all across the united states spontaneously, you saw americans attending, some for the first time, townhall meetings of their member of congress. that was in august of 2009. they stood up, and they held their member of congress, their senator accountable for what happened with obamacare and the people were not happy. we saw a revolt happen in 2010 where the american people did come to the ballot box, and we saw nancy pelosi lose the gavel to her hand as a direct result of -- [ inaudible ] and because of that we saw a new majority in congress that did pass ret peel of obamacare. the members of the tea party caucus that have spoken to you this morning and the other members of the teaparty caucus did vote to repeal obamacare. you see, we have the job

one-third done. now we have to complete the job in the senate and also in the white house. it's imperative. we don't have a choice because our legal remedies have now included in the supreme court today. as inexplicable as this decision is, with no foundation in our constitution for upholding the individual mandate, this court has ruled today, and this has meant a turning point in american history. we're the largest expansion of government power over our liberties and over even our very lives so that now government for the first time in the history of the country has power to force every one of you to buy -- to force you to purchase whatever product or service government tells you to buy just because you breathe. that's never happened before in the history of the united states

and john fleming, also a member of the tea party caucus from the great state of louisiana, dr. john fleming. >> look, folks, it's kind of hard to follow michele bachmann, doan you think? she's doing a wonderful job for us. absolutely. strong, conservative woman for strong, conservative women in america. my name is john phlegm, and i'm congressman from the fourth district in louisiana. i'm a physician and have been a doctor for 36 years ask still practice medicine when i get the opportunity and also a small business owner so i've been tasked for years to not only provide health care, but to provide health care benefits to my employees and so i have an understanding of the microcosm

of that economy. look, folks, obamacare, we all know is despised by two-thirds of americans. we know that it's going to create nothing, but a giant, bureaucratic system and it's beginning to do that. it's taken away the consumer choices and it's intruding into the relationship between your doctor and you as a patient. i don't fault the supreme court today for their decision and here's why because, basically, you can see this written into justice roberts that he basically says it's not the supreme court's job to fix the mistakes made by congress. it's up to the people who elected members of congress and the president to decide what kind of policies that you want in this nation. as such, it's our responsibility as members of congress and hopefully a new president coming forward that we're going repeal obamacare, lock, stock and barrel and pull it out by its

roots. so we intend to do that. we have support for that? anyone in for that? >> remember if you're going to get more people covered by insurance, you need to make it more attractive and not force them through law. what we want is more consume are choices, not more government mandates that micromanage every day of your life. and i'll end with one other point and that is that there say difference between health care coverage and access to health care. countries around the world that have 100% health care coverage and it entitles you to walk into a clinic and ask for care, but in many of those countries you do not get timely care. even our neighbor to the north and great britain. they have 100% coverage and they wait in long lines and die in

the process. that is not a value that we want here in america. so i thank everyone for coming out. we have our marching orders now and the second week of july, the house of representatives will be voting once again to repeal obamacare and if that doesn't happen, if it doesn't get passed through all of the way of the president's signature, do you know what to do on november 6th? thank you very much. >> thank you, dr. john fleming who is also part of the doctor caucus. they'll be out doing their own press conference later this afternoon. one of those doctors, dr. tom price was also in the chamber this morning, as well. next, i'd like to introduce to you the fruit of the revolution in 2010 with the tea party. the tea party spoke very loudly and has a strong history in the state of tennessee, and they chose another conservative woman to come to this congress to

represent the true value of our constitution and i would like to introduce to you now my friend, congresswoman black from tennessee who is absolutely a wonderful tea party representative. please welcome congresswoman black from tennessee. [ applause ] >> thank you, michele. isn't she just great? we just cannot thank michele enough for her leadership with the tea party and what she is standing for in this country, and as she says i was one of those that came in with the tea party this last 2010 election and we need to elect a whole lot more. this upcoming election with the values and stand with what we believe in and getting this country back. obviously, the supreme court's decision is a gross interpretation of commerce's taxing responsibility under the constitution and as a member of the ways and means i will do everything i can to repeal this

so-called tax. one thing is for sure, the only way that this is going to go away is for us to repeal the entire bill. we have got to have a president. we want you all to work as hard as you can to help us get a president so that what we can do come november is to get a president that will work to fulfill this entire bill. yes! let's give that a yea! >> i have watched how difficult it is for the people that i care for to get the services that they need. there's no doubt that the system needs to change and we have to do more to help create access and continue the quality of care, but this obama care is not the way to do it. it is hurting our economy. it is hurting our job creators and hurting those that we are trying to get the care to.

