Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes. Mr. Speaker, Republicans are not opposed to compensating the victims and the first responders of the World Trade Center attacks. We created a compensation fund within 11 days after the original attack back on September 11, 2001. The bill before us today, however, Mr. Speaker, creates a brand new entitlement program that could last an additional 21 years. It creates a special compensation system for hospitals in the New York City area at 140 percent of Medicare rates, provides special protections for trial lawyers, and creates a host of special programs and special protections. It also does not require any kind of a citizenship test, Mr. Speaker, to receive a benefit. It is, in fact, apparently a $7.4 billion new entitlement program. We know there are innocent victims in New York City that still need treatment, and we know that there are perhaps some participants who have fallen through the cracks who have not received exactly the treatment that they need, but this bill, quite frankly, is not the answer. In the markup in the Energy and Commerce Committee, Republicans offered a number of amendments that would have provided treatment, would have monitored benefits, and would have authorized funding for the existing program at the level requested by the President of the United States, President Obama. That amendment was rejected. H.R. 847 caps the number of people that can be enrolled in the program.…”