Kent Conrad: “I will comment for a moment on the role of the Senator from Oregon in the Senate Budget Committee. He has been among the…”

“I will comment for a moment on the role of the Senator from Oregon in the Senate Budget Committee. He has been among the most innovative Members in trying to find ways to extend a prescription drug benefit and to do it with bipartisan support. In the Senate Budget Committee last year, he worked with one of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, the Senator from Maine, Ms. Snowe. They offered the amendment that opened the door to a prescription drug benefit last year. It is that model that again is being pursued this year in an attempt to reach across the aisle to find bipartisan consensus on a prescription drug benefit that would be meaningful for the American people. I wanted to take a moment while he was here to thank the Senator. He has spent countless hours working to come up with prescription drug proposals that would have bipartisan support. I thank and commend him publicly.”