The two members of the Arkansas Congressional Delegation being challenged for re-election this year were united this weekend on the need to have their party claim ownership of the passage of the federal takeover of individual health care; but, they remain divided on the substance of the legislation.
U.S. Representative Mike Ross, D-Ar., said in a statement Sunday afternoon he was prepared to vote against allowing the original Senate version of President Barack Obama's health care legislation to proceed to Obama for signature without a constitutionally-mandated vote on the substance of the measure Sunday night.
That measure passed in the House by a vote of 219 for and 212 against late Sunday night.
Ross was among House members who opposed allowing the House to “deem” the measure approved without a recorded vote, which the House leadership chose not to use in Sunday's showdown.
“Now, we will have an up or down vote,” Ross said in a mid-afternoon statement Sunday. “This is a huge victory for those who have stood with me against all the partisan maneuvers that have been attempted during this health care debate by both parties.”
Ross said in a late-night statement Sunday that he voted against the Senate measure and against the “reconciliation” measure for the budgetary aspects of the bill which have not been approved by the Senate.
“This is one of the most diffucult votes I have ever cast in the House of Representatives because I believe we need health care reform,” he said. “That's why I have worked since last summer trying to improve this bill. While we were successful in making some changes, others were not accepted. In the end, I simply could not support either of these bills and that is why I voted no.”
The “reconciliation” measure, HR 4872, passed the House by a vote of 220 to 211. It now goes to the Senate for debate and an expected vote by Tuesday.
But, Ross made no statement on how he voted on HR 1203 to allow consideration of the extraordinary package under House rules. That resolution passed the House 224 to 208. A spokesman for his office was not available at press time Monday for comment on the question.
While the U.S. House of Representative's leadership has sought to craft political cover for Representatives who support the massive and unpopular rewriting of health insurance coverage and medical care decision-making in an election year, Ross has used the maneuvering by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to portray himself as part of a minority within his own party, and deflect criticism expected in a general election challenge by Republicans.
“Nancy Pelosi didn't send me to Washington. The people of Arkansas did and that's who I'm going to represent,” Ross told the Hope Star in a March 16 statement.
In a letter to constituents Friday, Ross re-stated the position he took in a statement earlier to the Hope Star.
“Over the next 72 hours, there will be numerous procedural gimmicks and political stunts,” he said. “I, like you, have had enough. I oppose reconciliation, deem and pass, the 'Slaughter Rule,' or any other parliamentary maneuver that circumvents the normal legislative process. This is too important an issue and I will oppose any effort by either party to play partisan games.”
That was Ross' rationale over the weekend for his vote Thursday not to allow the original Senate bill an up or down vote in the House. The action brought immediate criticism from the editorial page of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Hot Springs businessman and GOP challenger Glenn Gallas called Ross' Thursday vote a political tactic in itself.
“Now Mike has ensured himself the right to not vote,” a statement from Gallas' campaign said Friday. “I do not believe this is why the citizens of Arkansas elected him.”
A Ross spokesman said the vote was to prevent Republicans from forcing an up or down vote on changes in the Senate bill which House members had not had time to read. He said a deal had been struck with the Senate that the House would be given 72 hours to read the changes prior to voting.
He said that clock started at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-Ar., who is facing both a primary election challenge from Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter and a general election race, argued that she has supported measures to make the process transparent in the Senate and the House. Lincoln opposed the original version of the Senate bill, but voted to allow it to the floor for debate. That version, along with a companion bill which amends certain aspects of it, were the bills voted by the House on Sunday.
“Because of my efforts, the original Senate proposal and the final Senate bill were both posted online 72 hours prior to their respective votes so that the public could review the bills,” Lincoln said in a campaign statement March 16.
After Sunday's vote, Lincoln said she was pleased with the outcome.
“Even with its imperfections, this bill represents the most morally and fiscally responsible approach to health reform,” she said.
But, Lincoln said she cannot support the reconciliation package.
“The Reconciliation package devised by the House includes matters unrelated to health care and employs a legislative process that wasn't subject to the same transparency and thorough debate that we used in the Senate. I cannot support this process.”
The “matters unrelated to health care” include a provision tacked onto the health care bill that takes the Federal Student Loan program away from the banking industry and makes it a wholly-federal program. A spokesman for Lincoln said the Senator supports the change, but in a “stand-alone bill.”
Halter, who is supported by labor unions and gambling interests, has criticized Lincoln for not supporting a single-payer, government health insurance package in the original Senate legislation.
In a statement from her Senate office, Lincoln said she and Senator Olympia Snowe sought to preclude a budget-based maneuver from being used to pass the Senate companion bill by a simple majority rather than by a 60-vote margin required under regular Senate rules.
“I have promised my constituents that I will not support income tax increases to pay for health care and I will seek bipartisan solutions,” Lincoln said. “This takes budget reconciliation as an alternative means to pass health care reform off the table for me.”
U. S. Representative John Boozman, R-Ar., who is seeking to oppose Lincoln in the general election, said Sunday he voted against the health care package and reconciliation.
