Christopher Shays: “this has been an amazing experience because this is a time in the history of Congress where two-thirds of Congress…”

“this has been an amazing experience because this is a time in the history of Congress where two-thirds of Congress believes we should move forward in a certain direction where two-thirds of the majority party for very valid reasons disagrees, and this was a test of this Republican Party on whether a minority within the party could have some opportunity to pursue with the minority party on the other side. I am absolutely convinced that we have been dealing in good faith on this issue. There were other issues in the Senate, like some Member holding up the health care bill, and it seemed logical that that was a bill we wanted because we wanted to deal with the issue of transportability and preexisting condition and the health care fraud positions there and the medical savings accounts and so on, and that bill was being held up by the minority party there, and there were some on our side who said, ``Well, if that's the case, then the minimum wage, we're just going to wait on the conference report.'' But both have been resolved, and we are having a debate now that is somewhat academic because I understand as soon as the debate is over we will have individuals appointed to the conference committee.”