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Crucial Health Care Bill Passes in Close Vote
Aired November 07, 2009 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I will answer to anything. We have a vote here. And I believe we're keeping an eye on this, but I believe we're moving now to the vote on the actual bill as I understand it. You can hear that buzzer going off and we're -- yep, this is it. This is the vote on the health care bill and Democrats are really not relying on any Republican public support here, Don. We've been talking about that. They may pick up a vote as we understand it.
But what they need is to really keep a lot of their Democrats on board. There are 258 Democrats who are in the House of Representatives. They have a huge -- a huge majority, in fact, Don. But what they need is 218 of those Democrats. There are some conservative Democrats who have expressed some pretty severe misgivings about this bill, enough that they say they're going to vote no on this, whether it's the overall cost, whether it is the issue of just how much the government would be involved in health care here, and so they need 218 votes for passage.
We are expecting it to be pretty close here. Although inside the chamber, Democratic leaders, they seem to be pretty calm and pretty cool and collected. The sense being that they feel that they have the votes. And actually I don't know Don if you want to roll some sound from earlier of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Brianna, hang on just a little bit because I want to see this process go on. I think it's interesting -- it's interesting to me. And I would imagine it's interesting to the viewer. We know that Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, has been out sort of touting this and really saying that we really need as many people on board especially for the Democrats. And we have been saying this is an old-fashioned, get out the vote campaign, Brianna. But as we look at these tallies go up, and this is the actual vote, right? Are we correct? Can you see this tally board here where you are?
KEILAR: Yes, I can see it. And this is the actual vote.
LEMON: So, so far we have Democrats 195 -- and again, this isn't official until the gavel, right, until they pound the gavel here?
KEILAR: Yeah. And yours -- I don't know if yours is a little ahead of mine. I'm seeing a little under that.
LEMON: I see 195 yea, right, from Democrats.
KEILAR: I see 195 now.
LEMON: Twenty-nine nay from Democrats.
KEILAR: Look at the time -- look at the time. This is a 15- minute vote. So this is going to be open. The majority of the vote we still have to go here. So, this is going to be open for some time. And the way this vote works, important to remind people, is that just when the clock hit zero, that doesn't mean it's over. You have to wait for the speaker to basically close the gavel, to hit the gavel, and then that is it and the vote is over.
LEMON: Let me ask you this. As we watch these tallies come in now, and again, reiterating, Brianna, this is not final and official until as you say the gavel pounds, right?
KEILAR: That's right.
LEMON: So right now we're looking at 199. If at any point while we're speaking here, it goes up to 218, does that mean that we should expect that it passed, that people watching should expect that it passed officially?
KEILAR: I think you can safely assume that if it hits 218, then it is passed.
LEMON: We're at 203 now.
KEILAR: At the same time, that is an important mark to hit. At the same time, that vote is not official, the numbers are not official until its gavel to a close. But I think it's safe that you can assume once it goes over 218. And as you notice, Don, it went quickly up to around 200 there, didn't it? And we are going to kind of see these last votes trickle in.
LEMON: They are trickling. And you know what, it's interesting, Brianna, you bring up a very interesting point. I'm not sure if Elaine can weigh in on this as well. Elaine, you're covering Washington as well. They are as we see it now, 33 nay votes -- 34 and it's going up in the Democratic column. So do we some holdouts? Can either of you offer us any insight on who the -- who the opposition was in the Democratic Party?
KEILAR: And you know, I think I can offer that, Don, because these are basically conservative Democrats. This is a very diverse caucus. And you will hear Democrats say that over and over when they're asked why they can't get all of their Democrats really to sign on to the same thing.
But what you have, especially coming up here into a significant election year, midterm election year, is a lot of moderate Democrats -- who may be -- these are Democrats, they're not the typical Democrat you would think of.
These are people who are for gun rights. They are for -- they are against abortion rights. They are fiscal conservatives, and they actually have a lot in common with Republicans.
And so they look at the price tag for this bill, which is over a trillion dollars, and they say I just can't stomach that. That goes against my fiscally conservative principles. And so a lot of them are having issues with that. And we've known -- I think this is interesting, 36 nays in the Democrats I'm now seeing now.
LEMON: Brianna, here's the thing. You're probably getting to this point. Democrats hold a 258 to 177 majority in the House.
KEILAR: But let me point this out, Don, because 36 nays, 36 Democrats saying no here, they can only lose 40.
LEMON: Yeah.
KEILAR: They can only lose 40. And that's why that's a really important number to keep an eye on. We said this was going to be a squeaker. We were not lying.
LEMON: I was going to say -- I was going to bring up the same point. I didn't want to add to the drama, but there it is. They can only afford 40 people to -- they would probably say defections. I guess you can see defections, and still be certain of having an absolute majority of 218. And here's what I'm reading, Brianna, if you can talk about this. Republicans circulated a list of 34 Democrats in opposition but made no claims they can halt the legislation march towards passage.
