Political Quotes

“this is such a straightforward and simple sense-of-the-Senate. It is rather shocking to me that Members on the other side of the aisle have objected to it. I have to thank the chairwoman of the committee and Senator Kennedy, who were quite willing to accept such a sense-of-the-Senate resolution. I do not know what Members oppose this. I cannot imagine why they have not identified themselves to me, Mr. President. I just hope that Members will read the sense-of-the-Senate. Let me tell you a little story about why it is so important. This is an L.A. Times story, entitled ``HMO `Gag Clauses' on Doctors Spur Protests.'' I will read just a few paragraphs: The Santa Monica oncologist thought she was being a strong advocate for her patient. In May, she referred the patient--a Los Angeles woman in her forties, who was rapidly losing her battle with metastatic colon cancer--to a Johns Hopkins University specialist using an experimental drug that had proven effective with similar cancers. It was, in the doctor's view, perhaps the best chance of extending the woman's life. But the patient's managed care group had a different view of the oncologist. It saw a doctor who said too much and broke the rules. She received a reproachful letter from the managed care group, stating that the Johns Hopkins specialist was not ``in network'' and that the patient should not have been referred there.”