Byron Dorgan: “I too commend the Senator from Ohio. I know he has done a great deal of work on the issue of organ donation-- work that…”

“I too commend the Senator from Ohio. I know he has done a great deal of work on the issue of organ donation-- work that I support very strongly. I hope we will advance public understanding and knowledge about organ donation, not only in this legislation but in other pieces of legislation as we move forward. I cannot think of two more able Senators to bring a piece of legislation like this to the floor than Senator Kassebaum and Senator Kennedy. This Senate will be diminished when Senator Kassebaum leaves, but she has done outstanding work on this legislation and she and Senator Kennedy deserves to be complimented for bringing this to the floor. In my judgment, the approach we've taken to this legislation--finding the issues that we all agree on--is the kind of thing we should be doing routinely. I did not support the Clinton health care plan. I did not cosponsor the Clinton health care plan because I believed then that it was too bureaucratic. But he was asking the right questions. We needed to address health care for two reasons. One, to provide broader access to health care. And two, to try to do something about the escalating costs of health care. I happen to think the proposal that he made was too bureaucratic. It would have not advanced the solution in both of those areas that I think was appropriate.”