Dan Coats: “the Republicans met in Annapolis late last week in a conference to discuss health care and where we were going as a…”

“the Republicans met in Annapolis late last week in a conference to discuss health care and where we were going as a party. I thought I would report briefly on that. I certainly was not the one in charge, nor did I lead the effort. But as someone who was there, I have some observations. I went with a considerable amount of skepticism about our ability to pull our disparate views together and unite around any consensus as to where we ought to go on this subject. But I was very pleasantly surprised that through some vigorous debate and discussion, through a working dinner, a working breakfast, a working lunch, listening to the experts, talking to ourselves, and through three private sessions with Members only, at Senator Gregg's suggestion, which proved extraordinarily effective, we hammered out some unity on a number of issues relative to the health care issue, and I think all of us came away with a feeling that we had made some very substantial progress in dealing with an extraordinarily complex issue.”