House Passes Landmark Health Care Reform Bill

Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 12:49AM
Staff in Congress, Frontpage 1

The House of Representatives voted in favor of the Affordable Health Care for America Act late Saturday night, passing the landmark health care reform legislation by a narrow vote of 220-215.

“This is a great night, a great victory. We had the votes we needed to win,” said Pelosi during a press conference with House Democratic leadership shortly after the vote. “We’re proud of all of our members and the contribution that they made.”

The speaker was unruffled by the late addition of an amendment from Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) providing language to bar federal subsidies for insurance plans that cover abortions, the inclusion of which received few Democratic votes.

“We have sought, in the course of the development of this bill, common in ground in many areas, this being one of those,” said Pelosi.

The bill met with one Republican supporter, Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La.), which prompted humor from both the speaker and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

“This was, as you observed, a bipartisan vote,” Hoyer joked.

Article originally appeared on Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media (http://www.talkradionews.com/).