Political Quotes

“Mr. President, in the days after the election this year, I heard a number of my colleagues--many from my State--in the House of Representatives and in the Senate talk with great exuberance about repealing the Affordable Care Act. They call it ObamaCare; others call it the Affordable Care Act. I am not sure where they were over the last month or so, but I remember hearing Pope Francis I exhort his parish priests to go out and smell like the flock. Abraham Lincoln used to talk about it. He would say he needs to go outside of the White House and get his public opinion baths. I cite Pope Francis and President Lincoln because I think if my colleagues had been out talking to real people and not going to fundraisers, not meeting with rich people at country clubs, and not going to the political rallies, but out talking to real people, they would have seen what the Affordable Care Act has done. In a moment, I wish to talk about a couple of numbers, but more importantly, I want to share some stories. More than 500,000 people in Ohio--and I think New Mexico, the Presiding Officer's State, is proportionately no different--have health insurance today who did not have it 14 months--did not have it 1 year ago. An additional 97,000 young Ohioans--people who are just a bit older than the pages sitting here; 18, 20, 25--are on their parents' health plans. Thousands of Ohioans have been protected as patients, as people who are insured.…”