BeltwayBlips - Latest Dick Durbin News Articles

Senate Dems suggest they're open to altering health care bill

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:03:48 +0000

Washington (CNN) - Amid conflicting and heated rhetoric, a political pragmatism began to emerge Sunday as senators prepared for a debate on a sweeping Democratic health care bill. Senate Democrats barely won a vote Saturday night to open debate on the 2,074-page bill. The debate on amending the proposal is expected to last for weeks and won't begin until after Thanksgiving. Some legislators got a head start Sunday, reciting well-honed arguments for and against the bill and offering perspectives on the political realities facing Congress. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the chamber's second-ranking Democrat, acknowledged he was open to changing the bill's controversial government-run public health insurance option favored by the left. Full story

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CQ Transcript: Sens. Feinstein, Durbin, Hutchison, Lieberman on NBC's 'Meet the Press' (CQPolitics.com)

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:41:21 +0000

CQPolitics.com - CQ Transcriptswire

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Durbin says deadline looming for health care bill (AP)

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:19:39 +0000

AP - A leading Democratic senator says the proposed health care overhaul must pass the Senate by the end of the year, so that lawmakers can begin to concentrate on the economy and job creation.

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Durbin open to changing public option to pass health care bill

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:25:36 +0000

Washington (CNN) - The Senate's second-ranking Democrat said Sunday he was open to changing the government-run public health insurance option in the chamber's health care bill to ensure that the measure passes. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate assistant majority leader, said on the NBC program "Meet the Press" that the goal is to inject competition into the health insurance market in order to bring down costs and expand coverage to people unable to afford coverage now. The public option is the most controversial provision in the $848 billion bill unanimously opposed by Republicans. Several conservative and moderate Democrats also have said they will oppose a final bill that includes the public option. Asked about a possible compromise that would trigger a public option in the future if specific thresholds for coverage and costs go unmet, Durbin said there were "many variations on the theme." "We are open because we want to pass the bill," Durbin said. The Senate voted ...

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Lincoln 'still reviewing' health bill

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:33:00 +0000

From NBC's Ken StricklandAfter reading reports that Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) has already told Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) how she'll vote tomorrow on issue of whether to bring the healthcare bill to the floor, Lincoln's office was quick respond. "No other Senator speaks for Senator Lincoln," Lincoln's spokeswoman told NBC in an email. "She is still reviewing the bill." Earlier in the day, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat Dick Durbin told several reporters that Lincoln had already...( read more )

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Durbin: Lincoln has told Reid

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:51:00 +0000

From NBC's Ken StricklandAt a news conference this morning, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) pre-emptively gave the his answer to the question everyone's been asking over the past few weeks: does Majority Leader Harry Reid have the 60 votes needed to bring the healthcare bill to the floor. "We're not assuming a thing," Durbin said, "we're working hard to bring all Democrats together for the 60 votes necessary to proceed to this historic debate." But it's possible Durbin and Reid are playing coy and already...( read more )

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Durbin: Health care debate could start in Senate this week

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:05:38 +0000

Sen. Dick Durbin said the health care bill has to pass the Senate this year. (CNN) – The Senate's second-ranking Democrat told CNN Tuesday that he hopes to have a version of the health care bill done and available to the public by Thanksgiving. Sen. Dick Durbin told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that debate in the Senate on the health care bill could start this week and that he hopes that it will be "posted for the world to see over the Thanksgiving recess." He said he thinks he does have all 60 votes needed to move the bill to the Senate floor. "I believe if we have full attendance, that we will have the 60 votes to begin the debate in terms of moving the bill forward," Durbin said. "That's when the delicate negotiations begin. And wouldn't it be great to have a senator from the other side of the aisle to join us in that effort?" Durbin said that the bill "has to be done in the Senate this year" and that he hopes it will go to a final vote before President Obama's State of ...

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