Political Quotes

“I would like to offer the Value of Human Life Amendment. I believe that all human lives are equal. Our founders said as much when the Declaration of Independence was drafted: ``All men are created equal.'' Whether young or old, born last year or next year, no one person is worth more money than the other intrinsically. I think that nearly all of my colleagues in the House would agree with me on this point. Unfortunately, the Office of Management and Budget has been acting in a way contrary to this deeply held principle of human equality. When the Office of Management and Budget goes through a regulatory review, it expects that an agency has completed a cost-benefit analysis. As part of the cost-benefit analysis, sometimes, human lives are included. For example, the arsenic rule that was accepted by the EPA last year will result in a savings of many human lives that otherwise, if exposed to a higher exposure to arsenic, would have been lost. For the cost-benefit analysis for that rule, all of the lives that would have been saved were added up in dollars at a rate of about $6.1 million per person.”