Political Quotes

“this is the amendment that would return money to the States from the tobacco company payments to trial lawyers, money that exceeded reasonable fees as determined by a common standard in the courts and an IRS Code provision. What we have done in this amendment is to apply it only prospectively, not retroactively. The fee is a reasonable fee plus 500 percent, and in any event the lawyers are guaranteed--and, colleagues, please note this--$20,000 per hour. That is what the lawyers are guaranteed in those cases, those 10 to 15 cases per year to which this would apply. Those fees were not set by contract. They were not set by courts. The money is going to be paid by the tobacco companies. The only question is, are these excess fees going to be paid to the tobacco lawyers or are they going to be paid to the States? I will have at both desks a chart which shows how much money each of the States would receive. It is between $6 billion and $9 billion in total. You can see the amount listed on this sheet. I ask you to consult that because that is money your States would receive if this amendment is adopted.”