Thomas Daschle: “But I cannot think of anyone who deserves more credit and more commendation for the tremendous work that it has taken to…”

“But I cannot think of anyone who deserves more credit and more commendation for the tremendous work that it has taken to get us to this point of passage of essential health reform than the senior Senator from Massachusetts, Senator Kennedy. His dedication, his intelligence, his integrity, his willingness to compromise and work with Senators from both sides of the aisle on both sides of the issues has been proven throughout this effort to pass this health bill. His persistence and perseverance to ensure that at some point in this session we would enact the Kennedy-Kassebaum bill is a tribute to him and to the extraordinary effort that he has put forth. So I want to commend him, commend his extraordinary staff and all of those responsible for bringing us to this point this afternoon.”