Health care reform: Ore. Reps, for and against, lend insight

PORTLAND, Ore. – So the big question now in the health care debate is, When will the U.S. House of Representatives vote?

It could come any minute, or it could drag out until late tonight or tomorrow. Whenever it comes, there's no doubt it will be a milestone in a very long process.

Hours of debating back and forth can't be easy. However, it's a job Congressman David Wu – speaking to us via Skype late Sunday – says representatives signed up for.

"I think this is the reason we're all here," said Wu (D-Oregon), "to be a part of a very, very important process, to be part of a broad discussion America has had for 14 months."

Wu, once undecided but leaning toward yes, says he is now confirmed to vote in favor of the bill after reaching an agreement over Medicare benefits Saturday. (See how local Representatives have said they will vote.)
    
"I am solemnly for the bill now," Wu said. "It remains not the bill that I would write myself, but I think that this is an important step forward."

Republican Greg Walden is a confirmed "no," saying it just doesn't add up.

"I have trouble trusting the government numbers, that somehow spending a trillion dollars, taxing half-a-trillion and cutting Medicare by half-a-trillion and creating a brand new entitlement program is somehow going to reduce deficient spending," said Walden (R-Oregon). "This is just unbelievable."

Still, the end to a very long process could be just around the corner.

"It has been 98 years that this Congress has been debating this issue," Wu said. "The nation has been debating this issue for the last 14 months and it's going to culminate in a vote."

We had the chance to ask Congressman Wu, if he was a betting man, would he bet a vote would come tonight, or tomorrow? He smiled, and simply said it will come "soon enough."