from families usa. happy to have him. let me tell you this, back in the day, roosevelt wanted to see health care for all americans. truman wanted to see it. kennedy wanted to see it. you know what, we all remember how president clinton fought for it. but today, health care for all americans has been found to be constitutional and so this is a great day for celebration. i want you all to know, we are all here today, marking this victory, clear that the work we did to get us to this point was the right thing to do, but also clear that we are going to head forward and continue to make health care truly something that all americans can have and enjoy. i want to say that i'm so proud to be here with members of the progressive caucus, and the progressive community who fought for health care, who will continue to fight for health care, and so let me say to the members of the health

progressive caucus who fought so hard and fought so long, we've got more miles to go, but let's take a minute to celebrate this moment. health care is constitutional. and as the senator said, irreversible. forward ever, backward never. let me say come on up to my co chair, mr. rehall va of arizona. >> thank you, very much, keith. and despite the shrillness next door, today is a significant day for the american people. a huge step. this supreme court, by ruling the core of the affordable care act constitutional has provided us with a step to the fundamental right that everybody in this country should have health care. and today it is affirmed that a minimum level of coverage for every american is constitutional, and right. and we should celebrate that. work to be done? yes. more to gain? yes. but today, we have broken the

ice on a decades-old inability to begin to do health care in this country. and the people next door should be happy. today the supreme court affirmed that romney care is constitutional. and they should be happy with that. and they should celebrate it with us. today is a victory, not just for president obama, not for those of us who supported this. but it is a victory for the american people on this long, tough road to get us to this point, to begin to create a climate in this country where health care is a fundamental right, available and affordable for every american. thank you very much. >> maloney. >> hi, i'm congresswoman carolyn maloney from new york. god bless america, god bless the constitution, and god bless all of the presidents on both sides of the aisle that have made

health care their top priority. thank you, president obama. it is a great day, it is a great day for americans. not for one party or the other or for an ideology, but for the 34 million americans who will have access to affordable, available health care. and it is a great win for our seniors who will no longer fall through the doughnut hole, and for women who will not be discriminated against by insurance policies that historically charge them more for their premiums than their male colleagues. and women will no longer be treated as a preexisting condition. thereby denying coverage for pregnancy, for c-sections and the very important preventative measures in the bill that will help prevent cancers and diseases. it is a great victory for our country, which is joining that family of economically advantaged countries that are providing health care to their

people, all their people. and now it's time to go back to work. creating jobs for healthy americans. >> i've got a lot of members of congress waiting. >> i'll be real quick. >> no, i'm sorry. jerry is next. nava is next. >> i'm congressman jerry nadler of new york. today the supreme court did not disgrace itself. in upholding the affordable care act, the supreme court has shown that even in a time when washington often seems to have reached a new level of dysfunction, there remains a respect for the rule of law. a respect for precedent. and for the ability of congress to -- [ cheers and applause ] >> whew! protect our health care! >> and there -- [ cheers and applause ]

>> and the there remains a respect for the ability of congress to legislate on matters that affect the welfare of the american people. that's what was at stake today. by not caving in to the most craving political calls, the supreme court has stood by more than 70 years of legal precedent to ensure that some 32 million americans will now have access to health insurance, to ensure that 42,000 americans will no longer die every year for lack of health insurance, to ensure that many other benefits of the affordable health care act, to assure that people can no longer be denied insurance, health insurance, because of preexisting conditions.

this is a good bill. despite the reactionary nature of the court, clearly constitutional, that it upheld it, the supreme court did not disgrace itself today, and we can go on from here to legislate for the better welfare of the american people. >> right now, doctor pollock of families usa. and doctor, thank you very much. >> good morning. i'm ron pollock, executive director of families usa. the national -- the national organization for health care consumers. today is a hallelujah moment for morning's families. it means that families will have the peace of mind knowing that they will have the health coverage and care they need when they need it. and it means that tens of millions of people are going to

get help, so that insurance is affordable. it means insurance companies can no longer deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions, like children with asthma and diabetes. it means insurance companies can no longer set an artificial cap on what they're willing to pay out when somebody has a catastrophic illness or an accident. it means that women will no longer be discriminated against and have to pay premiums. it means that small businesses will get tax credits so they can afford to provide health coverage for their workers. and bottom line, tens of millions of people will get health coverage for the first time. so this is an extraordinary moment, the affordable care act has been stopped in its tracks. and now we get on with the task of implementing health reform in

