Senate Votes To Advance Landmark Health Care Bill
11/21/2009 --
The Senate voted Saturday night to advance health care legislation to a full debate after Thanksgiving.
Two final holdouts, Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, announced in speeches a few hours apart on the Senate floor earlier Saturday that they would join in clearing the way for the debate.
At a 10-year cost approaching $1 trillion, the measure is designed to extend coverage to roughly 31 million who lack it, crack down on insurance company practices that deny benefits and curtail the growth of spending on medical care nationally.
"It is clear to me that doing nothing is not an option," said Landrieu, who won $100 million in the legislation to help her state pay the costs of health care for the poor.
Lincoln, who faces a tough re-election next year, said the evening vote will "mark the beginning of consideration of this bill by the U.S. Senate, not the end."
Copyright 2009, Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc.
Email Story