By Paula Wolfson
White House
29 July 2009

U.S. President Barack Obama is taking his campaign for health-care reform on the road, with events in the southern states of Virginia and North Carolina. Mr. Obama has pushed back his timetable for Congressional action, saying he expects to get the necessary legislation in September.

As the president began his latest round of appearances to push health-care reform, he got some good news from Capitol Hill.

Democrats in the House of Representatives announced they had reached a compromise on just how to pay for the costly reform measure. President Obama, who had set an early August deadline, now predicts necessary action in September when Congress returns from a month-long recess.

Republican lawmakers say Democrats are trying to push through a bill without enough time for proper Congressional scrutiny. The president says they no longer have reason to complain.

"Congress will have time to read the bill," Mr. Obama said. "They will have time to debate the bill. They will have all of August to review the various legislative proposals."

President Obama told a community meeting at a school in Raleigh, North Carolina, that he will be available to talk to any member of Congress who has questions.

"If they want to come over to the White House and go over line-by-line what is going on, I will be happy to do that," Mr. Obama said.

Mr. Obama said he does not want to see - what he called - "petty politics" get in the way of reform.  He said some opponents are trying to delay the process as much as they can, in hopes of killing the entire reform effort.

"The American people cannot wait any longer," Mr. Obama said. "They want action this year. I want action this year. And with your help, we are going to make it happen, North Carolina."

From Raleigh, Mr. Obama traveled to the town of Bristol, Virginia for another town-hall meeting on health care reform - this time with employees at a local supermarket.

奥巴马大力推动健保改革

 美国总统奥巴马为宣传医保改革踏上旅程，他在美国南部的维吉尼亚洲和北卡罗来纳州举办活动。奥巴马推迟了他希望国会提出相关法案的时间表，而表示他预计在9月份得到必要的法案。

当奥巴马总统开始最新一轮为推动医保改革而举行的集会活动时，他也从美国国会得到一些好消息。

众议院民主党人宣布他们已经在如何支付昂贵的改革措施费用这一点上达成了妥协。奥巴马总统曾经把最后限期定在8月初，现在他预计议员们会在国会休会一个月后，于9月份重返国会时完成必要的行动。

共和党议员说，民主党人试图在未经国会审慎斟酌的情况下通过一项议案。而奥巴马总统却说他们不再有理由抱怨。

奥巴马说：“国会将有时间审阅有关议案。他们将有时间就这项议案展开辩论。他们将有8月整整一个月的时间研究各种立法提案。”

奥巴马总统在北卡罗来纳州罗利的一所学校举行的社区会议上说，任何国会议员如果有问题可以随时与他探讨。

奥巴马说：“如果他们要到白宫来逐字逐句地研究有关提案的内容，我将欣然从命。”

奥巴马说，他不希望看到他所说的“政治把戏”阻碍改革。他说有些反对者正企图尽可能地拖延有关进程，想要阻止整个改革的努力。

奥巴马说：“美国人民再也不能等待下去了。他们希望今年有所行动。我也希望今年采取行动。北卡人民，有了你们的帮助，我们会实现这个愿望。”

奥巴马将从罗利前往维吉尼亚州的布里斯托尔参加另一次关于健保改革的市民会议，这次会议是和当地一家超市的雇员们一起进行的。