hello. this is a fox news alert. heath care debate coming to a head on capitol hill. >> i'm kelly wright. welcome to a brand-new hour of america's news headquarters. any moment we are expecting president obama to lay out his argument for health care reform. he is trying to rally the troops ahead of a pivotal vote. they are holding a ralph their own. tea party protestors are making a last minute push to stop the bill on the steps of the capital. >> they estimate 217 democrats are leaning towards passing the bill, 216 yes votes are needed. our count is largely based on how democrats voted for the house health care bill back in november. tomorrow the house will vote on a different version so the outcome is still uncertain.

carl cameron is joining us. there has been a lot going on. what is going on with the demon pass strategy, it appears that, as i understand it, maybe some caved in about the pressure about the constitutionality of this strategy? >> not the democrats strategy, but republicans and democrats have used it together. both parties have taken advantage of it and exploited it. it skews the intent. in this particular instance, democrats have been talking about in passing the rule for debate on the package of reconciliation fixes, there would have been a line that said look we are going to deem this as passing in the house directly. one step removed. but chris van hollen who is

member has gone gone on record planning to drop that and have a clean vote. that means that the rules would not have in any shortcuts that would go to the president's desk. it would go to the full house floor and it would have to be voted on by house members. there is new twist to it. john boehner says he wants to see all members of congress to have the roll calderon to shout out their ayes and nays individually. you mentioned the tea party folks. listen to the reaction when john boehner lays out this proposal. noise in the hallways is something seldom you hear in washington. folks will all over and they are making a hell of a racket. >> a roll call vote on this bill straight up or down vote, calling one member's name at a time and having the men and

women stand up before god, their country and their constituents and announce their vote. i think it's time... >> reporter: they are definitely making their presence felt there. we are surrounded by marble and echo in the rotunda capitol office building and tea party folks are taking advantage of it. >> let's focus a little bit more on that. a lot of the tea party folks have been on the steps of the capitol for the last couple days trying to make their way to their coning men. what kind of reaction from the congressmen? >> a lot are not here. rules committee are here, but a lot frankly, they are out and about. some of the doors getting knocked on, they are getting

staffers but not the representatives. democrats are getting harassed and tea party folks are being very loud and very boisterous that they disapprove of it. republicans are being cheered on for the most part but there is a non-partisan strain that want to throw all the bugs out and they are angry at some of the moderate republicans. some of the swing voters are under pressure at all, just in general because the tea party folks believe it should be more constitutionally rooted conservatism. but that said, it's pretty obvious large crowd and letting democrats know in no uncertain terminates. >> kelly: i'm going to bring in my colleague. wendall, thanks for joining us right now. tell us if you will what the president is expected to say

when he meets with his democratic caucus there at the capital building? >> kelly, it's going to be a pep rally speech. the president will make clear why it is important to have health care reform now, after hundred years of trying. president's aides have been telling lawmakers privately, despite republican threats to make them pay at the polls in november, that is going to happen because of the health care debate no matter whether a bill is passed or not. they might as well get something for their political pain. the folks here have been reluctant to give a vote count, in part because it was unclear how many no votes were switched to yes based on the prospect of using the maneuver that carl cameron talked about, the deem and pass maneuver. they were confident they had the

votes to pass and they were becoming more conflict even more without using the deem and pass maneuver. president has been saying, no matter what rules they deemed would be in effect for the vote to be held likely tomorrow, it would be clear to the american public what the lawmakers were voting on. based on that i think they would get more no votes switching to yes without a parliamentary procedure that republicans objected to. >> kelly: something we've heard from the president is urging democrats to vote with their courage. so apparently he understands what is at stake here. why go to that extreme to vote on their courage? >> it's not lost on the president, it's a tough vote to make. it's tough in any case because the party in the white house tends to lose seats in the off

year. it's not lost on anybody. the difficulty of the issues that members of congress are voting on. the polls quite apparent. showing most americans object to the health care proposal that is before the congress right now. president believes that the public by and large supports the element letters of the health care proposal and what they are objecting to is the political process. the horse trialgd and partisanship over the part year. he believes once they see the benefits they will embrace it. it will be a tough vote. i it will cost some lawmakers their seats and members of the white house have been telling lawmakers, look, you are going to be faced with this in the fall anyway, but your support of the process is going to be used against you. you might as well get the legislation because you are going to pay the political pain.

