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Obama Hails Senate Passage Of Health Care Bill

Written by Christina Heller

Story Created: Dec 24, 2009 at 11:31 AM PST

Story Updated: Dec 28, 2009 at 8:30 AM PST

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama has hailed Senate passage of an historic health care bill, saying the government is now "finally poised to deliver on the promise" of overhauling a troubled system.

Speaking not long after the Senate passed the $871 billion bill by a 60-39 vote, Obama welcomed the vote as bringing America "toward the end of a nearly century-long struggle." He said presidents since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 have been trying unsuccessfully to overhaul medical care.

Standing in the State Room of the White House before leaving on a holiday trip to his home state of Hawaii, Obama said the measure the Senate passed earlier Thursday "includes the toughest measures ever taken to hold the insurance industry accountable."

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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