Sept. 17, 2009

President Barack Obama is keeping up the pressure on Congress to pass a health reform bill.

The president took his campaign today to the University of
Maryland, where he told thousands of cheering college students that
Congress must resist scare tactics and false accusations to do a
makeover.

Obama called health insurance reform a "defining struggle of
this generation." He said the fight will be difficult, but that an
"unprecedented coalition" of hospitals, doctors, nurses and drug
makers support the effort.

The president again called for a public insurance option, which
most congressional Republicans, and some Democrats, oppose. Obama stopped short of insisting on such a plan.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has introduced a
bill that would rein in spiraling medical costs and require nearly
everyone to carry health insurance. A vote in his committee could
occur as early as next week, but many hurdles remain in both the
House and Senate.