Corker: Focus on incremental health reform

Congress should slow down on healthcare legislation in favor of an "incremental step" toward reform, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) urged Tuesday.

As lawmakers returned to Washington after the conclusion of the August recess, Corker seemed to endorse the idea of a broken-up health bill containing consensus issues between Republicans and Democrats.

"My hope is that what we'll do is that we'll move away from what separates us," he said during an interview on CBS News this morning. "Let's take an incremental step, let's do no harm."

Republicans have floated the possibility of a broken-up bill as a way to advance healthcare reform without having to confront issues like the establishment of a public (or "government-run") healthcare option.

"I don't think a public option is going to be part of a final package. I think Americans, their voices have been heard," Corker said. "While the president will certainly mention that in his speech Wednesday night, I don't think it's going to be part of a final package unless they use reconciliation."

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) argued that the August recess had shown that some common ground on healthcare reform exists for lawmakers.

"I've found through the month of August that there's some consensus out there," she told CBS. "I think that despite all the heated exchanges, that people are ready to listen and learn."

Klobuchar reiterated her expectation made during the Sunday talk show circuit that President Obama will put some "meat on the bones" of his healthcare plan during a joint session address to Congress on Wednesday night.