we are finding that there's less access for care. there are insurers that are dropping some of their plans. that's not more access. it's driving up the cost of care and that's not going to help access and it certainly doesn't help quality. what we need is patient-centered care and we need to repeal this bill entirely and to begin to put in place piece -- that we can make sure that what we put in place is patient-centered. get the doctors out and get the doctors and the patients together and the government out of the middle of providing care to our people. so that's what we need to do is repeal this law as soon as we possibly can. i know you all are there with us. keep up the work and thank you for being behind us. we appreciate you being here today. you just heard from diane black, a wonderful new member of congress. the reason why we had a change

in the house of representatives is because the american people sent us people like diane black, and this will happen this fall in the senate, in the white house and also in the house of representatives. let's talk just a little bit about what this decision means today. not only is it a turning point for american history, but this also means a black cloud remains over any economic recovery for this country between now and november. that's a grim word for the american people because this means that millions of employers across the united states knowing now that obamacare will be there because they can't afford it. it's either provided jobs, provided coverage. millions of job providers drop their coverage. you'll see millions of employees lose their employer coverage and

you'll see millions move their companies outside of the united states. that makes president obama achieve outsourcing jobs. he is responsible for moving jobs out of the country and an unprecedented decision unlike any one we have ever seen, and the greatest motivator we've ever had with one hand, one voice and one cause and that cause is to have the future of the united states of america with the better economy. more options. >> one voice and one cause. that cause is to stand for the future of the united states of america with a better economy, more options and better health care for americans and to do that we now have our marching orders to replace barack obama and the senate and have a new day come january 20th.

it will be done because of the tea party. thanks so much, everybody. thank you for what you've done. iffy woo work hard we'll win in november. god bless you. republican members of congress led by congresswoman michele bachmann and earlier presidential candidate up on the supreme court plaza reacting to the supreme court's health care ruling today on this final day of the supreme court term here at the end of the month of june. you're watching live coverage on

c-span networks including c-span3 television and also on c-span.org and we've added all sort of other features, including the ruling itself. if you would like to read more of what the justices had to say to uphold and also dissent from the final ruling, you can have that all available to it at c-span.org. we're also taking your comments by twitter and our twitter address is @cspan and add t the #aca for affordable care act. coming up will be the president of the united states commenting from the white house upholding the congress supreme court upho. good morning. >> my name is chris kim. i'm a 14-year-old, and i am an asian-american and the best thing about myself is i am an american. i think that the only reason president obama passed the aca is because he is an alien --

>> and we're going to leave you there, chris, 13 years old. next up, chicago. a call from joe who is a democrat. joe, you're on. >> yes. i just wanted to comment on justice roberts'. his decision was a vote for democracy and against the movement in this country. mexicans -- mexico has their own healthcare plan for their people. canada has a health care plan for their people. our jobs went north and south. not to china so much because of that and also to china because of that. we have a drug company accustomed that owns $30 million and we're worth $20 billion. it's been run by the drug companies, the doctors, and insurance companies for too long. they want the money for the system, let's go after the

offshore companies that hide their money. it's the beaurocratic movement and let's collect those tax moneys and use it for the health care system. >> thanks, joe, for your comment. from twitter, jim hines has been sending this tweet. rom nowacki longer needs to do anything to appeal to staunch ronpaul supporters. scotus upholding aca did it for him. next, a phone call from san diego, this is richard who is a republican. >> thank you, c-span. kudos to romney. i watched his -- his answer to this and in the end we'll be thanking mr. roberts because now we know where we're going, and don't be surprised if it's not real loud or anything. there's determination in what's going to happen now, and it will be repealed regardless because it's a bad bill, and we can't afford it.

not only that, i watched your companion television, number two, and the democrats were talking and they were totally stunned by what just happened and, believe me, they know they just committed political suicide. thank you very much. >> thank you. close to 90-degree day here in the nation's capital. you can see the crowds on the supreme court steps starting to thin a bit now that the decision is known, but still people watching the commentary by members of congress and others on this historic day. here comes the president. good afternoon. earlier today the supreme court upheld the constitutionality of the affordable care act. the name of the health care reform we passed two years ago. in doing so, they've reaffirmed a fundamental principle that here in america, in the wealthiest nation on earth no illness or accident should lead to any family's financial ruin.

