Democrats retreated Tuesday from a quick push to pass President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, lacking a workable strategy to salvage the sweeping legislation that has consumed Congress for more than a year.

"There is no rush," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said after a meeting of Senate Democrats. His comments came as two centrists said they would oppose the plan Democratic leaders were considering to reconcile differences between the House and Senate bills and put comprehensive legislation on Obama's desk.

A week after the loss of a Massachusetts Senate seat - their 60th vote - cost Democrats undisputed control of the congressional agenda, leaders are still casting about for a way forward. Given the congressional schedule, it could be weeks - late February at the earliest - before they act.

"There are no easy choices," acknowledged House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md, insisting that the goal remains the same: to pass far-reaching legislation that would expand coverage, reduce costs and improve quality.

"I think right now it's a time-out and the leadership is re-evaluating," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. "They've asked us to keep our powder dry."

"I think effectively we're going to set health care reform aside," said independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. "I don't think they're ready to move now because there's no clear path forward."

Reid said he'll keep talking with House Democrats and White House officials, noting that the Senate-passed bill is good for the year.

Two centrist senators threw up a new roadblock. Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark. - both face re-election this year in Republican-leaning states - said they would oppose using a special budget-related procedure to go around Republican opponents in the Senate, a calculated risk sure to inflame critics on the political right.

Even as Bayh and Lincoln made their concerns known, House Democratic leaders were trying to get their rank and file to accept a modified version of the Senate bill.

Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat, told reporters he believes the House could pass the Senate bill if lawmakers get rid of special Medicaid deals for Louisiana and Nebraska and dial back a music posters on high-cost insurance plans opposed by labor unions. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said it "depends what the fixes are."

Lawmakers hope Obama will help them find their way when the president delivers his State of the Union address Wednesday. Obama is unlikely to delve into the strategy for passing a health care bill, Hoyer said, but he is expected to stress the importance of getting comprehensive legislation along the lines of what the House and Senate already passed.

Democrats now have four options, Hoyer said: No bill, a scaled-back measure designed to attract some Republican support, the House passing the Senate bill, or the House passing the Senate bill with both chambers making changes to bridge their differences. Opposition to the health care remake in Washington helped spark the Massachusetts revolt, Democrats acknowledge. Obama called the monthslong debate on Capitol Hill "an ugly process."

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians are in desperate need of drinking water because of an earthquake-damaged municipal pipeline and truck drivers either unable or unwilling to deliver their cargo.

"Many drivers are afraid of being attacked if they go out, some drivers are still missing in the disaster and others are out there searching for missing relatives," said Dudu Jean, a 30-year-old driver who was attacked Friday when he drove into the capital's sprawling Cite Soleil slum.

The lack of water has become one of the greatest dangers facing Haitians in part because earthquake survivors stay outdoors all day in the heat out of fear of aftershocks and unstable buildings. While aid has started to pour in from around the world, supplies are not quickly reaching all who need them.

Even before Tuesday's quake, the municipal system in this city of 3 million people was unreliable. Haiti's poorest live in shacks with no plumbing and carry their water home in jugs from public wells. Most people depend on water delivered by truckers, who get their water with the help of diesel pumps that draw from a huge underground natural reservoir.

"There's no shortage of water, the water's here, the trucks are here as you see," said Jean, who said his attackers let him go unharmed after they recognized him.

Since the quake, at least one water treatment plant was shuttered because of a lack of electricity. Pipes for the municipal water system are believed damaged. No water is running in Cite Soleil, home to more than a million people.

Adding to the problem is that stores that have water and food to sell are not opening out of fear of violence.

Tom Osbeck, a missionary from Indiana whose Protestant-run Jesus in Haiti Ministry operates a school just north of Port-au-Prince, said a scarcity of drinking water and food is fraying the nerves of increasingly despairing survivors.

"Even distributing food or water is very dangerous. People are desperate and will fight to death for a cup of water," Osbeck said Friday from his home about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the center of the quake.

Aid groups, businesses and governments from around the world are scrambling to meet the need.

Oxfam had water supplies in Haiti left over from a 2008 storm and has managed to get some 2,000 and 5,000-liter tanks into the capital city. U.S. military officials say helicopters are ferrying in water and other movie posters from the USS Carl Vinson. Procter & Gamble Co. is sending 3 million water-purifying packets along with cash donations for earthquake relief.

Rebecca Gustafson, part of the disaster assistance team of USAID, said international agencies are assessing the best places for community water treatment centers. She said much of the focus of international aid for now is on rescue and recovery efforts.

"Once that wave subsides, in the coming days you'll see more and more aid coming in," she said.

While government agencies and troops worked to move supplies out of the jammed airport, some Haitians and far smaller organizations worked on their own to get aid to thirsty, hungry people.

Milero Cedamou, the 33-year-old owner of a small water delivery company, twice drove his small tanker truck 10 miles outside Port-au-Prince, paying $25 for each fill-up and then returned to a tent camp where thousands of homeless people were living.