Advocates for health care, fair wages and union rights gathered Wednesday afternoon to demand that Congress create jobs and to pass a sensible health insurance plan.

Their message to the Rhode Island delegation was not a new one, but it was impassioned: "No Excuses. No more politics. Congress must act to create jobs and to pass strong health-care reform."

Speakers at the Kennedy Plaza rally, which drew about 100 people, also emphasized the need to protect workers' rights and address global warming.

"We need Congress to pass a strong jobs-creation bill that will put Rhode Islanders and people across the country back to work," said Daniel Bass, organizer at the advocacy coalition Ocean State Action.

Participants urged Washington to recognize the stress that joblessness and a lack of affordable health care puts on working people who are just trying to stay afloat.

As one sign in the crowd put it: "A job is a right."

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