A bill reforming America's health care system was approved Sunday night by the U.S. House of Representatives. The voting by San Diego County representatives was split down party lines, with Democrats Susan Davis and Bob Filner voting for the bill. Across the aisle, Brian Bilbray, Duncan Hunter and Darrel Issa cast nay votes.
Sunday night's vote was the culmination of about a year of debate in Congress, where both the House and Senate passed versions of the bill. The House voted 219-212 on Sunday, in favor of the Senate's version of the bill, which will now go to President Barack Obama's desk to be signed.
Bilbray told NBCSanDiego on Sunday night that he is going to come home from the nation's capitol and apologize to his children. He said that small businesses stand to lose the most from the bill's passage.
"This is Washington, again being so detached that they do the wrong thing at the wrong time," Issa said. "If you're going to put a burden on the business community and small businesses, now is the least of the times you want to do that. Wait for some times of prosperity if you want to do these giveaway programs."
Davis' comments in a statement released after the vote stand in stark contrast to Issa's.
"I believe we made a difference for the American people," Davis said. "I truly appreciate my constituents' passion -- whether they are for or against this measure -- and I thank all of them for sharing their stories with me."
After the vote, Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Creek, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., met with the Democratic House Caucus recently and he "assured us that he had more than enough votes to pass the corrections in the Senate."
Garamendi and many other Democratic lawmakers lauded the passage of the bill, which is estimated to increase health care coverage to about 32 million uninsured Americans through provisions such as mandates requiring people to get health care and the barring of insurance companies from excluding customers with pre-existing conditions.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the sweeping overhaul of health care is a proposal that honors the nation's traditions. She spoke moments before a historic House vote. She credited President Barack Obama for what she called an "unwavering commitment" to extend health care to all Americans.
No Republicans voted for the bill, which was criticized by conservatives who said it will increase the country's budget deficit and cause further intrusion by the federal government into people's lives. Thirty-four Democrats also voted against the bill's passage, with some liberals arguing that the measure didn't go far enough.
The house vote will not end the legislative wrangling over health care.
Even if it all goes Obama's way, it will be years before some of the bill's provisions will actually go into effect.
A look at how California's representatives voted:
Democrats Baca, Y; Becerra, Y; Berman, Y; Capps, Y; Cardoza, Y; Chu, Y; Costa, Y; Davis, Y; Eshoo, Y; Farr, Y; Filner, Y; Garamendi, Y; Harman, Y; Honda, Y; Lee, Y; Lofgren, Zoe, Y; Matsui, Y; McNerney, Y; Miller, George, Y; Napolitano, Y; Pelosi, Y; Richardson, Y; Roybal-Allard, Y; Sanchez, Linda T., Y; Sanchez, Loretta, Y; Schiff, Y; Sherman, Y; Speier, Y; Stark, Y; Thompson, Y; Waters, Y; Watson, Y; Waxman, Y; Woolsey, Y.
Republicans: Bilbray, N; Bono Mack, N; Calvert, N; Campbell, N; Dreier, N; Gallegly, N; Herger, N; Hunter, N; Issa, N; Lewis, N; Lungren, Daniel E., N; McCarthy, N; McClintock, N; McKeon, N; Miller, Gary, N; Nunes, N; Radanovich, N; Rohrabacher, N; Royce, N.
Bay City News contributed to this report
