Statement from Rep. Towns on Passage of Historic Health Care Legislation...

Today I proudly voted for landmark health insurance reform legislation, H.R. 4872, the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” This is truly an historic day. We fulfilled the sacred promise of health care for all Americans. We told 32 million Americans living without insurance that their fear of getting sick without coverage will soon be a thing of the past.

Now, Americans with pre-existing conditions will no longer be denied coverage. No longer will insurance be too expensive for individuals and their families to afford. And now, because of the bill's provisions to close the Medicare Part D "donut hole," senior citizens will no longer have to split their pills in half or go without needed medicines because their drugs are too costly.

Importantly, we did this without adding one penny to the federal deficit. In fact, this bill will reduce our federal debt by $143 billion over the next ten years, and hundreds of billions more in the years thereafter.

I look forward to President Obama signing this legislation into law.