Paul Coverdell: “I accept the statement of the Senator. Unfortunately, during the course of the last several hours, this has turned into…”

“I accept the statement of the Senator. Unfortunately, during the course of the last several hours, this has turned into a quid pro quo. From my own view, I would rather that it not be accepted than we get into, ``Well, we will do this if you do that,'' and we will name this that and this something else. I can only speak for myself. That is my view of it. I mentioned a little earlier, Mr. President, that there are some unique circumstances that we are confronting in this particular case with former President Reagan. I have been going through some of his legacy of late, and I will share one of the most profound letters an American leader has ever written to his country. It came to us on November 5, 1994. My fellow Americans, I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. Upon learning this news, Nancy and I had to decide whether as private citizens we would keep this a private matter or whether we would make this news known in a public way. In the past, Nancy suffered from breast cancer and I had my cancer surgeries. We found through our open disclosures we were able to raise public awareness. We were happy that as a result, many more people underwent testing. There were treated in early stages and able to return to normal, healthy lives. So now we feel it is important to share it with you. In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition.”