President Barack Obama outlined ways that proposed health care reform would benefit young Americans in a speech at the University of Maryland-College Park, Thursday, Sept. 17.
Speaking inside the university’s Comcast Center to an energetic, supportive crowd comprised mostly of students, Obama said his health care plan represents the change America voted for last November.
“We need the voices of young people to transform this nation, to meet up to the meaning of its dream,” he said.
The president stated his plan for health care reform would improve insurance for those who currently have it, provide coverage to those who have none and cut costs across the board, repeating principles he outlined in an address to a joint session of Congress earlier this month.
“Under my plan, if your parents have health insurance, and you’re currently on their policy, you will automatically be able to keep your coverage until you’re 26 years old,” Obama said.
Throughout the rally, Obama asked the youth of the country to stay active in national affairs.
“A lot of you here today and a lot of young people across the country gave your time and your effort to this campaign because you believed that America can still do great things,” he said. “We don’t fear the future; we shape the future. We don’t feed on division and anger; we feed on hope and possibility.”
The president acknowledged his critics in the health care debate, but he argued that most Republican proposals do not amount to real reform.
“It’s more of the same,” Obama said, recycling the phrase he used to dismiss Republican policies during the campaign.
The president also insisted that change does not come from Washington.
“It begins on campuses like this one,” Obama said. “It always has. Just like the change that began in our campaign, it starts with people — especially young people — who are determined to take this nation’s destiny into their own hands.”
Several labor unions and liberal activist groups had official representatives inside the arena, encouraging support for the president’s plan.
The liberal student group Campus Progress sent 10 staff members to the rally, including 24-year-old Rosanna Herrera, who manages events for the organization.
“Campus Progress is here to show that young people do care about health care reform and young people need to come together to support Barack Obama’s plan for health care,” she said.
After the rally, Beneeta Ahuja, a sophomore studying government and politics at UMD, said she thought Obama’s policy message had resonated with students.
“He really brought it down to a college level,” she said.
But the substance of the president’s policy proposals was an afterthought for many students.
Levon Coachman, a sophomore studying communications at the university, said that just having the “once in a lifetime experience” of seeing the president speak was worth getting up at 4 a.m.
“It was amazing,” Coachman said after the event. “He really gets you fired up.”
You can reach this staff writer at gvyse@theeagleonline.com.
