The Senate is still aiming to take up health care reform by the end of the week, even though the text and cost analysis of the legislation has not been revealed.
Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Democratic leaders have not given up on starting debate on the bill in the coming days, despite speculation that the bill will be pushed into next week or perhaps the week after Thanksgiving break.
“We hope to begin debate by the end of the week,” he said.
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Reid needs to move quickly if he wants to get a bill passed by the end of the year. There are just a few legislative work weeks left before the session officially ends in late December. The debate on the bill is likely to take three weeks or more, in part because moderate Democrats are insisting on ample time to amend and discuss the bill and Republicans are planning to use every stalling tactic in the book, including reading the entire bill on the Senate floor.
Reid really needs to get the debate moving before Thanksgiving or risk simply running out of time and having to take up the bill again in January.