KEILAR: Sorry, Don, can you read that last bit?
LEMON: What I said was Republicans circulated a list of 34 Democrats in opposition but made no claims they could halt the legislation's march towards passage.
KEILAR: That's right. And I was getting -- I was getting that tally as well. And as we said, Democrats are not relying on any republican support for this definitely and Democrats have said, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, we will pass this tonight. And it seems the Democratic leaders on the House floor right now are pretty relaxed, you know, as they move towards this vote, seeming to get the vibe from them that they feel like they do have the votes to pass this.
We are also keeping an eye there on the Republican column under the yeas. You see how that's blank right there? We're looking to see if maybe there is one Republican who will -- keep in mind, there's 177 Republicans, six have not voted. And we're keeping an eye there to see if maybe they do pick up that one Republican vote.
LEMON: So far there are none, Brianna.
KEILAR: No, that's right. So far there are none but there's still time left. And certainly Democrats aren't relying on that. I spoke with one aide who said that would be a bonus. But, look, they're looking within their own caucus to try to get all of the votes they need.
LEMON: I think you're on a bit of a delay there because now we're showing again -- not official until the gavel pounds, 215, Brianna, and still 36 holding in the nay column on the Democrats. Continue, I'm sorry.
KEILAR: Yes, I think I do have a little bit of delay for you, Don. But I also think it's important that we should talk about exactly what's in this bill.
LEMON: Yes. Someone e-mailed me -- a couple people have been saying the pros and cons of this bill and it's not -- I can lead a conversation in that but I wanted to leave that up to the guest or the congressmen and lawmakers to go on. But walk us through that if you will, Brianna.
KEILAR: Well basically I think that something that is really important -- and stop me, Don, if we hit 218.
LEMON: 216 now, I'm just telling you, 216, but go ahead.
KEILAR: But something that I think is pretty significant for a lot of viewers out there, this issue of the pre-existing condition. What this bill would do is it would say to insurance companies, you cannot deny insurance coverage on the basis of a pre-existing condition. That would go away essentially. Also it would provide subsidies for low income and middle class Americans to help them purchase insurance.
LEMON: OK, Brianna.
KEILAR: I can hear the applause. They hit 218.
LEMON: Yes, let's just listen in a little bit to the applause and then you and I will be back after that.
OK, if you are just tuning in to CNN, we're carrying the House vote on the health care reform bill, and we're carrying it live. You would imagine -- one would imagine from the applause and if you're looking at the tally board, that this bill has passed. Again, 218 votes is what the Democrats need. That's what they got so far. Not official. I want to warn you guys. I want to warn the viewer, not official until -- until the gavel pounds, until this vote is over and they say, yea, it passed. Or no, it has not passed.
So it appears that right now from my perch, and probably from the perch of Brianna Keilar, who is standing by on Capitol Hill, and also our Elaine Quijano, who is standing by in our Washington bureau, that it looks like the Democrats in the House might have a win on their hands.
Brianna, talk to us just a little bit and then I'm going to bring Elaine in here to talk about what the president said today and what this means really for him next. Because he said this would happen, and so did the speaker. Take it away, Brianna.
KEILAR: Well this certainly is an historic step, a historic step here for overhauling health care. A huge part of the American economy, and really a situation that Democrats and Republicans agree is not at all an ideal situation and is costing Americans way too much money. It's just unsustainable for the American economy. So this move here to overhaul the health care system is certainly an historic step that we haven't -- we have just never really seen this, Don. But let's also keep in mind that -- and you're going to hear Democrats really pound on how important a historic step this is. This is not the final step. This is the House of Representatives voting on their bill. The Senate still has to do the same thing.
LEMON: This is kind of the beginning of the beginning of the process. Before it was a debate and what have you, but this is the beginning of the process that happens in Washington, D.C. as far as the vote and what goes on on Capitol Hill.
KEILAR: Yes, these are the beginning of these final steps and this is really the first big vote, the first big vote. The House will vote. The Senate will vote. Then the two have to hash out their differences. But certainly this vote in the House gives overhauling health care, huge priority of President Obama's, a lot of momentum and he will be able to say, look, we've never come this far. We got this vote. We have this passage.
LEMON: Yes, Brianna, you talked about a squeaker. Talk about drama here, right?
KEILAR: 219.
LEMON: It's not done yet. 218 -- no, 218 --
KEILAR: You see the one Republican vote?
LEMON: That's what I was going to tell you. You said the Democrats can give up 40 and then still win. It's at 39 and it's still not over. So Brianna, you were right. I would imagine that lawmakers are going to start coming to where you are, Brianna, to talk to the media, whether they're happy about this or not. So Brianna, can you just stand by a little bit for us?
