“But health reform is not only saving money – it’s saving lives.”

“In the richest nation in the world no insurance company will ever again put a price tag on a human life.”

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke on the Senate floor today regarding Saturday’s anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:

Three years ago, President Barack Obama signed into law the greatest single step in generations toward ensuring access to quality, affordable healthcare for every American – the Affordable Care Act.

Millions of Americans are already benefitting from Obamacare. Insurance companies can no longer set arbitrary lifetime caps on benefits, putting millions of Americans one car accident or heart attack away from bankruptcy. Today children can no longer be denied insurance because they are born with a disease or a disability, a protection that will soon extend to all Americans. And soon being a woman will no longer be considered a pre-existing condition.

In less than a year, 129 million Americans with preexisting conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes can rest assured they’ll have access to affordable insurance and life-saving care – regardless of their health or how much money they make.

In Nevada alone, tens of thousands of seniors have saved tens of millions of dollars on medicines because the Affordable Care Act closed the gap in prescription drug coverage.

But health reform is not only saving money – it’s saving lives.

Just ask 26-year-old Sarah Coffey, a native of Gardnerville, Nevada. Sarah was halfway through her first year of law school at the University of Connecticut when she was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin’s disease.

Sarah had done everything right. When she enrolled at UConn, she bought the best student insurance plan money could buy and paid for it a year in advance. But her cancer – and the difficult treatment to fight it – made returning to school last fall impossible.

Since Sarah was no longer a student, she no longer qualified for student health insurance. And her policy was about to expire. Without an expensive bone marrow transplant, she might die.

Before the Affordable Care Act became law, Sarah would have been one of the tens of millions of Americans who desperately needed life-saving care, but didn’t have insurance to pay for it. Before the Affordable Care Act, Sarah might even have become one of the 45,000 Americans who died each year because they lacked health insurance.

But thanks to Obamacare, Sarah was able to sign on to her parents’ insurance plan. Sarah is one of 3.1 million young people – including 33,000 young Nevadans – who have benefited from a provision in the law that allows children to stay on their parents’ health plans until they are 26 years old.

And I’m pleased to report that Sarah’s story has a happy ending. She got the treatment she needed. Her most recent PET scan was clear. And Sarah plans to return to law school in September.

Sarah’s mother, Sue, sent me a letter in January. She wrote that Obamacare and the dedicated doctors at Stanford Hospital saved her daughter’s life.

This is the legacy of the landmark law: that no American will end up in an emergency room because he has no insurance, that no American will live in fear of losing her insurance because she loses her job and that in the richest nation in the world no insurance company will ever again put a price tag on a human life.

Thomas Jefferson wrote that, “The care of human life and happiness… is the first and only object of good government.” I am gratified that the Affordable Care Act meets that standard. And I am proud that this law, which we worked so hard to pass, is already ensuring the care of human life remains the first object of this government.

“President Obama’s nominations will ensure strong leadership for the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. Both Dr. Moniz and Ms. McCarthy bring the expertise our nation needs to address environmental challenges and lead on clean energy innovation and development.

“As a respected nuclear physicist and Director of the MIT Energy Initiative, Dr. Moniz has been at the forefront of finding innovative ways to bolster and clean up our energy supplies at the same time. I am confident that he will continue building on the Administration’s progress in developing our nation’s enormous clean energy potential, reducing our reliance on foreign oil, and finding a safe, consent-based approach to managing our nation’s nuclear waste that does not involve dumping it in Nevada. I also look forward to discussing with Dr. Moniz the Department of Energy’s partnership with Nevada in growing the Silver State’s clean energy economy.

“Ms. McCarthy has a proven track record of public service and I am confident she will be able to tackle the serious environmental challenges facing our nation. Working to improve our environment for the long-term will require the ability to bring together communities, diverse industries, and public health and environmental advocates to find solutions that work for our country. Ms. McCarthy is uniquely qualified for building consensus to clean our air and water, safeguard communities from public health threats, and address climate change.”

“Ms. Mathews Burwell has a strong background and I am confident she will be able to deal with our nation’s budgetary challenges in a responsible way. Having served at OMB, Treasury and as an senior advisor to President Clinton, Ms. Mathews Burwell understands how to work cooperatively to develop a budget that keeps our government strong and bolsters our nation’s economy for the long-term.”

“Jack Lew is an outstanding public servant with the experience and ability to guide our nation’s economy towards long-term growth and prosperity for the middle class. His work under two presidents and years of experience on Capitol Hill give him the tools necessary to succeed in this critically important and difficult job.

“Jack’s ability to work with people of different opinions and his belief in fiscal responsibility were evident when he helped President Clinton balance the budget and generate record surpluses. He understands that our work here in Washington is not just about numbers, but about real families sitting at home, trying to make ends meet. I appreciate the strong bipartisan vote of support for Jack, and look forward to working with him to bring middle-class families the economic security they deserve.”

Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senator Harry Reid released the following statement after being informed by Republican leadership that they would mount a full-scale filibuster and block Senator Hagel’s nomination for Defense Secretary from receiving an final passage vote on the Senate floor:

“My Republican colleagues had led us to believe they would not filibuster Senator Chuck Hagel’s confirmation of as Secretary of Defense. But that has changed. Now, Senate Republicans have made it clear they intend to mount a full-scale filibuster, and block the Senate from holding a final passage vote on Senator Hagel’s nomination. Make no mistake: Republicans are trying to defeat Senator Hagel’s nomination by filibustering while submitting extraneous requests that will never be satisfied.

