Washington, D.C. - Today, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks on the House Floor urging passage of Leader Jeffries' bill to extend Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, warning that Republican inaction has already driven up health care costs for families across the country.

In her remarks, Pelosi emphasized that the Affordable Care Act is a pillar of health and economic security for millions of Americans and that the expiration of the ACA tax credits has forced seniors, working families, small business owners and people with chronic illnesses to pay higher premiums.

Pelosi called the bill clear, commonsense and urgent, underscoring that Democrats are united in their belief that health care is a right, not a privilege.

Watch Pelosi's Floor remarks here.(link is external)

Read the transcript of Speaker Emerita Pelosi's Floor remarks below:

Speaker Emerita Pelosi. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I want to quote him when he said, 'this is a happy day.'

Thank you, Mr. Leader, for making it so. Mr. Chairman, for bringing us to the Floor. My remarks will be a brief exclamation point to your beautiful comments earlier and those of our distinguished Leader, Mr. Jeffries.

Mr. Speaker, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, 'of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.' He said, 'because people can die.'

The Affordable Care Act, proudly also known as Obamacare, is a pillar of health and financial security for America's working families.

Today, we vote on Leader Jeffries' clear, common sense and urgent bill to extend the ACA tax credits signed into law by President Biden so health care remains affordable and accessible for the American people.

Every Democrat supports this bill because we believe health care is a right for all, not a privilege for the few. No family should be pushed out of coverage and we welcome our Republican colleagues who will be voting with us today. This makes it a happy day.

As we vote today, let's remember the stories of Americans we've heard across the country.

Parents saying, 'my baby was born with a heart condition costing millions of dollars before the Affordable Care Act.'

Husbands saying, 'my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and we couldn't afford it.'

Families saying, 'dad had a stroke and we couldn't handle the cost.'

That will not happen anymore because we are protecting these families in this bill.

I urge all of my colleagues to vote yes and support this bill and protect health care and the dignity for America's working families.

I yield back the balance of my time.