Washington, D.C. — Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Leaders, and Committee Chairs held an enrollment ceremony in the Capitol today to sign the Senate health insurance reform bill and send it to President Obama for his signature into law. Yesterday, the House passed the passed the Senate bill by a vote of 219 to 212. Below are the Speaker’s remarks:

“Good afternoon. Last night, we made history. We honored the vows of our founders who in the Declaration of Independence talked about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We believe the legislation that we have gives all people in our country the liberty to have healthier lives, the liberty to pursue their passions, their talents, and to have happiness.

“Today, I will sign, enroll the Senate bill, which will go the President immediately which will go the President for his signature. And it will enable the Senate now to take up the corrections — right, Mr. Hoyer? — the corrections that we passed last night. Corrections that make the insurance reforms more solid, that make more equity for the states, that close the donut hole for our seniors, make the subsidies more affordable for the middle class and to change the pay for in the bill. That is the difference — not much. As you can see, this is a very big bill, and most of it is in common with the House bill that we passed last year. All that needs to be done are the corrections in the Senate.

“I don’t want to sign this bill without mentioning Senator Edward Kennedy, who up until his last days had an influence on this legislation in the most positive way. He said this is ‘the unfinished business of our society.’ He said having health care reform was about ‘the character of our country, not the provisions of any particular bill.’ And in his honor, we all have to be prayerful and feel very blessed that we could all be here for the passage of this legislation.

“Mr. Clyburn said I could say it is on par with the passing of the Civil Rights Act. I know it is on par with passing Social Security and Medicare. And now we are making history and progress for the American people by passing health care for all Americans. It is now my honor to sign this legislation.”

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Today, AARP announced support for the comprehensive and “historic” health insurance reform legislation before Congress.

Excerpts from AARP news release announcing support for the legislation:

“The legislative package cracks down on insurance company abuses and protects and strengthens guaranteed benefits in Medicare, the program millions of our members depend on and in which millions more will soon enroll.

“It closes the dreaded Medicare Part D ‘doughnut hole,’ a gap in prescription drug coverage that is life-threatening for many.

“The package stops insurance companies from pricing people out of coverage because they have an existing health problem or arbitrarily limiting the amount of care someone can receive.

“It also limits insurance companies’ ability to charge higher premiums based solely on age.

“And it improves efforts to crack down on fraud and waste in Medicare, strengthening the program for today’s seniors and future generations…

“We urge Congress to seize this opportunity to improve health care so older Americans and their families get the care they need.” (Statement by AARP Board Chair Bonnie M. Cramer)

In addition, according the AARP news release: “…AARP CEO A. Barry Rand sent a letter to every member of the House of Representatives, urging them to put the health of Americans age 50-plus first and vote “yes” on the legislative package.” Read the rest of this entry »

Washington, D.C. — Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar held an enrollment ceremony to sign the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act and send it to President Obama for his signature.  This morning, the Senate passed the House version of the HIRE Act, a bipartisan bill that will create and save hundreds of thousands of jobs and strengthen the economy. Below is a transcript of their remarks:

Speaker Pelosi.  Good afternoon.  I’ve very delighted to be here with our Distinguished Majority Leader.  We had hoped also that the Chair of the Infrastructure and Transportation Committee, Mr. Oberstar, would be with us, but he has a very important bill on the floor right now and depending on that debate, he may or may not be joining us.  But he certainly has been on the lead in investments in infrastructure, which is what this bill is about.

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