On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)–a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee–said the so-called “gang of six” won’t “be held hostage to any specific deadline” for unveiling health care reform legislation.
“What we have agreed to is that we are going to be ready when we’re ready. And we are working; we hope to be able to reach conclusion by the middle of September. But we have agreed that if we still don’t have all of the answers back from [the Congressional Budget Office] that we will not be bound by any deadline – that the most important thing is to get this right,” Conrad said.
The report seems to conflict with earlier public statements from Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)–the committee’s chairman–who promised a bill by September 15, raising the ire of committee Republicans.
