After the Recess – Senate to Vote on Medicare Bill (HR 6331)
Tuesday, 8. July 2008
The office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said that the Senate will hold another cloture vote on the House-passed Medicare bill (HR 6331) on Tuesday or Wednesday.
A prior attempt at a cloture vote held on June 26th failed by only one vote. Voting at that time was largely along party lines. Democrats are hoping that an ad campaign by the American Medical Association (AMA) during the 4th of July recess will have put enough pressure on some Republicans to get them to change their votes.
As mentioned previously, HR 6331 passed by an overwhelming majority in the House on June 24th, by a vote of 355-59. At that time, although Senators Baucus and Grassley were reported to be coming to agreement on a compromise between their two Senate versions of a Medicare bill, Mr. Reid decided to proceed with a cloture vote on the House version due to it passing by such a surprising majority.