WASHINGTON--Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives lobbied undecided members for support and voiced growing confidence on Friday they will win a close vote on final passage of a sweeping healthcare overhaul.
The House will vote on Sunday afternoon on President Barack Obama's top domestic legislative priority, which picked up fresh momentum by winning four new converts after receiving a good report card from congressional budget analysts.
"I feel very sure that we will vote sometime after 2 o'clock on Sunday and the bill will pass," Democratic Representative James Clyburn, the top House vote-counter, told reporters.
Top House Democrats pushed hard to nail down the last of the 216 votes needed to approve the overhaul, which would constitute the biggest changes in the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system in the past four decades. They picked up three new supporters when Representatives John Boccieri, Allen Boyd and Suzanne Kosmas announced they would switch from "no" votes last November to "yes"--bringing to six the number of House Democrats to do so in the past three days.
"I'm very excited about the momentum that is developing around the bill," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters. "When we bring the bill to the floor, we will have a significant victory for the American people."
Two powerful lobbying groups, the American Medical Association representing doctors and AARP representing the elderly, endorsed the overhaul. Both had backed earlier versions of the bill.
Clyburn said he and his lieutenants were trying to advise about two dozen publicly undecided Democrats on the benefits of the overhaul. He said they picked up a valuable tool when budget analysts gave the bill a good grade. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would reduce the deficit by $138 billion over 10 years and expand insurance coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans.
"That was just great news for us," Clyburn said, adding he began to seek hard commitments from lawmakers on Thursday night and was trying to "get everybody to a comfortable place."
