By Kathleen Gilbert
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The U.S. Senate voted 1 a.m. Monday morning to close debate on the manager's amendment to the health bill, delivering a critical victory to Democrats who had worked furiously to hold together 60 votes for the bill's most significant vote yet.
Senators remained at their desks for the vote – a procedure reserved for only the most solemn occasions – to vote along strict party lines for cloture on the amendment, 60-40. The vote is generally considered a litmus test for securing the success of the bill in the remainder of Senate votes.
The cloture vote begins a series of votes that is expected to stretch until late Christmas Eve. Democrats are preparing for a prolongated battle with Republicans, who have sworn to use every tactic possible to delay the passage of a massive bill they say they have been allowed no say in crafting.
Nebraska Democrat Senator Ben Nelson, who had been the last major Democrat-caucusing holdout against the bill over its massive federal abortion funding, suddenly capitulated following Friday night negotiations, settling for a watered-down compromise that leaves the funding intact.