Political Quotes

“I rise tonight to report back on the last 3 weeks I spent in my district, traveling the district, visiting with the 13 hospital and medical centers that are in my district, to talk to them about the Prescription Drug and Medicare Modernization Act that we passed here in November and the President signed into law. I would like to report they have been very pleased with what we did here in Congress. The doctors are pleased with the reimbursement increase they are going to receive, and our hospitals are pleased with what we have done. I have a rural district, and the rural package that we put forth for these hospitals is very important to their financial well-being. But as we talked about what we did in the bill, the discussion quickly turned to what we have not done here in Congress. In the House, we have attempted to do it three times, passed legislation to reform medical malpractice, but it has not passed in the other body, and as I talked to these CEOs, doctors and nurses, we talked about the stories in various areas of the district. In Indiana County, for instance, the home of Jimmy Stewart, a very well-respected and beloved orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Paul Burton, left Pennsylvania for California 6 months ago due to the medical malpractice crisis in the State of Pennsylvania.”