so they are not just -- they're shopping together. if you still can't afford the new marketplace even though it will be cheaper than what you get on your own we offer tax credits to help you. tax credits at up to the largest middle-class tax cut for health care in american history. these tax credits cost money. helping folks who can't afford it does cost money. it costs $100 billion per year but most of the costs, here's the reason it is all right. here is the reason it is all right. it wouldn't be all right if we weren't paying for it. that is what a previous congress said. they gave the benefits and didn't pay for it.

that is not what we are doing. we are taking money that americans already spending in the health-care system but is being spent poorly. it is going to waste and fraud and unwarranted subsidies for the insurance companies and we are taking that money and making sure those dollars go toward making insurance more affordable. we are going to -- we are going to set a new fee on insurance companies that stand to gain millions of new customers. here is the point. this proposal is paid for. unlike some of the previous schemes in washington, we are not taking out the credit card in your name and charging it to you. we are making sure this is paid for.

that is the second thing. the third thing this legislation does is it brings down the cost of health care for families and businesses and the federal government. americans who are buying comparable coverage in the individual markets would end up seeing their premiums go down 14% to 20%. americans who get their insurance through the work place, cost savings could be as much as $3,000 less per employer than if we do nothing. that is $3,000 your employer doesn't have to pay which means they can afford to give you a raise. [applause]

>> if you are curious about these costs, we are not spending health care wisely so you're going to the hospital or a doctor and you may take five tests. if you take one test and send an e-mail in with the test results, you wouldn't be paying $500 per test. we are trying to save money across the system. altogether cost-cutting measures would reduce most people's premiums and here is the bonus. it brings down the deficit by $1 trillion over the next two decades. so you have got a whole bunch of proponents of this bill saying we can't afford this. we are fiscal conservatives.

the same guys who passed the prescription drug bill without paying for it, we can't afford this but this bill according to the congressional budget office which is the referee, scorekeeper for how much things cost says it will save as a trillion dollars. not only can we afford it but we can't afford not to do this. [applause] here is the bottom line. that is our proposal. toughest reforms in history, one of the biggest reduction plans in history and the opportunity to give millions of people, some in your family, some who are in

this today, the opportunity for the first time in a long time to get affordable health care. that is what we are trying to do. that is what the congress of the united states is about to vote on this weekend. it would be nice if we were examining the substance, walking through details of the plan and what it means for you but that is not what the cable stations like to talk about. what they like to talk about is the politics of the vote. what does this mean in november. what does this mean to the poll numbers. is this part of the advantage for democrats or republicans. what is it going to mean for obama? will his presidency be crippled or will he be -- will he be the

comeback kid? that is what they like to talk about. that is what they like to talk about. one of the things you realize is a lot of reporting in washington is just like sports center. it is considered a sport. who is up and who's down and everyone is keeping score. let me say this, george mason. i don't know how this plays politically. no one really does. there has been so much misinformation and confusion. the climate of the times has been so toxic. people are so anxious because the economy has gone through a tough time. i don't know what is going to

happen. i don't know whether my poll numbers go down or up for what happens in terms of democrats versus republicans but here is what i do know. i do know that this bill, this legislation is going to be enormously important for america's future. i do know -- a [applause] i do know the impact it will have on millions of americans who need our help and millions more who may not need help right now all but a year from now or five years from now it may have some bad luck. if they get sick or have a pre-existing condition, if they want to start a company, i know the impact they have on this.

[applause] i know what this reform will mean for people like lesley banks, lacing will mom i met to put her daughter through of you or dad's do. her insurance company sent her a letter saying they plan to double her premium this year. she is trying to figure out whether i will keep my daughter in college. we need to pass this reform bill. i know what this will mean in

green bay, wisconsin, she thought she had beaten her breast cancer and discovered it spread to her bones and she and her husband will be lucky enough to have insurance. the medical bills still landed them in debt. so she is wary about the debt when all she wants to do is think about how to spend time with her two kids. laura needs us to pass this reform bill. [applause] i know what reform will mean for potomac can field. when her insurance company raised her rates she had to give up her coverage even though she was paying thousands of dollars in premiums because she had beaten cancer, they kept jacking up her rates until she thought she was going to lose her home.

