News

By Kathleen Gilbert

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) -  The Senate is now expected to hold a final vote to pass President Obama's health care overhaul at about 7 am Christmas Eve, following an agreement between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Majority Leader Harry Reid Tuesday to shorten the timetable.

Previous projections had expected the vote to occur sometime Thursday night.  Thursday’s session will be the first time in 46 years that the Senate has met on Christmas Eve.

Tension has arisen among Senate Democrats and Republicans over the timetable, with Republicans angry that Democrats insist on rushing the vote, and Democrats insisting that Republicans should not stand in the way of getting the vote over with even sooner.

Democrats, who are struggling to maintain a grip on the minimum of 60 senators needed to pass the bill, have defended the rush by repeatedly appealing to the “millions of lives” that the bill would purportedly save.

Sen. Olympia Snowe this week again blasted the Christmas Eve vote as “an artificial and arbitrary deadline of completing the bill before Christmas that is shortchanging the process on this monumental and trans-generational effort.”  Snowe has emerged as a leading critic of the bill's timetable after her attempts at crafting careful compromise legislation were rebuffed by Democrats.

“Only three weeks ago the Senate received a more than 2,000 page bill on one of the most complex issues in our history, and we have since considered fewer than two dozen amendments out of more than 450 filed,” said Snowe in a release Sunday.  “A little over  24 hours ago, the Senate received a final, nearly 400 page manager’s amendment that cannot be changed or altered, with more than 500 cross references including to other statutes and will be voted on at 1 am Monday morning.

“It defies logic that we are now expected to vote on the overall, final package before Christmas with no opportunity to amend it so we can adjourn for a three week recess even as the legislation will not fully go into effect until 2014, four years from now.”

Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121

Ben Nelson, D-Neb.  
202-224-6551

Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark. 
202-224-4843

Jim Webb, D-Va. 
202-224-4024

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See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Senate Clears Second Health Care Hurdle 60-39
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/dec/09122201.html

Mistrust Among Senators Thickens as Bill Hurtles Toward Christmas Eve Vote 
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/dec/09122108.html