Trent Lott: “on this legislation, again, I want to emphasize to the American people that we are being prevented from even debating…”

“on this legislation, again, I want to emphasize to the American people that we are being prevented from even debating the real merits of this very important legislation, which would give some degree of protection to volunteers from being sued when they are not even remotely involved in what may have caused a lawsuit. If they are involved in some excessive action or some misconduct, they would still be subject to lawsuits, but this would give some degree of protection to volunteers. I cannot help but again point out the fact that, at a time when there is this great conference in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, talking about voluntarism in America, how important it is to be involved with Little League, to be involved with reading, to be involved with the Boys and Girls Club, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army--be involved. Here, when we say, ``Yes, but one of the problems is that you run the risk of being sued; if your good will causes you to be involved as a volunteer you could wind up having legal action against you and we want to provide some protection against that''--the Democrats are filibustering the motion to proceed to the bill. That is very curious. They say maybe it is related to other issues that have not been brought up. But the fact of the matter is, this is very clear. It is a very clear choice.…”