How Tennessee Representatives Voted On the Final Health Care Reform Bill

Thirty-four of a little over 250 Democratic representatives voted against the Senate version health care reform bill that became law Sunday night. Two of the 34 are from Tennessee: Lincoln Davis and John Tanner.

As in the November House vote, all Tennessee Republicans voted against the package: Phil Roe, John Duncan, Zack Wamp, and Marsha Blackburn.

One Representative who voted against the November house health care bill, voted in favor of the more conservative Senate bill this time. Middle Tennessee Rep. Bart Gordon, amid controversy surrounding rumor that he was offered the position of NASA administrator if he voted in favor of health care reform (a rumor for which he and the administration denies); voted for reform this time.

In a statement Gordon said:

“In the end, the question I'm faced with is this: will this reform be better for Middle Tennessee than the status quo? I think it will. That's why I believe passing meaningful health care reform is essential and why I have made my decision to help ensure health care is affordable for Middle Tennesseans today and for generations to come.”

Despite all the ballyhoo and lambasting by liberals for months, Blue Dog Democrat Jim Cooper voted in favor of both health care bills that came to the house floor, in November and this past weekend. Memphis Rep Steve Cohon was the other of the Tennessee Contingent to vote in favor of the bill.

For his part, Democrat John Tanner, in explaining his no vote, in part wrote on his website:

“There is no question our health care system needs reform. Since the outset of this national dialogue, I have talked with many West and Middle Tennesseans about how we can identify and fix what is broken within our system. Chief among these goals is the long-term reduction in health care costs for families, employers and the government…“After thorough and careful review of the legislation, I am unconvinced that the long-term trend of rising health care costs is adequately addressed and am therefore unable to support the legislation.” Read more! Read more: http://www.blogdoctor.me/2007/02/expandable-post-summaries.html#ixzz0fvTXmFSF

Interview With Jim Cooper About His Health Care Vote

As one of the moderate Blue Dog Democrats, much hand wringing has gone on the last few months about Tennessee Representative Jim Coopers position on Health care reform, mostly from national liberal activist. Nonetheless in the end Cooper voted for the Democrat constructed bill.

The health care reform bill is now going into reconciliation to reconcile the two versions passed by the House and the Senate, in order to have a final vote.

Last month the Washington post interviewed Cooper about his vote:

Rep. Jim Cooper: House health care bill was 'one of the best votes I ever cast

Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) knows as much about health-care policy as anyone in Congress. He teaches the subject back home in Tennessee, promoted his own plan (to the anger of many Democrats) in 1994, and has been both a vocal advocate and critic of this year's reform fight. On Saturday, he voted for the House's health-care bill. Earlier today, he told me why.

Jim Cooper

What was the weekend like for you?

This was one of the best votes I ever cast. The key is to keep the reform process alive. There are many things in the House bill I disagree with. But the Senate bill is the more likely final product due to the difficulty of getting 60 votes over there. If we had dropped the baton at this stage, it wouldn’t have given the Senate a chance to improve the bill. It would have given the House what amounted to a one-chamber veto. The Senate could have powered through, but those folks are not noted for their courage. The House had to perform here. And I am thankful that in the nick of time the leadership realized how short they were on votes.

The slim margin surprised many observers. Do you buy the argument that there were a number of congressmen who would have voted for the bill if they’d been needed?

I think the actual number was closer to 210. The leadership had to move heaven and earth to get to 220. The achievement of the leadership was to corral the votes at the last minute, and that is a great achievement that should not be diminished, and they did that by making major concessions they didn’t want to make.

The rest of the interview

Also see:

Healthcare Cost Debated In Nashville With Gov. Bredesen, Rep. Cooper and Others

How Tennessee Representatives voted on health care bill Read more! Read more: http://www.blogdoctor.me/2007/02/expandable-post-summaries.html#ixzz0fvTXmFSF