WASHINGTON (AP) -- Marking the one-year anniversary of Paul Wellstone's death Friday, Democratic senators failed to win passage of one of the late senator's top crusades: legislation to mandate equal health insurance coverage for mental illnesses.

Although the bill has the support of two-thirds of the Senate, Republicans blocked an effort to pass the legislation by unanimous consent, a provision generally used for non-controversial legislation.

"I loved Paul Wellstone," said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., standing in front of a large blowup photo of a smiling Wellstone and his wife, Sheila, who was killed in the plane crash with him.

"But it's still hard to imagine him at rest. And I know that he would not want us to mark this first anniversary of his death by resting or just talking."

Daschle said that one of the things that got Wellstone the angriest was the stigma attached to mental illness, and that passing the bill -- known as mental health parity -- would be the most fitting tribute.

But Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., sent word that Republicans would object to the bill's passage by unanimous consent.

Later, Frist came to the floor to offer his support for the bill, but said the legislation was too complex to take up in one day.

"I think it is fitting that we acknowledge Paul's tireless work on behalf of those who suffered from mental illness," Frist said. "He was an idealist in the best sense, principled and tough, a stalwart defender of his ideals."

Frist said that the legislation should come out of committee before the Senate votes on it. The bill, sponsored by Wellstone's longtime mental health parity partner, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., has not made it out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. It has 66 co-sponsors, including Democrat Mark Dayton and Republican Norm Coleman.

Committee Chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H., wants to pass a bill that has a chance of getting through the House, said Gregg spokesman Joshua Shields.

Shields noted that the Senate passed a similar bill in 2001, but the House failed to pass it.

Insurance companies have argued that the bill would drive up premiums, forcing some people to lose insurance; backers of the bill reject that analysis.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said he would attach the mental health parity bill to another piece of legislation scheduled for review in the Health Committee next week.

"If Paul were here this morning, he would remind us how crucially important this is to millions of Americans," Harkin said. "He and Sheila Wellstone never faltered on this issue."

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.