Clyburn: ‘The Senate Is Not the Only Game in Town’

As the Senate continues to slog toward an agreement on health care legislation, House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) had a terse reminder for upper-chamber leaders: the House is a force in this debate as well. From his interview with CNN’s “Newsroom:”

The thing that’s a little bit insulting to me in this whole discussion is that the House of Representatives worked very, very hard. … We produced a good product that most people felt comfortable with. We created momentum to get this thing going over in the Senate. Now all of a sudden, people are acting as if the Senate happens to be the only game in town.

The Senate is not the only game in town.

This thing is going to come to conference and we on the House side are going to fight very hard to make sure that we get competition in this system, that we contain costs, that we provide choices, that we get rid of rejections and rescissions and we’re going to be fighting very hard for those positions. And I hope we can reach compromise that both bodies can approve.

As we noted last month, there’s no lack of differences between the House and Senate bills, meaning that some of the toughest fights in this debate will likely be in January.