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Mary LaskerMary Lasker
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Part:         Session:         Page of 1143

was the leading businessman in the district from which Mr. Frank Kieth came.

Q:

You had learned that that sort of thing was important.

Lasker:

Well, naturally. This was indeed surprising to Mr. Kieth and the combination of the fact that he thought what I said made sense and the fact that Mr. S was a friend, did me no harm, and Kieth agreed to sponsor a little national heart bill similar to the one that Pepper, Bridges, Murray and Ives were going to sponsor in the Senate. We persuaded Kieth to sponsor in the House.

Q:

What happened to Javits?

Lasker:

Well, Javits bill was a little different and Javits had no influence. Kieth had influence, because he, if we passed the bill, would have to do with the money and we weren't interested in passing legislation unless we were going to get money.

Florence got George Smathers, who was then a minor Congressman from Florida, to be one of the sponsors in the House. In other words, Kieth and Smathers each put in the same bill in the House, the heart bill, and Pepper, Murray and Bridges in the Senate we persuaded, and Anna Roseberg got Senator Ives.

The administrative provisions of the bill suited Parran





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