Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday she was "obviously quite excited" about the Supreme Court decision to uphold President Obama's signature healthcare legislation.
She made her remarks in St. Petersburg, Russia, where she had just arrived for meetings with her Russian counterpart.
"I haven't had a chance to read the decision. I literally just heard as we landed that the Supreme Court has upheld the healthcare law. Obviously I want to get into the details, but I'm very pleased. That's how I hoped it would turn out," Clinton said in video posted by PSB's "NewsHour" and reported by Agence France Presse.
The high court ruled to uphold the healthcare law in
5-4 decision that prompted calls for repeal from Republicans and daylong praise by Democrats.
"I think it's a great moment to just think about what this will mean for the millions and millions of Americans who have already benefited from the Affordable Care Act and some many more who will continue to do so," Clinton added.
She noted that although there is still a lot of work to do implementing the healthcare law, she was "obviously quite exited to hear the results."
As first lady, Clinton led efforts by President Clinton's administration to reform healthcare that ultimately failed.
The secretary of state is on a three-country tour that includes stops in Riga, Latvia; Helsinki, Finland; and St. Petersburg, Russia. Clinton is in St. Petersburg to discuss Syria with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and participating in an additional meeting organized by Kofi Annan in Geneva on Saturday.
