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What a great day! I just left the East Room at the White House, where President Obama officially signed the historic health care reform bill into law!

Touchingly, Marcelas Owens, a young man from Washington state whom I met last June, and whose story I have shared throughout this debate, was standing right next to President Obama as he signed the bill.

Ranking right up there with the creation of Social Security, the enactment of Medicare, and the passage of civil rights laws, today’s signing of comprehensive health care reform legislation will have an enormous positive impact on our country for decades to come.

Because of you and thousands of others who stood with me in this fight, Washington state families and small business owners will see lower premiums, more choices, and the kind of health care security and stability they deserve. Patients and doctors will take health care decisions back into their own hands, while insurance companies will now have to compete to earn the business of the American people. Insurance companies won’t be able to deny anyone coverage because of pre-existing conditions. They won’t be able to cut your coverage when you get sick. And we’ll close the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole” for prescription drug benefits for seniors.

But there is so much work left to do to help all those who are struggling to get through this tough time. I will continue to fight for you and your family on health care, jobs, and so many other important issues.

Thank you for speaking out and making your voice heard in this historic health care debate. We couldn’t have passed it without you.

Tonight’s historic vote brings Washington state families and small business owners one step closer to lower premiums, more choices, and the health care security and stability they deserve.

I have heard from so many families who simply can’t continue to afford their skyrocketing premiums. Small business owners have told me that they want to cover their employees but rising costs make that impossible.

When President Obama signs the final legislation into law, people in Washington state will begin to benefit immediately.

• People will not lose their existing health plan when they get sick.
• Lifetime limits and caps on services will be prohibited.
  Children with pre-existing conditions will be able to access coverage.
• Small business owners will get tax credits to cover their employees.
• And 159,000 Washington state seniors who fall into the “doughnut hole” will have their prescription drug costs cut in half and will get a $250 rebate to help them with the other half.

I will be working hard in the Senate to make final changes to the law that passed the House tonight, the Senate with 60 votes, and will be signed by the President shortly.

Americans across our country have given enough to big Wall Street banks and their CEOs. With our national and global economy teetering on the brink, the American people bailed out big banks to the tune of $700 billion through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Trillions of dollars of loans, grants, and asset guarantees were also made available to the financial sector.

But as soon as the crisis on Wall Street began to stabilize, those who led us down the road to economic turmoil were back to their same old tricks. Wall Street may be on the mend, but as the daughter of a veteran who managed a Five and Ten Cent store on Main Street in Bothell and who worked in that store with my brothers and sisters, it’s still families and businesses on Main Street that I will be fighting for.

And I’m sick and tired of our state’s families being forced to reach into our pockets to save Wall Street, only to watch big banks and CEOs return to a ‘Bonus As Usual’ mentality. That’s why I’m cosponsoring a bill that will apply a one-time 50% tax on bonuses of $400,000 or more, from those banks that received more than $5 billion in TARP funds. It will force Wall Street executives to pay back the taxpayers who never intended for their hard-earned money to be used to pay for huge bonuses for the very people who got our economy into this mess. And every dollar we collect will go towards paying down our national debt.

This is the right thing to do.

I’ll keep you posted on our progress with this legislation in the weeks ahead. Thanks for your continued support!