Both county's congressmen vote for health-care reform legislation

Both congressmen who represent Athens County voted in favor of the historic health-care reform bill approved in the U.S. House Saturday night by a slender 220 to 215 vote.

Neither U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, D-St. Clairsville, nor Rep. Zack Space, D-Dover, was among the 39 Democrats who voted against the House version of sweeping health-care reform.

Now the ball is in the U.S. Senate's court. When and if the Senate's version passes, the bills will go into conference committee to work out legislation to send to the president.

There had been some speculation that Rep. Space, particularly, might vote against the measure, since he sometimes has been described as a fiscally conservative "Blue Dog Democrat." According to the New York Times, some 24 Democratic Blue Dogs voted against the legislation. Most of them come from traditionally Republican districts that are considered prime candidates for reverting back to the GOP in 2010.

That description to some extent describes Space's 18th Congressional District, which includes part of northern Athens County.

Only one Republican, a representative from Louisiana, crossed party lines and voted for the health-care reform bill.

As of Sunday morning at 10, Space's office had not issued a news release on passage of the so-called Affordable Health Care for America Act. However, Wilson's office e-mailed a release, stating that the bill "reforms our nation's health insurance system, brings down the deficit and expands access to affordable, quality health care to nearly every American."

In explaining his vote, Wilson, whose Sixth District includes most of Athens County, said. "I have long said I would support a plan that brought stability and security to the health-care system, lowered the cost of health care, and insured broader coverage, without increasing our deficit. After months of deliberation, with these conditions met, I proudly cast my vote for the Affordable Health Care for America Act.""¨

Critics of the bill in the Republican Party and elsewhere roundly slammed the bill, charging that it will raise taxes for families and other taxpayers, increase an already bloated budget deficit, and amounts to a federal "takeover" of the health-care system.