Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid issued a statement this afternoon following the Senate Finance Committee’s 14-9 vote to pass health insurance reform legislation out of committee. Here’s the full text:
I am pleased that the Senate Finance Committee voted today to pass their health insurance reform proposal. This represents another critical step toward bringing real change to our broken health insurance system.
I praise the leadership of Chairman Baucus for guiding this proposal through his Committee. Sen. Snowe is also to be commended for voting for this proposal in the face of immense pressure from opponents of reform. Her courage to stick with her principles in the face of an increasingly partisan environment in Washington, DC is heartening and should serve as a reminder that health care is an issue that should defy party labels.
In the Senate, we now move to the important work of merging the proposals of the HELP and Finance Committees with the committee chairmen and the White House in order to craft a bill that can garner 60 votes in the Senate. We remain committed to passing legislation that lowers costs, creates competition, improves quality of care and preserves choice.
