Political Quotes

“I would like to clarify an important issue regarding title III of H.R. 956. This title incorporates the provisions of H.R. 753, the Biomaterials Access Assurance Act, a bill to ensure that adequate supplies of biomaterials are available to medical device manufacturers. During the Commerce Committee's markup of H.R. 917, I offered an amendment to protect these vital supplies, the text of which now appears, with some modifications, in H.R. 965. It has come to my attention, however, that in the period of time between offering my amendment and today, language has been added to deal with the difficult issue of biomaterials suppliers who are alleged to have wrongfully withheld or misrepresented safety information, or who know of fraudulent use of their materials. I agree, of course, that conduct of this type, if it occurs, should not go unpunished. However, I have concerns regarding the specific language added to H.R. 965 to address this issue. I have heard from a number of biomaterials suppliers in recent days that the new language will not arrest the flight of suppliers from the implantable device market. May I remind my colleagues that we came to this debate to achieve a singular objective: To stem the exodus of biomaterials suppliers from the implantable device market. We must reduce the incidence of unnecessary and costly litigation to prevent further flight by these suppliers.”