Ohio Senators Brown, Voinovich split votes on historic health care reform bill

Ohio's Democratic Junior US Senator Sherrod Brown
(Photo/John Michael Spinelli)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Everyone agrees that history was made Saturday evening when the US Senate voted on the controversial health care reform bill, but for Ohio senators Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and George Voinovich, a Republican, their votes came down to doing what hasn't been done since the days of Harry Truman or to saving future generations for having done so.

Brown was present to vote while Voinovich was not. It is not known why Voinovich was not at the historic session, in light of his strong opposition to the bill.

Reports from the AP said the spectator galleries were full and that applause broke out briefly when the vote was announced. Keeping with the heated tone of the debate over the months, published reports noted that Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., accused Republicans of trying to stifle a historic debate the nation needed.

"Imagine if, instead of debating whether to abolish slavery, instead of debating whether giving women and minorities the right to vote, those who disagreed had muted discussion and killed any vote," Reid said, according to the AP.

Likewise, the AP said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Minority Leader, said the vote was anything but procedural, and casted it as a "referendum on the bill itself," which he said would "raise taxes, cut Medicare and create a 'massive and unsustainable debt.,'" themes that would be echoed by Sen. Voinovich.

In the 60-39 vote, Brown, the junior senator elected in 2006, said the vote to open debate on health reform brings the nation "one step closer to making insurance more affordable for millions of Americans."

For Voinovich, who did not vote and who was not in the chamber, the proposed bill "cuts Medicare, raises taxes, increases premiums, hurts states and threatens the health choices that millions currently enjoy," according to a statement posted on his office Web site that added, "This is not reform, and it is not what the American people are asking for. That is why I cannot support Sen. Reid’s health care bill and will not support the vote on the motion to proceed to the bill."

Ohio's Republican Senior Sen.
George Voinovich (Photo/Voinovich
Senate Web site)

But for Brown, who has expressed confidence over the weeks that the bill would indeed include a public option for a government run health exchange that will provide competition to private health insurers, the bill was historic for many reasons. "Passing health insurance reform means that Americans won’t lose health coverage if they change or lose their jobs," he said in a statement on his office Web site. "It means an end to insurance industry practices that limit medical care or charge higher rates to women or individuals with pre-existing medical conditions. We’re one step closer to lowering costs for small businesses and middle class families,”

With the news this week that Ohio's unemployment rate rose to 10.5 percent, Voinovich, known as a deficit hawk but who voted for the tax cuts and war spending of the Bush Administration, said the new health care legislation should first do no harm to the economy. "Sen. Reid’s bill is full of budget gimmicks and will cost Americans $2.5 trillion over the next decade, ignoring the fact that we cannot even take care of our current obligations," he said. "The bill will also raise taxes on Americans by half a trillion dollars while cutting Medicare by nearly the same amount – hurting our nation’s seniors. And, CBO says this bill will increase federal health costs, not lower them like health care reform was supposed to achieve."

Brown sees matters differently. “When it comes to health care, the cost of inaction is too high. This bill will cut our nation’s deficit by $130 billion in the first ten years and will preserve Medicare. It will help keep the insurance industry honest and drive down premiums by injecting competition through a strong public option."

Brown hopes Republicans will choose to be part of the solution. "We have an opportunity to invest in the economic security of American households and the economic competitiveness of American businesses, all while lowering costs and reducing the deficit," Brown argues.  "Americans deserve more affordable and dependable health insurance, and tonight’s vote permits us to move forward toward that goal.”

In addition to expressing concerns for the additional financial burdens he says the bill will bring to Americans, Voinovich noted another reason for opposing the bill. "Additionally, I cannot support Sen. Reid’s proposal because I believe any health reform bill must protect all human life from conception to natural death and am adamantly against allowing federal funding for abortions.”

Follow me on Twitter @ohionewsbureau. Read more stories on people, politics and government in Ohio here.