John Spratt: “Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this historic legislation, arguably the most important vote we here today will ever…”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this historic legislation, arguably the most important vote we here today will ever take in this Chamber. Today fulfills a promise made 100 years ago by Theodore Roosevelt when he first called for comprehensive health insurance reform. It fulfills a promise made by Franklin Roosevelt to our parents, our grandparents, our great grandparents in 1944. President Richard Nixon also labored and lost on this national mission. And President Bill Clinton, too, tried to climb this mountain. Today's legislation builds on the great achievements of Social Security and Medicare, those big changes that we all take for granted, regardless of party. And yes, they, too, were characterized as socialist government takeovers. And today we have a chance to make health insurance affordable for people and for small businesses that ends the power of the insurance companies to deny them coverage, increase their rates and, yes, drop them when they get sick. Enough. This reform law allows 32 million of our citizens to get insurance, a moral imperative. It closes the doughnut hole in prescription drugs for seniors, and women will no longer have to pay more for their insurance, a long overdue reckoning. I am humbled by the opportunity to cast a vote for this historic change.”