Nelson: Health Care Bill Is Improved, But I Still Can’t Support It Yet

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE).
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) spoke with Nebraska radio station KLIN earlier today, and said a new abortion compromise, authored by Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), doesn’t quite satisfy him, and, if it doesn’t change more, he will filibuster health care reform.

“As it is right now, I can’t and don’t” support the bill, Nelson said.

“We’ve been talking to a number of people to get their input,” Nelson added. “I’ll make the decision. I’m not asking other people to make the decision for me, but I do seek input.”

“As it is right now, without further modifications, it isn’t sufficient,” Nelson said of the compromise. “There’s a lot of improvement on the legislation, but the basic question about funding for abortion has not been fully answered yet.”

Nelson spokesman Jake Thompson emails TPMDC to say, “It only means that the Casey language is not sufficient. There could be efforts by Sen. Casey or others to make changes.”

“I accept the idea of deadlines, and the pressure that creates, because sometimes that helps you get something done,” Nelson told listeners. “I can’t tell you that they couldn’t come up with something that would be satisfactory on abortion between now and [Christmas], and solve all the other issues that I’ve raised to them. But I don’t see how.

“If it is not at the point where I think it needs to be, with the improvements that I am pushing–and they’ve made a lot of them–then I will not vote for cloture on the motion to end debate,” he said.

Latest DC
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: