While the halls of Congress were still buzzing on Tuesday about the killing of Osama Bin Laden, Republicans pressed ahead with their legislative agenda, focusing again on repeal of the health reform law.
Voting just after a closed door briefing by CIA Director Leon Panetta and others, the House passed a GOP plan to repeal $14 billion in spending in the health law - money that would be doled out to the states to help them set up health insurance exchanges.
"We must all exercise fiscal restraint and that's what this bill does," said Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL).
"Folks want to know what we stand for, and if you want to know what it is, look at what's going on on the floor today," said freshman Rep. Rob Woodall (R-GA).
"We absolutely stand for repealing Obamacare," he added.
The House voted 238-183 on the exchanges bill, as only five Democrats broke ranks to support the measure, as Democrats continue to stick together on the health reform law issue.
"As Ronald Reagan used to say, there you go again," said Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) on the House floor, verbally rebuking the GOP for bringing up another bill on the health care law.
"We're not focusing on the big issues the American people care about," insisted Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), who again belittled the GOP effort to repeal the health reform law.
"This is another piece of legislation that is going nowhere," Waxman added. "The Senate will never pass it."
Right now, Waxman is correct on that last argument, as no Democrats in the Senate have wavered from their support of the Obama health law.
But Republicans say that's no reason to move on to another subject.
"We need to keep chipping away," said Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK), as no Republicans voted against this latest plan to repeal another section of the Obama health law.
Today, the GOP will bring up another bill that cuts money in the health law designed to help schools build new health clinics.
There will also be a vote on a measure that would limit federal dollars from paying for abortions through health insurance plans that are sold on the state insurance exchanges.
