Speaker Pelosi remarks after passage of the health care bill

Nov 9 2009

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders held a press conference following the House passage of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. The bill passed by a vote of 220 to 215. Below are the Speaker's opening remarks:

"I and some of my colleagues just received a call from the President of the United States, Barack Obama, congratulating us on a great victory for the American people. I thank the President for his tremendous leadership because without President Obama in the White House, this victory would not have been possible. He provided the vision and the momentum for us to get the job done for the American people. And for that we are very, very proud -- proud of our success, proud of the Members of Congress who took a very, very intense interest in the legislation -- they know what we have accomplished for the American people.

"And it certainly would not have been possible without the tremendous leadership of our committee chairs -- Mr. Waxman, Mr. Miller, and Mr. Rangel. But I also want to congratulate the leadership team. We call it a team, but it is becoming more and more of a partnership and we're hearing from all of them, but Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Larson, Mr. Becerra, and Mr. Van Hollen, our co-chairs -- Mr. Miller and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro -- have been wonderful.

"And now we'll hear from our chairmen. But we've all promised to be very brief so I'll save the rest of my remarks for when I talk to you later. But I know I speak for all of them when I say how proud we are to stand here with John Dingell. He brings the history and the prospects for the future to this debate. And how proud we were when he stood at that podium and opened the debate this morning and how appropriate it was that he would close the debate for our side and bring home a winning majority."