On the recordMarch 25, 2010
Mr. President, I want to add to my comments from earlier today regarding the passage of H.R. 4872, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. I want to again acknowledge and thank my staff for their extraordinary effort and professionalism. My staff has worked tirelessly over many months, working late nights and weekends on health care reform and reconciliation. I greatly appreciate the sacrifices that they--and their families--have made in these efforts. On my Budget Committee staff, I want to again thank my extraordinary staff director, Mary Naylor, as well as my deputy staff directors, John Righter and Joel Friedman, and my counsel, Joe Gaeta. In addition, I want to thank my incredible Budget health team, which is led by Sarah Kuehl, but also includes Purva Rawal, Jim Esquea, Jennifer Hanson- Kilbride, and Steve Bailey. They did extraordinary work. I also want to thank my Budget education team, Robyn Hiestand and Matt Mohning. Education was an important part of the reconciliation bill and college students will benefit greatly from the expansion of Pell grants and other assistance. I want to thank the remainder of my excellent Budget Committee staff, all of whom contributed greatly to this effort. I particularly want to thank Craig Kalkut, Ron Storhaug, and Jean Biniek for their assistance in this effort. Finally, I want to thank the staff in my personal office. They also played a key role in this effort and represented the State of North Dakota very well.…





