Former President Barack Obama spoke from a different bully pulpit Sunday night in challenging lawmakers to show \u00ab\u00a0political courage\u00a0\u00bb on health care.<\/b>
\nMay 8 (UPI) — Former President Barack Obama spoke from a different bully pulpit Sunday night in challenging lawmakers to show \u00ab\u00a0political courage\u00a0\u00bb on health care.
\u00ab\u00a0I hope that current members of Congress recall that it actually doesn’t take a lot of courage to aid those who are already powerful, already comfortable, already influential, \u00a0\u00bb Obama said after receiving the Profile in Courage Award on the 100th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy ‘s birth.
\u00ab\u00a0But it does require some courage to champion the vulnerable, the sick and the infirm.\u00a0\u00bb
Obama’s speech at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston was one of his first since leaving the White House on Jan. 20.
He responded to an all-Republican House vote last week to repeal the Affordable Care Act — Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment. He did not mention President Donald Trump, a proponent of the replacement bill, by name.
\u00ab\u00a0This great debate is not settled but continues, \u00a0\u00bb Obama said, \u00ab\u00a0and it is my fervent hope \u2014 and the hope of millions \u2014 that regardless of party, such courage is still possible.\u00a0\u00bb
The replacement bill, which passed the House by four votes, faces an uphill battle in the Senate.
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said Sunday on NBC’s Meet The Press that the House bill will not be \u00ab\u00a0not dead on arrival\u00a0\u00bb in the Senate, but they will also not be \u00ab\u00a0bringing it immediately on the floor.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

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