Richard Blumenthal

No one should have to pay for an injury that they suffered as a student-athlete.

I am grateful for the work of my colleague Senator Casey, who has been a leader on this issue for many years.

The prevalence of a sexual violence in schools is an urgent civil rights issue.

We can and must take concrete steps to both reduce the number of assaults and improve how they are dealt with.

I would be loathe if the Congress was to rank order particular areas of American life and say voting is more important, for example, than employment or housing.

I have no intention or desire to suspend the rights--as sovereigns, the rights of States to contest or in any way protect their rights.

I happen to support the legislation.

I think there is some empirical data to contradict that argument.

I asked you whether you could commit that those cost savings will be passed along, if not dollar for dollar at least maybe 50 percent, 75 percent.

And what percentage of that will be passed along to consumers?

And what is your projection, Mr. Stephenson, as to how much mitigation, how much reduction in the rate of increase there will be? What percentage?

Well, let me take the next leap of faith. Assuming just for purposes of this argument that you are successful in driving down the costs of content and achieving cost savings more generally, can you commit that those cost savings will be…

So I am very, very skeptical as a Senator, not just as a consumer, because you are asking us to make two gigantic leaps of faith.

In other words, the rate of increase will be slowed.

You feel fairly confident? Can you commit to us that you know it will be true?

I have seen this show before.

I feel like I am watching the movie--I do not even remember what it was, but it just occurred to me, you know, there is a line, 'It is complicated.'

So the best you can tell us is that price increases will be mitigated?

I would agree to sit down to discuss how we effectively eliminate tobacco, but I would not sit down to discuss how I relinquish my first amendment rights and losing focus of the big picture; that we could eliminate tobacco here.

I think we need to realize that, as I and others have said, including FDA/CTP Director Zeller, we are in a 'New Era'.

Cigarettes kill people. And if your products are a gateway to cigarette use, they are aiding and abetting at killing.

So would you commit to come together and reach another master settlement agreement that provides for a ban on this type of inappropriate marketing?

Would you say she is smoking in this promotion?

Come together to sit down, to commit to reaching a settlement, an agreement, a protocol that stops any possible ads and pictures that appeal to children and teenagers.

I'm asking you to join in conversations that would involve others in your industry.