A high-ranking Democratic senator revealed Tuesday that lawmakers will fail to meet President Obama’s deadline to pass the health care bill by the end of the year.
Durbin said that the long-delayed cost analysis, which is being prepared under the direction of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid from the Congressional Budget Office on legislation, caused the shifting timeline. The timetable has also been slowed down by the indefinite schedule of the floor debate.
Reid, who also showed signs of doubts on Obama’s goal to meet the deadline, would need every Senate Democrat’s support as well as independent Sen. Joe Lieberman’s of Connecticut to get 60 approvals required to cut off a possible filibuster by the GOP.
However, Durbin said he hopes that the deliberation will start before Thanksgiving.
On the other hand, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois also said that he hopes to pass the health care bill version of the Senate by the end of the year.
If the bill is passed by the Senate, the proposals of the lower House and the Senate would be combined by the congressional conference committee into a consensus version that would need the final approval from both chambers before submitting it to the President for enactment.
Durbin considered his assessment as former Pres. Bill Clinton visited the Capitol Hill to discuss the issue on health care reform with Senate Democrats.
Clinton told them that they had a rare opportunity to bring about a reform package that is significant to the long-term economic strength of the country.
