VP Urges Dems to Unite Behind Senate Health Bill

'In Washington big changes never emerge in perfect form,' ex-senator writes
By Marie Morris,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 20, 2009 2:04 PM CST
VP Urges Dems to Unite Behind Senate Health Bill
Vice President Joe Biden talks about the recovery act at the University of Nevada in Reno, Oct. 16, 2009.   (AP Photo/Scott Sady)

As president of the Senate, Joe Biden has the run of the place, but the vice president takes to the op-ed page of the New York Times to urge fellow Democrats to stop sniping and support the health care bill. "I’ve been around a long time," the six-term former senator from Delaware writes, "and I know that in Washington big changes never emerge in perfect form."

Although he specifically addresses "my friends on the left" and "my friends on the right," the VP seems to be rallying liberals, writing, "I share the frustration of other progressives that the Senate bill does not include a public option." And he repeatedly urges lawmakers to learn from the catastrophe of 1993, saying, "Congress’s failure to pass health care reform that year led to 16 years of inaction—and 16 years of exploding health care costs and rising numbers of uninsured Americans."
(More Joe Biden stories.)

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