US Senate races clock, storm on health bill

With the clock ticking toward a self-imposed Christmas deadline, US Senate Democrats scrambled on Friday to win over a potential defector and line up the 60 votes needed to pass a broad healthcare overhaul. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and others spent hours negotiating with wayward Democratic Senator Ben Nelson, an abortion rights opponent who refuses to pledge his support until he gains stronger restrictions on the use of federal funds to pay for abortions. Nelson, potentially the crucial 60th vote for the bill, said he was studying new language containing "revised concepts" to see if it sufficiently barred the use of public funds for elective abortions. "The discussion is ongoing," Nelson told reporters as an evening negotiating session broke up. "I'm focused on getting this right rather than trying to do it according to a deadline." A huge snowstorm bearing down on the US capital added to the drama as the bill neared a climactic series of votes, although Democrats promised the storm would not stop them from pushing ahead on President Barack Obama's top legislative priority.