Senate Poised For Vote On Health Care Debate

Democrats likely have the 60 votes they need to move ahead with historic health care legislation Saturday night. The two remaining undecided Democrats said they'll vote "yes" to break a threatened GOP filibuster and bring the bill put together by Majority Leader Harry Reid to the floor.

All 60 members of the Senate Democratic caucus have now declared their intentions to vote to launch a full floor debate on the health care overhaul bill put together by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

During the course of a rare Saturday debate, the two remaining undecided Democrats each announced that they would vote "yes" to break a threatened Republican filibuster and bring the 2,000-page bill to the floor. But both Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana warned that their "yes" votes at the start of the process don't promise anything about how they will vote at the end.

"The vote here tonight will mark the beginning of the process, not the end," Lincoln said.

With 60 votes in hand, the announcements make Saturday night's pivotal procedural vote, scheduled for 8 EST, largely a formality. If approved for debate, lawmakers would take up the bill the week after Thanksgiving.

As Lincoln said, this is merely the beginning of a process that could last for several weeks. Copyright 2009 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.