Yesterday's wrap up report of Senate action from NFPRHA-worth a read to see how the meat grinder of legislation works, and how detrimental the 60-vote rule is to getting anything done. And bless Frank Lautenberg! He just never stops.
 
December 16, 2009, 5:00 p.m. (EST)
 
Today, the Senate continued debate on its health care reform bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590).  Last night an amendment offered by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) to provide for the importation of prescription drugs did not garner the necessary 60 votes for passage, so while the vote in favor was 56 -- 43, the amendment failed.  The Lautenberg amendment was intended to improve upon a similar amendment offered by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) which also failed. Like the Lautenberg amendment, the Dorgan amendment did not get the necessary 60 votes, with the vote in favor only being 51 -- 48.  A motion by Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) to recommit the bill (effectively killing the bill by sending it back to the Finance Committee) also failed 45 -- 54.  An alternative to the Crapo motion, offered by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) which would protect middle class families from tax increases, passed 97 -- 1.

Forward momentum on the bill came to a standstill today in the form of a new stalling tactic from Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK).  Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) offered an amendment to establish a single-payer insurance system. Typically, when an amendment is introduced the Senate clerk is waived from having to read the full text of the amendment (this happens with amendments offered by both parties). However, Senator Coburn, in an attempt to delay the process, objected to the waiving of the reading, requiring that the full 767-page amendment be read on the floor.  Clerks spent the next three hours reading the amendment, until Senator Sanders finally withdrew his amendment to bring an end to Senator Coburn's delaying tactic.  

The Senate next voted 56 -- 41 to table (killing a motion or amendment) a motion to recommit (which would effectively kill the whole bill) offered by Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and John Thune (R-SD).  Following that vote, the Senate moved to the Defense appropriations bill, the only remaining spending bill on which the Senate has not yet acted, as the bill was being held as a catch-all for any last-minute measures such as raising the debt ceiling and continuing support for the unemployed.

While the antics continue on the Senate floor, anti-choice Senator Bob Casey has reportedly been tasked with working behind the scenes to find a "compromise" on the abortion language in the Senate bill.  This is of course extremely disconcerting news given that Senator Casey was a co-sponsor of the Nelson amendment (which would have inserted the Stupak language into the bill).  Given this information and the President's pressure on the Senate to reach compromises that allow health care reform to pass, it is a crucial time to contact your Members of Congress, especially Senators, and stress the importance of ensuring coverage and access to family planning services and not restricting access to reproductive health services, including abortion.

NFPRHA will bring you the latest developments in our next email wrap-up tomorrow afternoon.  As always, if you have questions or comments about NFPRHA's efforts, please contact Robin Summers  (rsummers@nfprha.org <mailto:rsummers@nfprha.org> ), Rachel Fey (rfey@nfprha.org <mailto:rfey@nfprha.org> ), or Jackie Chimelewski (jchimelewski@nfprha.org <mailto:jchimelewski@nfprha.org> ) at 202-293-3114.