Ron Wyden: “I respond briefly to the point the Senator is making. It seems to me the Senator makes an interesting point and…”

“I respond briefly to the point the Senator is making. It seems to me the Senator makes an interesting point and certainly raises some interesting legal questions. The scenario just described is what Senator Smith and I seek to prevent by keeping our amendment narrow, to involve government entities. In other words, if you were to broaden the scope of the amendment to all kinds of other parties, it seems to me the case would be more credible that perhaps you could have a scenario where you were driven into bankruptcy. That is why we kept it narrow. We believed keeping it narrow gave people an incentive to negotiate and increase the prospect that we wouldn't have this calamitous situation that the distinguished chairman of the committee is so correct to say would be bad for all.”