she was scared that a sudden illness would lead to financial ruin but she had no choice. she is lying in a hospital bed after she had to give up her health insurance. she is praying that somehow she can afford to get well. chinos that it is time for reform. george mason, when you hear people saying why don't we do this more incrementally or a little more peacefully, why don't we help the folks that are easiest to help, my answer is the time for reform is now. we have waited long enough. we have waited long enough. a century long struggle will culminate in a historic vote. we have had historic votes

before. we had a historic vote to put social security in place to make sure our elderly did not live out their golden years in poverty. we had a historic vote in civil rights to make sure that everybody was equal under the law. has messy is this process is, as frustrating as this process is, as ugly as this process can be, when we have faced such decisions in our past this nation time and time again has chosen to extend its promise to more of its people. the naysayers said that social security would lead to socialism. but the men and women of

congress stood fast and created that program that lifted millions out of poverty. there were 6 that warned that medicare would lead to a government takeover of our entire health-care system. and it didn't have much support in the poll but democrats and republicans refused to it back down and they made sure our seniors had some basic peace of mind. previous generations, those who came before us made the decisions that our seniors should not be forced to go without health care just because they couldn't afford it. today it falls to this generation to decide whether we will make the same promise to hard-working middle-class families and small businesses

and to young americans who are just starting out. here is my bottom line. i know this has been a difficult journey and it will be a tough vote. i know that everybody is counting votes right now in washington but i also remember a quote i saw on a plaque in the white house that is hanging in the same room when i demanded answers from insurance executives and received a bunch of excuses and it was a quote from teddy roosevelt, that republican all those years ago and it said aggressively fighting for the rights is the noblest sport world affords. i don't know how passing health care will play politically but i know it is right.

teddy roosevelt knew it was right. harry truman knew it was right. ted kennedy knew it was right and if you believe it is right you have got to help us finish this fight. you have to stand with me like you did three years ago and make some phone calls and knock on some doors and talk to your parents and friends and do not give up. we keep on going. we are going to get this done. we are going to make history. with your help, god bless you and god bless the united states of america. [the stars and stripes forever]

[the stars and stripes forever]

[the stars and stripes forever] [the stars and stripes forever]

[the stars and stripes forever]

[the stars and stripes forever]

>> nancy pelosi's briefing was devoted to health care legislation. she believes her party has the votes for passage this weekend and is confident of the assurances she has to pass the reconciliation bill. nancy blows he speaks for 15 minutes. >> good morning. impressive. it is a good morning. this is quite a week. a couple days ago we gathered in

this room for the traditional st. patrick's day luncheon with the president of the united states originated with speaker o'neill and president ronald reagan and expanded for ireland and we had that event. today is the feast of st. joseph co-worker, particularly significant to italian-americans and it is a day when we have -- remember and pray to st. joseph to benefit the workers of america. that is exactly what our health care bill will do. i am excited about the momentum it is developing. some of you present earlier in the week. will babies as young as six weeks old to talk about what it means to them. moving on to young people a couple days ago, seniors, women, small business, very important

legislation. one day closer to passing historic legislation which will make history and progress for the american people. you see behind me an array of significant organizations supporting health care reform. that list grows by the moment since it was printed. the afl-cio has given its endorsement to catholic hospital association has endorsed the legislation. i am pleased that we got a letter representing 60 leaders of religious orders. i am pleased the school sisters of notre dame do more. a taught me in my life on the

list every quarter that you can think of. saying they wanted to pass -- wanted us to pass this life affirming legislation. that list goes on and with more to come with the release yesterday of the figures, people have seen the bill, have seen the score, the list of supporters grows. thirty-two million americans in short. $1.3 trillion in deficit reduction and savings for the american people. accessibility for many more

people. it is also liberating legislation to free americans to reach their aspirations without being job locked because they have to have health care especially if they have someone in their family with a pre-existing condition. a million new jobs created, several hundred thousand, several hundred thousand unleashed immediately and it is pretty exciting for us. six months of enactment, no child in america can ever be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. it comes into effect, no longer attached to what you can receive. there will be a tax on what you pay in. reforms on the bill -- health-insurance reforms are

very significant. we total the money in the bank when we talk about the deficit savings. the $1.3 trillion in savings. we have a story bank with millions of stories of american families who have suffered because of the unfair treatment they have received from insurance companies. the american people played on the turf of the insurance companies for too long. it is time for them to play on the turf of the american people. our members know that. they are committed to a healthier america that is the chief also said by makiachieved more fiscally sound. >> the night before the vote,

