Going Forward with Health Care Reform

Today, we were witness to history as H.R. 3590 became law with the stroke of a pen. Well, okay, with the stroke of 20 pens. Health care reform is something that most of us feel passionately about and have been working on for a long time. Typical of liberals, we had split camps among us about the best way to approach reform. Some said it was single payer. Others said it was revoking the anti-trust exemptions. Still others said it was public option. It was impossible to come together as one cohesive unit and work toward one common goal. But today, one version of HCR was signed into law.

Regardless of where you stood in the debate, I want to take this moment to say thank you. Thank you for standing up for what you believe and taking an active role in the process. Thank you for deciding to do something about a national disgrace, for developing a platform and organizing to make yourselves heard. Thank you for doing it an honest and ethical fashion. The majority of Americans are not willing to do what you did, which was to step away from the kitchen table or armchair dialogue and translate an opinion into action. Whether I agreed or disagreed with your position, you have my respect and appreciation for taking action.

I know that some of you are unhappy about the passage of this bill. We heard you say that it's an insurance company windfall, it's a snow job on the American public, it costs too much, it penalizes the poor, it doesn't go far enough, it won't really help small businesses, it won't do what it promises, etc. I sincerely hope that those predictions do not come to pass. But one way it could happen is for us to fall apart now.

Which is why I ask those who are unhappy with the way things turned out to get on board and help refine the bill over time. No one believes this is over. We've still got much work ahead of us. The best possible way for us to do that is to unite, to deal with the reality of what is, and then find a way to make that reality look more like the vision of how we want it to be.

We need you. We need us. It is my fervent hope that every one of you are still up to the challenge. Thank you for all that you did. Thank you for all that you do. Please stay with us; we need you now more than ever.