i know there will be a lot of discussion today about the politics of all of this, about who won and who lost. it's how these things tend to be viewed here in washington, but that discussion completely misses the point. whatever the politics, today's decision was a victory for people all over this country whose lives will be more secure because of this law and the supreme court's decision to uphold it and because this law has a direct impact on so many americans, i want to take this opportunity to talk about exactly what it means for you. first, if you're one of the more than 250 million americans who already have health insurance, you will keep your health insurance. this law will only make it more secure and more affordable. insurance companies can no longer impose lifetime limits on the amount of care you receive. they can no longer discriminate against children with pre-existing conditions. they can no longer drop your

coverage if you get sick. they can no longer jack up your premiums without reason. they are required to provide free preventive care like check-ups and mammogram, a provision that's already helped 54 million americans with private insurance and by this august nearly 13 million of you will receive a rebate from your insurance company because it spent too much on things like administrative costs and ceo bonuses and not enough on your healthcare. there's more -- because of the affordable care act young adults under the age of 26 are able to stay on their parents' health care plans, a provision that's already helped 6 million young americans and because of the affordable care act, seniors receive a discount on the prescription drugs. a discount that's already saved more than 5 million seniors on medicare about $600 each. all of this is happening because of the affordable care act. these provisions provide common-sense protections for

middle-class families and they enjoy broad, popular support and thanks to today's decision, all of these benefits and protections will continue for americans who already have health insurance. now if you're one of the 30 million americans who don't yet have health insurance, starting in 2014 this law will offer you an array of quality, affordable, private health insurance plans to choose from. each state will take the lead in deciding their own menu of options and the states can come up with better ways of covering more people at the same quality and cost. this law allows them to do that, too. and i've asked congress to speed up that congress and give flexibility in year one. once states set up these health insurance marketplaces known as exchanges, insurance companies will no longer be able to discriminate against any american with the pre-existing health condition. they won't charge you more just because you're a woman and they

won't be able to bill you into bankruptcy. if you're sick, you'll finally have the same chance to get quality, affordable healthcare as everyone else. if you can't afford the premiums you'll receive a credit that helps pay for it. today, the supreme court also upheld the principle that people who can afford health insurance should take the responsibility to buy health insurance. this is important for two reasons. first, when uninsured people who can afford coverage get sick and show up at the emergency room for care, the rest of us end up paying for their care in the form of higher premiums and success, if you ask insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions and don't require people who can afford it to buy their own insurance, some folks might wait until they're sick to buy the care they need which will also drive up everybody else's premiums. that's why i knew it wouldn't be politically popular and resisted

the idea when i ran for this office, and we include the provision that people who did afford to buy health insurance should take the responsibility to do so. in fact, this idea is enjoyed support from members of both parties including the current republican nominee for president. still, i know the debate over this law has been divisive. i respect the very real concerns that millions of americans have shared, and i know a lot of coverage through this health care debate has focused on what it means politically. well, it should be pretty clear by now that i didn't do this because it was good politics. i did it because i believed it was good for the country. i did it because i believed it was good for the american people. you know, there's a framed letter that hangs in my office right now. it was sent to me during the health care debate by a woman named natoma canfield. for years and years natoma did everything right. she bought health insurance, paid her premiums on time, but

18 years ago she was diagnosed with cancer and even though she'd been cancer-free for more than a decade her insurance company kept jacking up her rates year after year and despite her desire to keep her coverage, despite her fears that shield get sick again, she had to surrender her health insurance and was forced to hang her fortunes on chance. i carried natoma's story with me every day on the fight to pass this law. it reminded me of all of the americans all across the country who have had to worry, not only about getting sick, but about the cost of getting well. natoma is well today and because of this law there are other americans and other sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers who will with not have to hang their fortunes on chance. these are the americans for whom we pass this law. the highest court in the land has now spoken. we will continue to implement

this law and we'll work together to improve on it where we can, but what we won't do, and the country can't afford to do is re-fight the political battles of two years ago or go back to the way things were. today's announcement, it's time for us to move forward, to implement and where necessary improve on this law and now is the time to keep our focus on the most urgent challenge of our time, putting people back to work, paying down our debt and building an economy where people can have confidence that if they work hard they can get ahead, but today, i'm as confident as ever that when we look back five years from now or ten years from now or 20 years from now, we'll be better off because we have the courage to pass this law and keep moving forward. thank you. god bless you and god bless america.

