President Trump delivers a statement on the passage of the American Health Care Act of 2017.
Speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House, the president congratulated Republican lawmakers on passing the first step in the replacement of Obamacare.
“There is a lot of talent standing behind me,” the president said of lawmakers. “They worked so hard, they worked so long.”
President Trump then praised some of the leadership.
“I wanna thank Paul Ryan. He has worked so hard,” Trump remarked. “This has pulled the Republican party together.”
The president talked about using the same approach to pass “the biggest tax reform in history.”
Several members of congress then made short statements thanking the president and their colleagues for the bill’s passage.
Transcript of remarks by the Vice President and President
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Speaker Ryan, Majority Leader McCarthy, Majority Whip Scalise, Chairwoman McMorris Rodgers, Chairman Brady, Chairman Walden, Chairwoman Black, Congressman McArthur, Congressman Meadows, and all the principled members of Congress who are standing with us here today, on behalf of President Donald Trump and the first family, welcome to the White House. (Applause.) And thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump, welcome to the beginning of the end of Obamacare. (Applause.)
It was March, 2010, seven years ago, Democrats passed a government takeover of healthcare. And at that time, Republicans in Congress promised the American people that law would not stand. Today, thanks to the perseverance, the determination, and the leadership of President Donald Trump, and all the support of those gathered here, weve taken a historic first step to repeal and replace Obamacare and finally give the American people the kind of healthcare they deserve. (Applause.)
So, today, with heartfelt gratitude for all he has done to keep his word to the American people, and for all he will do to continue to make America great again, it is my high honor and distinct privilege to introduce to you the President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mike. (Applause.) Thats the group. Thank you.
Thank you very much. This really is the group. What a great group of people. and theyre not even doing it for the party, theyre doing it for this country — because we suffered with Obamacare. I went through two years of campaigning, and Im telling you, no matter where I went, people were suffering so badly with the ravages of Obamacare.
And I will say this, that as far as Im concerned, your premiums, theyre going to start to come down. Were going to get this passed through the Senate. I feel so confident. Your deductibles, when it comes to deductibles, they were so ridiculous that nobody got to use their current plan — this nonexistent plan that I heard so many wonderful things about over the last three or four days. After that, I mean, its — I dont think youre going to hear so much. Right now, the insurance companies are fleeing. Its been a catastrophe. And this is a great plan. I actually think it will get even better. And this is, make no mistake, this is a repeal and replace of Obamacare. Make no mistake about it. Make no mistake. (Applause.)
And I think, most importantly, yes, premiums will be coming down. Yes, deductibles will be coming down. But very importantly, its a great plan. And ultimately, thats what its all about.
We knew that wasnt going to work. I predicted it a long time ago. I said, its failing. And now, its obvious that its failing. Its dead. Its essentially dead. If we dont pay lots of ransom money over to the insurance companies it would die immediately.
So what we have is something very, very incredibly well-crafted. Tell you what, there is a lot of talent standing behind me. An unbelievable amount of talent, that I can tell you. I mean it. (Applause.) And coming from a different world and only being a politician for a short period of time — how am I doing? Am I doing okay? Im President. Hey, Im President. Can you believe it? Right? (Applause.) I dont know, its — I thought you needed a little bit more time. They always told me, more time. But we didnt.
But we have an amazing group of people standing behind me. They worked so hard and they worked so long. And when I said, lets do this, lets go out, just short little shots for each one of us and lets say how good this plan is — we dont have to talk about this unbelievable victory — wasnt it unbelievable? So we dont have to say it again. But its going to be an unbelievable victory, actually, when we get it through the Senate.
And theres so much spirit there. But I said, lets go out — we have a little list of some of the people — and I think after that list goes, if they dont talk too long, our first list, were going to let some of the other folks just come up and say whatever you want.
But we want to brag about the plan, because this plan really — uh oh. (Laughter.) Well, we may. (Laughter.) But were just going to talk a little bit about the plan, how good it is, some of the great features.
I want to thank Paul Ryan. (Applause.) He has worked so hard. I was joking, I said, you know, Paul, for the last week Ive been hearing Paul Ryan doesnt have it. Its not working with Paul Ryan. Hes going to get rid of Paul Ryan. And then today I heard, Paul Ryan is a genius, hes come a long way. (Laughter.) Right?
SPEAKER RYAN: Ill take whatever.
THE PRESIDENT: The groups have all come together. We have the Tuesday Group — we have so many groups. We have the Freedom Caucus. We have — and theyre all great people. But we have a lot of groups. But they all came together. Really, Paul, Id say in the last three, four days — especially in the last day. I see Mark and I see Kevin, I see so many people — Jim.
We just have developed a bond. This has really brought the Republican Party together, as much as weve come up with a really incredible healthcare plan. This has brought the Republican Party together. Were going to get this finished, and then were going — as you know we put our tax plan in, its a massive tax cut, the biggest tax cut in the history of our country. I used to say the biggest since Ronald Reagan. Now, its bigger than that. Also, pure tax reform. So were going to get that done next.
And this really helps it. A lot of people said, how come you kept pushing healthcare, knowing how tough it is? Dont forget, Obamacare took 17 months. Hillary Clinton tried so hard — really valiantly, in all fairness, to get healthcare through. Didnt happen. Weve really been doing this for eight weeks, if you think about it. And this is a real plan. This is a great plan. And we had no support from the other party.
So I just want to introduce somebody to say a few words who really has been I think treated very unfairly, but it no longer matters because we won and were going to finish it off. And were going to go on with a lot of other things, and we are going to have a tremendous four years and maybe, even more importantly, were going to have a tremendous eight years. But were going to start off with just a great first year.
And, Paul Ryan, come up and say a few words. Congratulations on a job well done. (Applause.)
