A cable network that focuses on covering Congress wants to get its cameras into the rooms where lawmakers hammer out differences between the House and Senate versions of the health bill.
Brian Lamb, chairman of C-SPAN, Washington, has written to Democratic and Republican congressional leaders to ask them to "open all important negotiations, including any conference committee meetings, to electronic media coverage."
C-SPAN, which puts congressional proceedings on 3 cable channels, "will commit the necessary resources to covering all of these sessions LIVE and in their entirety," Lamb writes.
"C-SPAN has televised literally hundreds of hours of committee hearings, mark ups and floor debate on these bills for the public to see," Lamb writes. "Now that the process moves to the critical stage of reconciliation between the Chambers, we respectfully request that you allow the public full access, through television, to legislation that will affect the lives of every single American."
House and Senate leaders are still developing the process they will use to come up with the final version of the health bill. The House has passed H.R. 3962, the America's Affordable Health Care Act of 2009, and the Senate has approved H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Democratic leaders reportedly are choosing between setting up a formal conference committee or using an informal reconciliation process.
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