Senate Passes Historic Health Bill on Christmas Eve
December 24th, 2009
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden…
The United States Senate passed a landmark health care reform bill in a rare Christmas Eve vote that could help define President Barack Obama’s legacy and usher in near-universal medical coverage for all Americans for the first time in the nation’s history.
The 60-39 vote on a cold winter morning in the nation’s Capitol capped months of arduous negotiations and 24 days of floor debate, according to the AP. Vice President Joe Biden presided as 58 Democrats and two independents voted “yes.” Republicans unanimously voted “no,” but the tally far exceeded the simple majority required for passage.
The Senate’s bill must still be merged with legislation passed by the House before Obama could sign a final bill in the new year. There are significant differences between the two measures, but Democrats say they’ve come too far now to fail. Both bills would extend health insurance to more than 30 million more Americans.
Vicki Kennedy, the widow of the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, who made health reform his life’s work, watched the vote from the gallery.
At a news conference a few moments later, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the vote “brings us one step closer to making Ted Kennedy’s dream a reality.”
“This morning isn’t the end of the process, it’s merely the beginning,” Reid said. “We’ll continue to build on this success to improve our health system even more. But that process cannot begin unless we start today … there may not be a next time.”
