|
 |
 |
|
Boehner says he expects health bill to hit House floor 'within days'
-
03/04/10 12:38 PM ET
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday he expects Democrats' healthcare bill to hit the House floor "within days."
Boehner said he expects the debate over healthcare to begin, in earnest, as Democrats in the House prepare to take up the health bill passed by the Senate last Christmas Eve.
"I think we're within days of this bill coming to the floor of the House," Boehner said during an appearance on Fox News. "It's pretty clear that the president, Speaker Pelosi, and Majority Leader Reid want to do everything they can to jam this bill through the House and the Senate to get it to the president's desk."
If and when the House passes the Senate bill, lawmakers are expected to take up a second bill under budget reconciliation rules to make fixes to that initial Senate bill. The reconciliation process would allow Democrats in the Senate to pass those changes with a simple majority, instead of the 60 votes usually needed to end a filibuster.
"The real key is that in the next couple of days, we're going to see this bill," Boehner said on Fox News.
Democrats are reportedly finalizing details of their reconciliation bill and hope to send the latest iteration of their bill to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for scoring this weekend.
Boehner said that no matter what the circumstances are, Republicans believe Democrats still don't have the votes, and that the GOP would work to stop it.
"This bill can be defeated, and I and my Republican colleagues are going to do everything we can to defeat it," Boehner said during his weekly press conference.
Democrats, for their part, have said they would bring the legislation up for a vote once they're confident they have sufficient votes to pass it.
Most Viewed RSS Feed »
