Charles Rangel: “Let me extend an olive leaf to my friends on the Republican side, because it just wouldn't be fair for you to be going…”

“Let me extend an olive leaf to my friends on the Republican side, because it just wouldn't be fair for you to be going home thinking that people will be talking about politics and process when the bottom line is: Where were you when this government, as big as it is, wanted to protect 11 million kids in health insurance? That's going to really be the bottom line. And if you think that government is really so big that $50 billion is just too much money to invest in these little kids, then kind of think about what you're willing to invest in Afghanistan, in Baghdad, in improving its schools and its hospitals. And think of what we get back. Just think of what we get back in preventing these kids from getting diseases and illnesses that would not only cost us billions of dollars in health care, but the lost competition, the inability to learn and to be productive. What a heck of an investment this is, even for our United States Government, to be concerned with 11 million Americans becoming healthy, better educated and competitive.”