[Following up my earlier piece.]

In what looks like a press release from the man himself (albeit on a wacky site - needs checking), Kennedy says

The White House says the President will veto this bill if it cuts the cost of prescription drugs...

It is my hope that we can move forward to ensure the safety of our food and the safety of our medicines. We owe that to the American people. And if we must fight another day to lower the costs of prescription drugs by allowing Americans to buy cheaper drugs from Canada and other nations, then I stand with my Democratic colleagues to wage that fight. It is a fight that we will win because the American people urgently need relief from rising health care costs.

So I have concluded that the only answer for me is to support the Cochran amendment now, on this bill, so that we can continue the fight for safer medicines, pure food, and a stronger FDA.

Importation was sacrificed for the greater good.

There's more...

The closest thing to the Super Bowl we legislative process aficionados will have enjoyed yet in the 110th: in the Senate, next week is Iraq Week. And, though the measures in play are all as nonbinding as prune juice, the consequences for folk in both parties may be real enough.

(Earlier pieces here and here.)

The Timestoday has a brief rundown.

There's more...

Cloture on HR 2 (the minimum wage bill) passed yesterday, so Senate decks are cleared for battle next week on the various texts of nonbinding Iraq resolutions.

According to the papers this morning (the Post,for instance), Biden (S Con Res 2) has been benched in favor of Warner (S Con Res 4).

But Warner with a twist:

The revised resolution would express the Senate's opposition to the troop increase but would vow to protect funding for the troops. The resolution does not include the Democratic language saying the Bush plan is against the national interest, but it also drops an earlier provision by Warner suggesting Senate support for some additional troops.

There's more...