Subject: [big campaign] History in the Making
From: Adam Jentleson <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:40:52 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

For Immediate Release
March 21, 2010

Contact
Jason Rahlan, 202.481.8132
[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

History in the Making

By John D. Podesta
The House of Representatives this evening made history. Progressive and moderate members of Congress passed the most significant domestic legislative package in over 40 years—legislation that fulfills the promise of progressive leadership by finally addressing the long-simmering health care crisis in our country. The new law puts us on a path to provide health care coverage for all Americans, empowers consumers over insurance companies, and ensures we are moving to reduce health care costs over the long term.

The new law accomplishes the long-sought goal of expanding affordable health care coverage to the tens of millions of Americans who are uninsured today, ensuring that 95 percent of Americans will soon have health insurance.  And it ends abusive health insurance company practices by guaranteeing no American will ever again be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition or see their coverage canceled when they get sick.

Importantly, the new law also lowers costs for small businesses and individuals who buy coverage on their own through the creation of health insurance exchanges. It caps health care spending for millions of families who struggle with health costs today. And it brings a new focus to prevention, helping all families manage their health.  Moreover, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill reduces the federal budget deficit by $143 billion through 2019, and it will yield even greater savings in the decades to come.

Yet the hard work of health reform isn’t finished—first the Senate must pass the final bill and send it to the President’s desk.

But today we should celebrate this historic achievement.  I congratulate Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC), and all of the members of the House of Representatives who worked tirelessly to ensure the passage of this legislation.  Their leadership—and the leadership of President Obama—delivered on the longstanding progressive goal of fundamentally reforming our nation’s health care system.

John D. Podesta is president and chief executive officer of the Center for American Progress.
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The Center for American Progress<http://www.americanprogress.org/> is a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all. We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values. We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that is "of the people, by the people, and for the people."

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