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Mary LaskerMary Lasker
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was on a tour to find out what the British health insurance plan was all about, with some members of the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, and he said he'd take up the bill as soon as he got home at the end of September.

Q:

What was his particular background which qualified him...

Lasker:

He was a liberal Congressman from Wisconsin, and he now is a lobbyist for labor unions in Washington. He was just a decent human being who was interested.

On his Committee was Congressman Crosser who was so badly crippled by arthritis that he had to be dragged around in a wheelchair. He wasn't terribly interested in any of this because I think he was so hopelessly ill that he couldn't believe that anything could help him. However, he had to go to Scotland and stayed for two or three additional weeks and didn't return until the end of October and Biemiller didn't feel he could get anything done until Crosser got back.

I wanted to go down very much to Washington to press Biemiller to get the committee to report these bills out, but my husband didn't seem to be terribly well and urged me not to go, and he said to me, “Do, it won't matter; it can be done in January just as well. Don't go.” I had a terrible feeling at the time that it would matter; if we didn't get it done, that we might have a new cast of characters to deal with in '50 and the bills would have to be reintroduced. And I had a great feeling of guilt for





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