Robert Torricelli: “Although I have not been in this institution long, I have already discovered one thing about the Senate. Things are not…”

“Although I have not been in this institution long, I have already discovered one thing about the Senate. Things are not often as they appear. This discussion has been almost entirely about money, what fees are paid, and who pays them. But in truth, this amendment is not about money, it is about power. It is about whether or not the individual American who has little or no money, cannot afford expert testimony, cannot afford to pay the fees with extensive and complex litigation, can stand in a courtroom face to face with the largest and richest, most powerful corporations in the world and get justice. Through almost all of the history of this Republic, we have assured that right to every American. But today, this Congress is at a point of judgment about the tobacco industry because those individual lawyers, on contingency fees, representing individual American citizens, have brought us to this point of decision. Make no mistake about it, Americans are dealing with the reality of health care and tobacco and the financing of our future health care as a result of a potential tobacco settlement, not because of this Congress, not because of the good graces of American industry, not because the leadership of the President, but because of the threat in courts of law that individual attorneys, on contingency fees, have found justice for individual American citizens. This fight is not about money. There are ample resources in any tobacco settlement. The fees would be paid.”