Yesterday evening at a church in downtown Chicago, health care activists from across the state came together to thank Sen. Dick Durbin for his leadership and to celebrate the historic passage of the reform package in Washington.  "This is the most significant piece of federal legislation in over 40 years," said Citizen Action/Illinois co-director William McNary.  Watch an excerpt from his high-energy speech:

The Illinois-based Campaign for Better Health Care, which worked tirelessly on the ground over the past year, organized the event. Executive director Jim Duffett repeatedly told the crowd that there is plenty of work left to be done, particularly when it comes to fighting misinformation about the effects of the bill and pushing for improvements.

Indeed, numerous speakers reminded those in attendance that the legislation would be improved going forward.  "Any bill like this is going to require tweaking as we go along," said Chicago alderman and Democratic Cook County board president nominee Toni Preckwinkle. "Social Security wasn't so great when it was enacted and we made it better as time passed.  And we have that obligation with health care as well."

"I come here to support the victory," said Carmen Velasquez of the Alivio Medical Center. "At the same time, I say we have more work to do," referring to the fact that undocumented immigrants were excluded from many benefits of the bill.

Calling Durbin "the strongest and most progressive senator in the U.S. Senate," SEIU Illinois State Council President Tom Balanoff added, "I agree with everyone here that we're going to take this and make it even better." (Full disclosure: SEIU Illinois sponsors this website.)

Even Durbin himself urged the crowd to fight for improvements.  Watch an excerpt from his speech:

Durbin also highlighted the importance of this year's U.S. Senate race in Illinois. "In the next Congress, when the tea-party-repealers start their effort, I want someone standing next to me a person who is going to work for the progressive causes we believe in," he said.  "And that's why I'm urging you to support Alexi Giannoulias."

Giannoulias himself went on to conclude the event by noting that his GOP opponent, Rep. Mark Kirk, recently said that he would fight to repeal the bill if elected (a position he has since attempted to back away from):

Also of note, many speakers -- including Preckwinkle, SEIU Healthcare's Keith Kelleher, and Duffett himself -- called out Rep. Dan Lipinski for being the only member of the Illinois Democratic congressional delegation to oppose the bill.  That's a vote local activists aren't going to forget any time soon.