you have an amendment in the rules committee and a quarter of the day on that saturday. we expect to see a similar effort in the next 48 hours as abortion and pro-life democrats on your side try to work something out. i heard about possibly doing a corrections bill. >> i haven't heard any of that. what i have heard is this is about health care, not abortion. we agree there should be no federal funding for abortion. and there should be no expansion of abortion. to diminish or expand that right. if you don't want federal funding and you like the status quo for abortion access and you want to pass the health care bill this is it. there areçç members who may b

talking about something. but right now we're just getting votes to pass a bill. >> there are a number -- >> i try not to do the same people every day so if a look at you it is -- we have the williamsburg rule in our caucus. you probably won't speak today. >> i am glad. there are a number of members. their were corrections to medicare that were taken out. someone from organs said his state is getting nothing and that is corrected. will that fix the reconciliation coverage to see there being shortchanged on medicare money? >> without subscribing to that representation that a highly respected member of our congress

made, there are significant ways to address the disparity issue in the senate bill but we want the language to be closer to what we had in the house bill because that represented a compromise between those who have illegitimate concern about the reimbursement to their state being unfair and wanting quality, not quality of procedures and these go together but they can be dealt with separately and those who say we are dealing with large populations of poor people and cultural diversity. both sides of that discussion which really had the same common interest which was to have a fair reimbursement so that doctors would be available in all of the states, we are working on that language.

the point is this is a big coalition. we had a meeting in my office yesterday of maybe 50 members. we reach agreement before on this and that wasl comfortable about where we are heading. we are working on that. as we bring the vote to the floor we will have a significant victory for the american people. >> can you speak to what the doctor fix was not included on this legislation? >> we have been including it in legislation for longtime. it is not about a doctor fix. it is about our seniors or anyone who relies upon medicare to have access to physicians, that they be in their region or

their program. it is really about access to health care for americans. it is not in this bill but we will have it soon. we have made a commitment to do this. is very important. >> you save a certain billion and address this problem later you go negative. >> let's see how we advance the bill. when we did the budget we had a number of issues that were not part of pay-as-you-go. they were the standard growth rate, they were middle-class tax cuts. that is what we have addressed and we will address that because

it is necessary for our seniors and anyone who has access to medicare. [talking over each other] >> back to the issue of abortion, was moved by this package but we're hearing -- are you worried that it is going to become a last-minute issue? >> we have a number of issues. we have the regional disparity issue and a couple of technical changes that we know we have to make. we will have minimal changes. there will be no further changes in the bill. that was your question. >> i use saying there won't be a manager's amendment challenge will come under the bird rule or will there not the manager's

amendment should there be a successful bird challenge? >> we will have a manager's amendment. there won't be too many issues. we try to have the bird scrub just so you know what this means, under reconciliation, we are governed by the budget reconciliation act. it must be central to the budget. you have to meet that budget reconciliation test. the senate has an additional overlay which is the bird rule which has some strict requirements not to get too far in, we tried to scrub the bill of any bird and we will hear a little more today about what the final part of that is. >> william make the changes?

>> we think we are in pretty good shape going in. we you make the changes? >> we think we are in pretty good shape going in. we are not trying to make a challenge. we will see what it will be. the parliamentarian will not necessarily give us the advance. we have to calibrate it. >> what sort of assurances do you have from the senate that they have the votes to pass that reconciliation? >> they will have all the assurance they need that this bill will be taken up by the senate and passed by the senate. i feel very confident about that. we all talk about -- i talked to my members about their place in history. john lewis spoke beautifully to our caucus yesterday that we may not have chosen this time but

this time has chosen us to pass this legislation. social security, medicare, healthcare for all americans. he will be present at this historic occasion. that makes history and progress for the american people. thank you all very much. [inaudible conversations] >> following nancy pelosi begins the house republican john better devoted his news conference to the health care bill. he warned democrats that the bill will not become more popular with voters after its

passage and criticized democratic leadership for considering the use of procedures that could avoid a straight up or down vote in the house. this is about ten minutes. >> it is clear that now is crunch time. is clear that the vote is pretty tight and that is why it is important for the american people to stay engaged in this process. american families and small businesses can't afford the premium increases or medicare cuts or tax hikes or job killing mandates contained in this massive government takeover of our health-care system. it is true that this health care bill is not the same as the old

one. it is actually worse. it contains $523 billion worth of medicare cuts. $570 billion of new taxes, significant increases from the senate bill. it nearly triple the job killing employer mandate to $2,000 per employee at a time when americans are asking where are the jobs? we will make it more expensive to employ some one. we will raise the cost for employers at a time we are asking employers to be putting people back on the payroll. it flies in the face of reality. it still has 160 bureaus and commissions and mandates including a new army of irs bills. and it still forces taxpayers to fund elective abortions.