stand by for just a moment. this is uma and i want to bring in molly henneberg. she has been out with members of tea party who have been gathering outside capitol hill, thousands of people gathering today. there has been lots of interesting folks, lawmakers and relative of president obama. let's talk for a moment about the reaction and mood at this hour. >> reporter: let me show you what is going on. you see people walking, you swing around and show tea partyers have been rallying. they are now walking right back in front of the capitol. they just started this. we're catching it as it happens. these are members who have been rallying outside the capitol and then they went to lawmakers' offices and now they are walking in front of the capitol where they are holding up signs saying

kill the bill. this is just happening right now. we're hearing right now that they may return later back for a candlelight vigil. uma, back to you. >> as you are hearing from the folks that a lot of people if this bill passes, elected officials are really going to find out what they mean in terms of business come election day. >> reporter: absolutely. that is one of the things that congressman mike pence said today. i think we may have that sound bite. he wanted to remember this heath care bill. if we have that, can we roll that. >> i don't know if our victory will come on the third sunday in march or the first tuesday in november, but our victory will come. >> molly: that was the message

here, as well. they want to stop the bill, but if the vote doesn't go this way tomorrow, this isn't the end of getting their message across. >> thank you so much for updating us. >> kelly: we bring back wendall goler, what we heard from carl and molly, carl pointing out tea partiers lean to the right but going further there is a lot of pain with this vote that the president has talked about in terms of courage. based on that, what is at stake for the president of the united states? does his president hinge on this vote? >> they have told lawmakers privately just that. his presidency hinges on the vote that members of house will take late tomorrow. white house won't confirm those reports but neither does it flatly deny them.

there is no doubt there is a tremendous amount at stake here. if the president loses hearl reform after investing the better part of year in it, he will be a much less effective president for the remaining two and a half years of his term. that said, the point i was trying to make about the courage is that the party in the white house tends to lose votes statisticly anyway so the democrats could count on losing seats in the house and senate, though not necessarily their majority. so because of that and because of 31 of 39 house votes, 39 house members that voted against heath care reform in november came in districts where john mccain carried the presidential election, it will be tough to

change from no to yes. the president is going to make the case, that morally it's right. that the congressional budget office in terms of deficits it's right. he is going to make the case for two and a half years -- pardon me, with the better part of a year left to go before the election, you really can't tell politically how this will come out. once americans start to see the benefits of health care reform, even though most of them won't see the benefits for a number of years, that the idea that people will no longer be denied insurance because of preexisting conditions, that goes into effect for children immediately. the idea that people won't be bankrupted that had haevl insurance because of illnesses, these will start to michael a difference. they will embrace it. >> kelly: we thank you for that. we have something going on at the capitol. >> another congressman changing

his vote. we're going to listen to them. >> what the structure is and we'll go from there. senator hoyer. >> thank you very much. after a discussion with the chairwoman, she they will be recommending the following procedure for considering of the historic health care bill we'll have on the floor tomorrow and which we expect to pass tomorrow. we will adopt a rule which will provide for the consideration a reconciliation bill. we'll provide for two hours of debate on that reconciliation bill. we will provide further upon passage of the reconciliation bill the senate passed heath care bill will be in order for

vote on the floor of the house. under the procedures we will proceed immediately to consideration of the senate bill on a vote. there will be no intervaccine debate and we will vote on that. when we do that, that will be tantamount to the same thing we would have done had we been in conference. we would have adopted an amendment in conference and then and we would have done it as amended. it's still that kind of conference procedure. we expect, as i said, to have the votes to pass the senate bill. it will go to the president and the reconciliation bill will go to the senate. we have every reason that the senate will pass that reconciliation bill and we'll then send it to president. he will sign it. it will amend the then existing

