Paul Coverdell: “1 week ago today, this past Tuesday, basically because of the events surrounding the loss of our former President…”

“1 week ago today, this past Tuesday, basically because of the events surrounding the loss of our former President, Richard Nixon--a moment, I might say, that caused pause for the Nation to reflect on the half century of dominance by the former President on the national stage, and as we might expect when something of that occurs, all else seems to pale from the scene. But a little noted event of significant import did occur this past Tuesday. That was the announcement to the Nation on the part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the ongoing dialog with regard to health care and health care reform in our Nation. There are 220,000 members, large and small businesses of the U.S. Chamber, a rather significant and prominent group in our Nation, and they have been in the business for the last several months of surveying their membership with regard to their attitudes and views on multiple proposals for health care. It is very interesting because the survey was most elaborate. It was not the questions or the several pages that you had to spend considerable time on, Mr. President, to determine exactly how you might respond. What is so terribly interesting about it is that the response was the largest in the history of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Never before have so many responded. Over a quarter of the members of the 220,000 took the time to prepare this elaborate document and send it in.”