Asa Hutchinson: “Boy, I have to smile. I am sincere about this, and I resent it being portrayed as, I believe, a 'cheap trick.' It was…”

“Boy, I have to smile. I am sincere about this, and I resent it being portrayed as, I believe, a 'cheap trick.' It was called a ploy, an effort to derail. It is none of that. It is a sincere concern about those who are self-employed and who do not get equal treatment. It is a sincere concern that this legislation does not empower anybody but trial lawyers, and that the big issue in this whole debate is access. I am sincerely trying to address an issue about which I have been concerned, and I know the Senator from Illinois has, but it is no effort to derail. If I had been on the conference committee, I assure the Senator from Illinois I would have fought as hard as I could have with every fiber of my being to ensure this very important provision was included in the tax bill. Unfortunately, I was not on the tax conference committee, and so my alternative was to come to this Chamber and try to do the right thing. I assure the Senator from Illinois that is what I am trying to do. I also remind him that every Patients' Bill of Rights that has ever passed the House of Representatives has included tax incentives for health care.”