Democratic Senators Praise Progress Of Health Care Reform

By Mariko Lamb- Talk Radio News Service

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), and Barbara Mikulski (D-Md) praised the Affordable Health Choices Act that passed through the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP) Wednesday.

“We’re not going to sit with the status quo. We’re moving ahead with healthcare reform,” said Senator Harkin.

“[The bill] offers to fix what is broken in our healthcare system without ruining that which works in our nation,” said Dodd. “It offers every American choice, stability, and lower costs.”

Although the bill passed through the committee with a 13-10 vote, not one Republican member voted in favor of the legislation. Regardless, Dodd praised the Republicans’ contribution to the markup of the bill, which includes 160 Republican added amendments. “I know that some of our Republican friends don’t want to admit their contribution, but they made good contributions to the bill, and we listened,” he said.

“Now is the time to rejoice on what we’ve done, but the battle must go on,” said Mikulski. HELP’s Affordable Health Choices Act is expected to be merged with a healthcare bill by the Senate Finance Committee, which is under pressure from President Obama to release its version as early as next week.