Pelosi suggests Dems have healthcare votes

WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested in an interview House Democrats have enough votes to approve healthcare legislation "if we took it up today."

In an interview conducted Tuesday, PBS talk show host Charlie Rose asked Pelosi whether the House would approve a Senate-passed bill if it came up for a vote this week.

"Yes," she said. "If we took it up today, yes."

Pelosi said it would not be clear when a vote might be held because final legislative language has not been agreed on, and the Congressional Budget Office has not reported on its score of the legislation's fiscal impact, The Hill reported.

House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., suggested the CBO report could be issued Wednesday or Thursday, but he told CNBC Wednesday it wasn't clear the Democrats have locked up enough votes for passage.

"I think we can see the votes from here," Miller said. "As the Speaker says, we'll have the votes when we take up the bill."

The White House has said it wants the vote to come before March 18, when President Barack Obama is scheduled to leave Washington for an overseas trip.

Pelosi's interview with Rose was scheduled to air Wednesday night.