Page 19 - Amendment Process News Today

Opening this bill up to an amendment process, and nobody knows whats going to happen after that. i think this is not the way mitch mcconnell would have preferred to do business. he would have liked to have had a bill that people could vote on after this motion to proceed, but thats not the way it is, because republicans cant agree. and they havent been able to dpr agree for years and years, so now theyre going to have to figure out whether they can, and its going to be -- its going to be quite a...

Process and let the voting take us where it will. so, thats whats before us. colleagues. will we begin the debate on one of the most important issues confronting america today? its my hope the answer will be yes. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that following the vote, senator mccain be recognized to speak for debate only for up to 15 minutes and that the time not count on hr 1628. >> is there objection? no objection heard. >> mr. president. i move to proceed to calendar number 120, hr 16...

From over and we are about to have a really long couple of days here in the senate. >> i am glad you pointed it out in the context because i feel like we need to pump the brakes on just perspective of this whole thing. m.j., thank you so much. and phil mattingly is also up on capitol hill. and phil, just to you, i know youre in the thick of this scrum, maybe where some of these senators are coming out, or obviously voting now and we have the two "no" votes but in terms of pumping the brakes, yes...

Told our m.j. lee off camera, he described this as something malpractice, and its an expletive we cant use on television. essentially saying that this is a mysterious process that the republicans have engaged in and this is something that, you know, the american people should be upset and ashamed with, that this has all been done behind closed doors and thats true for the most part, all this negotiation has been done outside the eyes of reporters, outside the eyes of journalists, and been done b...

Senator heller vote has become a yes. >> reporter: yeah, this is really significant, brooke because dean heller was one of the first -- the first of this group of moderate senators that broke away from the pack when this initial run of the senate health care bill came before them and decided that he wasnt going to vote for it and when he initially backed away, thats when the first attempted passing something really fell apart so the fact that he has revealed in just the last half hour that he is...

No, now yes, senators changing their minds. >> reporter: i think, essentially, what mitch mcconnell told them at this point is that, you know, we cannot leave this house and go to our recess in august, which they have extended the retess for two weeks, but we need to get this done now. we need to show the american people that we have done something. this was a promise that each one of you made, especially the republican senators, to their constituents, that they were going to do something on hea...

Time, a sixth of the economy, tens of millions, health and even life affected without knowing exactly what well be debating on. perhaps nothing could sum up the process thats gotten us here quite as well as this. now, the best the majority leaders been able to cook up is a vague plan to do whatever it takes to pass something, anything, to get the bill to a house and senate conference on health care. my colleagues, plain and simple, its a ruse. the likeliest result of a conference between the hou...

Amendment processes and not having ensured that all of your members are protected, not having a very clear end game set to go, but frankly, up to this point, that simply hasnt been possible. still waiting on senator mccain to show up. still waiting on senator ron johnson. if they get those two, they will have the 50 votes needed. mike pence whos currently in the chair right now would cast the tie-breaking vote and move forward but m.j. did a great job of laying out the uncertainty of what happen...

Administration officials for things that holdouts could get behind the scenes. there are amendments that senate leaders are saying could be made in order for other senators. so theres an all-out blitz right now to close the deal on this. but the crazy reality is, as we go -- were fewer than 24 hours from this vote. theres a real chance we might not know where the votes are until the senators actually vote. thats how close this is right now. and thats how much of an open question remains. >> what...

Process, the motion to proceed. its the vote that determines whether this debate can proceed at all. whether well even take it up. after four straight elections in which this was a huge commitment to the american people, its the vote that determines whether senators of both parties can offer their amendments and ideas on health care. well, i told the people of my state over this period that id vote to move beyond obamacare. and thats what im going to do today by voting yes. and i would ask all m...