UPDATED - Schumer: Democrats were 'namby-pamby'

[lapucelle]

56. Hillary's fight for universal coverage as a Democratic Party Core Principal began in 1993

1993

In the Capitol, under the gaze of statues of figures from America's past, Mr. Clinton declared that the United States was "choking on a health care system that is not working." He and his wife, Hillary, summoned Congress to join them in a historic mission to guarantee comprehensive health insurance coverage for all Americans.

2007

In Sep. 2007 came the unveiling of her signature domestic issue, health care. Back in December, she told an adviser, "If I can't do universal coverage, what's the point of running?" That was far from a casual remark. Her failure to enact universal health care during [in 1993] had helped Republicans seize control of Congress, a devastating defeat for the Democrats and personally a bitter one for her. Now she made it known that if elected she intended to push aggressively for universal coverage.

If you don’t start out trying to get universal health care, we know--and our members of Congress know--you’ll never get there. If a Democrat doesn’t stand for universal health care that includes every single American, you can see the consequences of what that will mean. It is imperative that we have plans, as both John and I do, that from the very beginning say, “You know what? Everybody has got to be covered.” There’s only three ways of doing it. You can have a single-payer system, you can require employers, or you can have individual responsibility. My plan combines employers and individual responsibility, while maintaining Medicare and Medicaid. The whole idea of universal health care is such a core Democratic principle that I am willing to go to the mat for it. I’ve been there before. I will be there again. I am not giving in; I am not giving up; and I’m not going to start out leaving 15 million Americans out of health care.

2015 Hillary for America policy brief:

Hillary Clinton’s Commitment: Universal, Quality, Affordable Health Care for Everyone in America

April 2016 Democratic primary debates:

The diagnosis that we've got to do much more to finish the work of getting universal health care coverage, something that I've worked on for 25 years...

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/28/us/clinton-s-health-plan-overview-congress-given-clinton-proposal-for-health-care.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Hillary_Clinton_Health_Care.htm
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/health-care/
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/briefing/factsheets/2016/07/09/hillary-clintons-commitment-universal-quality-affordable-health-care-for-everyone-in-america/