William H. Frist: “I will close by making a few very brief remarks on Judge Alberto Gonzales. The opportunity is being provided for all…”

“I will close by making a few very brief remarks on Judge Alberto Gonzales. The opportunity is being provided for all Senators to express themselves on this very important nomination. I am confident that the nomination will be confirmed tomorrow afternoon or tomorrow evening. The debate is important, and I encourage all of our colleagues to keep it civil and nonpartisan, as much as practically possible, over the next 48 hours. I will talk very briefly about a topic the President will speak to tonight, I am quite certain, and that is restoring commonsense balance to our legal system and to our tort system. I mention that because as the Democratic leader and I have agreed, we will be coming to an important aspect of class action reform next week. I think of Dr. Chet Gentry of the Cumberland Family Care Clinic in Sparta, TN, who does not deliver babies anymore, does not practice obstetrics anymore. When one asks him why, without any hesitation, crystal clear, it is because his insurance premiums grew too high. Simply, he could not afford to deliver babies, and by dropping obstetrics he cut the insurance premiums he has to pay for this privilege of practicing medicine by two-thirds, down from $38,000 a year to $14,000 a year. So by not delivering babies, he cuts his insurance premiums down that dramatically. There is an incentive to not take care of moms when they are going through this wonderful process of giving birth.”