William Tauzin: “This is indeed an important statement by the House of Representatives about our interests and the Nation's interests in…”

“This is indeed an important statement by the House of Representatives about our interests and the Nation's interests in finding better cures, therapies and, hopefully, preventive techniques for this awful disease. I also want to say that it is our extreme hope that we could agree on a prescription drug proposal this year before we leave, too. I know those negotiations are going on. I would hope we could complete them before we leave, and I certainly hope, as we all do, we could agree on HMO reform before we leave. I can assure the gentleman that if, for obvious reasons, we are incapable of reaching final accord with the White House and the Members of the other body on these two important issues, they are going to rank high on our committee's agenda next year, and we are going to address those concerns as rapidly as we can next year. But I want to again commend the gentleman and my friends on both sides of the aisle tonight for their support of this important concurrent resolution.”