Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, in summary, this bill should be opposed for four reasons: First, the bill repeals the Limitation of Liability Act, which will actually hurt the victims of maritime accidents. Repealing the act eliminates important protections for maritime victims, including the fund for compensating personal injury victims. This bill, incredibly, repeals the personal injury fund; Second, the bill amends the Bankruptcy Code in a manner that the National Bankruptcy Conference, a very bipartisan organization, believes will create ``pernicious, unintended, and counterproductive consequences'' that benefit oil spill claimants ``at the expense of other innocent and equally deserving creditors''; Third, the bill was rushed through committee without a single legislative hearing and is being rushed through the House on suspension, without giving Members the opportunity to offer amendments; and Fourth, because this bill is being rushed through the House, Congress has not been fully informed of the unintended consequences this bill creates for the U.S. maritime industry, which is a large part of the economy of the gulf coast region; the American economy, which relies on U.S. shipping to take goods to and from market; and the victims of maritime accidents, who, in many cases, will actually be hurt by this legislation. {time} 1610 Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill, send it back to committee.…”