Nancy Kassebaum: “no, this is not another study. It is a sense-of-the-Senate resolution. So it does not have statutory authority as the…”

“no, this is not another study. It is a sense-of-the-Senate resolution. So it does not have statutory authority as the language of the Senator from Oregon would have had. However, it does not call for another study. It simply says that the Senate should take into account any relevant findings of the National Commission on Health Care Quality which President Clinton has said he would appoint and other public and private entities with expertise in this issue and in the quality of health care service delivery. We would consider the views of those entities at a hearing before the Labor and Human Resources Committee, the committee of jurisdiction over this legislation. I do not think another study is important so much as gaining understanding through a hearing about what facts are known and what points of view would be expressed from different aspects of the health care service delivery industry, and then acting expeditiously. So I assume the bill of the Senator from Oregon would be the vehicle in the next Congress. Hopefully, the bill would be introduced right at the beginning of the Congress, so that there would be time to look at it. I think that the interest in this issue is indicative of the fact there is going to be a great deal of interest in legislation regarding this subject. So I am not calling for a study. My amendment says we should act expeditiously, but we should review all of the pertinent information that is available.”