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ByAlanFram The Associated Press WASHINGTON Inuncom- mon bipartisan harmony, the House approved a $214 billion bill on Thursday permanently blocking phy- sician Medicare cuts, mov- ing Congress closer to re- solving a problem that has plagued it for years. The lopsided 392-37 vote shifted pressure onto the Senate, where its pros- pects have brightened as Democrats have muffled their criticism and Pres- ident Barack Obama has embraced the bill. But with some conservatives also balking at the legis- lation, its fate there re- mained murky. Thursday's House vote came on a package that bore victories for Republi- cans and Democrats alike and was negotiated by the chamber's two chief an- tagonists, Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. That unity contrasted vividly with the usual partisan duels that hamper most congressional efforts on budget, health and other major policies. The vote even gave House GOP leaders a re- spite from the large-scale rebellions they frequently face from tea party con- servatives, including on a measure last month that prevented a Home- land Security Department shutdown. Republicans backed the Medicare bill 212-33, while Democrats tilted "yes" by 180-4. "I want to give John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi credit," said Obama while visiting Birmingham, Al- abama. "They did good work today." The bill contains funds for health care programs for children and low-in- come people that Dem- ocrats touted as victo- ries. Republicans won long-term though modest strengthening of Medi- care's finances, including cost increases for higher- income recipients. Physicians treating Medicare patients face a 21 percent fee cut on April 1 unless lawmakers act. If the Senate doesn't give fi- nal approval before recess- ing, the government could delay processing doctors' Medicare checks until law- makers return to the Cap- itol. CONGRESS House OKs bipartisan Medicare doctor bill By Michael Biesecker The Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl says he was tortured repeatedly in the five years he was held captive by the Taliban: beaten with a copper cable, chained, held in a cage and threatened with execution after trying to escape. Bergdahl described his captivity in a note his law- yer made public Thursday after sharing it with the Army in an attempt to avert a court martial. The Army charged Bergdahl nevertheless on Wednesday, accusing him of desertion and misbehav- ior before the enemy for leaving his post in Afghan- istan in June 2009. Freed last year in ex- change for five Taliban commanders held prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the 28-year-old soldier from Hailey, Idaho faces up to life in prison if convicted. Bergdahl says he tried about a dozen times to es- cape, and that his captors' response was brutal. "In the beginning of my captivity, after my first two escape attempts, for about three months I was chained to a bed spread-ea- gle and blindfolded," Berg- dahl wrote. "Around my ankles where the chains were, I developed open wounds. ... During these months some of the things they did was beat the bottoms of my feet and parts of my body with a copper cable." He also says he was beaten with a rubber hose, fists and the butt of an AK- 47, so hard the rifle's stock broke off. He was repeat- edly threat- ened with execution, and "kept in constant iso- lation dur- ing the en- tire 5 years." Bergdahl next faces an Article 32 hearing before a high-rank- ing officer known as a "con- vening authority," who will decide if the evidence mer- its a court martial. Bergdahl's lawyer Eu- gene Fidell said the ser- geant has already suffered more than enough. "This is a hellish envi- ronment he was kept in for nearly 5 years, particularly after he did his duty in try- ing to escape," Fidell, a for- mer military lawyer now in private practice, told The Associated Press on Thurs- day. "There is no question in my mind that a conven- ing authority would not be doing his or her duty with- out taking into account the circumstances under which Sgt. Berhdahl was held." Bergdahl's two-page de- scription of his captivity was attached to a letter Fidell sent March 2 to Gen. Mark Milley, who as commander of the U.S. Army Forces was responsible for deciding the criminal charges. Bergdahl was captured shortly after leaving his post in June 2009 and held by the Haqqani network, an insur- gent group tied to the Tali- ban that operates both in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Before disappearing, Bergdahl had expressed misgivings about the U.S. role in the war — as well as his own. An Army investigation found that when Bergdahl walked off his post, his "specific intent was to bring what he thought were dis- turbing circumstances to the attention of the near- est general officer," Fidell wrote. Given his harsh captivity, the reason he left his unit and his attempts to escape while prisoner, "it would be unduly harsh to impose on him the lifetime stigma of a court-martial conviction or an Other Than Honor- able discharge and to deny him veteran's benefits," the lawyer argued. That argument appar- ently fell flat: The deser- tion charge carries up to five years in prison, while "misbehavior before the enemy" carries a life sen- tence; A conviction on ei- ther could strip him of his rank and about $300,000 in back pay, and earn him a dishonorable discharge. Misbehavior is a rare charge, typically reserved for shameful or cowardly conduct, said Daniel Con- way, a military defense lawyer and the author of a forthcoming book on mili- tary crimes. The charges brought fresh criticism of President Barack Obama's prisoner exchange. "President Obama en- dangered our national se- curity and broke the law when he chose to negotiate with terrorists and release hardened enemy combat- ants from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Sgt. Berg- dahl — who many believed at the time was a deserter," said U.S. Rep. Michael Mc- Caul, R-Texas and the chair- man of the Committee on Homeland Security. DESERTION CASE Bergdahl charged despite torture experience Bergdahl Tehama Country Real Estate This Week GetResults! Put your ad in Tehama Country Real Estate THIS WEEK Call Suzy Noble @ (530) 737-5056 RE/MAX American Dream Robert Thayer, Owner / Realtor 1704 Solano St, Corning CA, 96021 Callmeat(530)515-3367 for any information on any listing, or listing your own home/business/property. 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