obama's Committee on the Arts and Humanities in 2016
Note
Interviewed by William McAllister on January 26, 2022. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
James "Jim" H. Houser Jr. and Helen M. Dally, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023