Political Quotes

“I cast this protest vote knowing that the bill would be overwhelmingly approved by the Senate. I did so with substantial reservations because of a strong Pennsylvania constituent interest on general aviation aircraft and a boyhood of growing up in Wichita, KS, where Steerman, Cessna, and Beechcraft were very prominent companies. I voted against the 18-year statute of repose because of a fundamental view that the courts should be open and my abiding confidence in the jury system notwithstanding its lapses on excessive verdicts which can be dealt with in other ways. Simply stated, I believe that an injured person should not be barred from court by a statute of repose where the airplane is represented by its manufacturer to have a useful life in excess of 18 years and the statistics show such planes are operated for a much longer period of time. In casting this vote, I am mindful of the arguments in favor of the bill that the number of planes produced by the industry has declined from 18,000 annually to just over 900 in the last 20 years with over 100,000 jobs having been lost.”