Under Senate rules, the chamber must vote on the bill by this Friday.

根据规定，参议院必须在本星期五以前投票表决此项议案。

《牛津词典》

These talks, which will formally get under way early in the new year, will take place amid anger among many liberal House Democrats the Senate bill failed to contain a government-run insurance option.

VOA: standard.2009.12.25

Under the Senate bill, they would only be able to obtain abortion coverage through these exchanges if they paid for it with a separate, unsubsidised, cheque.

ECONOMIST: Religion is causing the president headaches

But under the rules that brought the bill to the Senate floor tonight, the unanimous consent of the Senate would have been needed to make any changes, which, Democrats made clear, wasn't going to happen.

CNN: Budget Amendment Fails

As for scandal, the Republican leader in the Senate, Bill Frist, is under investigation for insider dealing and the House leader, Tom DeLay, has been indicted on charges to do with campaign fraud.

ECONOMIST: George Bush