Political Quotes

“Mr. President--I rise today, along with my colleague Senator Dorgan from North Dakota, to introduce the Aviation Medical Assistance Act of 1998. Thirty years ago the first battery powered portable defibrillator was approved for use. A defibrillator is a medical device that electrically converts an abnormal heart rhythm to a normal rhythm. It can and does save lives. The time between the onset of abnormal rhythm and the application of electrical defibrillatory current is critical. If the time of first defibrillation is between five and six minutes after the onset of abnormal rhythm, the patient survival rate is greater than 40 percent. One clear example is that of Graeme Seiber of Tennessee. As my colleagues may recall on September 14, 1995, Mr. Seiber went into full cardiac arrest as he stepped off an elevator in the Dirksen building, and collapsed in the corridor near my Senate office. After heroic actions by members of Senator Chafee's staff, I performed CPR on Mr. Seiber and when the Capitol Physician's Emergency Response Team arrived, I was able to insert a tube directly into Mr. Seiber's lungs to aid the flow of oxygen. But, most importantly, the team had a portable defibrillator that I used to shock his heart back into a normal rhythm.”