U.S. President Barack Obama is promoting historic health care reform, as a new poll shows Americans divided over the sweeping legislation he signed into law on Tuesday.
Mr. Obama hailed the reform in a speech to an audience in the midwestern city of Iowa City Thursday. He said health insurance reform is now the law of the land.
Also Thursday, the U.S. Senate approved a package of changes to the new law, sending them to the House of Representatives. Minority Republicans tried to stall the package with a series of amendments, but all were rejected.
Some Democrats in the House had demanded those changes in exchange for approving the original health care reform bill.
Republicans are solidly opposed to the new law. A survey by Quinnipiac University shows Americans in general are split on the issue, with nearly half of the respondents saying they disapprove of the new law, while 40 percent say they approve.
Congressional Democrats also have been the target of threats and acts of vandalism following the health care vote.
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, and Republican Minority Leader John Boehner, said those actions have no place in American politics.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said at least 10 members of Congress have received threats to themselves or their family members over the past few days.