U.S. President Barack Obama likely will sign historic healthcare reform legislation later today, the White House said Monday, one day after the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved the core of Obama's plan along with a package of changes the Senate must now endorse. Obama will invite members of Congress who supported the legislation, as well as some needy Americans who will be helped by the bill, to the ceremony, which will mandate near-universal health-insurance coverage for the first time in U.S. history. “I think each and every member of the House [of Representatives] and Senate that supported healthcare reform will be invited,” spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. The signing ceremony was originally planned to take place on the White House's South Lawn, but Gibbs later said the event would likely be moved to the Department of the Interior due to rainy weather expected in Washington on Tuesday.
