House Phone Lines Frozen After Barrage of Calls Over Health Care Reform

House phone lines were frozen Tuesday afternoon following a barrage of calls on the health care reform debate, with congressional opponents of the legislation crediting talk radio host Rush Limbaugh for the flood of opposition while the bill’s supporters said they were getting calls of support.

“Phones and e-mails are going nuts on health care,” Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., wrote on his Twitter page Tuesday afternoon, advising people to “keep trying.”

Jeff Ventura, spokesman for the House’s chief administrative officer, said Tuesday that the “the volume is clearly attributable to the significant interest in the health care bill.”

Ventura did not say whether Limbaugh had anything to do with the spike in phone calls to various congressional offices. Limbaugh gave out the number for the Capitol switchboard on his radio show Tuesday, urging listeners to contact members of Congress in a last-ditch effort to oppose the $875 billion health care bill that is up for a vote in the House this week.

“Their phone numbers are published on their Web sites and in various directories anyway,” Ventura said.