Political Quotes

“The Senator asked two very good questions. First, I think it is a terrific idea for us to look at the insurance industry, its practices in general, and what effect McCarran-Ferguson has on those practices. The Senator describes a large part of the problem. The Senator knows as well as I do, you can't move in Washington without bumping into some lobbyist representing the insurance industry. They are so well heard and so well represented. I think it is a very good idea. As to the second question, we have differences between North Carolina, my State, and the State of Nevada, and differences between us and California. These are the kinds of issues that ought to be resolved at the State level. We have always believed that. There is a little bit of an inconsistency for the administration that normally says these are matters that ought to be left to the States, we trust the States to make these decisions; but in the case where they want to do something on behalf of the insurance industry, which is what this is, they want to take it away from the States; they want to do it at the national level. What has historically been done in this area is the way it should be done, which is these are matters about State courts, how State courts handle these kinds of cases. They are in touch with it. They know what is happening in their individual States, what the problems are, and they can address them in a responsible and equitable way. I thank the Senator for his questions.”