Pelosi: Lawmaker healthcare concerns can be satisfied
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U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday she was confident of satisfying Democratic concerns about a Senate-approved healthcare bill and passing the measure.
Pelosi made the comment at her weekly news conference - just hours after one lawmaker said a dozen House Democrats opposed to abortion were willing to kill the legislation unless it satisfies their demand for language barring federal funding of the procedure.
Their threat to kill healthcare reform came a day after President Barack Obama launched a final push to pass the overhaul, a top domestic priority, and urged Democrats in Congress to vote on the bill this month, even without Republican support.
Pelosi voiced confidence that Democrats will prevail over what she said was Republican obstructionism and win passage of landmark legislation that Obama will sign into law.
“What has happened in the last year, in the past year, in the United States Senate is a total obstruction by the Republican senators,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi rejected Republican complaints that Democrats were trying to force the passage of a sweeping overhaul of the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system through the Senate.
She said an expedited procedure that permits passage on a simple majority vote - rather than 60 in the 100-member Senate - would be used to make “corrections” in the legislation.
Said Pelosi, “The president yesterday called for an up-or-down vote and we are preparing to follow his lead on that.”
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
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