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，经过近12019年的讨论和挫折，经过几十年的尝试以及过去一年来不懈的努力和辩论，美国国会终于宣布，美国的工人、家庭和小企业得到保证，在这个国家，不管是疾病还是意外事故都不会破坏他们为之奋斗一生的梦想。
今晚，就在许多批评人士认为不可能的时候，我们超越了政治的力量。我们向特殊利益的不正当压力发起反击，我们并没有向怀疑、恐惧、担忧和冷嘲热讽投降。相反，我们向世人证明，我们仍然是一个能够干大事和解决重大挑战的民族。我们向世人证明，美国政府——一个民有、民治的政府——仍然是一个民享的政府。
对于今天晚上每一位充满勇气和信念、站出来推动医疗改革成为现实的国会议员，我对他们表示衷心感谢。我知道，这对于许多人来说并不是一次简单的投票，但这是非常正确的决定。感谢众议院议长南希-佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)的杰出领导;感谢多数党领袖斯特尼-霍耶(Steny Hoyer)和二号人物吉姆-克莱伯恩(Jim Clyburn)为这项工作圆满完成所作的努力;感谢副总统乔-拜登(Joe Biden)和联邦政府卫生与公众服务部部长凯瑟琳-西贝利厄斯(Kathleen Sebelius)为此做出的杰出贡献;感谢国会的工作人员，感谢白宫的工作人员，他们在过去一年不知疲倦地与各行各业的美国人一起努力，最终拟定了一份值得国会进行投票的改革议案。
今天的投票结果实现了如此多为之奋斗的人的梦想。对于每一位花费时间坐下来写一封信或者电子邮件提出意见或建议的美国人而言，今天晚上我们听到了他们的声音。反对派认为，美国的改革不应是自上而下的，而应该是自下而上的。对于这一点，我想重申：因为大家的努力，此次此刻自上而下的改革是可能的。
最重要的是，对于每一位深切希望能就医疗体系做出改革以便使其为普通人而非保险公司服务的美国人而言，今天的投票结果使他们的祈祷成真。对于大部分美国人来说，这场辩论从来都不是抽象的，右翼和左翼、共和党和民主党之间的斗争远超过个人层面。医疗改革事关每一个美国人、每一位父母、每一家小企业。
今晚的投票结果对任何一个政党、对美国民众以及从情理上说，都是成功的。
现在，今晚的投票结果可能理所当然地引发大量的即时分析(instant analysis，前美国副总统斯皮罗-阿格纽所创的对电视广播员对总统讲话发表的评论的贬称)。可能存在对华盛顿赢家和输家的评论，以及这一投票结果对民主党和共和党、对我本人和我所领导的政府的支持率意味着什么的预期。不过随着时间流逝，关于这场辩论以及预言都消退之时、当尘埃落定之后，能够留下来的并不是有些人所担忧的政府经营的体系或者有利于保险业的现状，而是包含两党想法的医疗体系，并且该体系能更好地为美国民众服务。
如果你有医疗保险，这一改革能够提高你的控制权，通过利用我们国家最为严格的一些消费者保护措施来控制保险业的暴行，因此你能够获得应得的保险补偿。
如果你没有医疗保险，该改革能够给你加入医疗保险体系的机会，该体系能够给你提供选择、竞争力以及获得更便宜的保险。而且这一法案包含着有史以来对工薪家庭和小型企业最大的医疗税减税措施，这就是说如果你失业、换工作、刚开始创业的时候，你最终能够买到质量好并且支付的起的保险，这能够给你带来保障和内心的平静。
对于我们国家的老年人来说，我们实行这一改革是正确的事情。该改革后，医疗保险能够更加有力而且更具偿付能力，医疗保险的有效期会延长近10 年。而且对于我们的未来而言，实行医改也是正确的事。实行医改的第一个2019年，我们的赤字能够减少逾1000亿美元;第二个2019年，赤字能够减少逾1万亿美元。
所以这不是一项激进的改革，但是一项重大改革。医改法案不会解决我们现在医疗系统中的所有问题，但绝对会让我们迈向正确的方向，改革就应该像这样。
和今天同样重要的是，这并不是此次改革的终点。星期二，参议院将对已获众议院通过的医改法案进行修订，加强这一立法并移除一些不必要的规定。有些人预计，国会可能拖延采用修订后的法案。我希望不会如此。现在是结束辩论并开始努力为了美国民众恰当实施这一改革的时候了。今年以及随后几年，我们有一项庄严的责任，那就是正确实行这项改革。
今天并不意味着我们国家所面临的工作的结束，促使经济复苏的工作仍将继续，促使私营部门增加就业机会的工作仍将继续，令美国家庭的梦想触手可及的工作仍将继续。而且我们将带着恢复的信心以及此次成功的鼓舞继续前进。
最后，今天意味着美国梦的又一坚实基石。今晚，我们回答了历史的呼唤。当面临危机时，我们没有因为挑战而退缩，而是勇于克服;我们没有回避自己的责任，而是勇于承担;我们没有恐惧未来，而是规划未来。
谢谢，愿上帝保佑你，愿上帝保佑美国。
