(CNN) Vice President Mike Pence is increasing the pressure for Republicans to pass health care legislation, calling on senators to "step up to the plate" and keep their seven-year promise.

"A few Republicans in the Senate weren't quite ready to move forward on legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare," Pence said during his keynote address at the Ohio Republican Party state dinner Saturday. "Now some people around the country harbor the belief that Democrats will help us clean up the mess they made, but as I said, and the President said this morning, Republican senators must step up to the plate after seven years and vote to repeal and replace Obamacare."

The elevated rhetoric comes as the Republican health care legislation hangs by a tenuous thread.

The Senate is expected to vote on a plan to overhaul the Affordable Care Act next week, but what exactly that will be has yet to be announced. The Senate Republican leadership is urging members to pass a procedural vote to begin debate, but with Arizona Sen. John McCain out as he deals with newly diagnosed brain cancer, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can only lose one member of his conference and still advance a bill.

As of now, there's no indication the votes are there.

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