President Clinton promised Monday to "return to the fight" for health-care reform after the last plug was pulled on congressional action this year.
The Republicans, a minority in Congress, "have the ability to block legislation and they have done so on health-care reform," said Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell.
He was officially announcing something that had been obvious for weeks: that no bill would pass this year.
But Republicans say it was the public that stopped reform.
"We still have work to do in order to prescribe the right dose of reform," says Senate GOP Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan.
"This was a mercy killing," says Michael Roush of the National Federation of Independent Business, which opposed the president's plan.
But Clinton "should get a lot of credit for taking it on," says John Rother of the American Association of Retired Persons. Soaring health costs are "why we've got a deficit problem."
Clinton says the fight is "far, far from over," but November elections could make the next Congress more conservative and the outlook even dicier.
The White House also put word out that Hillary Rodham Clinton would lead the charge again next year.
Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., says he'll explore today whether some tinkering is possible to help uninsured children and pregnant women.
The White House health plan was junked months ago. Mitchell had been trying to collect enough votes to pass a modest compromise.
Clinton made his pledge to deliver health reform the keystone of his domestic agenda.
"The Republican leadership had a commitment not to see anything pass," says Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif. "If somebody won, they won. Who lost? The American public."