Because I want to bring Elaine here to talk about the president and we'll get back to Brianna. Hey, Elaine Quijano, you're standing by at the Washington bureau. You heard the president today. It's 219 now. So walk us through this. What do you think is next for the administration? Are we going to hear something?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you know what, Don, I think it's very likely that we're going to have some kind of paper statement coming out tonight. I would not be surprised if perhaps we even heard from the president himself when he returns from Camp David to the White House, although we don't have any indications of that just yet.
Nevertheless, this is a major victory. It cannot be underscored enough, how huge a victory this is for President Obama. This is a president whose very election made history, the first African-American president of the United States. And today he appealed to his fellow Democrats by talking about this vote as a historic opportunity for the president and his Democratic allies. This was really in their view a chance to start to fix what was wrong with health care. As Brianna noted, obviously, this is still a long way to go in this process. This is the House vote, the Senate still has to pass its own version for the president to really get exactly what he wants and that is a bill on his desk to sign.
Republican critics and even some Democrats, of course, concerned about the cost of this thing, saying that, look, it is just too costly at a time when the American economy just can't sustain this, that it's just too battered and bruised right now to really be able to withstand the cost of this health care bill.
Nevertheless, we saw that rare moment, the president traveling to Capitol Hill on a Saturday, to press these Democratic lawmakers in person. Again, trying to cast this in historic terms, Don. And then we heard the president in the Rose Garden come out, and you were using the word premature to describe perhaps what some people thought of his statement.
Nevertheless, the president expressing optimism and saying again that this was a chance that really doesn't come very often, maybe once in a generation the president said for public servants to try to grab a hold of something like this. So obviously the appeal worked. Again, we're waiting on the final -- final final vote here. But the number as we see them now indicating that the president was handed a huge victory tonight, Don.
LEMON: And you know, it's interesting, because you mentioned that and we said some would say it's premature. And of course, Elaine, in the questioning, right, had it been a Republican -- we have to say what the Democrats are saying, but vice versa. But some people are saying that I'm saying that, which is very interesting when you have all of this going on, this is merely stating what the opposition is saying and then getting a response from either you or the other members of our political team.
But and it just goes to show you really how -- how much -- I guess -- I don't know. There was so much really outrage and how people were so emotionally attached to this issue.
QUIJANO: Yes.
LEMON: It was on party lines and what have you. And so just even watching the comments coming in, just asking questions about what's going on, and raising issues. People are emotionally attached. And we're emotionally attached to this issue, Elaine.
QUIJANO: And don't forget, Don, you remember that it was in August that we were seeing -- I mean, talk about emotion, really outbursts at these town hall meetings. Don't forget, this was such a heated time and really the White House perhaps wasn't necessary expecting the vehemence of some of that opposition.
LEMON: Hey Elaine, I have to cut you off. We're going to listen live. I will come back to you, Elaine, OK?
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER: On this vote, the yeas are 220. The nays are 215. The bill is passed.
LEMON: I just wanted to let this -- I want to hear what the speaker has to say. Let's see if the speaker is going to say anything else. If she doesn't, I will jump in. But I think as everyone has been reporting, this is historic -- listen.
PELOSI: The motion to be considered is laid upon the table.
LEMON: OK. They killed the audio there? We're done. OK so they killed the audio. So there you heard House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying, you know, the nays and the yeas, she said the yeas are 220, the nays are 215. Therefore, it passes.
I very rudely interrupted my colleague Elaine Quijano as she was finishing her thought. Elaine, we were talking about how historic this was and really just how much emotion this one issue has stirred in this country.
QUIJANO: That's right. I was just basically saying, think back to the summer. You remember those town hall meetings. They were so vehement, people in their objections to what they perceived as a government-run takeover, government-run health care system. That's what they said the Democrats were trying to push.
There was a lot here that the president had to overcome in order to help be the quote/unquote closer that we heard Brianna talk about. That's how Senate Democrats -- or House Democrats were viewing the president, the leadership there was really looking at the president being able to come in and sort of seal the deal.
Nevertheless, you see there a squeaker. Certainly perhaps a little bit too close for comfort but a win is a win. And we will wait to see what the president, what the White House's reaction is, looking for perhaps some paper statement here. Not really sure what time frame we're going to have on that but certainly they will be responding. This is the outcome that they wanted to see.
LEMON: Elaine, real quickly, I have so many papers here that we have gotten. Oh, here it is. And I'm not sure if this is it, 895, yes, it is. OK so and this is appropriate that we should talk about this, Elaine. Thank you so much, by the way. This is House Resolution 895. This one honors the lives of the brave soldiers of the United States Army who lost their lives in the tragic attack on November 5th 20th, 2009, at Ft. Hood, Texas. This one is sponsored by Representative Carter from the Armed Services Committee. Suspension will take five minutes.
I would imagine -- I would imagine that this one is going to pass because it's honoring the lives of the brave soldiers of the United States Army who lost their lives.
