Maurice Hinchey: “this presents us with a very interesting situation. First, we are told that the employees of the Homeland Security…”

“this presents us with a very interesting situation. First, we are told that the employees of the Homeland Security Department cannot have civil service protection. They cannot be unionized. We want to be flexible with them. If they make any mistakes, we want to throw them out. Yet, at the same time, what do we do with regard to corporate entities that work for the Homeland Security Department? If the Secretary approves any design for any material or product that they sell to homeland security, so long as the Secretary approves it, that corporation is exempt from any product-liability suits. The manager's amendment, however, goes even further. It protects corporate wrongdoers from any kind of action whatsoever. If the product does not work, if the product does not work because the corporation was fraudulent in its submission, if the product does not work because they willfully or maliciously made it so that it would not work effectively, nevertheless, they are exempt from any kind of lawsuits. This situation that we are presented with and asked to vote for is totally absurd.”