Political Quotes

“first, I express my thanks to Senator Kennedy. He has done yeoman work on so many health issues over the years. He has just been so helpful to me as a new Member of the Senate. I thank him for all of his help and that of his staff in preparing this amendment. I think it is clear, Mr. President, that this amendment is not some sort of exotic animal that has just wandered onto the floor of the U.S. Senate to be considered, as if the Members have no awareness of what this issue is all about. This issue has been the subject of extensive hearings in the House of Representatives. This issue has been all over the news media across the country. Suffice it to say that virtually every Member of this body has heard from constituents and from providers at home about this particular issue. I know that virtually every time I am home--I come from a part of the country which has some of the very best managed care in the Nation--that I hear from patients and consumers about this particular issue. It really comes down to a question of whether we are going to keep faith with the Hippocratic oath of doing no harm to patients, making sure they have information about the various treatments and services that are essential to them, or to turn that Hippocratic oath on its head and in effect say the first obligations are to the bottom line. This amendment is rifle-shot legislation. It prohibits only gag provisions in contracts that relate to patient care.”