Lee Terry: “I rise in support of H.R. 987. Prior to my service here in the House, I was a trial lawyer in Omaha, Nebraska. Now, I…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 987. Prior to my service here in the House, I was a trial lawyer in Omaha, Nebraska. Now, I know that is not necessarily a term of endearment on this side of the aisle; but it does give me certain experiences and insight into issues such as this because as much as 50 percent of my practice was representing people with injuries, worker compensation claims. I represented many clients who suffered from repetitive motion injuries, the most common of which is to the wrists, known as carpal tunnel syndrome, and I sympathize with these folks. I have seen it affect people minimally, and I have seen it affect them seriously, some enough to lose their jobs. I have learned from speaking to many medical experts and reading a great many medical studies on this subject that there is much controversy on the cause of these injuries, including how much repetitive motion versus trauma is necessary to cause the onset of symptoms. Until we know more facts about the various causes of repetitive motion injuries, how do we know the best method to avoid reducing these injuries? We are only guessing at the best way to protect workers. I am concerned that without the National Academy of Sciences study, we may allow regulations that have the unintended consequences of one extreme doing nothing and the other exacerbating injuries or causing different types of injuries. And I am not willing to accept that risk.”