Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to thank Mr. Lance and Mr. Kennedy for cosponsoring this bill, and I am pleased to join my colleague in support of H.R. 5111, the Consumer Review Fairness Act. This bill protects consumers' ability to provide honest reviews of products and services. Chairman Burgess is right in saying that if you get a notice that you now owe $5 million probably just about for anything, you would be surprised; but if it was because you said something truthful based on your experience about a business, that would be particularly egregious. Lots of mothers have told their children, ``If you don't have something nice to say, say nothing at all,'' but the current practice now takes that way too far. Businesses have snuck so-called nondisparagement clauses in terms of service agreements, and consumers don't really have a choice when it comes to those form contracts. In fact, they often don't realize they have just given up their right to speak openly about a bad experience. Imagine hiding language in form contracts to stop a bad Yelp review, for example. For instance, a hotel in New York included a line in its guest policy that customers could be fined $500 for leaving a bad review online. It seems ridiculous to me that a company would punish a consumer who wants to air complaints, particularly since hotel prices in New York are high enough already, and now you could be slapped with a fine for saying the service wasn't up to par.…”