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US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) - Source: Reuters -
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Democratic congressional leaders promised to push ahead with
healthcare reform despite a stinging setback in a Senate election,
but Republicans said the result proved the issue should be
killed.
Republican Scott Brown, riding a wave of anger against the
healthcare bill and President Barack Obama's agenda, scored an
upset in Massachusetts in a race that denied Democrats the 60th
Senate vote they need to pass the bill.
Leaders in the Senate and the House of Representatives said they
could still pass a healthcare bill despite the Massachusetts
results, although their legislative options appeared to be
narrowing.
"We will move forward with those considerations in mind - but we
will move forward," House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi
said of the healthcare bill in a speech to the US Conference of
Mayors.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid declined to comment to
reporters on the Massachusetts result but said on the Senate floor
that some elections go your way, some elections go their way.
"In the coming year, we will ensure all Americans can access
affordable health care, deny insurance companies the ability to
deny health care to the sick, and slash our deficit in the
process," Reid said.
House and Senate Democratic leaders had been negotiating to merge
the healthcare bills passed in each chamber into one version that
could be passed again and sent to Obama, who has made the issue his
top legislative priority.
Both bills would extend insurance coverage to more than 30 million
uninsured Americans, create exchanges where individuals can shop
for insurance plans and bar insurance practices like refusing
coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.
Democrats have focused on the possibility of sending the Senate
bill directly to the House without changes, eliminating the need
for another Senate healthcare vote.
Adjustments could be made later through a parliamentary
procedure that requires a simple majority of 51 Senate votes.
But it is unclear if Democrats have the House votes to pass the
Senate bill and many have questioned the wisdom of pushing forward
with an unpopular healthcare plan that has been in effect rejected
by Massachusetts voters.
A step back
"It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to take a step back
and say we're going to pivot to do a jobs (creation) thing,"
Democratic Representative Anthony Weiner, a supporter of healthcare
reform, told reporters on Tuesday night.
Republicans said American voters had spoken in heavily Democratic
Massachusetts, where Brown promised to be the 41st Republican vote
against healthcare reform.
"They don't want the government taking over healthcare. They made
that abundantly clear," Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell
said.
He told reporters he hoped the healthcare bill was dead for the
year.
"We need to move in a new direction," he said.
The possibility of rushing the bill through the Senate before Brown
is seated was rejected by several Senate Democrats, and Reid
promised to seat Brown as soon as he received the paperwork from
state officials.
With congressional elections looming in November, many Democrats
fear the failure to pass anything on healthcare after six months of
work would be more politically damaging than passing an unpopular
bill.
House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said Democrats were talking
about how to proceed and trying to determine what parts of the
healthcare bill could be passed in the Senate.
"We do believe there are some very good things in the bill that we
can get passed," Hoyer told a policy group.
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