senate bill. >> mr. hoyer, what changed? the deem to pass was okay. this the bottom line that many of the members said this.... >> i think that frankly, if we voted twice on the senate bill and then the reconciliation bill. what this gives us the opportunity to do is to vote as you would encompass, the reconciliation bill and then the senate bill. we believe this is a better process. >> what changed? why this now? >> we determined we could do this and it was a better process. in consultation with the chairwoman miss slaughter. the whip is here, but clearly we

believe we have the votes. >> you reached an a resolution on abortion? >> it's still under discussion. >> senator reid will be here with us this afternoon. he has met with speaker pelosi around i and talked to others, as well. we have seen a letter that he has signed by more than 50 members of the united states senate indicating they are supportive of the reconciliation bill, more than 50. >> thank you. that is the house majority leader steny hoyer saying they are confident they have enough votes to pass it tomorrow and explains the procedural elements that will be taking place tomorrow when they do actually

vote. now, we are going to bring in carl cameron that has news of another congressman change is go his votes. let's go to carl as we await the president to address the democratic caucus. >> reporter: peter from oregon has changed votes. we have some of the double back situation that adds one yes vote to the column. he said yesterday he would vote against the bill unless there were changes in it to just how rural areas are reimbursed for medicare expenses. it's been altered to his satisfaction, evidently and he voted for the original house bill, but he said he wouldn't vote for the senate bill. he is now prepared to vote for that. so we have a new total 218 votes of for the bill as opposed to

those against it. you couple that new vote with the number of two three democrats in the leadership they are not going to use the deem and pass option and have a full up and down vote on sunday. it is increasingly clear that democrats believe they have the vote. that said, are tremendous undecideds, perhaps 6 to 15 out there that would be potentially enough to scuttle the bill nancy pelosi and the white house cannot herd them together. it's an impossible tasks, a herd of cats. that is what they are working on. even though hoyer is saying we have votes to pass it tomorrow, the reason that president will be speaking in a matter of minutes, when they look at the sheets, with all the names they

check out, all the votes are available, they recognize they are short. president needs to be here. let me ask you this, what about the president's comments that the more people see the bill, more they will like it? >> that is what democrats have been arguing for quite some time. they say you think you can vote your district to appeal from conservatives where you were elected but republicans are still going to paint you as a democratic clone of barack obama anyway. you will never expect the pain of the pass uaj of health care so you might as well vote for it. however, whether or not the health care program will work and people will benefit from it and decide that they love it is put off for a while. you have to remember the tax had hikes and what is happening with private insurance starts immediately, but the new benefits, extension of medicaid and medicare and kids health

care, things like that, that doesn't start for four years. so this isn't a universal one payer system where all the holes will be plugged. its patch work quilt. truth is most of the benefits don't start in public sector until 2014. it's the private selling for, private insurance companies that is going to have to pick up 12 million new customers. they were being hit with fines and new taxes. they will have more can you say morse and more expense but that will be passed on to consumers in the form of increased premiums. so when the obama administration says you will love it when you get it. you have to ask yourself, how well is the government doing their normal business. if that is how they are running health care, a lot of people are saying the federal government can do a better job on that. what about the impact of the

states that may file lawsuits, what impact does that have on the legislation if it is passed? >> it won't impact the legislation. president will sign it into a law. what it could mean, however, will there are numbers of attorney generals in each state. there are probably between six and dozen who have threatened to sue over this. in part base of the individual mandate. law says everybody will have some sort of coverage. that creates problems for states many that don't have the apparatus for medicaid and medicare and particularly in regional issues. this goes back to what peter was talking about. he wants to make sure that rural regions were prom yachtly reimbursed for medicare expenses oregon is spread out. there are not a lot of hospitals it's mostly a rural area. so the differences explain why