So here's what we're doing now. Brianna Keilar's on Capitol Hill standing by at a position where I'm sure, Brianna, some lawmakers are going to start showing up and people are going to start voicing their opinions very, very shortly. And we're waiting to hear -- hang on, Brianna, waiting to hear if the administration speaks out. And that's why Elaine Quijano is standing by in our Washington bureau, very near the White House.
Brianna, we're going to get to break in just bit. And I want to say we were told by the RNC chair that he's going to call in after this vote so we are waiting to hear from Michael Steele, Chairman Steele, when he comes in. Say again, Tom? And we're expecting to hear from the House speaker as well very shortly. Brianna, a quick few sentiments before we get to break and hear from those people.
KEILAR: We said it was going to be a squeaker, Don, and it certainly was. Democrats said they were only going to rely on within their own ranks. They could only lose 40 votes of Democrats. That's what the numbers said, and they lost 39. So this was very close. You can see how it somewhat divided the Democratic Party. But certainly, this was a very, very significant step for passing the Democrats' efforts to overhaul the health care system.
LEMON: OK. Hey, Brianna, thank you very much. Brianna, we are going to get back to you then. Brianna standing -- she's waiting for lawmakers. And listen, I want to tell you this, we were talking about the one bipartisan vote here. It is Joe Cao of Louisiana, he voted for the health care plan, a Republican despite party whip Eric Cantor sitting directly next to him during the vote. He's from Louisiana and he took over for William Jefferson, is that right? William Jefferson got into a bit of scandal there and so Mr. Cao took over for him, the only Republican to vote so far on this.
So listen ahead, we're going to hear from Congressman Michael Burgess, Republican from Texas and a licensed physician. He's going to join us from Capitol Hill.
And we're waiting again to hear from RNC Chairman Michael Steele and also the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is going to speak as well. Much, much more to cover live here on CNN. We're back in moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PELOSI: The yeas are 220. The nays are 215. The bill is passed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just moments ago, really less than five minutes ago, talking about the passage of the health care reform act, what they call the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which is the final passage, you heard there speaking, of House resolution 3962. OK so the House Speaker and probably many Democrats very happy about this passage. But what about the opposition? Republicans. Joining us now Congressman Michael Burgess, Republican from Texas and a licensed physician. He joins us now live from Capitol Hill. Tell us how you're feeling, sir.
REP. MICHAEL BURGESS (R), TEXAS: Well, I think, Don, it's very kind of you to have me on. I think we knew this moment was coming. We didn't know quite how it would play out at the end. I'm obviously disappointed we didn't hold our side completely together. I do hope people realize that a single Republican vote does not make this a bipartisan bill. A year ago when President Obama won the election, we knew this day was coming. I frankly thought it would be here much earlier than today.
And now we're just a year away from the next election, and you know that many of those 38 or 39 Democrats that voted against this bill were looking over their shoulders at the next election. I suspect there are other people who would encounter some anxiety at home in their districts because of their vote on this bill. So we will just have to see how that points out.
LEMON: Listen as a physician, I am going to go through some of the points of this bill.
BURGESS: Sure.
LEMON: I want to talk to you a bit. Real quickly, before we get to that, so what happens next? Do Republicans now in the House rally the folks, their counterparts in the Senate to not pass a bill there? I mean, what happens next for the opposition to these -- these health care bills?
BURGESS: Well, I will just tell you from my brief seven years here, if you're counting on the Senate to save your neck, you may be too far gone. But clearly the Senate will watch what happens. There's not been bipartisan support for this bill on the Senate side. Senator Lieberman has said that he will vote to continue a filibuster if one occurs.
So we have the votes on Senate side but they don't have the votes on the Senate side, same as the house. They had a clear majority in the House but it took them some time to even get with a 40 vote cushion, it took them a while to get to this slim victory that they had tonight.
I suspect the same thing will be true on the Senate side as well. And don't underestimate the American people on this. After all, it was the American people in August, and you and I talked in the middle of August about the town hall phenomenon. I rather suspect a lot of that anxiety that people were exhibiting last summer, I suspect that has not been mollified and we may well hear from the American people over and over again before the Senate takes its vote.
Remember we did cap and trade in June. It was a bad idea, a bad vote. Many people, many members of the House went home and heard from their constituents, many members of the Senate went home and heard from their constituents and we have not seen the cap and trade vote come back in the Senate.
LEMON: And let's hope this happens because you and I talked about this when you were on. Let's hope there's at least a modicum of -- or even more than that of decorum and that people are respectful and because there is so much emotion attached to this, I think sometimes people go overboard on both sides of this issue.
BURGESS: But Don, realistically, that -- that decorum cannot just apply to Republicans.
LEMON: That's what I just said, on both sides, yeah.
