Hear My Story, Hear Our Stories: First Lady Michelle Obama on How Health Insurance Reform Can Help Women

[Official White House transcript of First Lady Michelle Obama's speech to women's advocacy groups at the White House today. You can view video of the entire event here. I have added at the end links to studies or issues mentioned where there were none in the original transcript. Giant H/T to MOMocrat Julie Pippert for organizing outreach/spreading the word on this, and to MOMocrat Glennia for the WH briefing. --Cynematic]

THE WHITE HOUSE

 

Office of the First Lady

________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release                         September 18, 2009

 

REMARKS BY THE FIRST LADY

ON WHAT HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM MEANS

FOR WOMEN AND FAMILIES

 

Eisenhower Executive Office Building

Room 450

11:33 A.M. EDT

MRS. OBAMA:  Thank you.  Thank you all.  Please, sit.  Rest.  (Laughter.)  First of all, good morning.  I am so thrilled to see so many of you here this morning at the White House.  Welcome.  And that's including my good friend, Dr. Dorothy Height.  (Applause.)  You know, she is always there, for the past eight months and before.  If there was a big event, an important event, she finds a way to be here.  She is my inspiration, and it is wonderful to see you again today.  Thank you so much.  (Applause.)

     Thank you all for joining us today for the outstanding work you're doing every day on behalf of women and families all across this country.  I have to thank our extraordinary Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, for taking the time to be here.  (Applause.)  And for her tireless efforts to keep our nation healthy.  And that includes not just pushing for health insurance reform but preparing us for H1N1, pursuing cutting-edge research to find treatments and cures for tomorrow.  Clearly this is not the easiest portfolio she could have, but she is doing a terrific job, and we are grateful for her leadership.

     And I also want to thank Tina Tchen, who you all know, for emceeing today.  (Applause.)  She, too, is doing a fabulous job as Director of our Office of Public Engagement, and she played a critical role in pulling together today's event -- not just as an emcee but as a key figurehead, making sure that we're all aware of what's going on.

     And finally, I want to thank the three women behind me -- to Debi, Easter, and Roxi.  (Applause.)  It is not easy to come here and tell your story.  And these stories aren't new.  You know, these stories are happening all over this country, not just for thousands of women -- for millions of them.  For two years on the campaign trail, this was what I heard from women, that they were being crushed, crushed by the current structure of our health care.  Crushed.  But these stories that we've heard today, and all of us -- if we're not experiencing it, we know someone who is.  These are the stories that remind us about what's at stake in this debate.  This is really all that matters.  This is why we are fighting so hard for health insurance reform.  This is it.  This is the face of the fight.

A 9/11 Message from Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden

The First Lady and Second Lady of the United States encourage all Americans to honor the service of the women and men of the United States Armed Forces by volunteering to offer support to veterans and military families.

You can learn more about volunteering to help veterans and military families, and find volunteer opportunities near you, at iParticipate.org and Welcome Back Veterans. Read more about the public service announcement in Jill Biden's entry on the White House blog.

First Lady Michelle Obama visits Sesame Street, tapes public service message

(c) 2009 Sesame Workshop. All Rights Reserved. Photo Credit: Richard Termine

First Lady Michelle Obama visited Sesame Street, Tuesday, May 5th, to tape a Public Service Announcement with Elmo as part of Sesame Workshop’s Healthy Habits For Life initiative. Mrs. Obama and her pal Elmo talked about eating right, exercising regularly and being a healthy and positive role model for children.

Michelle Obama: We never knew how much we needed a First Lady like you until now

Watch this video clip of Michelle Obama visiting a girls' school and have a stack of hankies at the ready.

She makes me proud to be a woman, proud to be a mother, proud to be a mother of daughters, and proud to be an American.

Michelle Obama, with your "quiet strength and dignity," you are a shining, beaming symbol of hope that girls can be anything they wish to be. But more than that, you are a modern day living Lady Liberty who represents to world everything that is so great about our country. We can come from modest means, work hard, use our intellect and creativity to follow our dreams, and end up being an inspiration in the process. In these trying times, while your husband works to clean up the mess he inherited, you are our reassurance that everything is going to be okay.

Like you, we MOMocrats are educated women who are moms-in-chief. We feel no shame in staying home if we have to stay home or working if we have to work. Our children, like yours, will benefit from our smarts, values, and good judgment. You've shown us how important it is for children to have a place to play (where their lucky father can see them from his office), to plant own food so that our children can know where their produce comes from (and to grow extra to share), and you've shown us how to have compassion for others.

