. >> reporter: jim mcgovern describes himself this way. >> i'm a proud liberal democrat. he strongly supports a government run health care option but says the president's address helps convince him to be willing to compromise. >> we need meaningful health care reform and it may not be everything i want. i'm a single payer person. at the end of the day if it moves the ball forward, it could be worth supporting. >> reporter: to be sure some liberal democrats are still firmly entrenched. >> we don't have health care reform unless we have a public option. >> the house speaker softened her stance and this often repeated line in the sand -- >> there's no way i pass a bill without a public option. >> reporter: now noticeably absent. >> this is about a goal and not provisions. as long as our goal of affordability and accessibility and quality, we'll go forward with that bill. >> reporter: that's a sign that liberal democrats are now more accepting of this reality. any health care bill must be conservative enough to pass the much more moderate senate. pelosi even signaled the hous

jones: madam speaker, on june 25, 2009, i joined congressman jim mcgovern and offered an amendment to the national defense authorization act. the amendment would have required are the secretary of defense to submit a report to congress which outlines an exit strategy for our armed forces in afghanistan. during the floor debate that day, i along with other members, talked about the history of afghanistan and the difficulties that other nations have had from alexander the great to england and russia. as just one measure of the hazardous conditions facing our troops in afghanistan, 99 american service members have been killed in afghanistan since june 25 of 2009, the day we debated the amendment. while i regret that the amendment was not approved, i still believe it is critical for the current administration to clearly articulate benchmarks for success and an end point to its war strategy in afghanistan. last week on september 1, 2009, conservative columnist george will wrote an op-ed titled, time to get out of afghanistan. in it he shares his insights on how our nation's current strateg

. >> reporter: massachusetts congressman jim mcgovern describes himself this way. >> i'm a proud liberal democrat. >> reporter: he strongly supports a government-run health care option. but says the president's address helped convince him to be willing to compromise. >> we need meaningful health care reform. and it may not be everything i want. i mean, i'm a single payer person. but at the end of the day, if it moves the ball forward, then i think it's going to be worth supporting. >> reporter: to be sure, some liberal democrats are still firmly entrenched. >> we don't have health care reform unless we have a public option. >> reporter: but the house speaker even softened her stance. this often repeated line in the sand -- >> there's no way i can pass a bill in the house of representatives without a public option. >> reporter: now noticeably absent. >> this is about a goal. it's not about division. as long as our goal of affordability and accessibility and quality, then we'll go forward with that bill. >> reporter: that's a telltale sign that liberal democrats are now more accepting of t

>> reporter: jim mcgovern describes himself him this way. >> a proud liberal government. >> reporter:ss to him that he needed to be willing to compromise. >> we need meaningful health care insurance. i may not be everything we want. if it moves the ball forward, i think it's worth supporting. >> reporter: some liberal democrats are firmly entrenched. >> we don't have health care reform, unless we have a public option. >> reporter: but the house speaker even softened her stance. >> there is no bill i can pass a bill in the house of representatives without a public option. >> reporter: notably absent. >> this about is about a goal of affordability, quality, and acceptability, we'll go forward. >> reporter: liberal democrats are more accepting of this reality. any health care bill must be conservative enough to pass the much more moderate senate. pelosi signalled the house will not act until it's clear what the senate finance committee will produce. their proposal has no public option. and on other issues, democratic chairman boasted the president's new man tracks with their theirs. >> v

in the house, congressman jim mcgovern, a democrat, has talked about it as well.ident. we think the president is doing a much better job in this area than the previous president. but we owe him the advice that the senate and the house are supposed to provide on foreign policy. and it's essential. we lost over 45 americans in july and over 50, probably, in august. this is something the american people have to have explained to them. >> you're suggesting a flexible timetab timetable under which u.s. troops would be removed from afghanistan. the question many people might raise is, could that cede parts of afghanistan back to taliban control and then they invite al qaeda back in and then the united states is back to square one. >> you can draw that scenario or look what's happening right now. significant areas of afghanistan already under the control of taliban. we may be losing ground there, and many people believe that continuing an occupation or something that's seen as an occupation, continuing to build up foreign troops in afghanistan is the exact formula to inc