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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Democratic Caucus Chief Says 'We've Got the Votes"On Healthcare

By Siobhan Hughes

Dow Jones Newswires

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The chairman of the House Democratic caucus says that the House has the votes to pass a landmark healthcare bill, a step that would clear another hurdle as the party keeps pressing to put the measure into law.

"We've got the votes," said Rep. John Larson (D., Conn.), the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, speaking on CNN's "State of the Union." But Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), the chief deputy whip, hedged, saying on "Fox News Sunday" that "the whip count is always in flux; we don't have a hard 216 right now."

The comments highlights the intense effort to line up support for the vote, which is to begin later in a rare Sunday session. The House needs 216 votes to clear the measure. Republicans are vowing to muster a robust opposition, predicting that their message will resonate with voters in the November elections.

"I don't know if they have the votes," said Rep. Mike Pence, (R., Ind.), speaking on CNN. "We're going to use every means at our disposal to oppose this government takeover of healthcare."