all of these new taxes, medicare cuts, all of the new mandates kick effective immediately. there are no new benefits coming to the american people for at least four years. some of the sweetheart deals are still in this bill like the louisiana purchase. we have already discovered new ones like the bismarck bank job. democrat leaders are trying to assure their colleagues that if this bill passes it will become more popular. i think they are dead wrong. it is normal in washington that once a vote occurs on a big bill like this people move on to the next thing but i can assure you we will be talking about this for months and months to come. the american people will hear about every page of, every kick

back and every swede ideal that comes out and democrats really do use the slaughter solution to pass this bill without voting on it, that vote in and of itself will be just as controversial as the bowl. the president is doing the hard sell on this bill telling democrat members that his presidency is on the line. is a vote is not about saving the presidency or a politician. this is about doing the right thing for the american people. so americans are jamming the phone lines on capitol hill screaming at the top of their lungs to say just stop! republicans are listening and we are standing with them. i have never seen a bill passed in congress that the american people knew about and already decided no. it will be interesting over the next couple days as the scheming

continues. republicans can't beat this bill but the american people can. questions? >> are you going to read from the bill as you did in the last vote? >> i am going to do everything i can to keep this bill from becoming law. >> are you planning -- you are limited but are you going to read from the bill? >> we will see when we get there. >> the constitutionality of a new idea since that would pass the debts and the prosecution question in the u.s. debt that was issued as a result? >> however this bill gets through the house there is no way any member can hide from the vote. this whole idea that you could move this bill without voting on

it makes no sense to me. if they attempt one of these gimmicks i am sure constitutional scholars will be all over it. i would think so. [inaudible] >> really? >> we were discussing the democrats -- when you took over as leader you made it clear you would not stand by and let the system pass it and bring the numbers in from time to time. were you referring to the procedural members? >> there have been questions raised about some of my colleagues in the past. all of these situations are different. on several occasions as noted by

your colleagues in the press i have asked members to step down from committees, to stepped aside until questions were answered and resolve. i told members pointblank we could do this the easy way or the hard way. fortunately for me they decided they would do it the easy way. >> moment ago i heard about another manager's amendment on the reconciliation çfixes. another self executing amendment to cover all the deals that are being cut as we stand here. >> as soon as sunday if those are not made public. >> i thought we would have 72 hours to see what it was we were voting on and it is clear they are going to violate that 72

hour rule because the second bill, the reconciliation bill may be out there. they are going to make changes to it. i am interested to see and i hope the american people are interested to see what kind of other deals are contained in this amendment. it is coming. >> republicans plan on introducing amendments during the rules committee? >> we have our ideas about what to do with this bill but no bigger than let's kill the bill, start over with a clean sheet of paper and address the number one issue americans are telling us when it comes to health care, help me lower the cost of health care to expand access for more americans. [inaudible]

>> to attempt to deem a bill pass that is 23 pages long with another 170 pages right behind it is an abuse of the process and should not occur period. >> the legitimacy of the statement of a trillion dollars in savings over 20 years balancing that with respect to cbo? >> the cbo can only score what they are given and in the way it is given to them but it is pretty clear when you look at the cbo that the 250 to $300 billion cost of the doctor fix is not included in this bill. is also clear that the long-term care program that started in this bill that they take the premiums that are supposed to be saved for benefits down the

road, they will use those premiums to pay for the new health care entitlement program and then they will take $70 billion worth of social security increases and not use it for social security but to pay for the new entitlement program and if that isn't enough, they take the $67 billion in savings from the government takeover of the student loan industry, all 49 states except one and use that saving from the student loan program to offset the cost of this program, there is not one american who thinks they are going to save money with this because they know we will spend a trillion dollars in the first ten years to provide benefits for just six of those ten while the tax increases come in the over the ten year period. the american people do not want any part of this and if anyone thinks they