By Robert Barron, Staff Writer
During a rare Saturday night session, the U.S. House probably will pass its version of a controversial health care reform bill, said U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas.
Lucas, who opposes the bill, said Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced this week members should be prepared for a Saturday vote and possibly a session the two days preceding Veterans Day when Congress is normally in recess.
“The Democratic leadership says they have the votes,” he said.
Lucas attended a rally Thursday on the U.S. Capitol steps in opposition to the legislation, and he said thousands of people voiced their opposition. Those people then lined up to see congressional members to discuss the bill. Lucas, a longtime opponent, doubted he would have many visitors.
“I’ve been up front from the beginning. The bill costs too much and puts the government too much in control of our health care,” he said.
The original House version from the Energy and Commerce Committee was estimated at $1.6 trillion and could not be passed. The U.S. Senate then moved a bill from its Education Committee, and Sen. Max Baucus on the Finance Committee crafted his own bill. The Senate will put those two bills together, but Lucas said that bill is rumored to cost $1 trillion.
There is no requirement of a super majority of votes to stop open debate in the House, only a simple majority, and Pelosi has a 41-vote majority. Lucas said members should pay attention to votes in New Jersey and Virginia Tuesday, in which Republicans won governors’ races.
“The president believes he has a mandate, but I’ve argued that it is not their agenda that delivered the election, it was a lot of Bush fatigue and Republican Congress fatigue,” Lucas said. “But now it’s ‘George Who?’ People can’t even remember who the last Republican speaker was and the Democrats completely own it.”
Lucas does not believe Pelosi would bring the issue to a vote if she did not have the votes.
“Some of my friends in the minority want to see a vote, because it will put people on record,” Lucas said.
