Key Senate Panel Won't Vote Till Fall
By GREG HITT
WSJ
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Max Baucus Thursday ended any hope the influential Senate Finance Committee would take up bipartisan health legislation this summer, kicking the issue to the fall amid lingering divisions over a bill intended to provide insurance coverage to tens of millions of Americans.
After meeting of top members of the panel, which has wide jurisdiction over health policy, Sen. Baucus (D., Mont.) vowed to work into next week to narrow differences with top Republicans. But the chairman said the committee would not be convened next week, when the full Senate is scheduled to debate the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Baucus also said it is unclear whether a draft of the bill will be made public next week. "We'll see how far we get," he said. The Senate is scheduled to begin its recess Friday, Aug. 7.
The delay came as the House Energy and Commerce Committee, ending two weeks of stalemate, plunged into debate on the details of a health-care bill. But across Capitol Hill, there were other signs the ground beneath the legislation is fragile.
(Continued here.)
WSJ
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Max Baucus Thursday ended any hope the influential Senate Finance Committee would take up bipartisan health legislation this summer, kicking the issue to the fall amid lingering divisions over a bill intended to provide insurance coverage to tens of millions of Americans.
After meeting of top members of the panel, which has wide jurisdiction over health policy, Sen. Baucus (D., Mont.) vowed to work into next week to narrow differences with top Republicans. But the chairman said the committee would not be convened next week, when the full Senate is scheduled to debate the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Baucus also said it is unclear whether a draft of the bill will be made public next week. "We'll see how far we get," he said. The Senate is scheduled to begin its recess Friday, Aug. 7.
The delay came as the House Energy and Commerce Committee, ending two weeks of stalemate, plunged into debate on the details of a health-care bill. But across Capitol Hill, there were other signs the ground beneath the legislation is fragile.
(Continued here.)
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