WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. senators should vote in favor of the healthcare reform bill before them, Vice President Joe Biden wrote Sunday.
In an opinions piece published in The New York Times, Biden cited his decades as a Democratic senator from Delaware to put the pending reform bill into perspective, characterizing it as a chance for lawmakers to put their stamp on history.
"If I were still a United States senator, I would not only vote yes on the current healthcare reform bill, I would do so with the sure knowledge that I was casting one of the most historic votes of my 36 years in the Senate," Biden wrote. "I would vote yes knowing that the bill represents the culmination of a struggle begun by Theodore Roosevelt nearly a century ago to make healthcare reform a reality."
The publication of Biden's piece seemed meant to add to what Democratic Party backers of the legislation hope is momentum heading into a Christmas Eve deadline they have set for its passage. The wide-ranging health insurance reform secured a 60th vote in the Senate Saturday with the backing of Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., enough votes to head off an expected Republican filibuster attempt.
