Bill Clinton urges Senate passage of health bill
WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton urged Senate Democrats on Tuesday to pass health care legislation by year’s end, pointedly telling skittish lawmakers that an imperfect bill is preferable to another failure like the one he and the party endured in 1994.
“It’s not important to be perfect here. It’s important to act, to move, to start the ball rolling,” the former president told reporters after the closed-door meeting, held on the cusp of Senate debate on intensely controversial legislation. The House cleared its version of the bill late Saturday night on a narrow, party-line vote of 220-215.
Clinton made an unusual visit to the party’s weekly closed-door caucus meeting at the invitation of Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who has said he hopes the Senate can vote on a bill before the year is out and took a step during the day to allow debate to begin as early as next week.
Aides said Reid has yet to receive final information from the Congressional Budget Office on the costs and coverage implications of the still-secret legislation he submitted more than two weeks ago. As soon as he does, he intends to launch a historic debate on legislation to expand coverage to millions who lack it, crack down on insurance industry practices and curb the rise in health care spending nationally.
Several Democrats who attended the meeting with Clinton said the former president did not express an opinion on many of the controversial issues embedded in the health care debate. These range from calls for a government-run insurance option to the availability of abortion coverage in private and government insurance.
“He wasn’t asked that and he didn’t volunteer to solve Sen. Reid’s immediate problems,” said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.
Instead, several Democrats said, Clinton told them that expanding health care is good policy, and at the same time the best politics.
“He did address it, essentially to say, ‘You’re going to do it, and then people are going to begin to see that none of the bad things people are talking about will come to pass,’” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said the former president reflected on his own experience on the issue and told Democrats that “we got lost in the magnitude of the problem, and in search for a more perfect answer I lost the fight.”
Clinton’s attempt to enact nationwide health coverage collapsed in dramatic fashion in 1994 without ever coming to a vote in either house, and is widely cited as a contributing factor in the Democrats’ loss of control of Congress in that year’s midterm elections.
Republicans are attempting to stir echoes of that era, attacking various Democratic versions of the legislation as a government takeover of health care, and warning that moderate and conservative Democrats risk losing their seats if they vote for it.
Given the former president’s experience, he may have seemed like a curious choice to speak to the caucus. But Cardin told reporters Clinton has “great respect from every member of our caucus.” And his advice — not to get caught up in the details — is a message Reid and the White House hope rank-and-file Democrats will take to heart as they debate the complex legislation.
In the House, Democrats were torn for weeks over the design of a government coverage option, and once that was resolved, Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to confront a mini-rebellion among Hispanic lawmakers concerned with the bill’s treatment of illegal immigrants and a division over limitations on abortion.
Whenever Reid begins debate, Republicans say it will last for weeks if not months, calling the end-of-the-year timetable into question.
“We’re going to spend a number of weeks on this, reminiscent of important Senate debates in the recent past,” said the Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. “We spent four weeks on a farm bill last Congress. Eight weeks on energy in the last decade.”
There were political repercussions from the House vote.
Rep. Anh (Joseph) Cao, R-La., the only Republican to support the legislation, said some of his donors have asked for their money back and two of his fundraising events have been canceled.
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., said he was disappointed by Cao’s vote, but he said he plans no political retaliation. Cao, a Vietnamese-American, represents a New Orleans-based district that is black, poor and overwhelmingly Democratic. He defeated William Jefferson last year after the veteran lawmaker was indicted on corruption charges.
Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Charles Babington, Donna Cassata, Julie Davis and Erica Werner contributed to this report.
Related News
Wyoming's Sen. Enzi critical of House health care bill, says will increase insurance costsNovember 10th, 2009 Wyo. Sen. Enzi critical of House health care billCHEYENNE, Wyo. — U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi says legislation passed by the U.S.
Abortion foe seeks curbs in Senate health bill, similar to limits in bill passed by HouseNovember 9th, 2009 Abortion foe seeks curbs in Senate health billWASHINGTON — Abortion opponents in the Senate want tough restrictions in the health care overhaul bill, similar to the limits passed by the House this past weekend. The issue could roil an already shaky Democratic effort to pass a health care bill by year's end for President Barack Obama.
AP sources: Former President Bill Clinton to speak to Dem senators about health care overhaulNovember 9th, 2009 more images
more images
AP sources: Bill Clinton to speak to Dem senators
WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton plans to visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday to discuss health care legislation with Senate Democrats. Officials says the former president is scheduled to speak during the Democrats' weekly caucus.
