Jay Rockefeller: “here we are again. As always, I am very proud to be standing across the aisle from my dear colleague, Senator Gorton.…”

“here we are again. As always, I am very proud to be standing across the aisle from my dear colleague, Senator Gorton. Senator Lieberman is very much a part of this. There are many who are very much a part of this. I can report that we are in a position, as the Senator from Washington has indicated, to pass and to have signed a product liability bill for the first time in my living memory, at least, in the Senate. This is, I guess, my 11th year on this subject. We have a chance to have the bill signed, however, by the President, only if we maintain the bill in its current very limited form. I, obviously, congratulate Senator Gorton--who does a prodigious job in all events--on this subject and many others, but he has also been extraordinary in the way that he has accepted and rejected and negotiated not only with myself, but also with the White House in his discussions with the majority leader to, in effect, finally bring a product liability bill to the floor which actually can pass, and if it does pass, will be signed by the President, provided that it is in its current limited form. It is a good feeling to have a bill that can be signed. I am much more accustomed to being here promoting a bill that I know would be a good bill, but, on the other hand, which I know in the end isn't going to be signed.…”