every state all across the country. this is truly a hallelujah moment for america's families. health reform is moving forward. >> congresswoman which i could you ski. >> i'm congresswoman jan schakowsky from the ninth district. imagine today the burden of worry that is now lifted from the shoulders of millions and millions of americans. no longer under obama care will families have to worry that someone will have a catastrophic illness, and not only will they have to deal with the illness, but the whole family may go bankrupt because of it. that won't happens because of obama care. no longer will the woman with breast cancer or the man with prostate cancer have to worry that he will not or she will not have access to the health care that they need.

a person with mental illness will now have full access to health care. this is such a great decision, we congratulate chief justice roberts and the mamtjority of t court for deciding that the law of the land is that health care finally in the united states of america is a right and not just a privilege for those who can afford it. thank you. >> and now, we have good win moore, who is the chair of the woman's conference. >> brothers and sisters, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, today is a day we've been waiting on for over a century! in this country. the supreme court's decision to uphold obama care, and i say it very proudly today, is especially important for women and children, the most

vulnerable among americans. women are twice as likely as men to be dependent upon their spouses for health insurance. children who are going to be covered until they're 26 are, of course, dependent upon their parents for health care. so as a -- as the co chair of the women's caucus, i am especially celebrating this decision today. for women and children in the united states. and i hope that in november women will appreciate the work and the sacrifice that democrats have made to bring this bill forward to the supreme court. thank you. >> laura richardson of california. >> would just like to focus on two points. in 1968, at 6 years old, laura

richardson from california, i wanted to become a member of congress. because i thought that there were laws in the civil rights movement that were unfair. and i first of all -- my comments, i want to say to chief justice roberts, for showing for the first time in a long time that government can work if we focus on the facts and we do what's right. in my district, we have people who cannot afford to have health care. we have young people who, due to no fault of their own, can't get a job and therefore don't have coverage. today, chief justice roberts and the other members of this court said, we're going to get back to doing things right. my second point to president obama, i remember many of my colleagues here just over a year ago, we walked across the street, we were spat on, we were cussed at for standing up for

people. and today, we're able to say the right thing was done. let's get about doing more work, and stop the politics, and help the american people. thank you. >> lynn bullsy, also california and former chair of the caucus. >> thank you, thank you. today the supreme court affirmed the will of the american people. but, you know, the struggle is not over. you can hear that the republicans are going to try to dismantle, step by step for step everything that's in this legislation, and everything that the american people stand for. but instead, we now can strengthen this act. we can add health care for all. we can start working to make sure there's competition, to make sure that we have medicare

for everybody. and when we do that, nobody will worry ever again about whether they have health care in the united states of america. thank you, supreme court. thank you, progressive caucus. thank you, progressive community. thank you, democrats. we all made this happen. thank you very much. >> so we have russ holt, peter welch, shelly pingre, jackson lee and marsha clark. >> i'm russ holt, i represent the people of new jersey. the history of the united states has been a history of extending human rights to every person. and to provide access to excellent health care for every woman, every child, every man, is part of that progress.

today, the supreme court has allowed that progress to continue. we have work to do. we should not be continuing this circus that we see arnold us. we should be getting to work, to make sure that we extend affordable, excellent health care to every person in america. the supreme court decision today makes that possible. >> donna christiansen, progressive caucus and a physician. >> and chair of the congressional black caucus. today the supreme court has upheld the affordable care act, settled law. we took a lot of hits on behalf of the american people, but that's over. and no amount of noise coming from our right will change that. it is the law of the land. the people of the united states have won. they now have better access to affordable health care. our nation's unsustainable health care costs will be controlled, and it will be a

stronger more competitive country. i want to say, i'm proud of the work that the tricaucus has done to expand not only access, but to take our nation closer to health equity. and i want to thank all of our partners who work with us, who supported us to make this day possible. and to applaud the administration, and secretary sebelius for their diligence and commitment to implementing this law. we look forward to working with them to make sure that the provisions that still remain are fully implemented, and to work with our state partners to make sure that no state denies any of their citizens the right to the medicaid expansion we provided in this bill. so now it's time for those republican colleagues to begin to do the work of the people, to pass jobs legislation, to pass transportation and our

