Political Quotes

“Thank you to the gentleman from California (Mr. Lungren). I will not give you all of the answers I am sure you are looking for, and I feel confident that, when this bill is debated on the floor, there will be many more questions raised from the members of the committee who sat through this debate. I can only say, as a member of the Rules Committee, I, too, sat there while this conversation was going on. I am not an expert in this particular area. I am very pleased, and I want to talk a little bit about how pleased I am that we are taking on this exemption of the insurance companies. I did hear people say, and the reason that I voted the way I did yesterday, is that I heard that the Lungren safe harbor amendment was a loophole in the McCarran repeal. I heard that consumer groups had said that this was anti-consumer. A safe harbor isn't needed because the bill does not prohibit information sharing. On the other hand, putting in a safe harbor statute would automatically immunize the insurance companies, and it would not permit a case-by-case review of companies that go too far. Honestly, I am not in a position to argue this amendment, but I know it will be discussed when the bill is discussed. I want to go back to the original issue, because that is why I am standing here today. Mr. Speaker, I am a proud cosponsor of H.R. 4626, the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act.…”