Barbara Boxer: “I thank Senator Edwards for using a hypothetical example of why this is a very cruel amendment which I hope will be…”

“I thank Senator Edwards for using a hypothetical example of why this is a very cruel amendment which I hope will be voted down overwhelmingly. But I have a real case I can talk about in a moment. This morning--it seemed like a very long time ago, and it was--I voted for an amendment by Senator Santorum to protect infants, to say that infants who are born should have the protections of this bill. I said to him: I certainly agree that infants, children, and teenagers all the way up to the elderly, the most frail, should be covered by this bill. What does my friend now suggest? A 75-percent tax on pain and suffering to go to the Federal Government for a Government program. This is unbelievable to me. A 75-percent tax on families who may be suffering because a child is permanently disabled, made blind, paralyzed, forever in a wheelchair, and then having to pay 75 percent of a punitive damage award that could go to help ease the pain of that child, that could hire people to take care of that child. This is a cruel amendment. My friend always says he is for the children. This is not for the children. This is not for the families. This is not for the patients. This amendment will take the funds away from those families who are in desperate need of money to build a life for someone deeply harmed by an HMO that had no conscience. As my friend says, punitive damages are not gotten lightly. It has to be proven that you were willful, that you were vicious in your intent.…”