JB: Thank you all.
AUDIENCE: Yes, we did! Yes, we did! Yes, we did!
JB: Yes, he did. Thank you all for being here, ladies and gentlemen. Please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, to state the obvious, this is truly a historic day. But as all of you know, history is not merely what's printed in our textbooks. It doesn't begin or end with a stroke of a pen. History is made. History is made when men and women decide that there's a greater risk in accepting the situation we cannot bear than in steeling our spines and embracing the promise of change. History is made when a leader's passion is matched with his principle in service of his country. Mr. President, your passion to make the lives of ordinary Americans better has been on display. And the principles that guided your public service, beginning when you were a community organizer, have led this nation to this moment. Mr. President, 30 minutes ago, by the stroke of your pen, you began the process of making life better for tens of millions of Americans today and for evermore. For much too long, for much too long, Americans have been denied what every human being is entitled to - decent, affordable healthcare. Starting with Teddy Roosevelt straight through to you, Mr. President, everyone else tried. They were great men, they gave it their best, but they came up short. But you succeeded, Mr. President, and we owe you for that. As I said just before the President signed the healthcare bill, I quoted Virgil, the classic Greek poet, who once said, “The greatest wealth is health.” The greatest wealth is health. Mr. President, you've made us a nobler and wealthier nation by providing for the health of your fellow citizens. Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
BO: Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Please have a seat. We wanted to do this twice...because there are so many people we have to thank. And as I look around the room, we've got leaders of labor who helped to make this happen. We've got ordinary folks who knocked on doors and made phone calls at the last minute to get this thing over the top. My extraordinary members of my Cabinet - we've still got some additional members of Congress who helped lead the charge on this. There's my staff, who I see are still here. At any given moment I thought they were going to quit...but they just stuck it out with me. So, the main purpose here is to say thank you, and thank you on behalf of the American people. After a century of striving, after a year of debate, after a historic vote, healthcare reform is no longer an unmet promise. It is the law of the land. It is the law of the land. And although it may be my signature that's affixed to the bottom of this bill, it was your work, your commitment, your unyielding hope that made this victory possible. When the special interests deployed an army of lobbyists, an onslaught of negative ads, to preserve the status quo, you didn't give up. You hit the phones and you took to the streets. You mobilized and you organized. You turned up the pressure and you kept up the fight.
When the pundits were obsessing over who was up and who was down, you never lost sight of what was right and what was wrong. You knew this wasn't about the fortunes of a party - this was about the future of our country. And when the opposition said this just wasn't the right time, you didn't want to wait another year, or another decade, or another generation for reform. You felt the fierce urgency of now. You met the lies with truth. You met cynicism with conviction. Most of all, you met fear with a force that's a lot more powerful - and that is faith in America. You met it with hope. Despite decades in which Washington failed to tackle our toughest challenges, despite the smallness of so much of what passes for politics these days, despite those who said that progress was impossible, you made people believe that people who love this country can still change it. So, this victory is not mine - it is your victory. It's a victory for the United States of America.

标题
Promise of Healthcare Reform - 1 (Obama)

视频介绍
Health Policy Speech - March 23, 2010
President Obama gives a speech to discuss the future benefits of healthcare reform legislation. (Part 1)

Speaker #1: Joe Biden (JB), Vice President of the United States of America

Speaker #2: Barack Obama (BO), President of the United States of America