Senate Vote on Health Care Reform

Senate Vote on Health Care Reform, Invoking the memory of Edward M. Kennedy, the Democrats together Saturday night to advance historical health legislation beyond a key hurdle in the Senate because of opposition from Republicans eager to inflict a punishing defeat to President, Barack Obama. There was a vote to spare.

The 60-39 vote cleared the way for the bruising, wide debate beginning after Thanksgiving in the legislation, which is designed to extend coverage to approximately 31 million who lack it, ending the practices of the Company insurance to deny or dilute the benefits and reduce the growth of spending on health care nationwide.

The spectator galleries were full for the unusual Saturday night showdown, and applause broke out briefly when the vote was announced. In a measure of the significance of the moment, senators sat quietly in their seats, standing only when they were called upon to vote.

In the final minutes of a daylong session, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., accused Republicans of trying to stifle a historic debate the nation needed.

“Imagine if, instead of debating whether to abolish slavery, instead of debating whether giving women and minorities the right to vote, those who disagreed had muted discussion and killed any vote,” he said.

The Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said the vote was anything but procedural – casting it as a referendum on the bill itself, which he said would raise taxes, cut Medicare and create a “massive and unsustainable debt.”

For all the drama, the result of the Saturday night showdown had been sealed a few hours earlier, when two final Democratic holdouts, Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, announced they would join in clearing the way for a full debate.

“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.