Copenhagen
This morning, the White House announced that President Obama will participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next month. Speaker Pelosi on the announcement: President Obama’s announcements today underscore the urgency with which this Administration is tackling the global warming crisis. An emission reduction target by 2020 in the range of 17 percent shows a serious commitment to aggressive U.S. action. This target is based on the Waxman-Markey legislation passed by the House in June, and is both politically achievable and econ

79% Say Health Reform is Key to Addressing the Economy
The rising cost of health care is straining the wallets of American families, the balance sheets of our businesses, and the long term health of our federal budget. Two out of three personal bankruptcies in 2007 were a result of medical debt and last year, more than half of Americans postponed medical care or skipped their medications because they couldn’t afford it. The broken health care system will cost us as much as $248 billion in lost productivity this year alone and providing health care for the uninsured costs insured American families $100 billion every year. These are just some of the reasons that explain why a poll released yesterday by the

Speaker Pelosi Meets With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
This evening, Speaker Pelosi held a brief press availability followed by a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Republic of India. Speaker Pelosi extended an invitation to the Prime Minister to address a joint meeting of Congress during a future visit to the United States. Their remarks: Speaker Pelosi. It is a great honor indeed to welcome the Prime Minister of the Republic of India to the United States Capitol. It is a sign of our friendship that the red carpet is being rolled out from

Americans Rank Access to Care and Costs as Most Urgent Health Care Problems
A new Gallup poll released today underscores the urgent need for comprehensive health insurance reform. Americans surveyed overwhelmingly identified access to care as the ‘most urgent health care problem’ facing the U.S. today for the third straight year in a row (32%). High health care costs were also cited as a pressing problem – ranking second on the list with 18%. The Affordable Health Care for America Act passed by the House improves access to care: Extends health insurance coverage

Key Differences Between House and Senate Health Reform Bills
Last night, Senator Reid and other Senate leaders introduced their merged health reform bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Speaker Pelosi said this morning, “I like what I see in their bill. I think we have — as we have suspected, that we would have a great deal in common.” While the Senate bill is another major step toward making affordable, quality health care available to all Americans and the House and Senate will work together to achieve historic reforms, here are some of the key differences between the House and Senate bills: DEFICIT REDUCTION