DeLauro in Support of Health Care Reform Legislation

Washington, DC— Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) today celebrated the passage of the historic health care reform legislation package. The Senate bill will now be signed into law by President Obama, and the reconciliation bill that reflects the agreement between the House and Senate must be passed by the Senate. Below are the Congresswoman's remarks, as delivered on the floor of the House of Representatives:

"I rise in support of this historic legislation, arguably the most important vote we here today will ever take in this chamber. Today fulfills a promise made 100 years ago by Theodore Roosevelt when he first called for comprehensive health care insurance reform. It fulfills a promise made by Franklin Roosevelt made to our parents, our grandparents, and our great grandparents in 1944. President Richard Nixon also labored and lost on this national mission and President Bill Clinton, too, tried to climb this mountain.

"Today's legislation builds on the great achievements of Social Security and Medicare, those big changes that we all take for granted regardless of party and yes, they, too, were characterized as socialist government takeovers. Today we have a chance to make health insurance affordable for people and small businesses that deny them coverage and increase their rates and from dropping them when they get sick. Enough. This reform law allows 32 million of our citizens to get insurance, a moral imperative that closes the doughnut hole in prescription drugs for seniors and women will no longer have to pay more for their insurance, a long overdue reckoning. I am humbled by the opportunity to cast a vote for this historic change."