Research Briefing

House And Senate Dems Barreling Towards Showdown As Irreconcilable Differences Remain 

HOUSE DEMOCRATS INSIST THEY WILL NOT BACK THE SENATE HEALTH CARE BILL

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD): “Just Take The Senate Bill? That's Not Gonna Happen…There Are Key Differences Between The Senate Proposal And Ours And We'll Just Have To Work That Out.” (Evan McMorris-Santoro, “Hoyer: House Will Accept Public Option-Free Bill,” Talking Points Memo’s “TPMDC” Blog, 12/15/09)

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) Says The House Won’t “Sign On To The Senate Bill.” “It would be a mistake to think that the House leadership will go into any kind of conference committee with the expectation that we’re just gonna sign on to the Senate bill… The House intends to negotiate with the Senate. We expect those deliberations to be vigorous. The House is not simply going to sign on the dotted line.” (Greg Sargent, “House Liberals Skeptical Of Senate Proposals, Vow Not To Swallow Senate Compromise,” The Plum Line, 12/8/09)

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) Called Senate Bill “Reform In Name Only.” “As this legislation moves towards its constitutionally mandated reconciliation with the House of Representatives, I also want to make it clear that, in my mind, this bill does not adequately address many of the problems that plague our current system.  Without material changes, this legislation will be reform in name only.” (Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), “Conyers: Senate Bill Must Be Improved to Be Considered Meaningful Health Care Reform,” Press Release, 12/21/09)

LIBERALS CALL SENATE COMPROMISES “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE”

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ): “I Think That Compromise Is Totally Unacceptable… It Basically Emasculates The Public Option.” (Michael O’Brien, “Grijalva: More Public Plan Compromises 'Totally Unacceptable,’” The Hill’s “Briefing Room” Blog, 12/2/09)

Conyers Called Medicare-Like Public Option “A Necessary Component.” “Similarly, I supported the House bill because I believe that it is immoral to continue to allow the private health insurance industry to operate without any real checks on its ability to charge unaffordable premiums and deny needed care.  That is why I believe competition, as provided through a national Medicare-like public health insurance option and the repeal of the industry’s antitrust exemption, is a necessary component of true reform.” (Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), “Conyers: Senate Bill Must Be Improved to Be Considered Meaningful Health Care Reform,” Press Release, 12/21/09)

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) Predicts The Senate’s Cadillac Tax Won’t Survive Conference. “I’ll make a flat-out prediction… Whatever Sen. (Harry) Reid feels he needs to get to 60 in the Senate is one thing. But once we sit down in conference, I can assure you that the excise tax as currently contained in the Senate bill will not survive.” (Richard Rubin, “Labor Leaders Assail Senate’s Tax On High-Cost Health Plans,” CQ Today, 12/8/09)

YET KEY DEM SENATORS INSIST CONFERENCE WITH HOUSE CANNOT CHANGE THEIR BILL

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE): “If There Are Material Changes In That Conference Report Different From This Bill That Adversely Affect The Agreement, I Reserve The Right To Vote Against The Next Cloture Vote.” (Kevin Bogardus, “Cloture Vote Foreshadows Conference Tussle Over Final Healthcare Bill,” The Hill, 12/20/09)

• Nelson Said The House’s Public Option And Surtax Would Be Deal Breakers For Him. “Nelson, who received assurances of a ‘limited conference’ to secure his vote for the Senate bill, has already laid down at least two deal breakers in the House bill that he can’t support: the inclusion of a government insurance plan and an income tax increase on wealthy individuals. ‘That would break it,’ Nelson said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’” (Carrie Budoff Brown & Patrick O’Connor, “Health Plans On Collision Course,” Politico, 12/20/09)

Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) Won’t Vote For The Conference Bill It Deviates From His “Core Principles.” “I have decided to vote in favor of moving forward on health care reform legislation. I do so despite my disappointment with some sections of the bill… Assuming the bill is passed by the Senate, I will examine closely the conference report produced at the next stage of the legislative process. Significant deviations from the core principles I insisted on this compromise must remain, or I will withhold my support.” (David M. Drucker, “Webb Says He’ll Support Health Care Package For Now,” Roll Call, 12/20/09)

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT): “The Conference Report Has To, By And Large, Reflect What We Passed In The Senate If It's Going To Get 60 Votes…” (Chris Frates, “Baucus: Conference Report Needs To Hew Closely To Senate Bill,” Politico’s “Live Pulse” Blog, 12/21/09)

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) Said The Final Bill Must Be Very Close To Reid’s Bill To Pass The Senate. “It is very clear that the bill, the final bill, to pass in the United States Senate is going to be -- have to be very close to the bill that has been negotiated here. Otherwise you will not get 60 votes in the United States Senate.” (Fox News’s “Fox News Sunday,” 12/21/09)

AND ALL SIDES DISAPPROVE OF SENATE BILL’S ABORTION LANGUAGE

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI): “While I And Many Other Pro-Life Democratic House Members Wish To See Health Care Coverage For All Americans, The Proposed Senate Language Is Unacceptable.” (Carrie Budoff Brown & Patrick O’Connor, “Health Plans On Collision Course,” Politico, 12/20/09)

Yet Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus Leaders, Reps. Diana Degette (D-CO) & Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Find It Unacceptably Restrictive: “This Provision [Nelson’s Abortion Compromise] Is Not Only Offensive To People Who Believe In Choice, But It Is Also Possibly Unconstitutional…” (Kevin Bogardus, “Cloture Vote Foreshadows Conference Tussle Over Final Healthcare Bill,” The Hill, 12/20/09)

• Rep. Diana Degette (D-CO): “I Have Some Deep Reservations With This Nelson Language On First Examination…” (Carrie Budoff Brown & Patrick O’Connor, “Health Plans On Collision Course,” Politico, 12/20/09)

Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) Says She Has Enough Votes To Block Health Care Reform If Stupak’s Amendment Is In The Final Version. “Abortion rights supporters are now fighting back, vowing to keep Stupak's amendment from being a part of the final legislation which ultimately reaches President Obama's desk. … As of early Monday afternoon, DeGette's spokesperson says that the congresswoman has more than 40 signatures -- enough to block passage of health-care reform if the Stupak language is not changed.” (Teddy Davis, “Liberals To Pelosi: Get Rid Of Stupak Language Or We Won't Back Health Reform,” ABC News’s “George’s Bottom Line” Blog, 11/9/09)