Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown says health reform bill will have public option, no Stupak Amendment

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown being interviewed at the 2008
Democratic Presidential Debate at Cleveland State University
(Photo/John Michael Spinelli)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Fast becoming the darling Democratic senator for progressive political talk shows, Ohio junior Senator Sherrod Brown appeared on The Rachel Maddow show Monday, making his case as to why he is confident the health care bill his chamber and the US House will eventually pass this year will include a public option, but not include the controversial Stupak Amendment restricting health insurance coverage for abortion services.

Brown, elected in 2006 when Ohio votes recoiled against Republicans after decades of giving them near total control of the gears of government, said his vote for the health care reform bill will be as important as his vote as a member of the US House against the war in Iraq.

What can Brown can do for you?

Defying Republicans, and a couple Democratic Senators like Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Ben Nelson of Nebraska who say they will join the GOP in voting against the bill coming to a floor vote, Brown said he and his colleagues are prepared to "do what ever it takes" to pass the bill

Whether its 24 hours sessions or working weekends, Brown, whose perennial mussed up hair and gravely voice have become his personal trademarks, said virtually all his Democratic colleagues understand the importance of the bill and will, in the end, want to be on the right side of history.

"If they force the reading of the bill, word by word, line by line or page by page," a process Brown readily acknowledged Republicans have the right to call for that will take days if not weeks to achieve, he said, "We just need to do this...we won't let them play these games anymore."

Speaking about a meeting he had Monday with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Brown said there is "overwhelming support from the Democratic caucus," at least as Chairman Tom Harkin of Iowa sees it. "He (Harkin) thinks there are 55 votes out of 60 for a public option," Brown said, noting with an air of defiance, "We're not going to let the tail wage the dog here."

Brown told Maddow, whose show The Rachel Maddow Show airs nightly on cable news channel MSNBC, that the bill will be debated for weeks, during which time "everybody opposed to certain things will have a chance to amend it."

For those members of his caucus who are less supportive of the public option than others, Brown said their hearts and minds will tell them not to be on the wrong side of history.

Voting to kill a bill that will be the most important issue of their careers is a decision Brown said will sway them to vote for it. "But don't kill this (bill) on a procedure vote," Brown implored his colleagues. After those who are against the public option have a chance to amend the bill with a "straight, fair up or down vote," Brown predicted those who are supportive of the public option, which he said has won in the court of public opinion, will add to the 51 votes needed for passage through reconciliation, if the 60-vote standard needed to avoid a filibuster cannot be achieved.

Asked by Maddow about including the Stupak Amendment, which she labeled a "poison pill" for many, Brown said he didn't think it would be a threat.

"Republicans will try to amend it and won't be successful, " he said, adding, "they won't get even close to 50 voters to amend it into the bill." Brown then said the House will agree to the bill without the Stupak Amendment in it.

Why we run for office

Reflecting on visiting with some friends in Oberlin last weekend, Brown, who served in the Ohio House before serving two terms as Ohio Secretary of State before moving to the US House, said being there to vote on big, historic bills like health care reform is "why we run for office."

"I feel so privileged to be here in the Senate at this time when we can do what the people in this government have tried to do for 75 years, what people in the country have wanted to do for decades, to finally pass health insurance reform so those people from New Orleans to Cleveland to Toledo to Dayton will finally get health insurance and won't have to worry about preexisting conditions, and have insurance companies drop them from their coverage because it costs too much money."

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