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Mary LaskerMary Lasker
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Part:         Session:         Page of 1143

you have something to do with its design, and so forth?

Lasker:

No. The Hill-Burton bill was introduced after President Truman's first health message. Now, whether President Truman's health message in any way inspired it or not, I must ask Senator Hill. I don't even know whether he would remember himself. But in November, '45, as you recall, we got Truman to send the first message ever sent to the Congress on the health of the people, and one of the things he urged was the construction of more hospitalbeds. And that was really the only substantial piece of legislation that happened quickly after his health message; that got passed fairly quickly. But I'm not sure that it was specifically as a result of the President's message, although there may have been some money put in the budget because he recommended it, I'm not sure.

Q:

And Senator Burton of Ohio was the...

Lasker:

Senator Burton was the co-sponsor, but Burton told me that he never had anything to do with it, that the work on the bill was entirely due to Hill, and that Hill was a friend of his and he just put his name on it as a courtesy. I met Burton at Hill's house and said to him how grateful I was to him for having been a sponsor of this bill and he said, “Don't thank me.





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