Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I want to start with responding to a complete misrepresentation of what this bill does. We have heard our friends on the other side of the aisle say that this bill requires that counsel be appointed to individuals, and they have even gone so far as to assign a number to it, $800 million. That simply is not true. At first, I thought maybe it was an honest mistake, but it is being repeated. So now I know it is an affirmative misrepresentation. What the bill does--and I invite my colleagues to look at the language of the bill. Go to page 3, line 17. A covered individual has a meaningful opportunity to consult with counsel and an interested party; they are required to provide a meaningful opportunity to consult with counsel. There is no requirement in the bill that counsel be provided or paid for. So that claim is just not true. No matter how many times it gets repeated by our Republican colleagues, they are making it up. It is not in the bill. So I rise in strong support of the H.R. 1573, the Access to Counsel Act. Our legal system rests on the principle that every person is entitled to due process and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. The ability to consult with legal counsel is critical to both of these principles. For some, it is a matter of life and death.…”