appropriations bills and take care of the people we were elected to serve. >> is peter welsh still here? shelly pigre. >> thank you very much. i represent the first congressional district of maine, and i'm proud to stand here with my colleagues, celebrating this great victory. the extreme right wing conservatives may be trying to drowned us out today, but they couldn't drown out the supreme court. the supreme court decided with the american people, and against the insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies in the industries that want to deny all of us access to health care insurance. this decision means that for all those people who have been having sleepless nights, wondering if their child up to 26 can stay on their insurance coverage, or whether they're preexisting condition will be covered or for the seniors who wonder if they'll continue to have preventative care and drug coverage under medicare, they don't have to worry anymore.

thanks to the leadership of our president, nancy pelosi and speaker of the house, progressives in the congress and democrats across the country, this law is standing, and we can continue to fight for its improvement. i am proud to stand here with my colleagues today, and for once, i'm proud of the united states supreme court. >> sheila jackson lee of the great state of texas, great progressive leader. sheila jackson-lee, everybody. >> oh, my god. i am brought to tears today, and i want to thank everyone who is standing here. many of us come from the poorest districts in the land. and i happen to come from the poorest -- one of the poorest districts in america. i stand here today in the name of the sick, lying in hospital beds, or those young mothers trying to get children immunized or those elderly who cannot

substitute money for prescription drugs, because they have to eat. i stand here desperately gratified for all those hours of town hall meetings, when the violent talk of calling out president huh not see saying there was not caring and humanitarianism in this country, to say that the sick need to be taken care. i stand in a place where i could not be on the day of the emancipation proclamation, when slaves were freed. i could not be there. but my ancestors could tell me what it meant to be free. and today, i stand on the steps of the supreme court feeling freedom for those who lay sick in their beds. god is ever present for those of us who understand the omnipotent god that is in ourselves.

and i am grateful for the supreme court who recognized above the shouting of anger and violence against the sick that they were willing to uphold the constitution that allowed us to send young boys to war, allowed us to tax even the poorest, and if we had undermined the constitutional infrastructure of the commerce clause, the government would not exist. and so i humbly stand here today, feeling a sense that my pain has been overcome. and my mother, who died as a vocational nurse, who lived afterwards with a sickness that was chronic. that if we did not have universal medicare, for those over the age of 65, then they would lay dead in their graves, even before they could see their grandchildren. i stand here today in closing to say that america is a great country. democrats were willing to sacrifice and lose in 2010,

because we believed in the humanity of all women kind and mankind. thank god. thank america. thank the constitution, and thank the united states supreme court. i walk away in dignity! oh, yes! >> jackson-lee. and our last speaker is going to be hanson clark from michigan. >> everyone, i'm hanson clark. i represent the city of detroit, one of the most hard-hit regions in the entire country. this ruling is very clear, but yet very simple. it says this. that health care is a right for all americans, and that when more people have health insurance, health insurance is affordable for everyone. it makes financial sense. we needed this mandate in order to make insurance affordable for even the sickest americans, we needed americans who are healthy to buy health insurance. the more of us who have health

insurance, the cheaper health insurance is for all americans. thank you so much. >> thank you, everybody. this has been a progressive caucus. we'll keep fighting, we'll keep moving. take good care. >> four more years! >> four more years. >> everyone, let's thank our leader, representative ellison! remarks from house democrats on the health care decision today. and reacting to the court, house majority leader eric cantor today said the house of representatives will vote on repealing the affordable care act. a vote has been scheduled for wednesday, july 11th. he says the vote will, quote, clear the way toward trying to again focus on accomplishing a health care future that's premised on patient-centered care, lowering cost and affording better access. c-span will have full coverage of that debate and vote when it happens on wednesday, july 11th during the week members return from their july 4th break.

earlier in the day, mr. cantor, along with house speaker john boehner and other house republicans spoke with reporters. they talked about their efforts to overturn the health care law. this is about 20 minutes. good afternoon. thank you, everyone, for coming. earlier today, i was at the supreme court to hear chief justice roberts issue the decision on the affordable care act. and while we respect the court, we respectfully disagree with the decision. just because the court upheld the law as constitutional does not mean it is a good law. in fact, it's a terrible law. unprecedented government power.

