Will link when links become available.
[Update]
Snowe's comments, via NPR:
Is the bill "all that I want? Far from it," Snowe said.
But, "the consequences of inaction dictate the urgency of Congress to take every opportunity to demonstrate its capacity to solve the monumental issues of our time."
That means Snowe is the first -- and very possibly will be the only -- Republican to support the legislation.
The committee looks to be headed to a vote on the plan within the next hour or so. Passage is expected -- 13 of the 23 committee members are Democrats.
This vote makes Snowe the only Republican to vote to get the bill out of committee so it can be reconciled with other bills before anyone will know what the final product to be voted for will be.
More from ABC:
"When history calls, history calls," she said during the committee panel, but she reiterated the opposition to the public option and cautioned that she does not want the bill to get any more expensive as the process goes forward:
"My vote today is my vote today. It doesn't forecast what my vote will be tomorrow."
The ranking Republican on the committee, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, praised the Montana senator for his work on health care legislation but panned the bill for imposing new taxes and fees, and Democrats for "rebuffing" and "defeating" Republican efforts to be included in discussions.
Fox:
Sen. Olympia Snowe announced Tuesday that she will vote for health care reform legislation before the Senate Finance Committee, becoming the only Republican to back the bill and virtually assuring passage.
.
