Political Quotes

“I have supported product liability reform for over a decade. In 1988 I presided over the infamous ``torts class from hell'' when the Committee on Energy and Commerce spent 10 long days in a markup to report a product liability reform bill. Regrettably, that bill died when other committees failed to take action. Since then, I have repeatedly cosponsored other major legislation on this subject and have sought to see to it that it was enacted into law. I observed that this is a painful process to me because it is my view that the bill is being rammed through the House. Unlike previous efforts, there has been little meaningful attempt to work out a bipartisan piece of legislation, fair and balanced. The rush to judgment has produced a number of defects, inconsistencies, and errors, and indeed it has been fraught with what I view as being procedural errors and failures. Despite my misgivings about the process and certain provisions, I voted in favor of the Committee on Commerce bill.”