Cheers came on the House floor after the results of the health care reform bill were announced yesterday, but not everyone in South Florida was cheering.
After nearly a year of fierce partisan debate, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the controversial bill yesterday, in a 219-212 decision.
All 178 Republicans opposed the bill, along with 34 Democrats. There are nine Florida Democrats in the House, which all voted yes, including South Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek, Alcee Hastings, Ron Klein and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.
Wasserman-Schultz, the chief deputy whip for house Dems, was responsible for rounding up votes for health care.
"I rise today to cast my vote to end insurance company abusive practices and to put doctors and patients in control of their health care," Wasserman-Schultz said prior to casting her vote. "And when I do, I'll cast it for the small business owner in my district whose health insurance premiums shot up more than 100 percent last year simply because one of his employees got sick. I'll cast it for the 135,000 people in my District who don't have health care coverage."
All 15 Florida Republican representatives voted against the measure, including South Florida's Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. In a statement after the vote last night, Mario Diaz-Balart, who represents the 25th District said, "I cannot support legislation that jeopardizes the freedom, democracy, prosperity, and opportunity of future generations of Americans."
Although the vote has come and gone and the bill is on its way to President Obama's desk, the battle will continue on. Florida's Attorney General and Republican Gubernatorial candidate, Bill McCollum, has vowed to sue the federal government over the provision that requires each individual American to purchase health insurance.
