Frank Lautenberg: “I particularly say what a delight it is to work with our distinguished Senator from North Dakota, Senator Conrad. He is…”

“I particularly say what a delight it is to work with our distinguished Senator from North Dakota, Senator Conrad. He is always very thorough in his review of budget matters or whatever the subject is. He has done a lot of good work there and has earned the respect of all the people he works with because he is so thoughtful and so deliberate and so direct in the things he sees and that he wants to work on. Senator Conrad was designated as chairman of the tobacco task force by our leader. It was a singular honor, because what the minority leader wanted to do was to pick someone whose objectivity could be counted on because we do have different views on how we ought to treat the tobacco negotiations, deal with the tobacco companies, and deal with our constituents and the public at large. The Democratic leader, Senator Daschle, chose Senator Conrad because he knew he could be counted on to do a thorough analysis, bring the parties together, and certainly that has been the case.”