House heads toward historic vote on health care

USA TODAY, On Politics
Mar 21, 2010

The preliminaries are over. After more than a year of haggling, the U.S. House of Representatives is finally starting a two-hour debate on health care.

We’re going to be blogging live in this space so keep hitting refresh and scroll to the bottom for the latest.

To be clear: There are two measures before the House dealing with President Obama’ s top domestic priority. One is the Senate’s version of health care, which passed that chamber on Christmas Eve. Because of a deal struck earlier today between the White House and anti-abortion Democrats, the House is expected to have the 216 votes needed to pass the Senate bill.

The second measure is the House’s new health care legislation, which revises the Senate bill more to Obama’s liking. It would spend $940 billion over 10 years to expand health insurance coverage to 32 million Americans and provide $124 billion in deficit reduction.

The House votes tonight on these measures will supersede its November action, when mostly Democrats and one Republican passed the original House health care bill on a 220-215 vote.

(By the way, buried in the new House health care bill is an unrelated but also sweeping measure that rewrites the rules dealing with college loans for needy students.)

Health care then moves to the Senate, where Democrats are expected to use special rules that would require only 51 votes to pass a bill. USA TODAY’s Richard Wolf, John Fritze and Mimi Hall will have a full report on tomorrow.

Here’s the House debate:

Update at 6:43 p.m. ET: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., is on the floor talking about the historic civil rights march in Selma, Ala. more than 40 years ago. He’s setting the tone for the health care debate, making a reference to Democrat John Dingell of Michigan, the longest-serving member of the House. Dingell was in the speaker’s chair controlling the House debate in 1965 when lawmakers passed the law creating Medicare. Hoyer says the House is about to make another “historic” choice on health care.

6:55 p.m. ET: Hoyer denounces a “campaign fear” that’s been waged on health care. “Critics call it a government takeover — that’s not true,” he said, before extolling the bill’s virtues, including its ability to reduce the deficit.

7 p.m. ET: Hoyer is winding up, saying the health care legislation will stand the test of time, putting it in the company of laws establishing Medicare and a prescription drug benefit for seniors. “”This bill.. this bill will stand in the same company for the misguided outrage of its opposition and for its lasting accomplishment for the American people,” he said.

7:02 p.m. ET: Several Republicans stand up and say they’ll oppose the bill and “revise and extend” their remarks later. The first Republican to make a lengthy statement, though, is Rep. Nathan Deal, who is going to leave the House soon and devote himself fulltime to running for governor in Georgia. “The problem with socialism is you eventually run out of people’s money,” Deal says, saying the House is about to impose “unprecedented and unconstitutional mandates” on people.

7:05 p.m. ET: John Dingell is about to take the floor.

7:08 p.m. ET: Dingell just finished his stem-winder. The dean of the House says 32 million more Americans will have health care under the bill and notes 18,000 people die every year because they don’t have health care. He also says the bill “fixes the insurance companies,” meaning it will impose new rules on them and ensure that the industry can’t block someone from having health care if they’re already sick and have a pre-existing condition. “They can’t cancel your policy when you’re on the gurney,” Dingell says.

7:12 p.m. ET: Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., says the bill will take money away from Medicare. “This bill requires small businesses and individuals to buy health insurance and if not they will be subject to civil penalties. health reform may be necessary but this bill is the wrong bill,” Whitfield says.

7:14 p.m. ET: Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md., is in the speaker’s chair, banging the gavel. Several lawmakers started to shout down Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., who kept talking after his time was up. She reminds lawmakers to “heed the gavel,” meaning you’re done when she says you are.

7:19 p.m. ET: Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., says she’s opposed to this “deeply flawed bill.” In her Palm Springs district, Bono Mack says “thousands” of senior citizens will lose some benefits under the Medicare Advantage program. “This bill is little more than a shell game that picks winners and losers,” she says.

7:20 p.m. ET: Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, leader of anti-abortion Democrats, has a discussion or “colloquy” with Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Commerce Committee, about a deal struck earlier today with the White House on abortion language. Stupak wants to make sure that the intent behind the bill and an order that President Obama will issue is that “health care reform will maintain a ban on the use of federal funds on abortion.” Waxman says yes, that is correct.

7:30 p.m. ET: Rep. Joseph Pitts, R-Pa., disputes the assertions made by Stupak and Waxman. “This bill violates the conscience of the American people,” Pitts says. He contends that an executive order “is not a statute” and that “the government will end up directly paying for abortion at community health centers.” He also calls Obama “the most pro-abortion president in history.”

