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| US Senate set to pass health care bill by Christmas |
| Press Trust of India / Washington Dec 20, 2009, 18:14 IST |
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After months of tough negotiations, Senate Democrats have come together to back a sweeping health care legislation, providing a powerful boost for President Barack Obama's top domestic policy goal that promises to extend medical coverage to 31 million Americans.
The breakthrough came after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his lieutenants engineered a delicately crafted compromise to prevent federal funding of abortions, the same issue that nearly stopped the House of Representatives from passing its health care bill six weeks ago.
With the deal, Senator from Nebraska Ben Nelson, a strong opponent of abortion, became the 60th and crucial last member of the Democratic caucus to line up to back the $871-billion measure, which is projected to provide coverage to an additional 31 million people by 2019.
Nelson's backing gave the Democrats the crucial 60 votes needed to move the bundle of recent amendments, which involved a spate of compromises, to the Senate floor.
"Change is never easy, but change is what's necessary in America today. That's why I intend to vote for cloture and for health care reform," Nelson told reporters.
Cloture is the procedure that allows senators to place a time limit on consideration of a bill or other matters, and thereby overcome a filibuster.
Obama quickly welcomed Nelson's backing, saying: "Today is a major step forward for the American people."
"After a nearly century-long struggle, we are on the cusp of making health care reform a reality," he said at a brief press conference.
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