Max Baucus: “let me begin by praising the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Chuck Grassley, for his fine leadership…”

“let me begin by praising the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Chuck Grassley, for his fine leadership and cooperative management of this bill. He has been very good. I know the folks in Iowa know that, but I want everybody else tuning in to know it as well. The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Chuck Grassley, has done a tremendous job. He deserves a lot of praise for this bill. On that point, sometimes we fail to recognize just how historic some legislation is. This is truly a historic bill. This is not some garden variety piece of legislation that has come up and will pass in the Senate. This is a major expansion of Medicare--major. It is going to make a huge difference in the lives of many senior citizens in America. I again thank Senator Grassley for his help putting this together. I also thank many Senators who have helped bring us here today. Senator John Breaux from Louisiana has been tireless in his effort on the Medicare Commission and other efforts to get prescription drug benefits and to try to reform Medicare. His work has been indispensable. Senator Olympia Snowe from Maine, Senator Hatch from Utah, Senator Jeffords from Vermont, have all contributed mightily to these efforts. It would take me a long time to go through all the efforts they have undertaken if I were to recite chapter and verse all they have done. It has been monumental.”