7:40 p.m. ET. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., is the last Democrat in this section of the debate. (Several committees will be splitting the debate time.) Baldwin, who supports the bill, says, it comes down to “whose side are you on?” She says she’s on the side of the people in her Madison district who get health coverage under the bill.

7:44 p.m. ET: Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, will wind up the House Commerce Committee’s part of the debate. “This bill will not last,” he says. “It is based on a fatal assumption that one party acting unilaterally can dictate the will of the people on one-sixth of the economy.”

7:45 p.m. ET: Now we start the debate on how to pay for the health care bill. The House Ways and Means Committee will take the floor.

7:46 p.m. ET: Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., who gave up the gavel of the tax-writing committee while he faces ethics investigations, says this moment is historic and he’s glad he’s taken part on shaping the bill. “No matter how long anybody has been in this body, people will ask which side were you on and, thank God, I’m on the right side,” Rangel says in support of the bill.

7:52 p.m. ET: Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, finishes his speech. He says a vote against the bill is a vote for “freedom,” including the freedom from bureaucrats he says will make health care decisions and freedom from “exploding debt.”

8:02 p.m. ET: Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, says this is a bad bill because it increases taxes on Americans. (One example: High-priced insurance plans, known as “Cadillac” plans, will be taxed under the bill.) “This does nothing to fix a health care system; it adds people to a broken system,” he says, holding up newspaper clippings from his district.

8:09 p.m. ET: Some parliamentary tactics have begun. Republicans have asked that words by Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., be removed from the official record of debate because they claim they’re false and demeaning to House veterans.

8:15 p.m. ET: After some review, Pascrell has asked that any of his words that were taken as offensive be stricken from the record.

8:21 p.m. ET: Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the House Democrats’ campaign committee, notes that opponents of Medicare in the 1960s called it “Stalinism” and starts to refute criticism of the health care bill. “The day after this legislation is signed, American will see that the world is not coming to an end,” he says.

8:22 p.m. ET: Republican Charles Boustany of Louisiana, one of several physicians in Congress, denounces the bill’s $940 billion in costs and taxes to pay for provisions. He equates it to the financial problems now plaguing Greece. He says there will be a “sequel to the modern Greek tragedy” and a “potential for default.”

8:29 p.m. ET: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida winds up the debate for Ways and Means Democrats in a personal way. The congresswoman last year battled breast cancer and she said she would cast a “yes” vote for the “2.5 million breast cancer survivors like me who have a pre-existing condition.” She also said she was voting “yes” on behalf of other mothers. “Our current system is broken. It’s un-American. The nightmare ends tonight,” Wasserman Schultz said.

8:33 p.m. ET: The House Education and Labor Committee is about to start its leg of the health care debate. But first,Ways and Means Democrat Rob Andrews of New Jersey is on the floor.

8:34 p.m. ET: Rep. John Kline, the ranking Republican on the labor committee, takes to the floor to denounce the “backroom deals” that have been cut on health care. He also says, “This bill will destroy jobs at atime when we need them the most.”

8:39 p.m. ET: Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., says women need health care the most. She notes that women can be denied health insurance if they have been pregnant — that’s considered a pre-existing condition, she says. Woolsey says women can also be denied health coverage if they suffered injuries from domestic violence. “We should be ashamed,” she says.

8:47 p.m. ET: Kline is speaking again for Republicans. “Perhaps its time for Washington to stop talking and start listening,” he says. Kline says calls into his district are 13 to 1 against the bill. He also makes reference to protesters who came to Washington this weekend asking to “kill the bill.”

8:53 p.m. ET: USA TODAY’s John Fritze sends a note that several guests are in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s box in the chamber watching the debate. They include her daughter, Alexandra, a documentary film maker; Zeke Emanuel, brother of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and a health care adviser at the Office of Management and Budget; Rich Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO; and Nancy-Ann DeParle, President Obama’s top health care adviser.

9:04 p.m. ET: Rep. George Miller of California, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, is winding up the debate for Democrats in this section. “Our reforms will improve the lives of every single American,” he says. He also notes that the bill includes an unrelated measure on college loans. He said it’s a simple choice to either side with Americans for health care and student loans or side with the insurance industry. “All of my colleagues should stand with American families in our country,” he concludes.

9:07 p.m. ET: Now it’s time for the House Budget Committee to take to the floor.

9:10 p.m. ET: Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the top Republican on the Budget Committee, says this is “not a debate about prices, coverage or choosing doctors.” He decries Democrats for being “paternalistic” and “condescending.” He says we’re approaching a tipping point where more Americans rely on the government for benefits. Ryan, by the way, is one of the House experts on the federal deficit. He says there will be a “debt crisis caused by politicians of the past making promises that we cannot keep” under health care legislation. He also brings up Republican Sen. Scott Brown’s surprise victory in a special election in Massachusetts.

