James M. Talent

This legislation is not about charity, but about acknowledging the government's responsibility for this tragedy.

This legislation establishes a $750 million trust fund from which victims of this tragedy can claim $100,000 each as partial compensation for their physical, emotional, and financial suffering.

These staggering costs are far beyond the financial capacities of most hard working American families.

The financial burden of hemophilia and HIV is overwhelming.

The time has come for the federal government to accept its share of the responsibility for failing to protect the nation's blood supply and failing to properly regulate the sale of blood-clotting products used by sufferers of hemophilia.

Today, I rise in strong support of funding for the Ricky Ray Relief Act.

There is such a thing as right and wrong.

Hard as impeachment may be, to ignore misconduct so grave and notorious would be to suggest that the importance to the country of an office can place the holder of the office above the country's laws.

I would prefer that the House do nothing rather than that--better not to act at all then to twist the Constitution because we are unwilling to enforce it.

Are we to lower the standards of our society because the President cannot live up to them?

The President's misconduct qualifies as such an offense according to the commonly accepted understandings of civic responsibility.

That is the gravamen of the charges against President Clinton.

No one can fall below those standards with impunity.

The issue is whether we have the integrity to do our duty under the Constitution and laws.

It is not my preference or custom to speak on matters relating to the misconduct of others who hold public office.

I will just repeat again, we had a good bill. It would have provided the people the care they need, when they need it, when their physician recommends it, without big government and a lot of lawyers' fees. As the gentleman from Georgia…

That is the other question. Who was it that opposed this provision? Let us be up front about it. Was it not the insurance company who opposed this provision?

And it would have been up to her physician to decide whether it was emergency or urgent care which then triggers the time limits in the bill. Moreover, if the plan had denied coverage after the external review panel had said it was…

I just think that this resolution is important for a number of reasons. They have commented, and I think it bears repeating, on the class that Mark McGwire had throughout this whole season as he chased this record. He showed the affection…

Do we want to stand with and for the small businesspeople of this country against one of the things that irks them and demoralizes them and costs them the most, which is useless kind of government paperwork and arbitrary kinds of fines? Or…

I do also, and certainly would hope that the agency will move toward as much securitization as financial soundness permits. That is what the committee has been working to accomplish.

I did not want this bill to effect the 8(a) program, and as far as I am concerned, it is out of this bill, it is not mentioned in this bill; and that the HUBZone bill is designed to provide a little bit of an additional boost to…

I want to read a quote from Jonathan Rauch, who was writing in the November 10th New Republic. I think it is applicable to the debate today. ``It's hard to get excited about improving rich suburban high schools that act as feeders for Ivy…

In the first place, I have the greatest respect for all of my colleagues, and I know that they are doing what they are doing out of passion. They are, however, dragging in a number of issues that are extraneous to this bill and making…

I would ask the gentleman if it was the intention of the authors of the 1996 welfare reform law that workfare participants be considered employees, and thus covered under at least 25 labor laws, including prevailing wages, unemployment…