I feel the love you have for the people of this country every time you smile. I never knew how much we needed you to be our First Lady until I saw the Queen of England put her arm around you.  Thank you, Mrs. Obama.

—Stefania Pomponi Butler

First Day of School Neighborhood Tips for the Obamas

Dear Michelle & Barack,

You must be so excited about Malia and Sasha having their first day of school at Sidwell Friends.   Aside from it being a prestigious school, the lower and upper school campuses are really lovely.  No, PunditGirl isn't a Sidwell student, but she's attended summer camp there, so I know the lay of the land a little bit.

Since neither of you have spent much time in Washington, D.C., I wanted to pass along a couple of tips that I hope will make things easier for your pre-transition transition:

1.  Check out the coffee bar on Sidwell's upper campus.  Last summer, when I dropped PunditGirl off for her day at camp, I saw a sign pointing to coffee for the parents.  I figured there must be some little coffee cart, so I went to check it out.   I kept walking until I got to the coffee building.  Yes -- I said coffee building.  They've got a full coffee bar with barrista, juices, and breakfast items in a location that Starbucks would kill for.  Did I mention the big, comfy leather chairs in front of the large flat-screen TV?  Yeah,  I think you and the Secret Service could hang out there for a while, though I'm not sure if they have wifi.

Guest Post: Michelle Obama on Making Our Voices Heard

The MOMocrats extend a warm welcome to our special guest contributor, Michelle Obama, the woman we hope will be the next First Lady of the United States.

     A few days ago, I headed to Tallahassee with Jill Biden, my friend and partner on the campaign trail.  She and I visited Florida A&M University, where we met a crowd of thousands of people—some of whom traveled for hours to be there.  Parents brought young children.  Neighbors greeted each other in the sunshine.  And students from FAMU, Florida State, and Tallahassee Community College waved signs and cheered with all their might for change.

     Jill and I went to Tallahassee to encourage people to get involved in this election.  And this week, I’m off to Colorado, Missouri, and Michigan, where I’ll deliver the same message to everyone I meet.  In particular, there is one simple thing that each of us can do to change the world: register to vote.

     But we’ve got to act fast.  Voter registration deadlines are coming up in very soon in many states.  So if you don’t register now, you may not be able to speak your mind later.

     A lot of people don’t know how easy it is to register.  I wish I could sit down in every living room in the America, and walk every family through it!  In most states, all you do is fill out a single form.  That’s it.  Registering to vote is a snap.

     But just because it’s easy doesn’t mean it’s unimportant.  Just the opposite.  Registering to vote is absolutely crucial.  Because there is so much at stake in this election… and the choice we make on November 4^th will decide so many issues that shape our lives and impact our families.

Stewart and Colvert Mock the Vote with new Entertainment Weekly Cover

I can't wait to hear the conservative pundits on the new EW cover that features John Stewart and Stephen Colbert parodying the controversial New Yorker magazine cover of a few months ago.

Lily Ledbetter and Michelle Obama on the Economy

At the Richmond, Virginia roundtable with Michelle Obama, we got to here quite a bit about what Michelle and Barack Obama think needs to be done to get our economy back on track and to help working families.  As part of that, Lily Ledbetter spoke about her pay discrimination suit against Goodyear Tire. If you don't know who she is, you should.

This video clip starts out with Michelle Obama talking about how lucky she and Barack are for the educations they received.  "But that education comes with a price."

The Obamas Support Military Families

I'm sure our loyal MOMocrats readers sometimes get sick of me flogging the military issues on this blog.  But, growing up in a military family and seeing what happens with medical care and housing and child care and education, I can't help but want to change things.  Now, while I'm not always personally affected by the same issues as the wife of a Navy reservist, I know that my friends are and my brother is and my community is.

So, I'd like to show you a video put together after Michelle Obama's roundtable with military families in Norfolk, Virginia.  This video explains so clearly why Barack Obama is my candidate for president.

--Lawyer Mama & Blue Star Families for Obama

Michelle Obama on the Economy: It's Not in Our Heads

This afternoon I attended a roundtable in Richmond, Virginia about issues facing working women and families with Michelle Obama.  In response to one panelists comments about how two paychecks don't go as far and families are struggling, not just for the extras like college tuition, but for even the basics, this is what she said:

#Suckit, Senator McCain and Phil Gramm!