President Obama Addresses Congress; Lawmakers Respond

***10:40 a.m. Update September 10***

From ABC News:

Washington, D.C.—President Barack Obama delivered an unusually impassioned argument for health care reform.

President Obama: “I am not the first President to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last.“

He noted the work to be done…

President Obama: “While there remains some significant details to be ironed out, I believe…“

...drawing chuckles for his understatement.

He repeated his support for a public health plan.

President Obama: “By making a not-for-profit public option available in the insurance exchange.“

He quoted a letter from the late Senator Ted Kennedy.

President Obama: “What we face,“ he wrote, “is above all a moral issue.“

And he heard a rare heckler beneath the Capitol dome.

President Obama: “The reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.“

Rep. Joe Wilson, (R) South Carolina: “That’s a lie.“ (Audience booing)

Speaking to CNN’s Larry King, a fellow Republican called that inappropriate.

Sen. John McCain, (R) Arizona (from Larry King/CNN: “Totally disrespectful, no place for it in that setting, or any other, and he should apologize immediately.“

The heckler, Congressman Joe Wilson, later did call the President to apologize.

But, in a Republican response, the GOP ceded no ground.

Rep. Charles Boustany, (R) Louisiana: “Replacing your family’s current health care with government-run health care is not the answer.“

Still, the president vowed to press on.

President Obama: “I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it’s better politics to kill this plan than to improve it.“

John Hendren, reporting: “It remains to be seen whether the president changed enough minds to form the coalition he needs to pass health care reform.“

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Statement from Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina):

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) made this statement Wednesday night after the presidential address.
“I was incredibly disappointed in the tone of his speech. At times I found his tone to be overly combative and believe he behaved in a manner beneath the dignity of the office. I fear his speech tonight has made it more difficult—not less—to find common ground.
“He appeared to be angry at his critics and disappointed the American people were not buying the proposals he has been selling. The president’s confrontational demeanor increased the emotional and political divide. I hope the President will learn that true bipartisanship begins with mutual respect. Criticism of a public official is to be expected and not all criticism is demagoguery.
“When it comes to the public option, the President is either being disingenuous or misinformed. The public option, contrary to the president’s claims, will eventually lead to a government takeover of our health care system.
“One could easily be led to believe tonight’s speech is the beginning of a ‘go it alone’ strategy. If the Obama Administration and congressional Democrats go down this path and push a bill on the American people they do not want, it could be the beginning of the end of the Obama presidency.”
On a Member of Congress Accusing the President of Telling a ‘Lie’:
“The president’s combative tone did not justify a Member of Congress shouting out ’you lie.’ Our nation’s president deserves to be treated with respect It was inappropriate remark and I am glad an apology has been made.”

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Statement by Congressman J. Gresham Barrett, (R) South Carolina:

“Congressman Wilson is a friend of mine and is a good person. I have talked to the Congressman about his outburst and he realizes that it was an inappropriate action. He has reached out to President Obama to offer an apology, which I hope the President accepts. It is important that we move on from this incident so that we can better focus on the issues at hand.”

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The President’s Speech

Wire stories from President Obama’s Address To Congress with reaction from lawmakers below:

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says an option to private insurance should be part of any health care overhaul. He says it would keep insurance companies honest.  Obama told Congress Wednesday night that the government-run option would be part of an insurance exchange for last-resort coverage. Obama said the Congressional Budget Office estimates that less than 5 percent of Americans would sign up for the option.  Obama said the public option would not be subsidized by taxpayers, but would be self-sufficient and rely on the premiums it collects. He said the public option is a way to ensure affordable health care through competition, but he’s open to other ideas.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Edward Kennedy expressed confidence that a health care overhaul would pass this year in a letter delivered posthumously to President Barack Obama.  In his speech to a joint session of Congress Wednesday night, Obama said Kennedy’s letter was among many he had received from “Americans counting on us to succeed.“  The letter was written in May, shortly after Kennedy was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, to be delivered upon his death. Kennedy died Aug. 25.  The president said Kennedy wrote that health care is decisive “for our future prosperity” and above all was “a moral issue.“  The senator’s widow, Vicki, listened to the speech in the visitors’ gallery of the House with first lady Michelle Obama.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The nastiness of August reached from the nation’s town halls into the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday as President Barack Obama tried to move his health care plan forward.  South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson shouted “You lie!“ after Obama had talked about illegal immigrants.  It wasn’t the only interruption during Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress in the House of Representatives. Earlier, Republicans laughed when Obama acknowledged that there are still significant details to be worked out before a health overhaul can be passed.  Wilson’s outburst caused Obama to pause briefly before he went on with his speech. Overhead in the visitors’ gallery, first Lady Michelle Obama shook her head from side to side.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday night promised to protect Medicare and reassured the elderly that Medicare funds would not be used to pay for a health care overhaul.  The president said the plan would eliminate billions of dollars in waste and fraud and what he called the “unwarranted subsidies” that go to insurance companies. In his words, these companies “do everything to pad their profits and nothing to improve your care.“  Under the president’s plan it would be the job of an independent commission of doctors and medical experts to identify more waste in the coming years.  Obama said Medicare is a sacred trust that must be passed on to future generations.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says individuals would be required to carry basic health insurance under his overhaul plan and businesses would have to offer workers health care or pay for part of insurance cost for their workers.  Obama said those who could not afford coverage would have a
hardship waiver, and 95 percent of all small businesses would be exempt because of their size and narrow profit margin.  The president acknowledged there are “significant details to be ironed out,“ but that a broad consensus exists for a plan that covers everyone.

US Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
“The President answered some questions tonight but he raised many more. As he admitted, there are many unanswered details, and in Washington, the devil is always in the details.

“He is insisting on a government option, but the thousands of Georgians I heard from back home during the month of August are very leery of being pushed into a government-run system that will have to be paid for with higher taxes. I am not going to be a part of mortgaging my kids’ futures by driving Americans to a government-run health care system we can’t afford.

“There is some common ground in terms of portability and not being rejected for pre-existing conditions and not being cancelled if you have a disease. There are ways to reach these goals through the private sector, but the President is insisting on doing it through a government plan and that is a non-starter.”

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Congressman Paul Broun, M.D. (R-GA)
In the last 6 months, the White House has presented a health care plan to the American people through television specials, speeches, news conferences and new media tools. Tonight, the President used a Joint Session of Congress to continue selling the same plan…as he has done month after month.

You see, there’s a reason the American people aren’t buying this product. After auto and bank bailouts, intervention in our housing markets and car businesses, and so-called stimulus plans and trillion dollar budgets, the American people are having buyers’ remorse. They see that government is not the best solution – for financial woes or for implementing real health care reform. You see, they believe we can improve America’s health care system without turning it over to the government.

I spent August listening to my constituents. After hosting 9 health care town halls in my district, the message is clear: Americans want health care reform that lowers their costs. They want access to more doctors and treatments and less interference from insurance companies, special interests and of course Washington politicians. They want the doctor-patient relationship protected.  And for those uninsured, I heard compassionate calls for an affordable approach to help those who truly need it.

After a summer of feeling lost in a sea of sound bites and statistics, the American people want to hear concrete specifics from the President about his plan and answers to many questions that frightened them. Answers to questions like:

- How many millions will really be forced off their current health care plan?  And am I one of those likely to be impacted? 
- How much is this bill going to really cost?
- Is America going to be in a financial position where my grandchildren and children will not be saddled with the debt of this bill?
- How much more red tape is the government going to put around me and my physician?
Unfortunately, the American people did not get the answers they need tonight.

So where do we go from here?  Well, I have a health care plan that will lower costs and expand access to affordable health care. And many of my colleagues do too.  I even brought my proposal to the House floor tonight so show the President that there are alternatives. We have offered a broad range of proposals that I hope the President and the Speaker will take a good, long look at.

Let’s discuss solutions that end wasteful defensive medicine practices and increase access to physician care – by stopping frivolous lawsuits.  Let’s discuss how to best break down the barriers that small businesses face when trying to provide their employees with the very best coverage.  Let’s discuss how Americans can keep their current coverage if they like it and make it easier for them to transport it across state lines or from job to job.  Let’s have a conversation about expanding group choices and enable Americans to form groups to purchase low-cost health care.  Such as insurance through clubs, alumni pools or even a credit unions – there are so many options to discuss.  Let’s talk about offering incentives for prevention and wellness.  Let’s talk about making all health care expenses, including insurance, tax deductible for everyone.

You see, there are many ideas to debate. Those of us fighting for affordable reform stand ready to work with the President to fix the health care financing crisis in America.  I hope that the President opens his door to our ideas and opens his ears to the calls from Americans for reform without a $2 trillion government experiment.

View the response here:
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U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
“It’s past time that the president detailed clearly the type of health care reforms he envisions. The American people, to whom this debate is highly personal, deserve nothing less.
“We can’t afford to get this wrong. We can’t afford arbitrary deadlines. We need meaningful reform, not reform for reform’s sake. 
“We should be cutting costs by encouraging individuals to live healthier lifestyles and discouraging junk lawsuits and the practice of defensive medicine that drives up medical bills. We also need insurance reform, so that Americans with pre-existing conditions won’t be penalized, and so those who change or lose their jobs will be able to take their health insurance with them.
“Most importantly, we shouldn’t be raiding seniors’ Medicare to pay for billions of dollars in new government spending.
“Americans need and deserve greater access to health insurance. But we need to fix what’s not working in a way that doesn’t raise taxes or increase costs for the millions of families who like their present coverage.

“Tonight the president finally provided some specific details of his health care plan. Unfortunately, for an issue of this magnitude, he was not specific enough.“