Obama urges Democrats to unite around health care bill, says to 'keep our eye on the prize'October 20th, 2009 Obama urges Democrats to unite around health careNEW YORK — President Barack Obama is telling Democrats to stay focused on the reason the health care system needs an overhaul, which he says is extending insurance to millions of people who don't have any. At a Democratic Party fundraiser Tuesday night in New York City, Obama told party members that even the least popular health care bill would extend coverage to 29 million Americans.
APNewsBreak: Senate Democrats, White House seek separate bill to pay for doctor feesOctober 14th, 2009 APNewsBreak: Dems seek higher doctor paymentsWASHINGTON — Senate Democrats at work on sweeping health care legislation hope to help their cause with quick passage of a separate bill that would give doctors a $247 billion increase in Medicare fees over a decade but raise federal deficits. Democratic officials disclosed the plan Wednesday.
Obama praises Republican Sen. Snowe for 'diligent' work ahead of crucial health care voteOctober 13th, 2009 Obama: Snowe 'diligent' in her work on health careWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is praising Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe for being "extraordinarily diligent" in working with Democrats on health care reform.
Bill Clinton doesn't share Carter's view that racism explains opposition to health care planSeptember 22nd, 2009 Bill Clinton parts with Carter on racism statementWASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton says he doesn't think racism is a principal factor in resistance to President Barack Obama's plan for overhauling health care. Interviewed Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Clinton said "there's no question" racism exists in some outbursts in recent months.
White House calls new Senate Finance health plan a 'building block', not the end of debateSeptember 16th, 2009 White House: Senate health bill a 'building block'WASHINGTON — The White House says a health care reform bill from a key Senate committee is "an important building block" in getting closer to comprehensive health care reform. Sen. Max Baucus released the long-awaited version of the bill from his Senate Finance committee Wednesday.
House committee chairman says Obama speech complicates health bill negotiationsSeptember 15th, 2009 Rangel: Health bill harder after Obama speechWASHINGTON — A key House committee chairman says proposals President Barack Obama set out in his health care speech are causing problems for Democrats trying to finalize health legislation in the House. Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel of New York says House Democrats would have to slash subsidies to the poor to get their bill to the $900 billion, 10-year price tag Obama specified.
Bill Clinton tells Democrats not to worry about grief from GOP over health care overhaulSeptember 8th, 2009 Clinton: GOP waiting for Democrats to 'mess up'WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton says those in his party should ignore any grief from Republicans on health care reform, because the GOP is just waiting for Democrats to "mess up."
Clinton told Esquire magazine that lawmakers should put together the best health care measure for President Barack Obama, even if it must be fixed later. "All we have to worry about is getting things done and doing them as well as we can," Clinton said.
Democratic senator says splitting health care bill into separate measures unlikely to workAugust 23rd, 2009 Senator: Single health care bill a better approachWASHINGTON — A key Democrat in the health care debate says separating out the various issues and putting them in different bills isn't likely to work. Some lawmakers have suggested that a separate bill with changes that are supported by Republicans and Democrats would be one route toward progress on the health care overhaul.
GOP senator predicts Democrats will use rare voting procedure to try to pass health care billAugust 23rd, 2009 Talk of Senate voting maneuvers on health careWASHINGTON — A Republican senator predicts Democrats will turn to a little-used voting procedure to try get around GOP opposition and pass health care legislation. It takes 60 votes to shut down GOP opposition and move ahead to an up-or-down vote on a bill.
Former President Clinton says GOP promotes health care fears because it lacks political cloutAugust 14th, 2009 Bill Clinton: GOP promotes fear over health carePITTSBURGH — Republicans have turned to terrifying people in the debate over overhauling the health care system because the GOP has no political clout to fight it, former President Bill Clinton told a gathering of progressive bloggers on Thursday. Clinton was president when the Democrats made their last major effort to change the health care system.
Obama tells Indiana that Washington will pass health care overhaul before year's endAugust 5th, 2009 Obama promises health care overhaul this yearWAKARUSA, Ind. — President Barack Obama promised Wednesday that there will be an overhaul of the health care system before the end of the year and said it doesn't have to be a bipartisan effort.
Reid: Democratic senators united on need for health care bill this, aiming for bipartisanshipAugust 4th, 2009 Reid: Democratic senators united on health careWASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says his party's caucus has "absolute unity" on the need to pass health care reform this year. The Nevadan, joined by other lawmakers, spoke to reporters Tuesday afternoon on a White House driveway after Senate Democrats met over lunch with President Barack Obama.
Loading ...