For Congress, the battle begins

By Bob Keefe

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“I object. I object. I object ... ”

Rep. Tom Price, a Roswell Republican, repeated the line over and over, interrupting his Democratic counterparts every time they tried to speak.

In between, he interjected calls for “parliamentary inquiry,” questioning everything and anything taking place on the U.S. House floor.

And thus began the most contentious debate on the one of the most contentious issues to come before the Congress in recent history.

Outside the U.S. Capitol, it was an extraordinarily beautiful Saturday in Washington. Inside, Democrats and Republicans took often-ugly stabs at each other throughout the day.

Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) got in a shouting match with the Democratic speaker pro tem of the House. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) chastised her Republican counterparts for not being more respectful.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the sides as polarized as this on any issue — even the war,” said Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Coweta County.

Democratic Rep. David Scott of Atlanta criticized Price, his fellow Georgian, for his unusual parliamentary parrying.

“It just didn’t seem very mature,” Scott said off the House floor. “When you have (thousands) of people losing their health insurance, they deserve more than ‘no’ and ‘I object’ and being obstructionist.

“The American people ... at least deserve to see us putting forward an effort,” Scott said.

The House began its business at 9 a.m., as children were tuning into cartoons and football fans were preparing for kickoffs. Debate continued throughout the day.

Several House members brought babies onto the floor, arguing that what Congress would do Saturday would either leave the children bankrupt or save their lives.

Usually soft-spoken Rep. John Lewis, an Atlanta Democrat, roared as loudly as he did during the civil rights movement when he led historic marches.

“Now is the time to be on the right side of history!” Lewis shouted with a preacher’s fury from the House floor. “The time is always right to do what is right. On this day, at this moment, answer the call of history and pass health care reform!”

In a nod to the history behind health care reform, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), who like his father before him has been one of Congress’s most ardent supporters of health care reform, presided over the start of the day. Outside the Capitol, protesters held one last rally.

At one point, they unfurled a taped-together string of papers — the nearly 2,000 pages of the Democrats’ health care bill — and stretched it down the steps of the Capitol amid cheers of “kill the bill!”

Inside, the debate went on.

“The people on our side think this is an assault on their freedom,” Westmoreland said during a break. “Over on the other side, this is something they believe they’ve got to do.

“I think what the two sides show here is the real divisiveness in our country over this issue,” he said.