THE PRESIDENT: Good evening, everybody. Tonight, after nearly 100 years of talk and frustration, after decades of trying, and a year of sustained effort and debate, the United States Congress finally declared that America’s workers and America’s families and America’s small businesses deserve the security of knowing that here, in this country, neither illness nor accident should endanger the dreams they’ve worked a lifetime to achieve.
Tonight, at a time when the pundits said it was no longer possible, we rose above the weight of our politics. We pushed back on the undue influence of special interests. We didn’t give in to mistrust or to cynicism or to fear. Instead, we proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things and tackling our biggest challenges. We proved that this government — a government of the people and by the people — still works for the people.
I want to thank every member of Congress who stood up tonight with courage and conviction to make health care reform a reality. And I know this wasn’t an easy vote for a lot of people. But it was the right vote. I want to thank Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her extraordinary leadership, and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn for their commitment to getting the job done. I want to thank my outstanding Vice President, Joe Biden, and my wonderful Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, for their fantastic work on this issue. I want to thank the many staffers in Congress, and my own incredible staff in the White House, who have worked tirelessly over the past year with Americans of all walks of life to forge a reform package finally worthy of the people we were sent here to serve.
Today’s vote answers the dreams of so many who have fought for this reform. To every unsung American who took the time to sit down and write a letter or type out an e-mail hoping your voice would be heard — it has been heard tonight. To the untold numbers who knocked on doors and made phone calls, who organized and mobilized out of a firm conviction that change in this country comes not from the top down, but from the bottom up — let me reaffirm that conviction: This moment is possible because of you.
Most importantly, today’s vote answers the prayers of every American who has hoped deeply for something to be done about a health care system that works for insurance companies, but not for ordinary people. For most Americans, this debate has never been about abstractions, the fight between right and left, Republican and Democrat — it’s always been about something far more personal. It’s about every American who knows the shock of opening an envelope to see that their premiums just shot up again when times are already tough enough. It’s about every parent who knows the desperation of trying to cover a child with a chronic illness only to be told “no” again and again and again. It’s about every small business owner forced to choose between insuring employees and staying open for business. They are why we committed ourselves to this cause.
Tonight’s vote is not a victory for any one party — it’s a victory for them. It’s a victory for the American people. And it’s a victory for common sense.
Now, it probably goes without saying that tonight’s vote will give rise to a frenzy of instant analysis. There will be tallies of Washington winners and losers, predictions about what it means for Democrats and Republicans, for my poll numbers, for my administration. But long after the debate fades away and the prognostication fades away and the dust settles, what will remain standing is not the government-run system some feared, or the status quo that serves the interests of the insurance industry, but a health care system that incorporates ideas from both parties — a system that works better for the American people.
If you have health insurance, this reform just gave you more control by reining in the worst excesses and abuses of the insurance industry with some of the toughest consumer protections this country has ever known — so that you are actually getting what you pay for.
If you don’t have insurance, this reform gives you a chance to be a part of a big purchasing pool that will give you choice and competition and cheaper prices for insurance. And it includes the largest health care tax cut for working families and small businesses in history — so that if you lose your job and you change jobs, start that new business, you’ll finally be able to purchase quality, affordable care and the security and peace of mind that comes with it.
This reform is the right thing to do for our seniors. It makes Medicare stronger and more solvent, extending its life by almost a decade. And it’s the right thing to do for our future. It will reduce our deficit by more than $100 billion over the next decade, and more than $1 trillion in the decade after that.
So this isn’t radical reform. But it is major reform. This legislation will not fix everything that ails our health care system. But it moves us decisively in the right direction. This is what change looks like.
Now as momentous as this day is, it’s not the end of this journey. On Tuesday, the Senate will take up revisions to this legislation that the House has embraced, and these are revisions that have strengthened this law and removed provisions that had no place in it. Some have predicted another siege of parliamentary maneuvering in order to delay adoption of these improvements. I hope that’s not the case. It’s time to bring this debate to a close and begin the hard work of implementing this reform properly on behalf of the American people. This year, and in years to come, we have a solemn responsibility to do it right.
Nor does this day represent the end of the work that faces our country. The work of revitalizing our economy goes on. The work of promoting private sector job creation goes on. The work of putting American families’ dreams back within reach goes on. And we march on, with renewed confidence, energized by this victory on their behalf.
In the end, what this day represents is another stone firmly laid in the foundation of the American Dream. Tonight, we answered the call of history as so many generations of Americans have before us. When faced with crisis, we did not shrink from our challenge — we overcame it. We did not avoid our responsibility — we embraced it. We did not fear our future — we shaped it.
Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
各位晚上好。今天晚上，經過近12024年的討論和挫折，經過幾十年的嘗試以及過去一年來不懈的努力和辯論，美國國會終於宣布，美國的工人、家庭和小企業得到保證，在這個國家，不管是疾病還是意外事故都不會破壞他們為之奮鬥一生的夢想。
今晚，就在許多批評人士認為不可能的時候，我們超越了政治的力量。我們向特殊利益的不正當壓力發起反擊，我們並沒有向懷疑、恐懼、擔憂和冷嘲熱諷投降。相反，我們向世人證明，我們仍然是一個能夠幹大事和解決重大挑戰的民族。我們向世人證明，美國政府——一個民有、民治的政府——仍然是一個民享的政府。
對於今天晚上每一位充滿勇氣和信念、站出來推動醫療改革成為現實的國會議員，我對他們表示衷心感謝。我知道，這對於許多人來說並不是一次簡單的投票，但這是非常正確的決定。感謝眾議院議長南希-佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)的傑出領導;感謝多數黨領袖斯特尼-霍耶(Steny Hoyer)和二號人物吉姆-克萊伯恩(Jim Clyburn)為這項工作圓滿完成所作的努力;感謝副總統喬-拜登(Joe Biden)和聯邦政府衛生與公眾服務部部長凱薩琳-西貝利厄斯(Kathleen Sebelius)為此做出的傑出貢獻;感謝國會的工作人員，感謝白宮的工作人員，他們在過去一年不知疲倦地與各行各業的美國人一起努力，最終擬定了一份值得國會進行投票的改革議案。
今天的投票結果實現了如此多為之奮鬥的人的夢想。對於每一位花費時間坐下來寫一封信或者電子郵件提出意見或建議的美國人而言，今天晚上我們聽到了他們的聲音。反對派認為，美國的改革不應是自上而下的，而應該是自下而上的。對於這一點，我想重申：因為大家的努力，此次此刻自上而下的改革是可能的。
最重要的是，對於每一位深切希望能就醫療體系做出改革以便使其為普通人而非保險公司服務的美國人而言，今天的投票結果使他們的祈禱成真。對於大部分美國人來說，這場辯論從來都不是抽象的，右翼和左翼、共和黨和民主黨之間的鬥爭遠超過個人層面。醫療改革事關每一個美國人、每一位父母、每一家小企業。
今晚的投票結果對任何一個政黨、對美國民眾以及從情理上說，都是成功的。
現在，今晚的投票結果可能理所當然地引發大量的即時分析(instant analysis，前美國副總統斯皮羅-阿格紐所創的對電視廣播員對總統講話發表的評論的貶稱)。可能存在對華盛頓贏家和輸家的評論，以及這一投票結果對民主黨和共和黨、對我本人和我所領導的政府的支持率意味著什麼的預期。不過隨著時間流逝，關於這場辯論以及預言都消退之時、當塵埃落定之後，能夠留下來的並不是有些人所擔憂的政府經營的體系或者有利於保險業的現狀，而是包含兩黨想法的醫療體系，並且該體系能更好地為美國民眾服務。
如果你有醫療保險，這一改革能夠提高你的控制權，通過利用我們國家最為嚴格的一些消費者保護措施來控制保險業的暴行，因此你能夠獲得應得的保險補償。
如果你沒有醫療保險，該改革能夠給你加入醫療保險體系的機會，該體系能夠給你提供選擇、競爭力以及獲得更便宜的保險。而且這一法案包含著有史以來對工薪家庭和小型企業最大的醫療稅減稅措施，這就是說如果你失業、換工作、剛開始創業的時候，你最終能夠買到質量好並且支付的起的保險，這能夠給你帶來保障和內心的平靜。
對於我們國家的老年人來說，我們實行這一改革是正確的事情。該改革後，醫療保險能夠更加有力而且更具償付能力，醫療保險的有效期會延長近10 年。而且對於我們的未來而言，實行醫改也是正確的事。實行醫改的第一個2024年，我們的赤字能夠減少逾1000億美元;第二個2024年，赤字能夠減少逾1萬億美元。
所以這不是一項激進的改革，但是一項重大改革。醫改法案不會解決我們現在醫療系統中的所有問題，但絕對會讓我們邁向正確的方向，改革就應該像這樣。
和今天同樣重要的是，這並不是此次改革的終點。星期二，參議院將對已獲眾議院通過的醫改法案進行修訂，加強這一立法並移除一些不必要的規定。有些人預計，國會可能拖延採用修訂後的法案。我希望不會如此。現在是結束辯論並開始努力為了美國民眾恰當實施這一改革的時候了。今年以及隨後幾年，我們有一項莊嚴的責任，那就是正確實行這項改革。
今天並不意味著我們國家所面臨的工作的結束，促使經濟復甦的工作仍將繼續，促使私營部門增加就業機會的工作仍將繼續，令美國家庭的夢想觸手可及的工作仍將繼續。而且我們將帶著恢復的信心以及此次成功的鼓舞繼續前進。
最後，今天意味著美國夢的又一堅實基石。今晚，我們回答了歷史的呼喚。當面臨危機時，我們沒有因為挑戰而退縮，而是勇於克服;我們沒有迴避自己的責任，而是勇於承擔;我們沒有恐懼未來，而是規劃未來。
謝謝，願上帝保佑你，願上帝保佑美國。