2nd UPDATE: US Sen Nelson To Vote To Advance Health-Care Bill
(Updates with additional information on Senate health-care legislation)
By Patrick Yoest
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson (D., Neb.) announced Friday he
will vote to advance Senate health-care legislation in an initial procedural
vote Saturday, saying he would seek a "full and open debate" on the measure.
Nelson had withheld his intentions on the test vote, saying he wanted to
review the bill before deciding whether to support the procedural motion to
allow debate on the bill to begin. But he made clear in recent days he did not
consider a vote to allow debate on the bill to be equivalent to supporting the
bill itself.
Nelson reiterated Friday that he had not yet committed to supporting health-
care legislation in a final vote.
"Throughout my Senate career I have consistently rejected efforts to obstruct.
That's what the vote on the motion to proceed is all about," Nelson said. "It is
not for or against the new Senate health-care bill released Wednesday."
Nelson added that the Senate "should start trying to fix a health-care system
that costs too much and delivers too little for Nebraskans."
Nelson was one of three centrist Democrats, along with Sens. Mary Landrieu (
D., La.) and Blanche Lincoln (D., Ark.), who had not yet announced how they
would vote on the procedural motion. Landrieu and Lincoln, whose votes will
likely be needed for Democrats to reach a 60-vote threshold to advance the bill,
still have not announced whether they would support the motion.
While 60 senators caucus with Senate Democrats, leaders of the party have
faced a tough balancing act on the $848 billion measure. Centrists have
expressed reservations about the inclusion of a public health insurance plan in
the bill, while liberals see the public plan as a top priority.
Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D., Ill.) said Friday he is "not assuming
a thing" on gaining 60 votes and is "working hard to bring all Democrats
together" on the measure.
Lincoln, a two-term senator, faces a tough battle next year to retain her
seat. When asked what he would say to Lincoln to convince her to support the
measure, Durbin said "I would say to Sen. Lincoln that I believe that most
people in Arkansas would be relieved and happy to see health-care reform."
Durbin also said Lincoln had told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.)
how she would vote on the measure, but Durbin later retracted that in a
statement.
Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.), in a press conference Friday,
countered that "it would be our goal that our more moderate colleagues on the
Democratic side would respect the wishes of our constituents, rather than doing
the bidding of Harry Reid."
"At the end of the day, this health-care legislation will impact every citizen
in extraordinary ways and we believe very negative ways," Kyl said.
Reid, Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D.,
Mont.) agreed to an amendment to the bill Friday that would insure an estimated
1 million people by making available tax credits to purchase insurance on an "
exchange" created by the bill.
The amendment, a key priority of Wyden, applies to a group of people who
cannot afford insurance provided to them by their employers, but who would not
be required by the legislation to purchase insurance. Wyden referred to the
group as the "affordability doughnut hole." The amendment would cost an
estimated $4 billion.
The White House on Friday circulated a joint statement by former Health and
Human Secretary Tommy Thompson, a Republican, and former House Minority Leader
Richard Gephardt, a Democrat, that called the Senate bill a "milestone in
achieving meaningful health-care reform."
The two stopped short of endorsing the bill, however, saying they "both have
specific concerns with the bill in its current form." They urged the Senate to "
further reduce costs, waste, inefficiency and chronic disease prevalence through
such measures as coordinated health teams at the family doctor-patient level."
-By Patrick Yoest, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-3554; patrick.yoest@
dowjones.com
(Henry J. Pulizzi contributed to this report)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-20-091610ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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