Remarks on the Senate's passage of health care legislation Thursday:

"We are now finally poised to deliver on the promise of real, meaningful health insurance reform that will bring additional security and stability to the American people. ... This will be the most important piece of social legislation since Social Security passed in the 1930s." _ President Barack Obama.

"It is about people. It's about life and death in America. It's a question of morality, of right and wrong. It's about human suffering. And given the chance to relieve this suffering, we must take it." _ Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

"We stand with the millions of American families who have been forced into bankruptcy to cover the cost of caring for a loved one who is sick. We stand on behalf of the 45,000 Americans who die each year simply because they do not have health insurance and the millions more who live in fear." _ Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.

"This debate was supposed to produce a bill that reformed health care in America. Instead, we're left with party-line votes in the middle of the night, a couple of sweetheart deals to get it over the finish line, and a public that's outraged." _ Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

"We will soon produce a final bill that is founded on the core principles of health insurance reform: affordability for the middle class, security for our seniors, responsibility to our children by reducing the deficit, and accountability for the insurance industry. I look forward to working with members of the House, the Senate and President Obama to reconcile our bills and send the final legislation to the president's desk as soon as possible." _ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

"Not even Ebenezer Scrooge himself could devise a scheme as cruel and greedy as Democrats' government takeover of health care. Sen. Reid's health care bill increases premiums for families and small businesses, raises taxes during a recession, cuts seniors' Medicare benefits, adds to our skyrocketing debt, and puts bureaucrats in charge of decisions that should be made by patients and doctors." _ House Minority Leader John Boehner, D-Ohio.

"The Senate health care bill is far from perfect. I am deeply disappointed it does not include a public option to help keep down costs, and I also don't like the dealmaking that secured votes with unjustifiable provisions. I will work to improve the bill, including restoring the public option, when the final version is drafted." _ Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis.