Alex Wong/Getty Images The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, at a press conference on Capitol Hill on Friday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a news conference Friday that she was hopeful the House would vote on far-reaching health care legislation by March 21 and that President Obama would be in Washington see it happen.
The White House said Mr. Obama had delayed his departure for a trip to Guam, Indonesia and Australia to March 21, from next Thursday, so he could stay in Washington to rally support for the health care bill.
Ms. Pelosi said Democrats were nearly ready to move forward but were still waiting for a cost analysis of the bill from the Congressional Budget Office.
“I’m delighted that the president will be here for the passage of the bill,” Ms. Pelosi said. “It’s going to be historic. And it would not be possible without his tremendous, tremendous leadership, his persistence, his concern for the American people, always guided by his statement that we will measure our success by the progress being made by America’s working families. This legislation not only makes history, but it will make progress for America’s working families.”
Pressed on the timing, Ms. Pelosi said she would not commit to March 21 as a firm deadline. “I said we’ll take the time that we need to pass the legislation,” she said. Still, she acknowledged her hope that the bill would be approved before Mr. Obama left the country. “I’m hoping it will be in that time frame,” she said.
Ms. Pelosi said House Democrats were also happy that a proposed overhaul of student loan programs would be included with the health care legislation in an expedited budget measure. The education bill is popular in the House, and Democrats believe it will help generate further support for the health care bill.
The speaker said it offered a reminder of how successful the House had been in carrying out the Democratic agenda.
“If I may just step back for a moment, this goes back to our budget bill that we passed in the House a hundred days after the president’s inauguration,” she said. “So calculate that, in the spring of last year. In that bill the president had a blueprint in the budget, for lowering taxes, reducing the deficit, creating jobs, stabilizing our economy well into the future, around three pillars. Those three pillars were investments in education and innovation, which go together; investments in energy and climate change; and investments — first among equals — in health care.”
Ms. Pelosi continued, “We have passed all three of those bills.”
Senate Democrats approved their version of health care legislation on Dec. 24, but they have approved neither the education measure nor a climate change bill.
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