WASHINGTON — In an unusual Saturday session that ran late into the night, the U.S. House took a major step toward overhauling the nation’s health-care system when it narrowly passed a bill that President Barack Obama said will “answer the call of history.”
The final tally was 220-215, with Arkansas’ four House members splitting their votes on the $1.2 trillion measure.
Of the three Democrats, Marion Berry of the 1st District and Vic Snyder of the 2nd District voted for it. Mike Ross, representing the 4th District, opposed it, along with 38 fellow Democrats.
John Boozman of the 3rd District, the state’s only Republican in the House, sided with his party and voted against the 1,990-page bill, HR3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act.
The final vote - cappinga day that included one last arm-twisting visit from the president - came some 14 hours after lawmakers began debating the measure, which aims to extend insurance coverage to 96 percent of Americans. When the votes passed the needed 218, cheers broke out in the House gallery, where spectators filled the seats just an hour before midnight in the nation’s Capitol.
“I urge members of Con-gress to rise to this moment,” Obama said much earlier in the day in a Rose Garden statement about an hour after he left lawmakers on Capitol Hill. “Answer the call of history, and vote yes for health insurance reform for America.”
In voting for the bill, Berry and Snyder acknowledged it is far from perfect.
“This vote today is another step towards helping Americans as individuals and small businesses keep and obtain the secure, affordable, good quality health insurance we all deserve from a marketbased insurance system,” Snyder said in a statement. “But there is still much work to do as the legislative process continues.”
Berry agreed, saying that while he has many concerns about the bill, it’s important to keep the legislative wheels turning. Otherwise, those who oppose overhauling thesystem will claim victory.
“I didn’t make up my mind until this afternoon,” Berry told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “I don’t think we can quit. If this bill fails, we are going to be in a world of hurt with our ability to pay for our own health care and to get it to all Americans.”
But Ross, who has played a key role in shaping the bill as head of the health-care task force for the Blue Dog coalition of moderate Democrats, issued a statement saying he was disappointed the bill “was not a common sense plan that reflected Arkansas values.”
“During this economic crisis,” Ross said, “I believe we should be focused on putting people back to work, not growing the size of the federal government with increased spending, new mandates and higher taxes.”
While more than three dozen Democrats voted against the measure, the final vote include a single “yea” from a Republican - Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana. House Democrats outnumber Republicans, 258-177, so they could afford to lose 40 votes and still reach the needed 218; they lost 39 of those.
Lawmakers cast a series of votes throughout the day, including on an amendment aimed at limiting federal funding for abortions and an alternative offered by the Republicans that failed along largely partisan lines. The abortion amendment passed 240-194, with 64 Democrats supporting it - including all three Arkansas Democrats, plus their Republican colleague, Boozman.
The abortion amendment, offered by Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, illustrated the difficulty Democratic leaders have had in securing votes for the bill from moderate members of their own party, many of whom were elected to office three years ago to the day - Nov.7, 2006 - when Democrats gained control of both chambers of Congress. Without that amendment, Democratic leaders would likely have not secured the support they need to ensure final passage of the measure.
The measure was aimed at ensuring that the current federal standard - the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding for abortions except in cases of rape, incest and to save a mother’s life - would remain in place under the health-insurance exchange and the public insurance option created under the House bill.
Moderate Democrats, including Ross, also raised concerns about the overall cost of the health bill and their desire to ensure that illegal aliens will not receive healthcoverage under it.
The House bill contains several provisions that would take effect by 2013, including requiring virtually all Americans to buy health insurance; requiring businesses to provide coverage to their employees or contribute to an insurance fund; creating a health exchange of participating insurance plans; and establishing a public healthinsurance option to compete with private plans.
It also would prohibit insurers from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions, imposing coverage limits or varying premiums on the basis of age.
Saturday’s action was only one step in a lengthy process still to unfold. The Senate must still approve its version of health-care legislation, which Senate leaders have said could spill over into next year.
After the House and Senate approve separate measures, those bills would have to be merged into a single compromise measure, which would then have to be approved by each chamber. Only then could it be sent to the president to sign or veto.
In a dramatic day under a brilliant autumn sun on Capitol Hill, the majority Democrats missed no opportunity to underscore the historic nature of the events.
In speech after speech, they cited the efforts of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Bill Clinton. They compared the current push for health-care change to the establishment of Social Security in the 1930s and Medicare in the 1960s.
Opportunities like this come around only once in a generation, Obama said.
“Most public servants pass through their entire careers without a chance to make as important a difference in the lives of their constituents and the life of this country,” he said. “This is their moment, this is our moment, to live up to the trust that the American people have placed in us- even when it’s hard; especially when it’s hard. This is our moment to deliver.”
Republicans countered with warnings of a government takeover of health care and a future of rationed care, higher taxes and fewer choices. At their morning news conference, they displayed a flowchart of the bureaucracy that they said would be created by the House bill.
“In terms of sheer bureaucracy, if the IRS and Medicare had a baby, it would look like this,” said Republican Rep.Kevin Brady of Texas, as he pointed at the brightly colored chart. “The question is: How is that going to make our health care more affordable?”
Boozman echoed that sentiment: “I am very much in favor of the reform of health care but feel we need to do it through free-market forces.”
The debate got under way by midmorning, with Democratic Rep. John Dingell of Michigan - the 83-year-old dean of the House - presiding. He had sat in the same chair on April 8, 1965, when the House passed legislation to create Medicare.
Dingell repeatedly pounded the gavel during the sometimes testy debate. “We will have an orderly process that will look good to the history books,” he said.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 11/08/2009