Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Chairman, I point out also that this bill keeps these cases in State court. It doesn't move them to Federal court. Previous legislation that has been brought to this floor, a decade or so ago, did move a lot of these cases to Federal court. But it is carefully drafted to keep this with the maximum amount of respect for States' rights that can be held and still have a Federal interest. There has to be a Federal interest in every dollar involved in this. In every single case, there has to be Federal dollars involved in it, or this bill wouldn't affect it at all. And so I am one who is also a great respecter of States' rights. And in this legislation, as drafted, there are provisions in there over and over again that protect as many of the States' rights as can be. And if you take the other side of this argument, then it is far stronger that the right of the Federal Government would be usurped by the States if we don't have this legislation. That is what is taking place now--States that choose not to make a decision, not to set caps, and we are seeing huge settlements going on around the country. This is what we want to end, so that we can save the $50 to $54 billion for the taxpayers. But the thing that is even worth more than this is, how much of that $650 billion in defensive medicine will no longer be used in this country, and how much safer and less expensive will our healthcare be in America? I reserve the balance of my time.”