Photo by Steven Senne / AP Photo
Barack Obama has spoken on the ongoing battle over his signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare).
While accepting the Profile in Courage Award at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on Sunday night, Obama tried to appeal to Republicans, saying:
"I 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. But it does require some courage to champion the vulnerable and the sick and the infirm."
He then directed his speech at members of the Senate:
"I hope they understand that courage means not simply doing what is simply politically expedient, but doing what [people] believe in their hearts is right."
Following that, he commended the members of Congress who pushed for the Affordable Care Act to be passed back in 2009 and 2010, even knowing that their political careers would be in jeopardy for supporting the bill.
"These men and women did the right thing. They did the hard thing. Theirs was a profile in courage," Obama said of the members of Congress.
Recently, the design for Obama's new presidential center was unveiled. The Obama Foundation released renderings of three buildings apart of the center — a forum, library, and museum — which will surround a plaza that will be located on the South Side of Chicago.
"The Obamas want to create a safe, warm, inviting place that brings people in, teaches them something new, and inspires them to create change in their own communities," Obama Foundation Chair Marty Nesbitt said in an interview with The Washington Post. "The Center will be a place for doing, not just looking or listening."
The center is slated to be complete by 2021.
Watch the video of Obama's Profile in Courage Award speech below.
