President Obama followed today's early morning Senate vote (DM 11136) on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, H.R. 3590, remarking on the bill's passage.

The president said, "In a historic vote that took place this morning, members of the Senate joined their colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass a landmark health insurance reform package, legislation that brings us toward the end of a nearly century-long struggle to reform America's health care system. Ever since Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform in 1912, seven presidents, Democrats and Republicans alike have taken up the cause of reform. Time and time again, such efforts have been blocked by special interest lobbyists who have perpetuated the status quo that works better for the insurance industry than it does for the American people. But with passage of reform bills in both the House and the Senate, we are now finally poised to deliver on the promise of real, meaningful health insurance reform that will bring additional security and stability to the American people.

The president said that, if passed, this bill will be the most important social legislation since Social Security passed in the 1930s and the most important health reform since Medicare in the 1960s.

"With today's vote, we are now incredibly close to making health insurance reform a reality in this country. Our challenge then is to finish the job," Obama said.

The president said the bill makes coverage available for 30 million Americans who now lack health insurance and assured that the bill will reduce the deficit.

After weeks of impassioned and contentious debate by both parties in the Senate, the last major challenge of the year for H.R. 3590 was met by a Thursday morning Senate vote of 60 to 39. Vice President Joseph Biden presided over the early session in the freezing District of Columbia morning, which allowed for the Senators to finally break for the holidays, from one of the most significant legislative sessions in the U.S. and a historical landmark for efforts toward health care reform. (DM 11140)

As expected, all Democrats and two Independents (Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)) voted in favor of the legislation, and all voting Republicans opposed the bill. When both houses of Congress return from their winter break, they will begin the next step of merging the House and Senate bills, which are divergent in many respects.

Today's vote follows the last session on Wednesday, including the last vote to limit debate on the health care bill. Rhetoric on both sides regarding the benefits and drawbacks of H.R. 3590 stretched into the evening, including claims that some parts of the bill are unconstitutional. (DM 11057)

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