English subtitles for clip: File:West Wing Week- Mailbag Day Summer Edition.webm

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♪♪(Drum and Bugle
Corps playing)♪♪

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Narrator:
Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that's

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happening at 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue.

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This week, "Mailbag:
Summer Edition!"

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But before we get to some
letters and e-mails,

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a scene from the
President's week.

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On Friday, President Obama
welcomed newly-confirmed Supreme

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Court Justice Elena
Kagan to the White House.

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Kagan, who earned bipartisan
support in the Senate,

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will be just the fourth woman
to serve on the Supreme Court.

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Before hosting an event
in the East Room for her,

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the two met in the Oval Office
where the President signed her

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official paperwork.

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The President:
There you go.

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Justice Kagan:
Wow!

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The President:
How about that?

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That's, you know,
that's pretty cool!

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Justice Kagan:
That's pretty cool.

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The President:
Absolutely.

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How do you feel --
has it hit you yet?

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Justice Kagan:
Not yet.

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The President:
I don't think it will.

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Justice Kagan:
How long did it take you?

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The President:
Um --

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Narrator:
Our first letter comes from Jonathan Talcott in Pittsburgh,

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Pennsylvania, and it, too,
deals with official paperwork.

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Jonathan asks: "Does the
President receive stamps in his

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passport when he travels?"

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To find out, we started with the
President's personal secretary,

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Katie Johnson.

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Ms. Johnson:
The President does
indeed have a passport.

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In fact, one of my first jobs
when I got here was to fill out

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the President's application for
his new passport after he became President.

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And in the application form, there's a box that says "occupation."

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And for the President, I got to
put "President of the United

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States," which took up
more than the entire box.

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Narrator:
Where is it kept?

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Ms. Johnson:
His passport is under the safekeeping of our Advance Staff

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over in the Eisenhower
Executive Office Building.

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Mr. Whichard:
Hey, Jonathan, we're in the White House Scheduling Advance

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Office where we actually keep
the President's passport in our

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safe here along with all of
the other White House staff

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passports, so I'll open it
up and I'll show you the

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President's passport.

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So here is our safe.

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We keep the President's
passport in the file marked

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"POTUS Passports."

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So here's the cover page.

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The President's
signature is on it.

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And yes, he gets Customs stamps
just like everybody else does.

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So this is the back page of
the President's passport,

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the endorsements page.

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If you zoom in you will find out
that the bearer of this passport

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is the President of
the United States.

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Narrator:
Our next letter is
from Jim Bartell in

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Palm Desert, California.

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Jim writes: "I would like to
know when someone like me,

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who is 60 years of age and
has a preexisting condition --

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needs two hips replaced -- and
having paid health insurance all

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my adult life with the exception
of the last four years,

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will be able to get insurance?

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I cannot get health insurance
now because of the hips without

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paying around a thousand dollars
a month which is out of reach for me."

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To find out the answer to the
question we asked a genuine

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authority on the subject, the
Secretary of Health and Human

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Services, Kathleen Sebelius.

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Secretary Sebelius:
Jim, thank you so much for
your letter to the President.

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You've just described a
situation that millions of

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Americans find themselves in
where they have a preexisting

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condition and they get priced
out of the insurance market.

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The good news is that the
Affordable Care Act does bring

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some relief to your situation.

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Step one is that every state
in the country will have a

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preexisting condition pool set
up and running by August of this

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year in 2010.

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The second option is this year
rules will change for private

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insurance companies so they can
no longer limit the amount of

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yearly payments that they make
to benefit someone who has a

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preexisting condition.

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And they can't put an annual cap
on treatments that you receive.

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A lot of people who have
cancer or have an illness find

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themselves paying their monthly
premiums only to run out of

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money when they
need it the most.

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But the big news is in the
Affordable Care Act that by

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2014, there will be a new
insurance market where every

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American, regardless of a
preexisting condition or not,

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will have an option for
affordable health coverage,

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be able to shop in a new pool,
have some competitive plans,

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and no longer will insurance
companies be able to limit

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adults with preexisting
condition from the treatments or

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the policies that they need.

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Thank you for your support and Edies's [phonetic] support for

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the President's
program moving forward.

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We're doing our best to
implement it as quickly as we can.

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And hope that this
answers your question.

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Narrator:
Our final letter comes
from Robert Reid in

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Rochester, Washington.

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He has two questions.

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"I have watched you sign
important papers and then hand

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out the pens to politicians.

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I was wondering if you ever give
pens to ordinary citizens and,

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if so, if I could have one."

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As with all matters
paper-and-pen related,

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we need to check in with the
White House staff secretary,

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Lisa Brown.

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Ms. Brown:
Robert, thanks so
much for writing.

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As you noted, the President
regularly gives pens to members

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of Congress who obviously have
done a huge amount of work to

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get a bill passed.

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In addition, he often gives pens
to individual Americans who have

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been either deeply affected by
an issue or who have worked

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really hard to get a particular
piece of legislation passed.

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I'm not quite sure
when it started.

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We know that President Kennedy
and President Johnson each used

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a number of pens when
they signed bills.

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And the clerk believes that it
started with either Truman or Roosevelt.

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He has gotten much
better at this.

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He in fact jokes
about this, actually.

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That he, at the beginning, it
does not come naturally to use a

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number of pens when
you're signing your name,

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but he has now gotten
very much in the groove.

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The President:
I've gotten good at this.

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(laughter)

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Ms. Brown:
Robert, I can't promise to give you a pen from the next bill

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that the President signs, but
if you work really hard on

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something that you are
particularly passionate about

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and a piece of
legislation is the result,

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I will do my best to
see that you get one.

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Narrator:
Thanks so much for joining us for "Mailbag: Summer Edition!"

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For links, transcripts and
videos of the President's

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activities this week,
go to whitehouse.gov.

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And thanks again for checking
out your West Wing Week!

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The President:
Let's see.

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Hum.

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I just want to make
sure it reads correctly.

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Justice Kagan:
It's all in order.

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The President:
Did we spell your name properly?

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Justice Kagan:
Yes, I believe you did!

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The President:
Uh --

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Justice Kagan:
That would be
embarrassing, wouldn't it?

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The President:
Right.