Breaking the Gridlock Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I want to quote him when he said that this is a happy day. I thank Mr. Leader for making it so, and I thank the chairman for making it so and bringing it to the floor. My mouth will breathe an exclamation point to the gentleman's beautiful comments earlier and those of our distinguished leader, Mr. Jeffries.

Mr. Speaker, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., famously said: ``Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman,'' he said, because people can die.

The Affordable Care Act, proudly also known as ObamaCare, is a pillar of health and financial security for America's working families. Today, we vote on Leader Jeffries' clear, commonsense, and urgent bill to extend the ACA tax credits signed into law by President Biden so healthcare remains affordable and accessible for the American people.

Every Democrat supports this bill because we believe healthcare is a right for all and not a privilege for the few. No family should be pushed out of coverage, and we welcome our Republican colleagues who will be voting with us today. This makes it a happy day.

As we vote today, let us remember the stories of Americans we have heard across the country. Parents saying: My baby was born with a heart condition costing millions of dollars before the Affordable Care Act. Husbands saying: My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and we couldn't afford it. Families saying: Dad had a stroke, and we couldn't handle the cost.

That will not happen anymore because we are protecting these families in this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' and support this bill to protect healthcare and the dignity of America's working families.

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