Republican Slows Health Bill Progress to a Crawl

In a move only a Senate parliamentarian could love, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oak.) slowed the Senate's progress on health care reform to a crawl on Wednesday when he insisted that an amendment offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) be read aloud by the Senate clerk. Senators usually waive the reading of the bill, which is technically required by Senate rules, as a courtesy to move through business more quickly, but Coburn's goal is just the opposite -- to stop progress on the health bill altogether.
Just before his maneuver, Coburn complained on the Senate floor that senators do know know the content of the bill, which has not been made public by Majority Leader Harry Reid, and will not have time to read and understand it before Reid forces a vote on it. Coburn has previously said he will require that the entire 2,000-plus page Reid health bill also be read on the floor before the Senate votes on it.

After nearly an hour of reading the amendment Wednesday, the Senate clerk had read just 30 pages of Sanders' 366-page proposal, which calls for Medicare to be opened to all Americans, with the goal of creating a single-payer health care system. Democratic staff estimated reading the bill could take eight to 12 hours.

Staff of the Senate clerk's office took 30-minute shifts reading the highly technical language, which tripped the readers up from time to time. One clerk struggled to read the section defining dental benefits that would be covered, including pronunciations of "dental prophylaxis," "maxillofacial region," and "malocclusions."

Most Republicans have been vocal in their opposition to the Democrat's proposals for health reform and open about their efforts to slow progress on the bill. Even Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who said she remains open-minded about the content of the Democrats' bill, said Tuesday that she is extremely uncomfortable with the fast-track schedule that Democrats are using to pass the bill before their self-imposed Christmas deadline.

The real obstacle to Reid's progress on health care, however, is a 60-vote majority of senators willing to vote to end debate on the bill. Until Reid has those votes in hand, Republicans will be able to continue using delay tactics-- which they say they've only just begin to employ-- on a bill they say is deeply unpopular with the American people.

On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "There are 60 of them and only 40 of us. Their problem is not the 40 of us; their problem is the American people who are saying to them quite loudly and consistently in all the polls, 'Do not pass this bill.'"