Obama calls on Congress to have the 'courage' to protect ObamaCare

Caroline Kennedy and former President Barack Obama.
(Image credit: Pool/Getty Images)

While accepting the Profile in Courage award from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Sunday night, former President Barack Obama said it was his "fervent hope, and the hope of millions" that members of Congress, regardless of party, vote against repealing ObamaCare.

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In his first public remarks since the House voted on Thursday to repeal most of the Affordable Care Act, Obama commended those who helped it pass in 2010, and said he wants members of Congress to know they should "look at the facts and speak the truth, even when it contradicts party positions." It takes "little courage to aid those who are already powerful, already comfortable, already influential — but it takes great courage to champion the vulnerable and the sick and the infirm," he continued. "I hope they understand that courage means not simply doing what's politically expedient, but doing what, deep in our hearts, we know is right."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.