Congress completes work on history-making measure

March 26, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Capping an epic struggle, congressional Democrats applied the final touches Thursday to historic legislation enshrining health care as the right of every citizen. Republicans vowed to campaign for repeal in the fall election season, drawing a quick retort from President Barack Obama: “I welcome that fight.”

The president spoke in Iowa as the Senate voted 56-43 for legislation making changes, including better benefits for seniors and lower- and middle-class families, to the bill he signed with a flourish at the White House on Tuesday.

The House added its approval a few hours later, 220-207, clearing the way for Obama’s signature on the second of two bills that marked the culmination of what the president called “a year of debate and a century of trying” to ensure coverage for nearly all in a nation where millions lack it.

Taken together, the two bills also aim to crack down on insurance-industry abuses, and to reduce federal deficits by an estimated $143 billion over a decade. Most Americans would be required to buy insurance for the first time, and face penalties if they refused.

The second of the two bills also presented Obama with another victory, stripping banks and other private lenders of their ability to originate student loans in favor of a system of direct government lending.

Apart from their impact on nearly every American and an estimated one-sixth of the American economy, the week’s events marked Obama’s biggest political triumphs since he took office more than a year ago. A pending arms-control agreement with Russia, announced Wednesday, added to his r sum , and White House officials said they hoped the momentum would translate into further political successes in the run-up to the midterm elections.

After a months-long battle in Congress, the political struggle was morphing into a new phase, where public debate was tinged with violence — and politicians accused one another of seeking to exploit it for their own advantage.

“Repeal and Replace” was the new slogan for Republicans as they pivoted away from earlier attempts to kill the health-care legislation. Officials said it was meant to appeal to tea-party activists — who staged an occasionally unruly demonstration outside the Capitol over the weekend — as well as to independent voters eager for changes in the health-care system but fearful the Democrats went too far.

Republicans circulated polls showing public backing for the overhaul at no better than 40 percent, despite months of Democratic efforts to rally support.