Joe Barton: “I thank the gentleman. Mr. Chairman, if you look up here at the podium right behind me on the Republican side, what do…”

“I thank the gentleman. Mr. Chairman, if you look up here at the podium right behind me on the Republican side, what do you see? Carved into the balustrade is the word ``liberty.'' If you look on the Democratic side, what do you see? You see the word ``justice.'' If you look straight down the center aisle right between them, what do you see? It is ``tolerance.'' Mr. Chairman, the bill that is before us today is a culmination of 4 years of hard work between both political parties and both leaderships of the Energy and Commerce Committee on both sides of the aisle in which a lot of tolerance has been exhibited. Conservatives on the Republican side haven't gotten everything that we want in this bill, and liberals on the Democratic side haven't gotten everything they want on this bill, but the work product is a culmination of an open process that Chairman Upton and subcommittee Chairman Pitts have put together. Every member of the committee has been invited to numerous working groups--probably 10, 15, I don't know--and have been given every opportunity to have input into what they want and what they don't want. This bill would become law, and it will stay law. It will become law, and it will unite the medical research community. There are things in this bill that I have worked on for 10 years that will help find cures sooner rather than later. Mr. Chairman, I had a woman in my office in Texas 4 days ago. Her son has autism, and he is 11 years old.…”