Obama says 'history calling' on healthcare
Barack Obama urges US Senate to answer "call of history" and approve landmark healthcare reform plans
Monday, 09, Nov 2009 10:52
By Matthew Champion.
Barack Obama has urged the US Senate to reject Republican "deception" and answer the "call of history" to approve his landmark healthcare reform plans.
This weekend the House of Representatives voted through a bill to extend healthcare to 96 per cent of Americans; the largest such extension since the mid-1960s.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, credited by fellow Democrats for driving through the legislation, managed "oh, what a night" above cheers when the 220-215 victory was announced.
The bill now passes to the Senate, where if successful, a second vote will have to be held in both Houses of Congress to unify the pieces of legislation before it can be signed into law by Mr Obama.
President Obama, who has made healthcare reform his top domestic priority, has called on senators to reject the "heated and often misleading rhetoric" surrounding the bill.
"Most public servants pass through their entire careers without a chance to make as important a difference in the lives of their constituents and the life of this country," he said.
"This is their moment, this is our moment, to live up to the trust that the American people have placed in us - even when it's hard; especially when it's hard. This is our moment to deliver.
"I urge members of Congress to rise to this moment. Answer the call of history, and vote yes for health insurance reform for America."
The president's ten-year $829 billion (£519 billion) plan will see more than 30 million Americans benefit with subsidised insurance and the outlawing of insurance companies denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.
But Republicans remain inflammatorily sceptical about government control of healthcare and plans that, some claim, would grant free insurance to illegal immigrants.
President Obama has already made one concession on abortion, with the bill passed by the House banning federal funding from any cases involving abortion services.