Byron Dorgan: “if this was a dance contest, I say to the majority party: You win. I have never seen a shuffle like this. We are not…”

“if this was a dance contest, I say to the majority party: You win. I have never seen a shuffle like this. We are not stalling, they say, and yet this conference committee has had more than six months to reach an agreement and there has been no movement. Do not take it from me, take it from Dr. Norwood, a Republican Congressman from the State of Georgia. He says: It is impossible to take this conference process seriously. That is from a Republican. While this Congress fiddles, people die. Yes, they die. Senator Reid and I had a hearing in Nevada. A mother named Susan Roe spoke up at this hearing about her 16-year-old son, Christopher. Christopher is now dead. He died October 12, 1999. He had leukemia. Chris's pediatric oncologist recommended that he receive a bone marrow transplant, his only hope for long-term survival. But before Chris could receive a bone marrow transplant, his cancer needed to go into remission. Chris's oncologist felt that the only drug available that would help him achieve remission was a Phase III investigational drug known as B43-PAP. However, this treatment he needed for a chance at life was denied him. At the hearing, Susan held up Christopher's picture and told us, through tears, how, as her son lay gravely ill, he looked at her and said: Mom, I just don't understand how they could do this to a kid. Yes, people die while this Congress fiddles. This debate is about whether there should be a Patients' Bill of Rights.…”