Off-stage, Tommy Thompson gave Donna Shalala a polite kiss on the cheek Monday, then took his seat, stage right, and she took hers stage left.
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The seating arrangement left them separated by party, ideology and a moderator: Democrat John Breaux, the former senator from Louisiana.
The two former Health and Human Services secretaries met as part of a discussion series dubbed “Ceasefire on Health Care,” sponsored by American University’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies with a grant from drug giant Pfizer Inc.