Political Quotes

“last fall it took weeks for the Members of the House, the press and the public to figure out who inserted a special interest provision in the homeland security bill to exempt Eli Lilly and other manufacturers of thimerosal. We did not know the provision was in the bill before we voted on it. After it was found we could not figure out how it got there. Now that is no way to make law. This is why I am supporting the motion to commit which would mandate that conference reports are made available to Members at least 24 hours before a vote. This requirement would not be permitted to be waived. Members of this body deserve to know what they are voting on. The practice of sneaking in unrelated provisions in thick conference reports in the dead of night is unacceptable. The reason it is done is to cause Members who normally would not support a provision to do so by burying it in a conference report at the last minute when there is little chance for it to be found. The thimerosal exception that was slipped into the Homeland Security bill is a prime example. The thimerosal exemption was a big Christmas gift to Eli Lilly and other thimerosal manufacturers. In the last election cycle is it any surprise that Eli Lilly was one of the top pharmaceutical contributors, giving $1.6 million? In return, they got a thimerosal exception that they have been lobbying for all year.”