Henry Waxman: “Mr. Chairman, we in the Congress are constantly debating what our priorities ought to be, and 2 weeks ago this House…”

“Mr. Chairman, we in the Congress are constantly debating what our priorities ought to be, and 2 weeks ago this House adopted legislation to eliminate the estate tax. And in doing that, we gave, in effect, $200 billion to around 400 families. That was our judgment in this House. It was not a judgment I agreed with, but it was, nevertheless, the judgment of this House. In this bill that is before us there is a rider that we will seek to strike, and that rider would prevent use of funds to pursue litigation against the tobacco industry. Well, some people think that if we get a judgment against the tobacco industry, that could bring in $300 billion to pay back the Federal Government for expenses due to the misconduct of that industry. Mr. Chairman, well, if that rider does not get taken out of this bill and that lawsuit is stopped, in the course of a couple of weeks we will have given $200 billion to 400 families by eliminating the estate tax, and we will refuse to bring in potentially $300 billion that can be used for veterans' health, Indian health services, prescription drug benefits for the elderly, so many things where we are always saying we do not have the money to fund it.”