Chris Dodd: “I wish to begin my comments by thanking our colleague from Massachusetts once again for giving heart to an argument that…”

“I wish to begin my comments by thanking our colleague from Massachusetts once again for giving heart to an argument that sometimes gets lost in statistics and numbers. As all of us know, every one of us has watched either fellow Members or others--our staffs or constituents--who have gone through the dreaded situation of watching a child in need of health care. We know how fortunate we are to be Members of Congress, as we receive a tremendous amount of support for health care services. The fact that we are living in a day and age in the 21st century when so many of our children, growing numbers in our society, are without any kind of health care coverage at all. It is shameful, to put it mildly. I commend the distinguished Senator from Montana, the chair of the Finance Committee, and once again the Senator from Massachusetts for his tremendous support of this effort. I wish to offer an amendment at the appropriate time. As many of my colleagues know, over a period of 7 years, three Presidents, and two Presidential vetoes, I worked toward passage of the Family Medical Leave Act. It finally became law in 1993. Today, more than 50 million Americans have been able to take advantage of the protections of that law. It is related to the subject matter of the bill at hand, a little bit off center, but it's about caring for our families.”