BURGESS: People require decorum from Republicans. But then we can be exposed to the most -- the vicious partisan activity that anyone can ever imagine.
LEMON: So listen, we were talking -- you were talking about the Senate. You said oh, you have been there seven years, so don't count on the Senate. I'm going to read this to you and then I'm going to let my colleague Brianna Keilar, who actually got this statement. She's going to talk about it a little bit more but that is after you. So this is from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. OK, congressman.
He said "Tonight's House vote is another mile traveled on the road to achieving reform of our broken health insurance system. I commend Speaker Pelosi and her leadership team for shepherding a strong bill to passage, despite the lack of cooperation from congressional Republicans." And then he goes on to say a little bit more. I will let our congressional correspondent get into that.
Obviously, you're not surprised by this statement, right?
BURGESS: Well, no. But, you know Don, on your station early this morning when I was watching, someone talked about a new CNN poll that said 26 percent of people wanted this bill to pass with no changes, 25 percent said it would need some major work and 33 percent said go back to the beginning and start over.
LEMON: And some people said forget it. I think it was like 15 percent that said don't even work on it at all.
BURGESS: Right. And it's hard to know where they come down on this, whether they just don't care or they don't want us to touch it. So you've only got 26 percent of the American people who were in favor of what we did tonight. That's got to be chilling especially if you're a Democrat in a Republican district, a Republican-leaning district going home to face your constituents now.
LEMON: I think you bring up a very point. And also some people say -- and I'm just getting as we go here, get some guidance. We were talking about health care reform in general and just by saying I said earlier that I think it's fair to say that most people want health care reform.
I'm not talking about specific bills. And even in that, there was -- I got some nasty comments. I don't think -- I think it's fair to say most of America wants our health care system reformed. They're not happy with particular bills coming from either side but this -- shouldn't this show us at least that people want it and that we need to work on it, regardless of how we feel about a particular bill, that we need to come to some sort of consensus about this?
BURGESS: Well, I wouldn't disagree with that. You know, I have worked on the concept of dealing with pre-existing conditions without exposing the nation to unconstitutional mandates. I do think there is a way to do that. I introduced a bill previously, 4019, for people keeping score at home, that does that and another bill right along with it that deals with flexibility in the COBRA system.
There are plenty of things we could do to make life better for Americans within the purview of what is legal and right for us to do. But it's not legal and right for us to create these big unconstitutional mandates. And who benefits? Well, the insurance companies, the very people who have been vilified in this debate are actually the ones who are going to walk away with the biggest share of the prize.
LEMON: And guess what? That's the reason we have you on. And just before we get to this bill, there are two pieces of business I want to handle, and then we're going to come back to you, Congressman Burgess, so stand by. We're waiting on the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She's going to speak, we're told, in just a little bit.
And then we want to get that poll up. There you see where she's going to walk up and speak right there. And the one that you were talking about, Congressman, here it says, pass with few changes, 26 percent. Pass with major changes, 33 percent. Start from scratch, 24 percent. Stop working on health care, 15 percent.
Say -- 15 percent of Americans say that. So -- 15 percent, I should say, at least of the people who were polled say that. But here's the interesting thing, too, I had someone on from Politico, Congressman, who said it really depends on how you ask the question as to what response you get from a poll.
BURGESS: Absolutely.
LEMON: Yes. OK. Good. That's said, simple enough, you're right. That said, hey, listen, hang on. We want to get to break. But real quickly, Congressman, I want to say to this, talk about what is -- we want to talk about some of the things that are in here.
We will get to break in a minute. Who's covered? They say about 96 percent of legal residents under the age of 65 compared to 83 percent now. The cost here, $1.055 trillion. The net cost is $894 billion. How is it paid for? $464 billion over the next decade for new income taxes on single people making more than $500,000 a year and then on and on. Requirements for individuals, individuals must have insurance.
So what is the issue here really with the opposition? Is it really that the government -- that this bill sort of proposes that the government be in charge of health care? Is it the cost?
I don't think the opposition is to the number of people covered under this. Correct me if I'm wrong.
BURGESS: No. No opposition to the number of people who are covered. In fact, I had some disagreements with my leadership on their alternative because I don't think they paid enough attention to coverage. It doesn't do any good to deal with insurance reform if ultimately people don't pick it up and don't have it. The greatest expansion in this bill, of course, is bringing new people, new populations into Medicaid.
Medicaid is a federal entitlement program. It's going broke. We can't sustain it. And so we double down on that program. And the states themselves are telling us that we can't take what you're giving us in Medicaid.
LEMON: So...
BURGESS: We will have no dollars left for education or transportation. It will all be spent on health care at the state level.
LEMON: Congressman has spent a big chunk of time with us and we appreciate you're talking about who's going to pay for this bill, right? So we need to pay the bills as well. So here we go.
BURGESS: There you go.