some democrats have been against it. and you spend $940 billion and you only get six years of benefits and most of the benefits have come from the government won't be implemented for another four. >> kelly: stand by, this is kelly wright. we're going to go to wendall again just to bring him in to discuss this, as well. wendall, let's talk specifically about the president of the united states who is going to at any moment, we expect he'll be talking to that body of democratic caucus members there in the base of the capitol visitor center. i want to ask you a question. the president is speaking to people of virginia said, do not give up. we keep on going. we're going to get this done. we're going to make history. we're going to fix health care in america. how does the white house handle the fact that so many people are against this? >> well, once again, as carl has said and as i have alluded to

feel that the elements are more appealing that the bill itself, the politics, the process that resulted in the measure coming to a vote tomorrow. that said, process had a lot to do with events today deciding, members of the house, to vote on the reconciliation bill before voting on the senate bill was very important to wavering members of the house that did not support the legislation and was afraid that republicans would punish them for voting for the senate bill. they will go up there today with the president and be joined by senate majority leader harry reid who is bringing a letter signed by more than 51 members of the senate, all democrats promising them they will vote for the reconciliation measure

and not leave house members stuck with the senate passed bill, which would become law before the reconciliation measure. it's back to the senate, passed by the senate and signed by president obama into law. >> kelly: we talked about how important that letter is. we know firsthand experience, many democrats on the house side did not trust their senate colleagues for that reason. they thought it would get torpedoed. >> republicans were saying you can't trust democrats in the senate to fix the bill which they have already passed by passing the reconciliation measure that the house would have passed. for a period of time, in fact, the senate passed health care bill will be the law of the land. that is expected to be a matter of days and for that reason, you won't hear a big celebration here at the white house or quite as big as it might be after the

house is expected and passes the senate bill tomorrow. folks here know there is still work to do. the president will then start lobbying members of the senate to make sure that more than 51 of them support the reconciliation measure so that the final version of health care reform which he will be certain to remind lawmakers today reduces the deficit more than the senate bill does and is much more acceptable to members of the house. so that becomes law as early as the end of next week. >> kelly: all right. thank you very much. we're going to get back to them in a moment. as we're waiting for the president of the united states to come. we're watching democrats get in. we'll bring you more updates and especially as president obama arrives there. host: could switching to geico really save you

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welcome back. we're taking a look right now in washington. live pictures of the presidential motorcade where president obama will be addressing members of the democratic caucus in what we're describing as pep rally to help secure passage of the health care reform bill. as we take a look at that and wait for the presidential remarks. managing editor neil cavuto is joining us now. so great to have you out there. you have been taking a close watch of what has been taking place in washington. your thoughts on all the jockeying going on? >> i'm amazed at how quickly they clear the streets. passing observation. it would be 2 -- including 33

and 34 that voted know and will not be inclined to support this health care initiative. a democrat was among those no votes told me this morning, he would go to this event. he would be respectful. when i asked him whether he or other no votes may be woo'd by the president, he said they will be polite listeners. you want the potential pick off of potential no votes. so the bottom line at the motorcade has officially arrived at the capitol for this pep talk is to see whether the president can pick off more votes. when it comes to the 216 he is going to need, he is at or near there there or closing that. most of the tea partiers have left.

a good many of them who are still around the capitol but they disbursed. obviously, this was timed after most of them had left or going great on the west lawn. that could have been scene but the motorcade went around that, toward the east lawn so the confrontation was avoided. >> as you mentioned the motorcade just arrived, but what the sense you get from the energy of these tea partiers who have been rallying so strongly against this legislation in terms of the mood and in terms of where they go from here if this legislation does, indeed, pass? >> many of them i talked to are convinced it will pass. they are not happy about it. they have this thing -- i don't know if you were catching a lot of the speeches. remember in november. we'll remember in november. in other words, we remember all who voted in november and do our best to stop you in november.

democrats clearly weighing that political fallout and many are not big fans of this, but they hope to prove the immediate benefits of health care by showing that kids will be covered for pre-diagnosed conditions almost right away. preventative care measures will kick in almost right away. you have kids up to 26 years old they can be on your health care policy, almost right away. they will trumpet the immediate benefits of this. what they are probably going to low key are some of the costs and less pleasant factors that kick in after november. >> kelly: kelly wright, good to see you hanging out in our neck of the woods. stay with us. we're going to carl cameron who at the capitol awaiting the president's arrival. we're looking at the live shot of the capitol visitors' center.

