[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 30 (Monday, August 1, 1994)]
[Page 1578]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Action in the House of Representatives on Health Care 
Reform Legislation

July 29, 1994

    Hard working middle class Americans have moved a step closer to real 
health security today. House Speaker Foley and Majority Leader Gephardt 
said they would put forward a bill that achieves universal coverage and 
controls costs. They have met their goal and the goal of the American 
people.
    The House bill tells the American people that they have been heard. 
The bill is simpler, more flexible, and more sensitive to the needs of 
small business. Gone is the bureaucracy they didn't like. Protections 
for small businesses have been strengthened. And the bill is being 
phased in over a longer period. All Americans can keep their health plan 
and doctor, and everyone will have coverage.
    The bill also recognizes that shared responsibility is the best way 
to achieve universal coverage. It works. Building on the current system 
where 9 out of 10 Americans receive private insurance through the 
workplace just makes sense. It works abroad, and it's supported here at 
home by the AMA, AARP, AFL-CIO, hundreds of thousands of big and small 
businesses and a majority of the American people.
    Speaker Foley, Majority Leader Gephardt, the committee and 
subcommittee chairs and many Members of the House should be commended 
for their tireless work to fashion a bill to go to the House floor. They 
chose a pragmatic and more moderate path; they've achieved the shared 
goal of universal coverage, and it works for ordinary Americans.
    The time has come to pull together and work in a bipartisan manner 
to deliver guaranteed health care coverage to all Americans.