President Obama. “I am determined to be the last.”
President Barack Obama addressed the U.S Congress in order to tackle concerns over the ongoing legislation and debates over health care reform.
U.S President Barack Obama on September 9 indicated his strongest will, saying that he will never withdraw to finish one of the most important government authorization subjects, health care reform, in his first year presidency.
President Obama said that I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last, addressing a joint session of Congress on health care reform.
Also, he pressed Republican Party that has objected the reform, saying “Instead of honest debate, we’ve seen scare tactics. Some have dug into unyielding ideological camps that offer no hopes of compromise. And out of this blizzard of changes and count-charges, confusion has reigned. The time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action.”
He stressed the necessity for collaboration, adding that it is the time for Democratic Party and Republican Party to consolidate their proposal to show people that we can still do something, and it is the time to requite people with health care reform.
He also said “If you come to me with a serious set of proposals, I will be there to listen. My door is always open. Health care reform was a good idea when Senator John MaCcain proposed it in the campaign. It was a good idea now, and we should all embrace it.”
He pointed out that 47millon Americans are living without any insurance, and if members of Congress do nothing to change this system, more Americans are sick and not able to have the benefit of health care, when they are urgent. As a result, more people will die.
Moreover, he explained the aim of health care reform that is to increase the quality of insurance by competing, but not to restrict the benefit of insurance that has existed, targeting insurance companies that have rejected the people who get in trouble.
Also, he appealed to the Congress for collaboration on carriage of the health care reform, saying ”we are closer to the goal of reform than we have ever been.”
In the night speech, he remembered the late Senator Edward Kennedy, who was dead on September 25th, who was eager to reform the health care, mentioning his letter written right after in May 2008 when he was diagnosed as the last stage of a brain tumor.
President Obama conveyed the notion of the Senator that health care reform is important to our prosperity and more than that it is a moral issue, and said that he was the first person who expected us to succeed in health care reform.It is rare for the president of the United States of America to deliver a speech in a joint Session of Congress, aside from State of the Nation Address (SONA). In that sense, this speech shows well how success or failure of health care reform is important to himself as well as to a victory of Democratic Party in the next year’s general elections and to the reproduction of the reins of government.
The address of President Obama was aimed at Senators and Representatives, originally. However, public opinion on this speech is likely to be a main variable in the process of health care reform in that it was more significant purpose to change points of view of the people who watched the live speech across the states on health care reform.
While President Obama, wearing a black suit with a striped red tie, entered the Congress, the members of Congress and audiences gave a big clap to him, as they did in the first joint session of Congress.
Aside from the Minister of Energy, Steaven Chu, who was left in case of an emergency situation, members of the Cabinet were present at the Congress, including the Secretary of State, Hillary Diane Roadam Clinton and the Minister of Finance, Timoty Franz Geithnor.
The late Edward Kennedy’s wife also sat at the gallery with the First Lady while two sons of Edward Kennedy and other families listened to the speech.
Here is another article about the history of health care reform in korean.
http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/bulletin/2009/09/10/0200000000AKR20090910006600071.HTML?did=1195r
and there is a script of his speech
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112695048&ft=1&f=1001
You wrote quite a bit on this topic. It must interest you greatly.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your opinion on health care options? Would you rather have government-influenced insurance, or free-market insurance? (which are really the issues in the US health care debate)
Dan
I think president Obama should end American health care reform. As you know, regardless their income and social status, it doesn’t make any sense that only someone who has a job is likely to have benefit of insurance. If they aren’t employed, they cannot get coverage. Does it make sense? Absolutely not! Regardless their income or social status, they have the right to be protected by the nation. Even though to reform American health care system is extremely difficult and it costs the county a lot of money, it has to be changed by Obama administration.
ReplyDeleteI prefer private insurance, between public insurance and private insurance. These days, Korean government has had a movement to change our insurance system from public to private insurance system. Current administration’s motto seems to “Be Competitive”. It is obvious in capitalism that without competition, the price of insurance goes up and quality goes down. So to let insurance companies compete in the market is the best way to cover all of the people.