WASHINGTON -- With a few words Wednesday - "I would have to object" - Sen. Richard Burr joined an angry Republican pushback to the nation's sweeping health overhaul.
Burr used a parliamentary maneuver to derail an Armed Services Committee hearing for which commanders had traveled from South Korea and Hawaii to discuss the Pentagon's needs for the next year.
It was one of several hearings on issues ranging from homeless veterans to police trainers in Afghanistan that were upturned by Republican tactics to slow the workings of the Senate.
Opposition to the new law continued a day after President Barack Obama signed the bill before hundreds of cheering supporters. Conservatives repeated a new rallying cry to "repeal and replace" the overhaul and vowed to keep making noise until the November elections.
Republican senators dragged out debate on a bill of fixes for the health measure that needs a simple majority to pass.
In North Carolina, GOP lawmakers pressed for a suit to declare the new law unconstitutional. And in Washington, concerns grew about potential violence.
Capitol police investigated threats against nearly a dozen members of Congress. The brother of Democratic U.S. Rep. Thomas Perriello had his gas line cut outside his home in Virginia. The FBI was investigating.
Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Democrat from New York, reported a brick thrown through a window in her district office and a voicemail message that referred to snipers.
Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, a Democratic opponent of abortion rights who became a "yes" just before Sunday's crucial vote, received phone calls wishing cancer and other ailments upon him.
Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin had a U.S. map on her Facebook page that targeted House Democrats' districts with crosshairs. On her Twitter account, she wrote: "Don't retreat, instead - reload!"
The heated rhetoric came after a weekend of tumult, in which a handful of tea party protesters hurled racial and homophobic epithets at members of Congress and one member was spat on.
House Minority Leader John Boehner told Fox News that although Americans are "highly angry" about the bill, violence is unacceptable.
GOP request to Cooper
In North Carolina, every GOP House member wants the state to join a lawsuit declaring the health care law unconstitutional, saying in a letter to Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat, that the new law "violates ... freedom."
The state Republican Party and state Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger also want Cooper to join the lawsuit.
Fourteen state attorneys general - all but one of them a Republican - have filed suit against the health reform law. They say the requirement for nearly all Americans to have health insurance is an unconstitutional mandate.
Efforts to reach Cooper failed.
Gridlock in D.C.
In Washington, Senate Republicans offered a series of amendments to the reconciliation bill that were destined for defeat because they lacked the votes to pass them.
A final vote is expected at the end of the week.
Opponents of the bill wielded an obscure Senate rule for a second day to prevent committees from meeting in afternoon hearings.
Rules prohibit committees from meeting two hours after the Senate convenes unless there is unanimous consent, normally a formality.
Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, a Democrat who is the Armed Services Committee's chairman, said that both he and Sen. John McCain, the committee's top Republican, wanted to go forward.
The hearing was to allow testimony from three military leaders: Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii; Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command; and Army Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of the U.S. forces in South Korea.
"They've been scheduled a long time," Levin said. "They have come a long, long distance."
About lunchtime Wednesday, Burr, who was on the Senate floor for the health care debate, came forward.
"I have no personal objection to continuing," Burr said. "There is objection on our side of the aisle. Therefore, I would have to object."
That stopped the hearing.
Also canceled Wednesday were hearings on two judicial nominees, on funding for small businesses, and on federal oversight of private contractors training police recruits in Afghanistan.
A Veteran Affairs hearing on homelessness was suddenly shut down at 11 a.m.
Hagan slams Burr
Sen. Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, also sits on the Armed Services Committee and was in the Senate president's chair when Burr filed his objection. In her role in the chair, she quietly acknowledged his objection.
Afterward, she slammed his "obstructionist tactics," which she said show "a stunning lack of respect."
Efforts to reach Burr were unsuccessful.
Burr's potential Democratic opponents in the November election also criticized him.
"Senator Burr and his Republican colleagues need to grow up," N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said in a statement. "The health care vote is over, they lost and it's time to move on to other business."
David Lightman and William Douglas of McClatchy's Washington bureau contributed to this report.
