By Scott Hensley

Maine Republican Olympia Snowe ended the suspense and said she would vote yes on the Senate Finance Committee's health bill.

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R, Maine) beams after saying she would vote for the Senate Finance Committee's bill to overhaul health care.

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R, Maine) beams after saying she would vote for the Senate Finance Committee's bill to overhaul health care. (Charles Dharapak/AP)

She made Sen. Max Baucus's day, and maybe his summer and fall, too. The Finance chairman finally has a Republican vote to show for his deliberate and compromise-laden approach to remaking the health system. "When history calls, history calls," she said.

But don't get carried away, Snowe warned. She could change her mind and vote nay down the road, if health legislation takes a different shape. "My vote today is my vote today," she said.

Still, Snowe's support now makes it easier for conservative Democrats to jump aboard and maybe even a few other Republicans to join in.

In her remarks, Snowe invoked poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "a fellow Mainer," and his famous line, "Great is the art of the beginning, but greater is the art of the ending."

Listen to Snowe's explanation of her support for the Baucus health bill by clicking on the clip below:

Shortly after Snowe was done, the committee paused to sing "Happy Birthday" to Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington. After months of slogging away on overhaul, Cantwell joked she was starting to worry "everyone on the committee might celebrate their birthday while we worked on health reform. Thank God it's only been three or four of us."

Update: It's official. Snowe casts sole Republican vote in favor of health bill, as Senate Finance Committee passes it 14-9. Our pals at NPR's Two-Way blog have audio of the historic vote here.

categories: Congressional activity, Health Overhaul

1:38 - October 13, 2009

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