and that's the president's statement on the supreme court's favorable review of the centerpiece legislation, the affordable care act. c-span's continuing live coverage of this closing day of the supreme court in 2012. our phone lines are open for your comments. you can see the phone numbers on the bottom of the screen. we also will be taking your tweets and here's one, for example, from a viewer who writes, so many lives saved. so many families helped. i thank scotus for their decisions, thank you, sir. next up is orlando, florida, mag da is a democrat there. >> thank you. i'm just calling to tell you that i'm 62 years old, and i have a very bad illness, three more came out. i have no health care. i spoke to my doctor about this,

and he is a republican and he says this is -- i mean, mitt romney just lied to the american people and people have to realize his health care is the same as president obama. he's so decent. he's so humble. this president does not attack mitt romney. mitt romney attacks him. it hurts my heart that every country has health care and the republicans just hate this president because he's half white, he's half black and we need to respect the president of the united states no matter what. look at how humble he came out. please, republicans and independents, rollize what this means. >> magda from orlando, florida, on the phone is congresswoman rosa delaura, a democrat. she has been very involved in health care issues and in particular, women's health care issues. congressman, thanks for being

with us. but first, your overall reaction to the supreme court's ruling today. >> i mean, this really is a victory for the american people. i will just say that i thought that they wouldn't evertuovertu. i just didn't see how they would -- you know, it was unconstitutional in their efforts so it's a real victory for the american people, and i think that what we're going to see now that and the parts of it and you mentioned my interest in women's health and this is significant for women and their families that i think it's extraordinary. women will -- there's no longer the issue on being denied health care because of cesarean section, because of being a victim violence. the big issue there is gender

rating and because you're a woman you'll pay 48% more for your health insurance. children can no longer be denied coverage due to preexisting conditions and then we've got this whole battery of preventive services that are injured. screenings for mammography, for, you know, a cervical pap smears, and colonoscopies, and this is a transforming piece of legislation. i believed that when i voted for it two years ago, and it's one of the proudest votes i have ever cast. and because i believe, as i did then and i do now that this legislation has the ability to transform people's lives which has been so critically important for health care that makes quality health kcare available

and affordable for people today. i'm pleased for the opportunities that they had the menu labeling, a portion of the bill and it is a piece of lld legislation that i had that has the calories that will be listed on menu boards across the country and the transparencet and summary of benefits so people know what kind of coverage they're going to get. they are not at the mercy of the insurance company or anyone else that got the material inside a black box so that they know what kind of coverage that they're going to get. this is helpful to millions of families today and i was proud then, as i said and i am proud today. >> congresswoman, are there no aspects. we've had democratic supporters of the bill that described it as not perfect. are there aspects of the legislation that you would like to get back and fine-tune in any

way. i think with a piece of legislation, with the scope of this kind of legislation, if you get back and look at social security. the social security we have now is not exactly the way it was done when it was first passed. it is a dynamic document than what you keep moving forward as you work to implement it and you find out what has to be more fine-tuned and particularly with the scope of this legislation which is sweeping. >> we heard this morning from congressman peter welsh in vermont about vermont's own work with a state-wide insurance exchange. what's happening -- health care exchange. what's happening in your home state of connecticut? >> in connecticut, they are working to implement the law and to put the exchange in place.

we have, in the interim, set up the high-risk pool and the decision on that helps to move us forward and deal with the implementation and the exchange, and look, people will be able to make a selection of what insurance meets their needs and those people who have insurance and are perfectly happy with it today, that just stays in place. let me ask you about the politics for the fall campaigns. how do you see this playing out politically? look, i just think the court made a determination and a decision that is now, you know, it really is the law of the land and we have to work at implementing it, and i think it will be played out during the election is the creation of jobs and the economy and that's what we ought to be focused in on now. that's what we should have -- not lose sight of the fact, and