Thomas Daschle: “Words alone are just not a fitting tribute to Paul Wellstone, It is the action that counts. I was deeply moved by…”

“Words alone are just not a fitting tribute to Paul Wellstone, It is the action that counts. I was deeply moved by Senator Domenici's beautiful eulogy for Paul last fall at the memorial for the Wellstones in Washington. In that eulogy Senator Domenici vowed to do everything he could to pass the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act this year. He has worked very hard to keep that promise and we thank him for it. He and Senator Kennedy introduced the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act 8 months ago in the early days of this session. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of Senators Domenici and Kennedy and many others, despite the support of 66 Senators, two-thirds of this Senate, including the distinguished Presiding Officer, despite the fact that the Senate voted overwhelmingly last year to pass this measure as an amendment to the Labor-HHS appropriations bill, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act remains stuck in committee today because of opposition from the insurance industry and its backers. The insurance industry claims incorrectly that requiring insurers to treat mental illness the same way as they treat physical illness will drive up premiums so high that more people will lose their health insurance. That is not true. Those are the same kinds of scare tactics we have heard from that industry on other occasions.”