Darlene Hooley: “This bill contains a provision that would overturn Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law. Now, I appreciate the fact that we…”

“This bill contains a provision that would overturn Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law. Now, I appreciate the fact that we were given a whole day to debate this bill, and it was an up-and-down vote. We got enough votes if the President decided to veto it that we could uphold that veto. On the Senate side we were told that it would not be attached to another bill; that it would be a fair fight; that, again, it would be an up-and-down vote. And here we stand today at the end of the session with a piece of legislation that contains a lot of provisions I like in it. But I will tell my colleagues something that is more important to me. More important to me than anything else is our system of democracy. More important to me than anything else is the people's right to vote and that their voices are heard and that their vote counts for something. In our State, not once but twice, people said we want physician-assisted suicide. Somehow or another my colleagues here seem to know better. They seem to say that they do not care about the people's vote; that it does not count; they do not care that the people's voices are not heard; they know better; they are going to overturn the people's law. Well, let me tell my colleagues two things: one, they are overturning the will of the people of my State; and, number two, they are breaking promises.”