LEMON: We need to go to break. And then we're also -- we also want to get this out of the way before the House speaker comes out because we don't want to be in break when she comes out.
U.S. congressman Michael C. Burgess, north Texas.
BURGESS: Thank you.
LEMON: A physician. Thank you very much.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi coming up just moments away after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I want to get you back now to Washington, D.C. and the House of Representatives and standing by at the Capitol, our Brianna Keilar.
Brianna, I read that statement earlier from Senate majority leader Harry Reid, and you got the statement, so Brianna, take us through it. Obviously, he's very happy and he's hoping the same thing happens in the Senate, right?
KEILAR: No, he certainly is happy. He said tonight's House vote is another mile traveled on the road to achieving reform of our broken health insurance system. He goes on to say, "I commend Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team for shepherding a strong bill to passage despite the lack of cooperation from congressional Republicans."
He says, "In the Senate we hope to receive CBO scores back on our graph proposals in the coming days and look forward to bringing a final bill to the Senate floor as soon as possible."
And I want to tell you, Don, I am looking now at video, I think, that maybe Democratic leaders are going to be making their way...
LEMON: Hey, Brianna...
KEILAR: ... into that press conference.
LEMON: Yes, here's -- the House speaker is coming in now. So, Brianna, let's listen in and we'll get back, OK?
PELOSI: Oh, what a night. Isn't that something?
(APPLAUSE)
Some of my colleagues just received a call from the president of the United States, Barack Obama, congratulating us on a great victory for the American people. I thanked the president for his tremendous leadership because without President Obama in the White House, this victory would not have been possible.
He provided the vision and the momentum for us to get the job done for the American people. And for that we are very, very proud. Proud of our success, proud of the members of Congress who took a very, very intense interest in the legislation.
They know what we have accomplished for the American people, and it certainly would not have been possible without the tremendous leadership of our committee chairs, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Miller and Mr. Rangel.
But I want to also congratulate the leadership team. We call it a team but it's becoming more and more of a partnership. And we'll be hearing from all of them, but Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Larson, Mr. (INAUDIBLE), Mr. Van Holland, our co-chairs Mr. Miller and Mister -- and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro have been wonderful.
Now we'll hear from our chairman. But we all promised to be brief so I'll save the rest of my remarks when I talk to you later. But I know I speak for all of them when I say how proud we are to stand here with John Dingell.
He brings the history and the prospects for the future to this debate and how proud we were when he stood at that podium and opened the debate this morning and how appropriate it was that he would close the debate for our side and bring home a winning majority.
Thank you, Mr. Dingell.
(APPLAUSE)
STENY HOYER (D-MD), MINORITY LEADER: For all of my friends in the press who have been assaulting me in the hallways asking if we had the votes, the answer is yes.
(LAUGHTER)
And America and the American people won today. This was about them, not about us. This was not about party but people. This was about making sure that every American in the phrase that we use so often has access to quality, affordable health care, and has the assurance that they will always have that. That's what this say and this night was about.
I am proud of the Democrats. I'm proud of the Congress. This was, as you -- I'm sure you observed, a bipartisan vote.
(LAUGHTER)
Working together to achieve what we promised the American public we would do, and what President Obama said needed to be done, what every Democratic candidate running for president said needed to be done, and indeed what John McCain said needed to be done. Not specifically this bill but to give Americans assurance of health care security.
We've done that tonight. Much work remains. But I want to congratulate Speaker Pelosi, without whom this night, this victory, would not have occurred.
(APPLAUSE)
Her focus, her vision, her tenacity, her energy, her commitment to achieving this objective for the American people and for the children around which she was surrounded when she was sworn in as speaker of the House and she convened the House on behalf of the children of America.
They, this day, have been benefited. I'm now pleased to -- when I said we have the votes, actually, the man who counted the votes, who made sure we had the votes, who has been a leader in this effort, our whip, Jim Clyburn, South Carolina.
(APPLAUSE)
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), MAJORITY WHIP: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. And thank you, Leader Hoyer, Madam Speaker, other distinguished leaders of this caucus. You all have been hearing an extended line from me for a number of days now, we are getting there.
I can say now, we have gotten there. This process has really, really strengthened our caucus. I think that with the passage of this -- of this bill tonight, we've reached a very significant threshold in our caucus.
There's nothing more personal to people in their health care. It involves the ultimate in privacy rights, and for us this caucus to coalesce around a legislation that we have just passed this evening bodes well for the future of this caucus and it bodes well for the future of the people of this great country.
And with that, I would like to yield to Chairman Waxman.
REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: The victory we experienced tonight was a team effort but there is only one leader of the team that I want to single out, and that is Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I have never seen anybody like her and when the president spoke to our caucus, he said she will emerge as one of the all-time great speakers of the House.
She is already at that point as far as I'm concerned.
