I thank the Senator for crystallizing where we are. When the Senator says we will go home and there is nothing we can point to, he is right. What happened to the juvenile justice bill and all the sensible gun control measures? Every day we…

I want to pick up on that Medicare question. Because when my friend said seniors want to live fuller lives, this is so true. That is where we are now. We have come such a long way with our health research and with our ability to take…

Let me strongly disagree with my friend from Oklahoma. I am merely quoting him. I would be happy to ask the Chair to have read back his exact quote. He said abortion is not a fringe benefit. It is taking the life of an unborn child…

Mr. President, abortion is legal in this country, and I know there are many on the other side particularly who do not like that. But it is legal. It is a health procedure that impacts on the rights of women, and the Supreme Court has said…

If you heard the Senator from Oklahoma, you heard it right. He says abortion is not a health fringe benefit. He says it is taking the life of an unborn child. In other words, in his opinion it is murder.

The proposal I had in the form of this amendment was taken almost verbatim from a bill that was offered by two Republican House Members, Chris Cox and David Dreier, very good friends of the business community. The concept for my amendment…

Basically, what we are saying is the amendment is: Remediate and you will not need to litigate. That is basically this amendment. Remediate and you will not have to litigate. Just fix the problem, and let's get on with our lives. I want to…

I want the Senate to understand those who are supporting this bill came back to this Senator with a suggestion on how I could change the amendment so it would be agreeable to them. We agreed with their changes. We said fine, we are willing…

I say to my friends, that is so true. If you look at the number of lawsuits that are out there, the big explosion, and there has been one, has been business suing business. It is not the individual, and it is not the small guy, because it…

What I am fearful of is that in the end we are protecting the bad apples. And I do not mean to use Apple Computer. Apple Computer got this a long time ago. They are all compliant. But we will wind up-- because so much of the industry cares…

I can't be more proud of the Silicon Valley. I can't be more proud of the high-tech industry that I see blossoming all throughout my State. I can't be more proud of them. The facts the Senator put into the Record make me even more proud…

Mr. President, this bill is an important bill to the State of California. I want to put it in a certain perspective. I very much want to vote for a Y2K bill, and that is why I supported the Kerry alternative which I believe is a fair and…

This is a very business-friendly amendment, because this amendment says the manufacturer has to determine if a fix is available. In all the issues my friend raises--well, there is a part over here from that company, and a part over…

I want to make a point. It is a very subtle point to make. But by discussing minute after minute these special protections that go beyond the fair protections that I believe are warranted--and, by the way, my friend from Oregon made this a…

Absolutely. I think this argument has not been made before. Something was troubling me, as I listened to the debate, because it seemed to me that the implied sense around here is that somehow this wonderful industry can't stand up to this…

I think the amendment pending--which, unfortunately, the other side is going to move to table--is a proconsumer, probusiness, pro-ordinary person amendment. It is a commonsense amendment. It simply says to the manufacturer, if you have a…

I thank my friends for their comments, because as I listened to them, I become more and more convinced of the importance of this amendment. It levels the playing field between the good actors and the bad ones. Right now, if this bill…

The bottom line is, if we do not adopt this Boxer amendment, then what is in this bill to encourage fixing the problem? This is ironic, because the idea is to stop the litigation, fix the problem, have a cooling off period where we…

I view it as an insult to the good people in the Silicon Valley, to the good people in San Diego, to the good people in Los Angeles who work at this night and day, who knew the century was going to end and took steps to prepare for this…

As it relates to lawsuits, it has the same exact provisions. All we say is, if a manufacturer has a fix available, do the fix. Be a good actor. Be good corporate citizens. Do what most of the fine companies are doing up and down the State…

If they fix it, they can charge more than what the computer costs. My friend has proof of that; does he not?

I know, and I am just completely astounded. I have to believe the people who vote against this amendment may not want to be around here on January 3, or whenever it is we get back. People are going to be calling. They are going to say: We…

I thank my friend. As we pointed out earlier in this debate, when I hear people get up and talk about the high-tech industry and how great the high-tech industry is, I know it firsthand because I come from Silicon Valley country. I meet…

Right? Now they qualify for the special protections under this law. They do not have to fix it. They certainly do not have to fix it for free.

I have something to tell the Senate that I hope will sway them in favor of the Boxer amendment. In the research that was done by Senator Hollings' staff, we find out that the law in Arizona, which was signed on April 26, Senate bill 1294…