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"Tonight, President Obama made a strong case for passing a meaningful health care plan. We can no longer maintain the status quo. For the health of our citizens and our economy, we must extend health care coverage to those who don't have it now while protecting the coverage of those who do.

"The key to both of these goals is reducing out-of-control costs and I believe that providing real competition in the health care insurance marketplace through a robust public option will help us get costs under control. I will be fighting to include a public option at every phase of the debate – as a member of the Finance Committee and on the Senate floor. "Over the past decade, Americans have seen their insurance premiums rise by 120 percent. That translates into a $7,000 insurance premium increase for the average American family. And insurance premiums are expected to double again in the next decade. "President Obama understands the importance of compensating health care providers the way we do in Washington state – based on the quality of care they provide, not the quantity of tests they order. If every other state in the country were as efficient as Washington, the nation would save more than $50 billion a year. And it’s important that our seniors understand that Medicare reform doesn’t mean less care, it means better care."

"The president has proven his ability again to speak very well and say very little. He continued to try and sell his government-run health care experiment even though it will increase costs, increase taxes and increase the deficit. He said he wants to work with Republicans, but Nancy Pelosi and liberals in the House have opposed Republicans every step of the way. If the Democrats are serious about passing health care reform this year, they should stop pointing fingers and truly start working with Republicans to pass common-sense bipartisan health care reform that Americans want and deserve."