San Francisco: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she`s confident the House will pass health care legislation and dismissed Republican criticism that she did not have enough votes for the measure.
"We`re very excited about where we are and will not be deterred by estimates that have no basis in fact," she said during a dedication of the renamed Lim P Lee Post Office in San Francisco yesterday. The post office was renamed after the nation`s first Chinese-American postmaster.
Pelosi declined to say when House members would vote on a health care bill, or how many votes that she had secured. Although she added that lawmakers were "on the verge of making history”.
She also dismissed criticism by House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio that she did not have sufficient votes.
"I`m never dependent on Congressman Boehner`s count. I never have," she said to a smattering of laughter from the crowd.
House Democratic leaders are pressing for a vote on their bill as early as this coming week.
The legislation would provide health care to tens of millions who currently lack it. It would require almost everyone to obtain coverage and subsidise the cost of premiums for poor and middle-income Americans.
PTI
