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Senators gave Barack Obama a huge political boost by passing a sweeping remake of the US health care system that aims to extend coverage to 31 million uninsured Americans.

The early morning vote broke down strictly along party lines, with no support from conservatives — 39 Republicans voting against.

Vice President Joe Biden presided over the early morning Christmas Eve ballot in which 58 Democratic senators and two independents gave Obama the 60 votes he needed to pass the bill.

Senators could be seen rushing out of the chamber luggage in hand to head home for the holidays as ice storms threatened to hit the Midwest. The vote had been planned for late Thursday, but leaders in the upper chamber agreed to let weary staff and lawmakers go home earlier for the holidays.

The legislation must now be reconciled with a separate House of Representatives version before going to Obamas desk to be signed early next year.

Vicki Kennedy, present for the vote, told reporters her late husband must be beaming at seeing the overhaul that much closer to extend coverage to 31 million of the 36 million Americans who lack it now.

“This mornings vote brings us one step closer to making Ted Kennedys dream a reality,” Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, referring to the liberal “lion of the Senate” who made health care reform the cause of his life until he died from brain cancer in August.

Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said passage of the bill meant lawmakers stood by Americans with chronic illnesses who have been denied coverage due to preexisting health conditions.

“Every step of this long process has been an enormous undertaking,” Reid added, acknowledging the prolonged, often bitter process he oversaw that pitted lawmakers against one another and saw Republicans vow to kill the bill.

The number two Democrat in the Senate, close Obama ally Durbin, hailed what he said would become “one of the shining chapters of the history of the United States Senate and our nation.”

“Today, we make history for them and every American who have fallen victim to the health care system,” he said.

After the vote, attention narrowed on negotiations to forge a compromise between the final Senate bill and the House version, approved on November 7.

Generations of politicians since president Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) have tried and failed to reform the embattled US health care system.

Obama pledged he would “absolutely” take a hands-on role in the reconciliation process in coming weeks.

They differ on several points, and Obama allies have openly stated preferences for key chunks of the House version, setting up potentially damaging Democratic infighting ahead of crucial 2010 mid-term elections.

Another potential problem is the House bills tougher restrictions on federal funds subsidizing abortions: while pro-choice lawmakers denounce the limits, centrist Democrats say they will withhold support without them.

The headline battle looms over the provision of a government-backed “public option” to compete with private insurers. This measure was stripped from the Senate bill but remains in the House version.

Obama, conscious of how much political capital he has invested in this issue, insists the Senate bill contains most of what he wants.

Centrist senators have also warned that they will doom the measure if the compromise talks lead to drastic changes to the Senates hard-won compromise.

On Monday, Obama sought to rebut critics who say the United States cannot afford the 10-year, nearly one-trillion-dollar program.

“I actually think that, considering how difficult the process has been, this is an end product that I am very proud of and is greatly worthy of support,” he told National Public Radio on Wednesday, insisting the reform would be meaningful.

The United States is the worlds richest nation but the only industrialized democracy that does not provide health care coverage to all of its citizens.

He pointed to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office , which found the bill would reduce the federal deficit by 132 billion dollars over the first 10 years and as much as 1.3 trillion in the next decade.

But it lags behind other countries in life expectancy and infant mortality, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

As a nation, the United States spends more than double what Britain, France and Germany do per person on health care.