President urges hold on health care

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama Wednesday urged Democrats not to try to "jam" healthcare reform through Congress before Sen.-elect Scott Brown, R-Mass., takes office.

"The Senate certainly shouldn't try to jam anything through until Scott Brown is seated," Obama said. "People in Massachusetts spoke. He's got to be part of that process."

Brown won the senate seat formerly held by the late Ted Kennedy, defeating the heavily favored Democrat Martha Coakley. He becomes the 41st Republican vote in the Senate, depriving Democrats of the 60-seat majority that could avoid a Republican filibuster.

Referring to Brown's victory, the president compared the voters' feelings to the same ones that swept him into the White House.

"People are angry and they are frustrated," Obama said. "Not just because of what's happened in the last year or two years, but what's happened over the last eight years."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., both said Wednesday the Democrats' plan for healthcare reform will move forward.