that is where the president is going to meet with the democratic caucus and he is expected to drum up the troops for one last effort to get them to pass this health care reform bill. will he have any success? that is the question? >> yeah, i think the train left the station a week or so ago when democrats saying they were going to push forward and go forward using the reconciliation program wherein they can pass it in the senate with only 51 votes. house begin pushing first on the budget committee on monday this week. now, the rules committee to michael the vote happen tomorrow. democrats acknowledged knowledge up to yesterday afternoon the democratic whip said they were confident they had the vote. now, we're in the final two stages, where the ugliest most ranted sausage making happens.

the stuff that happens in the legislative places that most people don't pay attention to high school civic classes. it goes back couple hundred years of american tradition and couple hundred years of french and british tradition. it's deep stuff. i want to aggravate this is unpen trabl by reading the language of the legislation to managers amendment. it is something that always pops up at the end where the bosses say, we make the mistake. all the stuff we were talking about, it needs to be talked about. so this is an amendment to the amendment in a nature of a substitute. that is what it actually says. follow it for 30 seconds. page 1, line three, pay

affordable, strike affordability and insert tax credits. lines 21, 22, strike any person specified by the secretary. >> kelly: carl -- we've got to cut away. we are looking at the base of the cdc, capital visitors center there is the president approaching. she smiling as he comes in. the gesture is waved and speaker pelosi. he is coming to the room where the photographers are standing front and center at the base of the cvc. it's a wide expanse of a building and open to the public but right now it's open to the media and members of the democratic caucus that will be listening to president obama talk to them about the essence at hand.

that is making history. >> of course, there are many democratic members believe they have the votes to secure passage of this reform bill, but at the same time we are noting there are still some congressmen who may be undecided to how they are going to vote. >> kelly: absolutely. the president is obviously in the room. they are standing. we will await until he arrives at the podium. he is greeting people before he steps to the podium. as you mentioned, uma, a lot of people are saying what is it going to happen to the vote. some people remain on the sidelines. some people remain with an affirmative no, if you will, while others have been switching their votes. it's too close to call. we've heard from white house correspondents and carl cameron and neil, while you are there,

even though the president is addressing them, they may not get to vote. we may have to come to you after this. president is approaching now as we speak. [ applause ] >> kelly: what does the president have to do to get the votes that are still lingering out there? all right, neil, not being able to talk right now. but you see president giving cheers to his own party. uma, one thing that is clear, if the bill passes, it will be along partisan lines. carl cameron reporting that the only bipartisanship we've seen so far has been in the

opposition of the bill. so even if they get this passed, there will be a lot of ground wash fare going into the mid-term elections. neil has thoughts on what we're seeing at the moment. as we've been talking about, there are some folks that still remain undecided. as we pointed out this president wants to rally the troops to make sure that this thing goes through. we're also hearing this is going up and down vote tomorrow. >> you have a variety of things, but one could interpret that -- i talked to a high health care official saying it could be a growing confidence. they think they have the votes and the president in large part has helped them security the votes with one on one meetings. privately met with 63 over the past two weeks or so. they are convinced maybe that

the reason why they have the straight vote count. we'll see. clearly there is confidence enough to risk losing it, but we'll see. >> kelly: one of the things we heard, nancy pelosi is speaking but president responded to a question, asking if he had the votes as he stepped in. he responded, quote, we're going to get this done. >> thank you. i receive your kind words on behalf of all of courageous members of the house of representatives who want the best for the american people, what we can do for the best for them in the next 24 hours is to pass affordable, acceptable health care for all americans. [ applause ] >> it's to help 32 million more people to have health insurance in our country.

