Area roll call shows little support for bill
Staff Report
Despite majority support nationwide, most U.S. House members in the Chattanooga region opposed the landmark health care reform bill that passed 220-215 late Saturday. Only two of the nine members of the House from Tennessee and four of the 13 members from Georgia voted for the health care bill. In Tennessee, only Democratic Reps. Steve Cohen and Jim Cooper voted for the measure. Three other Democrats opposed it — Reps. John Tanner, Bart Gordon and Lincoln Davis, along with all four Republicans, Reps. Zach Wamp, John Duncan, Marsha Blackburn and Phil
Roe. In Georgia, only Democratic Reps. Samford Bishop, Hank Johnson, John Lewis and David Scott voted for the measure. Two other Democrats and all seven Republicans, including Rep. Nathan Deal, voted against it. In North Carolina, Democrat Heath Shuler voted against the bill. In Alabama, Democrat Parker Griffith and Republican Robert Aderholt voted against the legislation. Rep. Cooper harshly criticized the bill and said he didn’t expect it to become law, but the Nashville Democrat still voted in favor of the $1.1 trillion package. “My vote is not an endorsement of all the provisions of the bill because I find much of the bill to be deeply flawed,” Rep. Cooper said in a written statement issued during Saturday night’s debate. “There is little chance that (the House bill) will become law due to the long legislative process.” Rep. Cooper said he supported the bill “to advance the cause of health care reform by forcing the Senate to act. Without passage of this House bill, the Senate could delay reform indefinitely. That would be the worst possible outcome because our current health care system is not sustainable.” Rep. Wamp also opposed the bill, saying “big government is not the solution, it’s the problem.” “The Pelosi health care bill will force states to add millions to their Medicaid rolls without the money to pay for it down the road,” he said. “Seven Democratic governors, including our own Phil Bredesen, have spoken loudly against it. And every day, I hear from many more Tennesseans who oppose this bill.” He said health care costs amount to one-sixth of the U.S. economy and “Democrats want the government to take it over.” “The 1,990-page Pelosi health care bill will cut Medicare, create new federal bureaucracies, increase the cost of health insurance, raise taxes on middle class families and cost more than a trillion dollars,” he said. “In just 219 pages, the Republican alternative addressed the issue of preexisting conditions, eliminated the insurance industry from capping lifetime benefits or cancelling coverage and provided responsible medical liability reform. Instead of imposing unfunded mandates on states like Pelosi’s bill, our solution would have increased affordable access to health care for all Americans without further burdening state budgets,” he said.