Sheila Jackson Lee: “Medicare will be expanded. Medicaid will be expanded to allow more people to be insured. Our children will have more…”

“Medicare will be expanded. Medicaid will be expanded to allow more people to be insured. Our children will have more health insurance. It will be a major change for America--a positive change. It is interesting that every time America makes a historic and catastrophic change for the better, there are large voices of opposition--confused voices; voices without the facts. I'm reminded of the history of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. They did not pass with large margins. The Dixiecrats raised their voices in opposition. Africans Americans, Negroes, should be second-class citizens forever. It is time now for the courageous to recognize that Americans cannot be second class and third class in the climate of needing health insurance. That they must be able to go to hospitals and not be kicked out; that they must be able to get insurance without saying you have a preexisting disease; that women cannot be discriminated against. Where's the courage to stand up as we did in the time when African Americans needed their freedom? It is now time to free others who do not have health insurance. Do you have the courage to make these hard decisions when others are chatting away, saying the wrong thing? It is time to pass health care reform. I want to stand with the courageous on behalf of the American people.”