best for our country is to have $1.3 trillion in deficit reduction. [ applause ] best for our country is to hold the insurance companies accountable and not let them come between patients and their doctors. [ applause ] >> we're on the verge of making great history for the american people. in doing so we will make great progress for them, as well. president has said over and over we will measure our own success on the progress made by american working families. that is our responsibility and we will honor it when we vote on health care reform. we could not be here without the encouragement of my colleagues here. they understood the issues. they have brought great to the

debate. it will be reducing the deficit and making america healthier. we certainly would not be here, mr. president, without your inspiration and without your leadership and fresh thinking on the subject. we thank you for that leadership. [ applause ] it is now my privilege to introduce my friend, a great leader of the united states senate, a man who understands also how important this issue is an issue that has hit home for him very closely very recently. he has at the type of his wife's accident that makes him further aware of why we must pass this bill because it's so important for all americans to have the same. on a day-to-day basis is to see

a master at work and understand the issues, a dedication to the values, a vision for america and knowledge of the procedures. i v am very pleased to thank him what he has done to bring us to that point and to introduce my colleague, the great democratic leader of the united states senate, harry reid. [ applause ] one of the joys of my life has been my friendship, my partnership with the greatest speaker that the house of representatives ever had, nancy

pelosi. [ applause ] >> we spent the last year discussing, debating and drafting and redrafting. there is no longer a question of whether to reform the health system is necessary or whether this bill is an enormous progress in the right direction. with the lives and livelihood with millions on the line, the question whether senators and conscious men will stand on the side of people or the insurance industry responsible for this crisis. it's about whether you will fight for the insurance companies profits or for family's peace of mind. qi is whether you want to raise health care costs or whether you want to lower health care costs and the deficit. and this is about senate procedure, it's about struggling people.

the question is whether you want to protect our broken health care system or fix it. the most recent changes to american's health care will be law in a matter of days. we need a simple majority to make the good law even better. so i'm happy to announce, i have the commitment of significant majority of the united states senate to make the good law even better. [ applause ] our great country has needed health reform for generations. we've been focused on it for the entire pass year.

history will show it will be one of the most important years in our history and ending in one of most historic achieve also congress has ever produced. mr. president, you asked us to send a bill that will improve the health of millions of americans and help our economy. we're going to do that. [ applause ] i know you know basketball. you are a big fan. i know many are fixated on the national college basketball tournament going on now. mr. president, we're in the last minute of play. the shot clock has turned off. so they are trying to foul us and try to foul us and foul us again to keep the clock from reading zero. they're not just delaying the inevitable, they are delaying

the imperative. every time they foul, we'll keep hitting our shot. we will overcome every obstacle that they throw in the way just in the past year. soon when the buzzer sounds, there will be a clear winner, that winner will be the american people. [ applause ] in the house of the representatives there is no one who has mastered the floor as well as steny hoyer. [ applause ] who reaches across the aisle and is respected and works hard every day to try to encourage our colleagues the other side of

the aisle to join us in this historic vote. what he works hardest on what calls the psychology of consensus. he and nancy pelosi together have created that and have created the greatest caucus ever assembled in the history of this country. the democratic house caucus and its majority leader steny hoyer! >> thank you very much. not the most humble, but president, welcome. we are pleased to have you here. senate majority leader harry reid, little did you and arrive when you were a capitol cop and i was working in the basement at the russell building we would be

on the stage with president obama. and in that office which i worked there was a young lady who also worked there, her name was nancy. this was paul wedding and little did we realize that we would be here at this time to participate with our colleagues in this extraordinary effort. america is watching us. some would say this is a partisan effort -- they are wrong. this is an effort on behalf of all americans. george w. bush in 2002, all americans should be able to choose health care plan that meets their needs and affordable bill clinton said they need to deliver guaranteed health care coverage to all americans, george h.w. bush said a

universal national health insurance program is one of the major unfinished items on america's social agenda. the american people, he said in 1992, have waited too long. gerald ford in 1974 said, let us affirm that this national legislation is only the beginning of our efforts to upgrade and perpetuate our total health care system so no individual in this country, said president ford, will lack help whenever or wherever he needs it. john f. kennedy said in 1962, whenever the miracles of modern medicine are beyond the reach of any group of americans for whatever reasons, economic, geographic, occupational or the other, we must find a way to meet their needs and fulfill

