by NPR Staff and Wires
Ken Hoagland, chairman of Repeal It Now.org — a group supporting the repeal of national health care legislation — makes remarks at a news conference Tuesday on Capitol Hill.The House moved toward final debate Wednesay on the measure
The House is holding its final debate Wednesday on a measure to repeal President Obama’s health care overhaul, moving toward a late-day vote amid somewhat restrained language on the floor.
The measure, a hot-button political issue and the first bill considered under House Republican control in the new Congress, is officially titled the “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act” — and before the recent shootings in Arizona critically injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and killed six people, the debate appeared likely to be stridently partisan. But, as was the case Tuesday when the bill came to the floor, the language remained restrained early Wednesday.
The measure has almost no chance in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and Obama has said he would veto it if it reaches his desk. But House Republicans say not to underestimate their determination or their willingness to use parliamentary maneuvers to deny the Obama administration funds needed to carry out the law.
“Repeal doesn’t mean we aren’t for health care reform, quite the contrary,” said Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), an obstetrician-gynecologist who has promised to repeal the bill.
“This bill does increase the number of people who are insured. But it does nothing to decrease the costs,” he said.
That, he predicted, will make Obama’s expansion of coverage unsustainable.
Democrats were defiant. “We are not interested in taking down, repealing and destroying,” said Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA).
A key reason the House is voting on the repeal bill even though leaders know it’s unlikely to even get a vote in the Senate is that dozens of new Republican members got elected last November, nearly every one of them promising to fight to get rid of it.
Many say the law simply gives the federal government too much power, particularly the requirement that nearly every American either have health insurance or else pay a penalty.
“If this law is constitutional, if Congress has such broad power, our limited federal government will have become limitless,” said Michigan freshman Republican Rep. Justin Amash.
Democrats, meanwhile, let others do their most impassioned talking. They held an informal hearing Tuesday featuring actual people who are benefiting from some of the parts of the law that have already taken effect.
Republicans are “re-litigating, regurgitating and re-arguing” a debate that was settled last year, said Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ). Repeal is “the wrong bill at the wrong time,” he added.
After Wednesday’s vote, it’s unclear what will ultimately happen. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) dared Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to prove that he can keep Democrats united in support of the health care law by bringing repeal to the floor.
“He should bring it up for a vote if he’s so confident he’s got the votes,” Cantor told reporters.
Opponents of the law would probably need 60 Senate votes to overturn it, which is a big stretch given that Republicans have just 47 votes.
The House is scheduled to vote Thursday to instruct several major committees to draft health care legislation that reflects Republican priorities, including limits on medical malpractice awards and stricter language barring taxpayer funding for abortions. But an earlier GOP bill that offered a competing vision to the Democrats’ only covered a fraction of the people reached by Obama’s law.
No matter, Republicans say. A modest, step-by-step approach may turn out to be more sustainable in the long run than a major new government program whose costs and consequences are still unclear.
The fate of the repeal effort hinges on the quality of the replacement legislation and the care that Republicans put into drafting it, said Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY), a freshman. If it meets the needs and concerns of the public, Gibson said, he believes Democrats in the Senate may be persuaded to give it serious consideration.
Easier said than done, Democrats say. For example, Republicans say they also want to help people with pre-existing medical conditions find affordable coverage. But many experts say that won’t be possible unless there is some kind of requirement that healthy people get into the insurance pool as well, thereby helping to keep premiums down.
“They’re going to have to deal with that,” said Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat.
But while the legislative battle is likely to end in a draw, at least for now, the battle for public opinion rages on. A new CNN poll provides more ammunition for both sides. For Republicans, it finds that half of those polled think the law should be repealed. But Democrats will take heart in the fact that nearly 80 percent of Americans favor at least some aspect of the health law.
Contributing: Julie Rovner; The Associated Press