fundamentally changing the relationship between the individual and government. and, in fact, chief justice roberts acknowledged at. the court ruled today that, in fact, the affordable care act is a tax. it is the largest tax in america's history. we also know that cbo has estimated that up to 20 million americans will lose their employer health insurance. it makes it harder for small businesses to hire. and as a mom and a wife making health care decisions like many families in america, we've already seen our premiums sky rocket, on average, $2,100 per family. for all of these reasons and more, the american people oppose this bill. in fact, the opposition has increased since the law was signed two years ago. that's why the republicans pledged to america to repeal this law. and we are more determined today than ever to repeal this law. the supreme court spoke today, but they won't have the final

word. the american people will have the final word in november. >> i'm ann hayworth from the hudson valley, new york. i'm a physician myself, an ophthalmologist and had the privilege of caring for patients in the hudson valley for 16 years. and i'm here to represent patients and doctors across the country. my colleagues tell me they are very concerned about their ability to deliver the care that their patients deserve and that they have come rightly to expect under the terms of this law. in particular, i'm worried about medicare patients. as an ophthalmologist, you can imagine i took care of many of them in my career. this law, this 2010 law, takes half a trillion dollars out of medicare. this directly compromises their access to care. it is unacceptable. we are resolved here to honor

the goals of that law which were the right goals. to have good, affordable health care for all americans, affordable, portable health insurance. the wrong law. we cannot afford to impose a $2 trillion bureaucracy on the american people. and we can honor those goals in ways that make sense. we are here to put patients at the center of health care. patients, their doctors, their providers, at the center of health care. and not the federal government. and cathy is exactly right. we are more determined than ever, and we will succeed. >> hello. rene elmers from north carolina, representing the second district. yesterday, i said a new chapter will be written for health care, as a result of the supreme court decision. it isn't the chapter i was expecting. but it is one that we will continue in the fight. i came to washington because of

obamacare. as a nurse, and with my husband as a surgeon who is actually here in washington now, we knew we had to fight against this for health care. as a mother, i'm concerned about our children. as a nurse, i'm concerned about our seniors. this keeps -- this decision keeps in place $500 billion being cut out of health care for medicare, for our seniors. and it also continues the independent payment advisory board, which will be 15 bureaucratic, unaccountable individuals who will make health care decisions for our seniors and for our citizens. the fight continues. the uncertainty remains. and the vision that has kept me awake so many times at night as a nurse, seeing myself holding the hand of a patient while the doctor comes into the room and

says that their life-saving treatment will be denied, because the independent payment advisory board deems it unnecessary. remains in my mind. we are and will remain committed to this. we will repeal obamacare. and this will continue to be our fight. and then the chapter for reform, with efficient, accountable, responsible health care reform will be put in place. thank you. >> thank you and good afternoon. i'm ann marie buerkle from new york's 25th congressional district. while the court ruled that this is a constitutional law, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's good policy. i'm a registered nurse, and since then a health care attorney. i've been in health care for over -- most of my professional life. so health care to me is intensely personal, but also --

it's just i'm very passionate about it. throughout the course of the last 18 months, i have had my hospitals, my physicians, i have had senior citizens. i have had nurses come to me and say, this law is bad. it is going to bankrupt us. it is going to affect the way we are able to provide care for our patients. so it may be constitutional. but it's not good policy. and as legislators, our primary goal needs to be to enact laws that do what's best for the american people. that make sure that they have access to health care. that we do everything in our power to keep the cost of health care down. this law doesn't talk about tort reform. this law doesn't take any of the necessary steps to really reform the cost of health care in this nation. the president continues to say that if you like your health care, you can keep it. well, i'm here to tell you, i hear from my -- the folks in the district all of the time, from my physicians, from hospitals, the concern that that's not

going -- that's not going to be what happens. so many people and employers are going to put their employees into the exchange, and they will lose their voice for health care in the united states of america. that's unacceptable. it's unacceptable as legislators, and it should be unacceptable for the american people. so as was mentioned, today begins the fight. today begins another debate. today begins the true debate on how we are going to reform health care in the united states of america. thank you so much. >> good afternoon, everyone. the president's health care law is hurting our economy. it's driving up health care costs, and it's making it harder for small businesses to hire new workers. and i think today's ruling underscores the urgency of repealing this harmful law in its entirety. what americans want is a common sense, step by step approach to