9:15 p.m. ET: House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt, D-S.C., is now speaking. He is citing lots of numbers, including the Congressional Budget Office’s latest estimate that the health care portion of the bill reduces the deficit by $124 billion in the first 10 years.

9:18 p.m. ET: The big guns are starting to come out. Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, chairman of the House Republican Conference and a GOP leader, is on the floor now. He reminds people “this is not the president’s House, this is not the speaker’s House” and emphatically states, “this is the people’s House.”

9:26 p.m. ET: Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the Democrats’ chief vote counter and No. 3 leader, is now on the floor. He notes that the health care bill will close the gap in prescription drug coverage some seniors now face under Medicare. That gap is known as the “donut hole.” He calls the bill “civil rights” for the 21st century.

9:40 p.m. ET: Rep. Allen Boyd, a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition of Democrats, gets up to explain why he’s switching for “no” to “yes” on health care. He cites the numbers in the bill — from how many people will get coverage to how it could reduce health care costs. “If we fail to act now, the path we are on will create a society of haves and have nots,” he says. “I ask you, if not this, then what? If not now, then when? I ask my colleagues to vote yes.”

9:41 p.m. ET: Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., explains his opposition and laments that there isn’t enough in the bill to reduce what he and other Republicans consider to be frivolous litigation against doctors.

9:53 p.m. ET: The floor debate is approaching a close. One sign: Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., one of the experts on House rules, now has the gavel and is in the speaker’s chair. He’s reminding House members that he can’t instruct them on the House rules. The managers of the bill also say it’s almost time for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, to come to the floor and wind up the debate. Pelosi will speak last. Obey is trying to settle down members who are now filling the chamber.

9:58 p.m. ET: Rep. Dave Camp, the ranking Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, is reading quotes from Democrats who say they can’t support the bill. A reminder: 39 Democrats voted for the original version of the health care bill when the House voted in November. Several Democrats, such as Boyd, said they will switch their votes from “no” to “yes.”

10:03 p.m. ET: House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio takes the floor, he says with a “sad and heavy” heart.

10:08 p.m. ET: Boehner says “if we’re going to vote to defy the will of the American people then we ought to have the courage to stand and announce our votes one at a time.” Does that mean they will stand up one by one and not do a recorded vote by electronic machines throughout the House chamber? Obey is reminding Boehner that the House rules call for a vote by “electronic device.”

10:10 p.m. ET: Boehner says “shame on us” for substituting the will of the American people.

10:11 p.m. ET: “We break the tides of history in this chamber and we break our trust with the people of America,” Boehner says. He warns that Democrats will lose the midterm elections and their majority in the House.

10:13 p.m. ET: “It’s not too late to return the bonds of trust…and return comity to this institution,” Boehner says. Now it’s Pelosi’s turn.

10:14 p.m. ET: The House Democrats are cheering as Pelosi goes to the well of the House.

10:15 p.m. ET: Pelosi says it is with “great humility and great pride” that tonight the House will make history. She says lawmakers will join those who created Social Security and Medicare, while honoring the country’s founders.

10:16 p.m. ET: Pelosi says this legislation will “lead to healthier lives. …This is an American proposal that honors the tradition of our country.” She salutes President Obama, and Democrats applaud.

10:18 p.m. ET: “Health care and education equal opportunity for the American people,” she says. Pelosi said if there is one word to describe the health care legislation it is “opportunity.” She also says the bill will unleash entrepreneurial power.

10:19 p.m. ET: “We all know the present health care system is unsustainable — we simply cannot afford it. It doesn’t work for enough people in terms of delivery of service and it is bankrupting the country,” Pelosi says.

10:22 p.m. ET: Pelosi refers to the late Speaker Tip O’Neill, D-Mass., who liked to say that all politics is local. She says “all health care is personal.” And she echoes a point made earlier tonight: “Being a woman will no longer be a pre-existing condition.”

10:24 p.m. ET: Pelosi says 350 groups support the health care bill, including the AARP (the largest seniors organization), the United Methodist Church and some Catholic groups.

10:26 p.m. ET: She’s starting to thank lawmakers and House staff. Pelosi now mentions the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who made health care his life’s work. Kennedy died in August. She’s quoting a letter that Kennedy wrote to Obama before the senator’s death.

10:28 p.m. ET: Kennedy wrote that the “character of our country” is at stake in health care legislation, Pelosi said. She quotes Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a former civil rights leader, before ending her remarks. “I urge an “aye” vote,” Pelosi said.