WASHINGTON -- President Clinton's ambitious attempt to overhaul the nation's health care system, having faltered for months, finally collapsed yesterday for lack of support.
Almost a year to the day after the reform proposal -- one of the most far-reaching social programs offered in decades -- was unveiled with great fanfare before a joint session of Congress, Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell announced that he lacked the 60 votes needed to get even a modest version of the Clinton plan past a Republican filibuster.
"Under the rules of the Senate, a minority can obstruct the majority," said Mr. Mitchell, a Maine Democrat. He put the blame squarely on Republicans eager to deny Mr. Clinton a victory on the program he had made the centerpiece of his presidency. "That is what happened to comprehensive health insurance reform."
Sen. Bob Dole, the minority leader from Kansas, fired back: "Senator Mitchell blames the Republicans for everything except the plane that crashed into the White House, and that may yet come. . . . In fact, it was an overwhelming consensus of the American people to put the brakes on [health care reform.] It's my view that we saw democracy in action."
Mr. Clinton, who invested enormous time and prestige in the issue, chose to take the Republicans up on their promise to tackle the issue again next year. He leveled his most bitter complaints at the "special interests," which, he said, had spent more than $300 million to stop health care reform.
"We will fight for campaign finance and lobby reform, so these special interests do not continue to obstruct vital legislation, and we will return to the fight for health care reform," Mr. Clinton said in a statement issued from New York.
Beneath the bickering and recriminations, there was deep disappointment among some lawmakers, such as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who had hoped to see the fulfillment this year of a goal he has held for nearly all his three decades in public life.
"We had a historic opportunity this year to make a real difference in the lives of all Americans," Mr. Kennedy said, referring to preventive care for children and pregnant women and prescription drugs for the elderly and home health care for people with disabilities.
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, added: "This is a sad day for the United States of America. . . . Misinformation and disinformation prevailed."
