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WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- President Barack Obama will sign the $940 billion health-care bill into law on Tuesday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday.
Gibbs said Obama would sign the measure and participate in a ceremony at the Department of Interior, a venue large enough to host the throng of Democratic lawmakers expected to attend. Details of the signing and the event are still being pinned down, but Gibbs said the weather isn't expected to cooperate with earlier plans for Obama to sign the bill on the South Lawn of the White House.
With his signature on the health-care bill, Obama will travel to Iowa City, Iowa, later this week to trumpet what may be a defining moment in his presidency. He is expected to use the Iowa speech to reach out to skeptics of the legislation, part of an effort to staunch the potential fallout in November's mid-term elections. Republicans, who voted unanimously against the measure in the House of Representatives late Sunday, are hoping public discontent over the health-care bill will help them win majorities in the House and Senate.
Gibbs dismissed the potential for states to sue over the constitutionality of the legislation. "My advice from counsel is that we'll win these lawsuits," Gibbs said.
Although Obama will sign the measure on Tuesday, legislative wrangling will continue into the week. The U.S. Senate will take up the package of changes to the overhaul on Tuesday. It will be considered under the budget reconciliation process--a fast-track tactic that allows Democrats to pass the measure with a simple majority of 51 votes, but that carries specific parliamentary rules that are strictly enforced.
This process could stretch into the weekend, as Republicans are expected to offer a host of amendments to the measure. They also plan to object to portions of the bill under the reconciliation rules. If they are able to amend the bill or if the Senate parliamentarian rules in favor of them on their procedural objection, the bill would have to be sent back to the House if it were approved.
Gibbs expressed confidence Democrats would generate the 51 votes needed in the Senate.
"I can't speak to all of the amendments or all of the shenanigans that will be tried on Capitol Hill over the course of the next many days, but we're confident that this process is coming to an end," he said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D., Nev.) said he hoped Republicans would not attempt to stop the bill "based on a technicality."
"I hope Republicans finally learned a strategy of delay and fear might slow the process, but cannot stop it," Reid said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) suggested that the changes to the bill--which would delay a tax on high-cost insurance plans and scrap a widely-criticized provision giving Nebraska aid to pay for its Medicaid program--would not win acceptance among Republicans.
"Democrats were hoping they could silence the voices of the American people last night," McConnell said. "But starting today those voices are going to be heard."
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones Newswires
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