Fifth District Congressman Tom Perriello has moved from “no” to “undecided” on the proposed health-care reform making its way around Capitol Hill.
“I think we’re moving in the right direction, but I’m not committed yet,” the Democrat told reporters on a conference call Friday morning in which he discussed the 1,900-page bill that is expected to come up for a vote in the House of Representatives next week.
Perriello is among a group of freshmen Democrats in the House who have pushed House leaders to bring down the costs of the reform package and to insert Republican-backed provisions on interstate competition and medical-malpractice reform into the final legislation.
“In July, leadership was trying to shove a bill through very, very quickly, and some of us said, We need to take the time to hear from our constituents in August, we need to take the time to get the best ideas on the table. I’m really proud of the fact that we were able to stop that vote in July, take our time, slow down. I think we have a much, much stronger reform proposal because of it,” Perriello said.
Even so, Perriello still lists himself among the undecided.
“I think we’ve made huge strides in the right direction, and I think we continue to see momentum in the right direction for health-care reform, though there are still some questions out there,” Perriello said.
“I want to take the weekend to look at all 1,900 pages of it and make sure that I have a chance to get at all the details and also look at some specific areas where I haven’t seen as much progress as I would have liked, such as interstate competition,” Perriello said.
– Story by Chris Graham
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