U.S. Sen. Brown, Obama confident federal health reform will pass this year

Speaking at Cleveland’s City Club on Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said he expects Congress to pass health reform legislation that provides coverage to all Americans before the year is over (Source: “U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown predicts universal health care by end of year,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 27, 2009).

"Americans know the challenges to our health-care system, our economy and our nation are too big for opponents of health-care reform to just say no," Brown said, referencing the Clinton Administration’s failed attempt at health reform in 1993. "Staying the course of a broken system is simply no longer an option.”

Likewise, Obama predicted passage of a federal reform package before the end of 2009 (Source: “Obama says health care changes must come this year,” Associated Press, May 29, 2009). Speaking by phone to a gathering of his political organization Organizing for America, the president said, “If we don't get it done this year, we're not going to get it done."