Health Care Vote

BILLINGS - Late Saturday night the U.S. House of Representatives passed a sweeping bill to overhaul the nation's health care system.

In a very close vote, only one republican supported for the $1.1-trillion dollar measure. Nearly 40 democrats voted against the legislation. The bill does include an amendment banning government-funded abortions. This measure was demanded by moderate democrats.

Representatives Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Denny Rehberg of Montana both voted "no" on the legislation. Lummis said the bill is an attempt by the democrats to institute government-forced health care in the United States.

In a phone interview with KULR-8 immediately following the vote, Lummis said. "It is a giant increase in an already bloated bureaucracy that is going to add to our debt and our deficit. It is going to be something our children and grand children will be paying back long after we've used these services."

In a written statement issued following the vote Congressman Rehberg said. "Once again, House Democrats put their Party ahead of doing the best thing for our country. Instead of immediate and targeted reform to fix the national health care crisis, Americans will get 118 new federal bureaucracies and a solution that doesn't even go into effect until 2013. Now we must hope that any Senate action will be more reflective of the folks I heard from at 18 listening sessions around Montana."

The Senate will soon take up their own debate on health care reform. The bills from both chambers will need to be joined into one bill before reaching the president's desk.

Both Lummis and Rehberg added that they hope the Senate's health care reform bill will reflect America's desires more than the version passed in the house Saturday night.

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