founders of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. a healthier life to pursue and the liberty to pursue your happiness, whether you re going to be creative and paint and sing or be musical in other ways. whether you want to start your own business, be self-employed, whether you want to change jobs, you know how the freedom is to do that now, not because you have a pre-existing condition, but i believe all the time that this bill, we first of all passed when others didn t believe that it would, and secondly that it would be upheld by the courts. and my confidence in it sprang from the readings i had done of statements and writings of chief justice roberts. he has been consistent in how he views the role of the court, and i?xápu as he continued to be consistent, he would have to rule in the constitutionality of this. because when we wrote the bill,
matter. the court is essentially passive. awaiting issues large and small to be presented. it s role is not to be the agent but rather the final ash arbitor. and we ll recall this as another moment in the central timeline determining the course of the nation. we go back to the 19th century when a slave named dread scott sued for hisç freedom. in 1857 the supreme court ruled dred scott was not entitled to due process because people of african ancestry were not citizens. now black citizens faced a new challenge of jim krow descending. melville fuller decided separate but equal was the law of the land giving southern states and private companies free reign to discriminate and to separate. the misguided practice continued
for decades until a social movement brought the challenge before the court again. it was in 1954 that chief justice earl warren east court forced integration with all deliberate speed. we cannot forget chief justice warren s court in the roe v. wade decision. that court made clear that a woman does have a constitutional right to privacy. these decisions serve as markers in our nation s progress in both their determination and at times their indelible rhetoric. court rulings become the telling points of our history. there may be little flare when chief justice john roberts wrote, because the constitution permits such a tax and it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or
[ music plays, record skips ] hi, i m new ensure clear. clear, huh? my nutritional standards are high. i m not juice or fancy water, i m different. i ve got nine grams of protein. twist my lid. that s three times more than me! twenty-one vitamins and minerals and zero fat! hmmm. you ll bring a lot to the party. [ all ] yay! [ female announcer ] new ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. twenty-one vitamins and minerals. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. refreshing nutrition in charge! on thursday morning when the supreme court handed down its momentous decision, that would be the name of the health care case, it was once again playing a unique role in the evolution of this great project starting back in 1776. you see, the court has never been an agents of change. it has no constitutional authority to actively pursue any
unless you are extraordinarily wealthy you cannot access it. not even middle or high income people have limits to the cost of health care. that s not our main concern here, but the fact is that the cost of health care isç unsustainable at every level. so the decision that came in on thursday was truly a legal rendering. it was roberts joining four other members of the court, and he rarely joins in a decision. as you have read or thought about the decision in the few days since it came down, what are the key elements of this itself that shift who we are as a country? i believe that the legislation we passed, the act now the law of the land, is transformative for our society. as we go into the fourth of july, we celebrate a freedom for people. it honors the vision of our