US House of Representatives passes health care bill

March 22, 2010

The United States House of Representatives has passed the controversial health care bill, as amended by the Senate. The bill passed 219 to 212.

"This bill is complicated, but it's also very simple: Illness and infirmity are universal, and we are stronger against them together than we are alone," Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said before the vote.

34 Democrats and all of the House Republicans voted against the bill.

"This trillion-dollar overhaul will take the America we know and love in the wrong direction," said Representative Eric Cantor, the second most prominent House Republican.

"We have failed to listen to America and we have failed to reflect the will of our constituents," House Minority Leader John Boehner said. "And when we fail to reflect that will, we fail ourselves and we fail our country."

President Barack Obama will sign an Executive Order reaffirming the ban on federally funded abortions as part of an eleventh hour deal to get the bill passed.