Political Quotes

“Thank you very much, Mr. Conyers, former chair of the Judiciary Committee, ranking member, and a gentleman who has provided superb leadership in opposition to H.R. 5. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 5, poorly titled Protecting Access to Healthcare, the so-called PATH Act, an unconstitutional, Big Government bill that violates the 10th Amendment and states' rights. {time} 2020 At the very start of the 112th Congress, my colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle declared that all business conducted in the House would be consistent with the Constitution. Yet if you read the constitutional authority statement attached to H.R. 5, the Republican sponsors seem to believe that the Commerce Clause magically creates a path for Congress to mandate nationwide caps on punitive damages in all medical malpractice lawsuits. The Republicans are telling all Americans, no matter how severe the injury or egregious the mistake by the doctor, hospital or drug manufacturer, that their losses are going to be capped at $250,000. And with all due respect to the gentleman from Georgia, Representative Gingrey, who introduced H.R. 5, even his own State supreme court has found caps on punitive damages to be unconstitutional. In 2010, the Georgia supreme court unanimously struck down limits on jury awards in medical malpractice cases. The Georgia court determined that a $350,000 cap on noneconomic damages violates the right to a jury trial as guaranteed under the Georgia Constitution.…”