their hopes. dwight david eisenhower said clearly our nation must do more to reduce the impact of accident and disease, two fundamental problems confront us. first, high and ever rising costs of health services. second, serious gaps and shortages in those services. so said dwight eisenhower in 1955 and in 1945, harry truman said that millions of citizens don't have a full opportunity to enjoy good health. the time he said has arrived for action to help them attain that opportunity and that protection. then another president said this -- comprehensive health insurance is an idea whose time has come in america. there is long been a need to assure every american for high quality health care.

as medical costs go up, the need is more pressing. now for the first time this president said, we have not just the need, but the will to get this job done. he went on to say there is widespread support in the congress and in the nation for some form of comprehensive health insurance. he urged us to act sensibly. he urges us to let us act now, in 1974 to assure all americans financial access to high quality medical care. our president talks about the fact that theodore roosevelt put it on the agenda over a century ago. barack obama went to the people of this country and reached out to them and said, if you elect me president of the united states, this is what i will do. there was no illusions of what

we'll do, no trying to hide it. it was transparent and, indeed, in the debate in october of 2008 he said what he was going to do. john mccain stood on the same stage, yes, i believe every american ought to have access to affordable health care. all the presidents i just quoted tried to get something done, and it was not done. on sunday, tomorrow, we will do it. [ applause ] [ applause ] >> led by our president who said to the american public -- this is our moment. ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states, barack obama. [ applause ]

>> thank you! thank you! [ applause ] thank you. thank you. [ applause ] thank you everybody. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. everybody, please have a seat. for me to, steny hoyer and the jim cliburn, chris van hollen, to an extraordinary leader of the house, nancy pelosi, to all the members here today, thank

you very much for having me. thanks for having me and thanks for your acceptance, waged on behalf of health insurance reform in this country. you know, i had the great pleasure of having a nice library at the white house. i was going through the writings of previous presidents, and i came upon this quote by abraham lincoln. i'm not bound to win, but i'm bound to be true. i'm not bound to succeed, but i'm bound to live up to what life i have. in this debate has been a difficult debate, this process has been a difficult process.

this year has been a difficult year for the american people. when i was sworn in we in the midst of the worst recession since the great depression. 800,000 people per month were losing their jobs. millions of people were losing their health insurance. the financial system was on the verge of collapse. this body has taken on some of the toughest votes and some of the toughest decisions in the history of congress. not because you were bound to win but because you were bound to be true. because each one of you made a decision at the moment of such urgency it was less important to

measure what the polls said than to measure what was right. now, a year later we're in different circumstances because of the actions you have taken the financial system has stabilized. the stock market has stabilized. businesses are starting to invest again. economy instead of contracting is now growing again. there are signs that the people are going to start hiring again. there is still tremendous hardships across the country, but there is a sense that we are making progress, because of you. even before this crisis, each one of you knew there were millions of people across america that were living their own crisis, maybe because they

had a child with a pre-xfg condition and no matter how desperate they were, they couldn't get coverage for that child. maybe it was somebody who had been forced into early retirement, in their 50s but not eligible for medicare and they couldn't find a job and they couldn't find health insurance despite the fact that they had some sort of chronic condition that had to be tended to. every single one of you at some point before you arrived in congress and after you arrived in congress have met constituents with heartbreaking stories. you looked them in the eye, we're going to do something about it. that is why i want to go to congress. now, we're on the threshold of doing something about it.

we're a day away. after a year of debate, after every argument has been made, by just about everybody we're 24 hours away. some of you know i'm not somebody who spends a lot of time surfing the cable channels but i'm not completely in a bubble. i a sense where the coverage has been and mostly it's an obsession, what will this mean to the democratic process. what will this mean for the president's polls. how will this play out in november? good or is this bad for the democratic majority? what does it mean for those votes? i noticed there has been a lot of friendly advice