Reid hails Finance vote, heaps praise on Snowe

The Senate Finance Committee and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) won praise from Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Tuesday for passing its health bill out of committee.

Reid hailed the Finance Committee's passage of Chairman Max Baucus's (D-Mont.) healthcare bill in a 14-9 vote this afternoon, with Snowe joining all the committee's Democrats to support the measure.

"I am pleased that the Senate Finance Committee voted today to pass their health insurance reform proposal," Reid said in a statement. "This represents another critical step toward bringing real change to our broken health insurance system."

Reid praised Baucus for his leadership of the committee, but heaped praise on Snowe for breaking with her party in the key vote.

"Sen. Snowe is also to be commended for voting for this proposal in the face of immense pressure from opponents of reform," he said. "Her courage to stick with her principles in the face of an increasingly partisan environment in Washington, DC is heartening and should serve as a reminder that health care is an issue that should defy party labels."

Reid will now be charged with merging the Finance Committee bill with the one to have emerged out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

The majority leader pledged to work with the committees' chairmen and White House officials to craft a bill that could win a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

"We remain committed to passing legislation that lowers costs, creates competition, improves quality of care and preserves choice," he said.