U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, who had been described in national press accounts as undecided, said today he will vote this weekend to pass health-care reform, a potentially pivotal issue in his re-election campaign.

"The message from the people I represent is clear - health care costs and health insurance practices are out of control. While nearly every person I meet has a different idea about what the exact fix should be, everyone agrees that doing nothing is not an option. We need to make changes to the current system to provide people access to affordable care, to cut costs for businesses, and to strengthen Medicare for seniors. The changes we need to make to our health care system will only come by transferring power away from the health insurance industry and to consumers. The current health insurance reform bill does this, and that's why I plan on voting in favor of its final passage.

"This bill has real, immediate benefits for people. It closes the Medicare drug donut hole, lowers small business health costs, and insures 18,000 of my constituents that currently don't have health care. But maybe most importantly, the bill extends the solvency of Medicare for another decade, and cuts the national deficit by $140 billion. That's real progress that shouldn't be denied to the people of Connecticut."