WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The sluggish U.S. Senate debate on health reform came to a complete standstill for several hours Wednesday, with Republicans forcing the reading of an amendment to 767 pages while Democrats struggle to finish the job this year.
Republican Senator Tom Coburn invoked his right to require an amendment to the Independent Senator Bernie Sanders was read aloud by an officer of the Senate, a task that had already consumed three hours before Sanders himself to withdraw it.
“All this is to try to bring down health care reform,” said Dick Durbin, the second in seniority among Democrats in the Senate.
So far, Republicans are united in their opposition to defend a comprehensive health system reform, which is the top domestic priority of U.S. President Barack Obama and have promised to use every tool possible to stop the debate.
Extensive reading is not dramatically disrupted the snail”s pace of the Senate, which has kept the health reform in limbo for a long time, waiting for the estimates Cost of the provisions of an amendment to be offered in a few days by the Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid.
The proposed reform of the health care industry of 2.5 trillion dollars has stalled in the Senate, including disputes over costs, plans for the government insurance program and how it would affect the law on abortions.
Reid”s amendment will make final adjustments designed to win the 60 Senate votes needed to overcome procedural hurdles that may arise Republicans. The Democrats have no margin for error, because they control exactly 60 places in the Senate.
The Senate bill will extend coverage to some 30 million Americans without health insurance, provide subsidies to help pay for coverage and stop the practices of the insurance industry to deny insurance to people with pre-existing medical conditions.
Coburn threatened earlier in the debate to force the public reading of entire bill, consisting of 2,074 pages, but gave up before the Thanksgiving holiday.
This time it went ahead with his threat after Democrats rejected his request that all pending amendments to be submitted in at least 72 hours and receive a cost estimate of analysts budget before being considered.
Democrats also asked to accept his amendment requiring certification that all senators read and understood the bill before voting on it.
(Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro and David Morgan, editing by Silene Ramirez Spanish)
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