(APPLAUSE)
But this is a team effort here by our colleagues to do something for the broader public interest, and that's to make sure that we live up to the standard of providing every child and person with an opportunity, and you can't have an opportunity to go forward in life if you don't have access to health care when you're sick, and to provide a safety net.
And we don't protect people's human dignity if they cannot have access to affordable, good quality health insurance coverage, which will allow them to get the care that they need.
I'm pleased now to yield to the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, the indefatigable, Charlie Rangel.
(APPLAUSE)
REP. CHARLIE RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: Thank you. Thank you, Henry, and thank you, Mr. President, for having the wisdom of making our speaker the one that not only blends bill but blends people. She has really done a fantastic job, and even though history will record her as the best -- one of the best, certainly I think the three chairmen of these committees working together will give you something that you can take a punch right.
This is -- this is just the beginning. We've got a lot of work to do. And under Nancy Pelosi's leadership she was able to spend so many hours, so many weeks, so many months around this nation and making certain that we stayed on target.
We didn't have time to think about jurisdiction. And to be honest with you right now, I don't know where that line is. All I know is that we were dedicated to make certain that Nancy Pelosi was able to do what she promised the president and the American people.
So it gives me great pleasure to bring behind me George Miller. All of you know that, all staffs of all three committee worked on this one staff, and, George, it's been a real pleasure working with you.
(APPLAUSE)
REP. GEORGE MILLER (D), CALIFORNIA: Thank you. Thank you, Charles.
It has truly been an honor and a pleasure to work with everybody who you see assembled here. Our leadership, our staffs, our subcommittee chairs, the members of the entire caucus and the entire Democratic caucus. And to work with what I think is the greatest speaker in the history of the Congress. I'm a fan. (LAUGHTER)
It's simple. I think the three of us, the three chairs, we have been through a lot of legislative battles through our time in this Congress of the United States, and we know without Speaker Pelosi, this simply would not have happened. It's no more complicated than that. This simply would not have happened.
Madam Speaker, thank you so much for the honor and the privilege to be associated in this battle. When you run for office, you wonder if you're ever going to really be able to make a difference, and you set out to do it, 35 years later, I'm here and the president of the United States, when he visited with the caucus this morning, said let's all remember why we ran and why we're here.
And today we delivered on a promise that so many of us have made to our constituents year after year about the opportunity to have access to affordable health care. Many of us, myself included, have listened to so many painful stories from families in our districts and families that visit us in Washington and people who come to our town hall meetings about them, their neighbors, their children, grandchildren, their spouses and how badly things can go for them when they lose their health insurance.
To me the most important words in this whole debate is that never again will Americans be without health insurance when this becomes a law, never again will they lose their health insurance if they should happen to lose their job.
Thank you, Madam Speaker, for the opportunity.
(APPLAUSE)
MILLER: Excuse me. I had the privilege last night of sitting 6 1/2 hours on the rules committee answering questions but someone who sat there a lot longer to guide the rules and procedures that have given us the success that we've had in this Congress is Chairwoman Louise Slaughter of the House Rules Committee. Thank you so much, Louise.
REP. LOUISE SLAUGHTER (D), NEW YORK: Thank you, George. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Yes, I do have that other committee, the one that meets for 12 hours at a time up on the third floor of this building.
And I -- Speaker Pelosi and I were elected to Congress almost at the same time. She came in through special election and I have been struggling as hard as I can ever since behind her trying to keep up.
I have to say how proud I am to be part of this team. What we have done today, not just now but what we have done the last three years to move America forward is nothing short of astonishing. But today we achieved what could not be done in 100 years.
And I know that when the American people finally understand what's in this bill and what wonderful thing await them in this bill, what worries it will lift from them, how much better they're going to feel about their lives ahead of them knowing that some of the greatest fears that they have, have been removed, that they're going to love this bill as much as we do.
I want to thank all of the leaders up here for the incredible work we did. And I have to say about this speaker, I've learned so much from her. I have never known anybody so inclusive in all of my life. There's not a member of the House, as far as I know a member of the citizenry of the United States, who has not had access to her almost any time that they wanted it.
The woman as far as I know neither eats nor sleeps but meets almost all the time, working, planning, and the thing that has really struck me, as I struggle to keep up with what I do, is that every bill, everything that comes before this House, every jot and (INAUDIBLE) is at her command. She lays it out like a deck of cards and knows what it is.
How blessed we are to have this great team and to be led by such a person as Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: As I said earlier, we all had the privilege of being part of a wonderful legacy, the Dingell family legacy. Mr. Dingell's father introduced health care legislation every term that he was in the Congress. Mr. Dingell had followed that great tradition. He gaveled in Medicare. It was enacted into law.
And so across America everyone now -- if our bill prevails, which I'm certain that it will in these respects, that being a woman is no longer a pre-existing medical condition. That if you have a pre- existing medical condition you cannot be denied insurance.
You cannot have rescissions. You cannot lose your insurance just because you've become ill. And the list goes on and on. If you're a senior, the donut hole is closed. If you're a young person, you can be on your parents' policy until your 27th birthday.
If you're a consumer, you're protected by the public option. The list goes on and on. And some of it inspired and built on the tradition of the Dingell family. Some of it open to the future and that's what Mr. Dingell has always been about.
Mr. Dingell, we're proud to stand here with you. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
REP. JOHN DINGELL (D), MICHIGAN: Congratulations. Congratulations, Madam Speaker. Congratulations to my colleagues up here. The three chairmen, the members of the committee, the members of the leadership, my very special friend, Steny Hoyer, and all of the others who have worked so hard.
Tonight we have reason to be thankful. And tonight we can look back at a great accomplishment. But we can also look forward to much more to be done, Madame Speaker. We look forward to your leadership and to working with you on this.
As the speaker mentioned, pre-existing conditions, if we succeed, and we will, will be a thing of the past. Rescission will be a thing of the past. And people will know that when they get health insurance that they can keep it and they'll have nothing standing in their way.
They're also going to know that they have an honest choice and a transparent opportunity to pick the best insurance for themselves. Business is going to prosper, and the country's going to prosper. As well as the citizens concerned.
And one of the great hazards that we confront is not going to be with us. And that is if we succeed then we will, that you're going to find the true curves, the gross national product and the cost of health care will cross in 2080.
That event will not now occur. So we are about to go forward, and we do want to thank our young members who come from close and difficult districts. They're the ones who really made this night possible. And we owe them a very special vote of thanks.
But to you, Madam Speaker, to my colleagues, congratulations. But as Winston Churchill once observed when a group of ladies came around to complain about the amount of whiskey and brandy that he drank, they pointed to a spot on the wall and they said you have drunk enough of those things to fill this room to that point.
Winston looked at them and he looked at the spot on the wall, and then he said, "So much to do, so little time." Thank you.
(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: Wonderful. Thank you. It is with great humility that I accept the compliments of my colleagues because the compliment is to be shared with our entire leadership for sure but also the courage of our members.
They have a vision. They have conviction. They have commitment. And tonight they showed once again that they have courage. I want to acknowledge...
LEMON: And with that, I think it's apropos that we move on here. They are obviously very happy about the passing of this bill. They have worked very hard. But a lot of self-congratulating going on. But they are winners.
So everyone from the top down, the speaker on to the majority leader and then we heard from John Dingell. Of course, he's been fighting for this for years. This is really his legacy on this issue. Even richer than the late senator, Ted Kennedy.
Also hearing from Jim Clyburn there, majority whip, Chairman Henry Waxman, Charlie Rangel of New York, and also George Miller, as well as local congressmen and representatives as well. But again, they're very happy there in the House, at least Democrats are. I want to tell you this. There are some folks who are not very happy. Right? The members of the RNC. And we're hearing from Michael Steele tonight. We're going to hear from him.
We're also hearing from the president tonight. You're going to hear from him. And what's in the House bill, we'll talk a little about that. But again, we're going to hear from the president and the RNC chair about what just happened.
The passage of the health care reform bill in the House. 220 yeas, 215 nays. Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. We have been following this live, for hours now, and we saw the passage of -- the final passage of HR, House Resolution 3962, which is The Affordable Health Care for America Act, sponsored by Representative John Dingell of the Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, Education and Labor Committees.
Passed a short time ago. You heard the speaker say 220 yea, 215 nay.
Moments ago the president of the United States weighed in and here's what he had to say. He said, "Tonight in an historic vote. The House of Representatives passed a bill that would finally make real the promise of quality, affordable health care for the American people.
"The Affordable Health Care for America act is a piece of legislation that will provide stability and security for Americans who have insurance, quality, affordable options for those who don't, and bring down the cost of health care for families, businesses, and the government while strengthening the financial health of Medicare. And it is legislation that is fully paid for and will reduce our long-term federal deficit."
And the president goes on and he thanks the members of the House and trying to reform health insurance in America.
I want to get real quickly here to the Republican response from Chairman Michael Steele. He says, "Today with help from their liberal House allies President Obama and Nancy Pelosi finally got what they had been creating behind closed doors these past few months, a government-run health care experiment that will increase families' health care costs, increase the deficit, increase taxes on small businesses," paying attention to the time here, "and the middle class and cut Medicare."
And then he goes on to talk about the Democrats only voted for Nancy Pelosi's liberal health care plan, will have to answer to their constituents. So there you see it. The first historic moment here, and you guys have been weighing in as well.
The House bill on health care reform passing tonight. You saw it live here on CNN. I'm Don Lemon in Atlanta. I'll see you back here tomorrow night, 6:00, 7:00 and 10:00 Eastern. "LARRY KING" starts now. Thank you so much for watching.