“The pattern has been clear for months: as soon as President Obama’s administration responds to one request, Republicans devise another, more outlandish request. Senior Administration officials have participated in twenty member and staff briefings, ten congressional hearings, six witness interviews and responded to over forty Benghazi-related inquiries from Congress, producing 10,000 pages of documents. Several of my Republican colleagues sent a letter to the Administration yesterday requesting additional information on the September 11th attack on an American facility in Benghazi. These Republican colleagues said they would not allow a vote on Senator Hagel’s nomination to proceed unless the Administration honored their request. The Administration responded to that letter yesterday. I, along with several of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, received a copy of the letter at 4 p.m. But now Republicans say this is not enough, and are moving the goal posts at the last minute. This is no way to operate.

“The Senate has received extensive information on the Benghazi attacks, including testimony from Administration officials before multiple committees and an independent review board. Senator Hagel has answered exhaustive questions about his record. He has the support of the President. And he has the support in this body to be confirmed, if Republicans would lift their filibuster. There are serious consequences to this delay, and I hope Republicans will drop their filibuster to give our troops the leader they deserve in this time of danger.”

“I applaud the President for taking decisive action to improve our nation’s defenses against cyber attacks. The President’s new Executive Order will significantly advance cybersecurity in the networks of our nation’s critical infrastructure, and will facilitate more rapid, more effective sharing of time-sensitive threat information between the government and private sector. I hope this measure will also help us develop the broader awareness and capability needed to enable companies throughout the private sector to protect consumers and stem the loss of jobs and economic growth caused by intellectual property theft.

“As the President has rightly noted, the new Executive Order is no substitute for legislation, which is essential to address current gaps in authority. Until Congress acts, President Obama will be fighting to defend this country with one hand tied behind his back. I am eager to work with my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to develop and advance legislation as soon as possible.”

“But our efforts to restore prosperity will mean little unless Congress acts immediately to deal with arbitrary, across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect next month.”

“Later this week, Democrats will introduce a plan to avert the so-called sequester.”

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke on the Senate floor today regarding the State of the Union Address. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:

Last night President Obama outlined an agenda to strengthen the middle class and expand on our economic progress. And he outlined an agenda that will restore the core value that makes this nation great: fairness. Senate Democrats stand ready to work with the President to make this vision – a vision in which every American shares the prosperity as well as the responsibility – a reality.

The President’s agenda calls for common-sense investments in our future – investments that will breathe new life into a struggling middle class, investments that will make America a magnet for jobs and manufacturing once more, investments that have been deferred for far too long because of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

The President’s plan will give American manufacturers the support they need to thrive, while ending giveaways to companies that ship jobs overseas. His plan will create jobs today building world-class roadways, railways and bridges that our economy can rely on tomorrow. It will prepare current and future workers to compete in a global economy by making K-through-12 schools the best in the world once again and college affordable for every graduate. His plan will break our addiction to foreign oil and encourage investments in renewable energy – a change that will be good for the environment and for the economy. And, as the President said last night, it will do all this without adding a dime to the deficit.

These investments in a strong middle class are not just right for our country; they’re right for our economy as well.

But our efforts to restore prosperity will mean little unless Congress acts immediately to deal with arbitrary, across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect next month. If the looming sequester strikes, 70,000 children would be kicked off Head Start. Ten thousand teacher jobs will be at risk. And the Small Business Administration will be forced to reduce loan guarantees to small businesses by up to $540 million.

Democrats believe we should replace this harsh austerity with a balanced approach that targets wasteful spending and tax loopholes, and asks the wealthiest among us to contribute a little more to reduce the deficit. The American people know we can’t cut our way to prosperity. They agree we cannot ask the middle class to bear the entire burden of deficit reduction.

Later this week, Democrats will introduce a plan to avert the so-called sequester.

Republicans say they agree the deep cuts they voted for would be damaging to our economy and to national security. But they would rather cut Medicare, education and medical research than close a single wasteful tax loophole or ask a single millionaire to contribute more. They should stop protecting millionaires, billionaires and wealthy corporations, and start working with us to pass an alternative to these terrible cuts that protects the middle class.

We must not jeopardize the progress of the last four years. Even though our work to restore economic prosperity is not done, we should take pride in 35 months of private sector growth and 6.1 million new, American jobs. Imagine how many more jobs we could have created with just a little cooperation from our Republican colleagues.

But now our friends across the aisle have another opportunity to engage constructively. They have a second chance to work with Democrats to rebuild the middle class by investing in the things that made America strong in the first place – world-class roads and bridges, peerless schools, industrious factories and creative entrepreneurs.

President Ronald Reagan, in his first address to a Joint Session of Congress, spoke of these building blocks of prosperity. This is what he said: “The substance and prosperity of our nation is built by wages brought home from the factories and the mills, the farms, and the shops. They are the services provided in 10,000 corners of America; the interest on the thrift of our people and the returns for their risk-taking. The production of America is the possession of those who build, serve, create, and produce.”

He did not say the substance of our nation is built on profits gleaned from shipping jobs overseas. He did not say the prosperity of America is the possession of investment banks or wealthy oil companies alone.

Rather, our substance and prosperity are earned in factories and mills, farms and shops. And the rewards belong to all those who build, serve, create and produce – not only to the few strong enough or rich enough to take for themselves.

It’s time to return to those roots. It is time to remember that fairness is not just a principle for which to strive, but a powerful engine of growth and prosperity for all Americans.