Two other House panels have approved a health bill, but Waxman is working to garner support among colleagues on his committee.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched a campaign to fight "government-run health care," their characterization of the plan Obama favors. The chamber's new Campaign for Responsible Health Reform is running print and online ads and inundating key members of Congress with letters and calls of opposition to Obama's plans.
During his statement in the Rose Garden, after which he took no questions, Obama excoriated the "familiar Washington script," which he suggested favors inertia over action.
He outlined the common ground among several bills now making their way through Congress, contending that lawmakers have agreed on a range of features, including a public health care option and guaranteed coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.
"Make no mistake," he said. "We are closer than ever before to the reform that the American people need ...
"Time and again, we've heard excuses to delay and defeat reform," Obama said, contending that Americans have suffered because Washington played "politics of the moment."
"Americans don't care who is up or down in Washington politics," Obama said. "The American people understand the status quo is unacceptable."
